In 2026, female body hair feels as if it should be the least of anyone’s concerns. But although we may think we’ve come a long way since Julia Roberts’ unshaven underarm caused a furore at the 1999 London premiere of Notting Hill, depilation remains a staple of many women’s grooming routines – and when singer turned actor Phoebe Bridgers made her Venice film festival debut last weekend, her unshaven legs still made headlines.
Even so, her au naturel look may signal that attitudes are changing – particularly among younger generations. Vogue decreed that “rather than undermining the femininity of the look, unapologetic hair sharpened it”, and pictures of the 32-year-old’s hair-covered calves were generally praised by fans. But what do other gen Z and millennial women make of the decision to ditch the razor?
“Hell yeah!” is 27-year-old PhD student Anna Busuttil’s response. “I think it’s awesome; cool and rebellious,” she says – a view that chimes with that of most of the women I speak to outside University College London’s Bloomsbury campus. Busuttil says she sees a lot more women nowadays choosing not to remove their body hair. “I know people who dye their armpit hair a certain colour as well, so it stands out even more. I feel like leg hair is more taboo for women; it feels like such a ‘masculine’ thing, and legs are supposed to be a really sexy part of a woman.”
Francesca Hall, 25, agrees: she removes her leg hair, but doesn’t worry about her underarms. Yet she feels that, if anything, it’s becoming less common to go unshaven. “There’s been a general shift, culturally, towards more conservative ideas,” says the student union-worker. “It’s the same with veganism; it’s gone backwards a bit. My friendship group is quite queer, leftwing, and not everyone would remove their leg hair.” But, she says, not removing leg hair is more common “in those circles … I definitely think there’s a correlation there.”
“I’ve got really hairy legs!” says student Phoebe Green, 21, hitching up her long shorts so I can get a better look. “I don’t really pay attention to the trends that are going around; having leg hair doesn’t affect my life in any way,” she says. “I’ve definitely had a few comments, a few condescending dudes being like, ‘why aren’t they shaved?’ But I get a lot of compliments from girls, there’s a lot of solidarity.”
Children’s nurse Venus Whyte, 23, thinks that attitudes are changing among younger generations – albeit slowly. “I think society puts pressure on women to shave when they don’t really want to,” she says. “If I’m wearing something where my legs are showing, I would prefer to shave but that’s just what I feel comfortable doing.”
Not everyone thinks that leg hair remains the most taboo type of female body hair: for 24-year-old Wendi Fei, it’s armpit hair. She will shave hers for the first time ever this week, for her graduation ceremony. “It’s a formal event so I will be wearing a dress,” she explains. “I don’t think women really need to shave – men don’t need to do it – but some women think that it’s not beautiful.”
Bridgers was also at a formal event: she paired her unshaven calves with a Gucci skirt suit at the photocall for her first acting role, in A24’s psychological crime thriller Primetime. Online, Bridgers fans – or “Pharbs” – appeared to approve: “Sorry I actually might cry this is the first time I’ve seen a favourite artist of mine with her leg hair out while wearing feminine clothing like it’s the most normal thing in the world (which it should be!!)” wrote X user @starforthemagic; “wait this is literally so rare for public figures omg …. queen” agreed @yyelyahkwonn.
But for 22-year-old student Matilda Moore, social media can sometimes be part of why women feel required to conform to certain beauty standards. “Women shouldn’t have to worry about removing body hair – it’s down to individual preference,” she says, “but I still see, sadly, on social media, that women can get a lot of backlash for how they present themselves, which I think is unfair.”
Postgrad student Sarah Cender, 26, agrees that while many of her friends would be happy not to remove their body hair, they worry about how they might be seen by their peers. “I don’t think that it matters – but other people might judge you or see you differently,” she says. Laser hair removal has become more common than shaving or waxing among her friendship group: “so you can just get rid of the hair permanently”.
“I have lots of friends who religiously get laser everywhere,” agrees Hannah, a legal and corporate services manager at a trend forecasting company, “but I can’t even be bothered plucking my eyebrows, you know?” The 30-year-old feels that, today, people are more empowered to do what they want when it comes to grooming, especially compared with when she was younger. “I am just pretty lazy, I’ll be honest,” she laughs.
Her thoughts on Bridgers’ look? “Go her! I rate that.”