Harry Styles had a cheeky response to critic who blasted his Vogue dress photos
It looks like Harry Styles has a sense of humor.
The "Watermelon Sugar" singer appears to have fired back at criticism from conservative pundit Candace Owens, who took issue with Styles wearing traditional women’s clothing in a photo shoot seen in the December issue of Vogue.
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"Bring back manly men," Styles captioned a photo of himself on Instagram eating a banana while wearing a powder blue pantsuit. The picture is part of a new cover spread for Variety, which named him its Hitmaker of the Year in its issue released Tuesday.
The caption may be brief, but appears to be directed at Owens, who wrote those same words last month in a tweet blasting Styles' photos in Vogue.
"There is no society that can survive without strong men. The East knows this. In the west, the steady feminization of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence," Owens wrote. "It is an outright attack. Bring back manly men."
Styles, 26, covered Vogue in a Gucci dress and remains unapologetic about his fashion choices, explaining to Vogue how he has an eclectic appreciation for a wide range of outfits.
"Clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with," he said. "What’s really exciting is that all of these lines are just kind of crumbling away. When you take away ‘There’s clothes for men and there’s clothes for women,’ once you remove any barriers, obviously you open up the arena in which you can play."
Styles doubled down on his affinity for clothing in his cover feature in Variety.
"To not wear (something) because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes," he told the trade publication.
"And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred."
Despite Owens’ criticism, Styles has plenty of support, including from one person particularly close to him: his mother, Anne Twist.
"I was always a big fan of doing fancy dress with (Harry and his sister, Gemma) when they were smaller, which Gemma hated but Harry always embraced," Twist said in an interview with British talk show host Lorraine Kelly. "But you know, who doesn't love playing dress-up?"