Before celebrities such as Ashley Graham, Bella Thorne, Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus were joining the #NoShave club, baring their underarms au natural and sans grooming, there was Julia Roberts. The A-lister has been a red carpet icon for more than 20 years and has had her fair share of stand-out moments, but one that is particularly memorable is her appearance at the London premiere of Notting Hill in 1999.
The actress hit the red carpet in a sequined cap-sleeved minidress, and infamously raised her arm to wave, revealing to the world that she hadn’t shaved her underarms. This made quite the stir at the time. And this past Sunday, the actress who is promoting her new series Homecoming, revealed on Busy Tonight, that she never intended for that moment to make a political statement, it was just a simple misjudgment about her attire.
The icon revealed to the newly minted late night talk show host that she vividly remembers the moment, too. “I think I just hadn’t really calculated my, my sleeve length and the waving, and how those two things would go together and reveal personal things about me,” she explained. Then Roberts clarified that it wasn’t meant to be a grand statement, it’s just “part of the statement that I make as a human on the planet, for myself.”
Now, nearly 20 years later, ditching the razor and letting your hair grow in your armpits is less of a big deal. Most recently, Bella Thorne hit the red carpet for a film screening showing of her unshaven pits, and of course, Ashley Graham has been an outspoken supporter of ditching razors as well.
