Fashion

She Was Kicked Off Instagram for Nudity

by Erin Mayer

Who knew Instagram was such a prude? Even illustrated nipples are too much for the photo-sharing site. The one and only Grace Coddington had her account shut down by Instagram for posting a nude drawing featuring two little tiny dots for nipples. Kay, so, dots are offensive now. Everyone, please refrain from wearing polka-dots in your next selfie.

Here's what went down: Grace Coddington joined Instagram last week, to the collective joy of the fashion community because obviously. Her first post, to promote her Paddle8 auction aptly named "No Clothes," was an illustrated Coddington (identifiable by a pouf of curly red hair) reclining naked on a beach chair. With nipples, as topless people tend to have.

The image is actually pretty tame. She even has her legs crossed! But Instagram found the photo inappropriate, and, as they recently did with Rihanna, shut down Coddington's account. The account was restored on Monday, with the offending image still displayed, but Instagram's initial response is ridiculous. I can understand suspending an account for actual explicit nudity since Instagram is trying to be family-friendly, but female nipples are not "explicit" any more than male nipples are. Especially not cheeky cartoon female nipples.

Ah, but revenge is sweet. Coddington retaliated as soon as her Instagram was re-activated, with a "censored" illustration of her cats Bart and Pumpkin. I tip my hat to the always Graceful Grace Coddington and her brilliant response to Instagram's absurd policy. Take a look at the two images below.

Images: therealgracecoddington/Instagram