If you were on Twitter (or X, if we’re being technical) on June 27, 2025, you probably saw the photo. You know the one. It wasn't just a regular "celebrity wearing something weird" moment. It was Lorde. It was a pair of completely clear plastic pants. And, honestly, it was a lot more revealing than anyone expected from a vinyl insert.
The image went viral in seconds. One minute you're scrolling through memes about the weather, and the next, you’re staring at a high-definition close-up of the "Royals" singer's lower half, visible through transparent trousers. No underwear. No filter. Just a raw, medical-meets-artistic shot that had the entire internet asking: Wait, is this real?
The Virgin Vinyl Incident
The whole thing started when fans finally got their hands on the physical copies of Lorde's new album, Virgin. While the standard cover is a blue-tinted X-ray of a pelvis (complete with a visible IUD), the vinyl insert was where things got graphic.
Photographed by Talia Chetrit, the image shows Lorde leaning back against a piano. She’s wearing those infamous clear pants, and the lighting is—well, let’s just say it’s thorough. You can see her navel, her thighs, and her pubic hair. It was a bold move that felt less like a "sexy" pop star shoot and more like a piece of confrontational performance art.
Naturally, Twitter did what it does best: it freaked out.
"Lorde showing lordeussy on her vinyl. I’m seated," one fan wrote, a tweet that quickly became a core part of the discourse. People were posting screenshots of the insert with "vagina warnings" and "NSFW" tags, while others defended the choice as a commentary on the album's themes of body autonomy and gender fluidity.
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Why the Clear Pants Actually Matter
It’s easy to look at a photo like that and think it’s just for shock value. But if you’ve been following Lorde’s 2025 era—what fans are calling "Lorde Summer"—it actually makes a weird kind of sense.
Lorde has been incredibly vocal lately about her relationship with her body. In a 2025 interview with Dazed, she admitted that for years she was "at war" with herself, trying to starve herself thinner before eventually regaining the weight. She also shared that her gender identity feels fluid. She told Rolling Stone she feels she's in the "middle gender-wise," famously stating, "Some days I’m a woman, some days I’m a man."
The clear pants weren't just about being naked. They were about being seen.
By stripping away the "armor" of clothes—or using clothes that are literally invisible—she was forcing the audience to look at the human body without the usual pop-star gloss. It’s a far cry from the flowy, "Solar Power" beach vibes of a few years ago. This is grittier. It's New York. It’s raw.
Breaking Down the "Lorde Summer" Aesthetic
The clear pants might have been the peak of the Twitter frenzy, but they’re part of a much larger sartorial shift. Lorde has traded her designer gowns for what experts are calling "nondescript uniforms." If you saw her at Coachella 2025 performing "Girl, so confusing" with Charli xcx, you saw the blueprint:
- A dark gray T-shirt that looked like it came from a three-pack.
- Reflective workwear trousers (purchased on eBay, according to her).
- Duct-taped Balenciaga boots. The boots became a meme in their own right. Lorde told Rolling Stone the tape was actually functional—her boots were leaking in the snow, so she taped them up. She liked the look so much she kept it. That’s basically the vibe of the whole Virgin era: using what you have, being a bit messy, and not caring if it looks "perfect."
The Public Reaction: Art vs. Taboo
The Twitter discourse surrounding the clear pants divided people into two very specific camps.
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On one side, you had the people who were genuinely shocked. We’ve become so used to the "clean girl" aesthetic and highly curated Instagram feeds that seeing a major pop star’s pubic hair on an album insert felt like a glitch in the matrix. Some fans joked about the "yeast infection potential" of wearing plastic pants in the summer heat (a valid concern, honestly), while others argued it was "too much" for a public release.
On the other side, there was a massive wave of support. Many pointed out that we see far more "sexualized" imagery in mainstream media every day. The difference is that Lorde’s photo wasn't meant to be "pretty" in a traditional way. It was medical. It was honest.
"The fact that there is actual discourse happening with people being shocked at Lorde’s vinyl... literally that’s just her pubis," one user noted.
This mirrors the reaction to her IUD album cover. By putting her reproductive health and her literal skin on display, she’s dismantling the shame usually associated with those things. It's a "take it or leave it" approach to fame.
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What This Means for Celebrity Culture in 2026
We're seeing a massive move toward "Indie Sleaze" and a rejection of the hyper-filtered look of the early 2020s. Lorde is at the forefront of this. She’s leaning into the "low-key pop star" vibe, along with artists like Addison Rae and HAIM.
But Lorde takes it a step further by making it political. Her fashion choices—the baggy jeans, the carabiners, the white button-ups, and yes, the clear pants—are a way of resisting the algorithm. She’s not dressing for a TikTok trend. She’s dressing like someone who just walked out of a dive bar in the Lower East Side.
The takeaway?
The "Lorde clear pants twitter" moment wasn't just a wardrobe choice. It was a declaration of independence from the expectations of being a "female" pop star. It was about gender fluidity, body acceptance, and the right to be a little bit weird.
How to Navigate the "Lorde Summer" Trend Yourself
If you’re feeling inspired by Lorde’s 2025/2026 aesthetic but aren't quite ready to rock transparent plastic trousers in public, you can still channel the vibe.
- Embrace the Normcore: Look for oversized white dress shirts and baggy jeans. The goal is to look like you borrowed clothes from a partner or found them at a thrift store.
- Function as Fashion: Don't be afraid of "ugly" details. Carabiners with your keys, duct tape on your shoes, or visible socks are all part of the look.
- The "Middle" Gender Look: Experiment with "male grooming" techniques. Lorde has spoken about using makeup as a way to feel more masculine some days, rather than using it to look more feminine.
- Own Your Body: Whether it’s unedited photos (something Lorde has been doing since 2014) or just being less precious about your "flaws," the core of this trend is authenticity.
The next time a celebrity goes viral for something "shocking," it's worth asking if they're just looking for attention or if they're actually trying to say something. In Lorde's case, the clear pants were a loud, transparent message: she's done hiding.
I can help you look further into the "Indie Sleaze" revival or provide a breakdown of the specific "Virgin" album tracklist and its themes of identity.