Hollywood star Sydney Sweeney showed up to the Variety Power of Women event in a sheer silver dress that had more people talking about her outfit than anything she said on stage.
The dress was metallic, see-through, and designed to make headlines, something Sweeney has mastered as part of her Hollywood brand.
Sweeney was honored by Variety for her work in entertainment, but the attention quickly shifted to her gown.
The 28-year-old actress wore what some critics called “a red carpet stunt,” while media outlets rushed to praise her for being “bold” and “empowering.”
Sweeney brushed off the reaction. She told Variety she does not care what anyone thinks about how she dresses and claimed she is doing it for herself.
“I just feel good and I’m doing it for myself and I feel strong,” Sweeney said.
She added that she hopes other women copy her approach. “I hope that I can inspire other women to be confident and just flaunt what they got and feel good because you shouldn’t have to apologize or hide or cover up in any room,” she said.
The actress has built a career on playing what she calls “divisive characters,” and she argues that people don’t understand her real personality. “A lot of people think they know me, but they don’t,” Sweeney said.
The comments were part of a larger message about “confidence” and “self-empowerment,” a theme Hollywood has repeated endlessly while its stars show up in outfits designed to form viral social media cycles, as USA TODAY reported.
Sweeney also used the event to promote her upcoming film “Christy,” a biopic about female boxer Christy Martin. She said she gained 30 pounds for the role and trained three times a day before filming.
“I’m not a fighter in the ring, but I recognized something of myself in Christy,” Sweeney said.
She claimed she relates to Martin because she has been “underestimated.” “I know what it feels like to have people define you before you’ve had a chance to define yourself,” she told the audience.
The speech was aimed at turning a red carpet fashion moment into a motivational message about struggle and strength. “Every one of us has our own fight,” Sweeney said. “Strength doesn’t always look loud. Sometimes it’s just getting back up again and again, no matter who’s watching.”
Sweeney posed on the red carpet with Christy Martin, who appeared in a gray suit and was treated as a symbol of what Hollywood calls “female resilience.”
The actress has also changed her hair, debuting a bleached blonde bob while promoting the movie.
Her constant image reinventions have become part of her media identity, something she insists is not strategic.
She did not mention politics or culture, but the message from Hollywood was familiar. Celebrity confidence is framed as a movement, revealing clothing is treated as empowerment, and anyone rolling their eyes is labeled judgmental.
