Julia Roberts is known for her charm and star power, but 26 years ago, she surprised everyone at the premiere of the movie Notting Hill with a very unexpected detail. Wearing a bright red, sequined dress with short sleeves, Julia arrived with two noticeable patches of armpit hair showing. This instantly caught media attention and became one of those rare red carpet moments that shocked the public, especially at a time before social media spread news so fast.
The British press was particularly harsh, using headlines like “Hairy Woman!” and “Beauty Becomes Beast!” The media speculated if this was a feminist choice or a personal style preference perhaps encouraged by her boyfriend at the time, Benjamin Bratt. Back then, natural body hair on women was not widely accepted in Hollywood or Los Angeles, a city famous for its perfectly groomed celebrities.
The late 1990s was also when third-wave feminism was rising, and the world was debating how women should look in public. Around the same time, model and actress Milla Jovovich had also openly shown her underarm hair on a major magazine cover. Because of this, many viewed Julia’s unshaven armpits as a subtle rebellion against strict beauty rules, a sign of that decade’s playful defiance.
But Julia Roberts later revealed she didn’t plan this as a statement. On a 2018 talk show, she explained that she simply hadn’t thought about how her waving arms and the short sleeves would reveal the hair. It wasn’t meant as a message to society but just happened naturally. Yet, this moment still inspired later celebrities like Amandla Stenberg and Halsey to proudly embrace natural body hair.
Though unintended, Julia Roberts’ confident presence sparked an important conversation about personal freedom and the pressure on women to conform to beauty standards. It showed that sometimes just being yourself can make the biggest impact.
