Ariel Winter Defends Her Revealing Dress: 'This Is Who I Am'

Ariel Winter’s body has been a popular topic of conversation lately. From her breast reduction surgery to her recent preference for revealing clothes, the Modern Family actress has learned to silence the negativity and feel comfortable with herself, whether it be with what she’s wearing — or not.

“I was insecure when I was younger because I had a lot of eyes watching me,“ she tells Yahoo Style at Entertainment Weekly’s annual bash to kick off Emmys weekend. “I had people spreading so much hate on all of my pictures, on my Twitter, on everything since I was a little girl and it really got to me in my preteen years.”

Yet, thanks to a particularly helpful role model, things got better as the now 18-year-old grew up. “I was surrounded by people like Sofia Vergara who were curvier like me that were proud of it,” she says. “They were showing it off and it really helped me to move forward and be proud of my body.” Because of these powerful figures, Winter finally said to herself, “This is who I am. There is no way I’m changing and I should learn to love and accept it.’ I’m really happy I did that because I wouldn’t want to change myself in any other way.”

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