The debate over Steph Claire Smith’s sheer dress has taken an unexpected turn.
The 32-year-old podcast host drew criticism on Wednesday after arriving at the Style-ish website launch in a transparent gown that left her breasts exposed.
It has now emerged that the dress’s designer, For Love & Lemons, did not originally intend for the piece to be worn in that way.
The gown was initially sold with a slip designed to provide additional coverage.
After photos of Steph’s outfit spread online, older images of influencer Natasha Oakley wearing the same dress resurfaced on social media.
Taken in 2016, the pictures show the bikini entrepreneur styling the gown with its tan-coloured slip underneath.
The controversy surrounding Steph Claire Smith, 32, and her sheer dress has taken a new turn
The additional layer created a markedly different appearance from Steph’s look at Wednesday’s event, which celebrated the launch of Style-ish, a website owned by her new parent company, Shameless Media.
Steph posted several images from the occasion on Instagram, including photographs of the outfit she selected for the evening.
The influencer paired white jeans with the sheer, white floral-embroidered dress, which offered no coverage across her chest.
“I’ve had this For Love & Lemons in the back of my wardrobe since 2014!” Steph wrote in the caption of one image showing her wearing the dress in public.
“Of course the Style-ish website launch was the perfect opportunity to finally wear her.”
In another photograph, apparently taken inside a photobooth, Steph posed cheerfully with her KICPod co-host Laura Henshaw, who appeared relaxed about her outfit.
Some followers, however, were far less approving and voiced their objections on a gossip forum.
“Is it normal to have your full nips out for dinner? At least wear a bralette underneath,” one person commented.
Old photographs of influencer Natasha Oakley wearing the same gown have resurfaced since Steph’s images went viral. The 2016 pictures show Oakley styling it with the tan-coloured slip underneath
“It is if you’re Steph,” another user replied, while a third accused the model of attempting to draw attention at the event.
“Oh, my god,” another person wrote.
The Daily Mail has contacted Steph’s representatives for comment.
The controversy follows the departure of Keep It Cleaner (KIC) co-founder Steph Claire Smith’s company CEO, Janey Martino, after 12 months in the role.
Five positions were also reportedly made redundant within the business around the same time, according to the Herald Sun.
Janey became CEO in October last year after previously advising KIC, which grew from an ebook into the KIC app in 2018.
“Janey has stepped down as CEO and we wish Janey all the best, and can’t wait to see what’s next for her,” Laura recently said.
“Like so many other businesses in the current climate, we’ve had to make some tough decisions to ensure our team structure meets the strategic needs of the business today and in the future.”
For the launch, Steph paired white jeans with the sheer, white floral-embroidered dress. She is pictured with co-host Laura Henshaw
Some followers were unimpressed by Steph’s outfit and took to a gossip forum to share their reactions
“Our focus is now on running the day-to-day business and supporting the team,” she added.
Meanwhile, Janey wrote on LinkedIn that she was proud of the “transformation and growth” KIC had experienced during her time with the company.
“After leading KIC as CEO, following my time as an adviser, I will be stepping down as Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw return to the day-to-day of the business,” she wrote.
“It has been a privilege to lead this team while they both focused on their families and a new chapter for their much-loved podcasts, Steph & Laura and Bump.
“Being trusted with something they built from the ground up and bringing a new vision to life is something I have been privileged to do, and I’m excited to see them bring their founder magic to the next phase.”