A couple years ago, Billie Eilish (who was 17 at the time) explained that she opted for her distinctive loose-fitting clothing partially to ward off judgment about her body. Lorde had a similar musical upbringing, given that she was also a young woman when she achieved international success. Fortunately, she was able to avoid having her body be a topic of conversation at that stage of her career, which she now says was intentional.
In a recent interview with The Irish Times, Lorde said:
“I sort of kicked that out the conversation. I was pretty intent about that. I didn’t want people to be talking about what my body looked like. I was a kid. And I really wasn’t ‘in’ my body. As a teenager, you kind of wear your body like an outfit that doesn’t fit yet. So it definitely was something I very specifically did not invite. I think it all worked out. How my body looks is not a big center of curiosity now. Which I think is in part because of the grounding I lay as a teenager. So yeah, I feel good about baby me doing that for future me.”
Part of the reason there isn’t much curiosity about Lorde’s body now is because she didn’t leave much to the imagination on her Solar Power album art. Lorde recently spoke about her and Eilish’s similar experiences, saying, “She’s so, so sweet and there’s only a handful of people who understand what that’s like, to be a teenager and, you know, have that level of scrutiny on your body and your brain. Yeah, it’s a specific experience. Obviously, she’s very close with her family, as I am, which I think is really helpful at that age when your world is changing.”
