Modeling superstar Olivia Culpo received a torrent of backlash after marrying NFL star Christian McCaffrey, a lifelong Catholic, in a modest and tasteful wedding dress that didn’t “exude sex.”
Now, she’s answering her critics.
In an interview with Vogue before the wedding, Culpo said she “didn’t want [her dress] to exude sex in any way, shape, or form.”
Olivia Culpo is married! Here, discover the story behind the model and former Miss Universe's traditional Dolce & Gabbana ballgown for her Rhode Island wedding: https://t.co/cjJXR00oZz pic.twitter.com/W5x2Z3LCHA
— Vogue Runway (@VogueRunway) June 29, 2024
While many found this choice a refreshing and pleasant departure from the overly sexualized attire many models are asked to wear; not everyone saw it that way.
Specifically, Culpo was blasted by a fashion influencer named Kennedy Bingham, who goes by the moniker “Gown Eyed Girl.”
“I’ve been a bridal creator for four years now, and I have never said this before, but I do not like this wedding dress,” Bingham told her followers in a video posted to social media.
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This comment brought a rebuke from McCaffrey, who posted in response to the video, “What an evil thing to post online. I hope you can find joy and peace in the world, the way my beautiful wife does,” he wrote.
While Bingham insisted that the simplicity of the dress wasn’t her issue, more so that she felt it lacked “personality,” Culpo herself responded to Bingham, referring to her as a “bizarre human.”
Bingham wasn’t alone in her criticism, and now Culpo is having her say.
‘I was definitely very surprised,’ Culpo told People magazine. ‘I feel like I personally like to give people the benefit of the doubt. And unfortunately, I feel like the words I said were spun out of context to fit an agenda that I did not have. I wanted to feel like myself in every sense of the word. And I think that that’s where my decision to be more pared down came in.
Stylistically, I had a vision. Stylistically, I felt like I was making a decision that was going to stand the test of time, and that’s it. I felt very comfortable in it, for what it’s worth. I was on the water, and there was a very nice breeze.’
Culpo and McCaffrey married at the Watch Hill Chapel in Westerly, Rhode Island.
Not only was Culpo heavily involved in creating her own dress, but she also took a leading role in designing dresses for the reception and after-party.
“That’s what made me even more excited about this vision,” she explained to Vogue. “It’s a covenant. It’s the beginning of the rest of your life – and it’s the union and bond of two people forever. I wanted something that felt as serious as that commitment.
She added, “I wanted it to feel effortless and as if it’s complimenting me, not overpowering me. There’s so much beauty and simplicity.”
Despite the backlash, Culpo has no regrets about her fashion choices for her wedding day.
“I loved every part of my wedding because I love my husband and the people we got to celebrate that day with,” she said. “The choices that I made are because I wanted to feel like they’re choices I could be proud of in 50 years. And that’s it.”
