By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Gillian Anderson reveals the risqué fashion faux pas that led to her infamous whale tail moment
The Sex Education star's dress was almost even more revealing!
Back in 2001, X-Files star Gillian Anderson shocked everyone with a whale tail moment that has lived rent-free in the minds of millennials ever since.
Now, the 55-year-old actress is surprising fans once again by telling the true behind-the-scenes story of her infamous exposed thong moment, and it’s way more risqué than we thought!
In a new TikTok video, Anderson explains that on the night of the Vanity Fair Oscars party, she waited until the last minute to pick out one of dresses agents had sent her. The Sex Education star tried on the party gowns sans underwear and ended up picking a sexy navy blue backless Eduardo Lucero jersey dress that dipped scandalously low.
But it wasn’t the low back that proved to be a problem!
“I didn’t wear underwear to try it on because I could see that the back was so low that you couldn’t wear underwear, and then I noticed that my pubic hair was poking out the front,” Anderson explained.
@gilliana Replying to @This is G Spot a thong story
Her cheeky surprise turned into an iconic fashion moment when she decided to wear a visible thong under the dress to fix the problem.
Anderson laughed, “Can you imagine if I hadn’t noticed, and that’s how I showed up at the Vanity Fair party on the red carpet?”
While some people may have made a quick appointment with a waxer, Anderson said it didn’t occur to her to “shave it” and instead turned her fashion faux pas into a moment a generation of people would never forget.
“It didn’t occur to me to give myself a Brazilian, and so I opted for a thong and thought f—k it, and I had no idea that would become a thing,” she said.
Photos of her backless gown with the exposed whale tale — a look that became synonymous with Y2K fashion — became so popular that recently, Anderson spotted a man at the gym wearing a T-shirt with the iconic photo on the back.
“And it was pretty f—king cool,” she concluded.
Wearing a thong that the world could see isn't the last time Anderson shocked the fashion world with her choice of dress. Earlier this year the actress wore a stunning dress covered in vulvas that you could only see once you got up close.
Between this story and finding out that Sigourney Weaver’s pubic hair was digitally removed from Alien, we feel like we’ve been cheated out of some great bush moments!
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
