Ariel Winter is proud of her breast reduction scars, which is why she purposefully chose to show them off in her stunning black strapless Romona Keveza gown at the 2016 SAG Awards.
Following the award show on Saturday, the "Modern Family" star, who just turned 18 on Thursday, took to Twitter to defend herself after people quickly noticed that her scars were showing.
"Guys there is a reason I didn't make an effort to cover up my scars! They are a part of me and I'm not ashamed of them at all," she wrote on Twitter, adding, "Thank you all so much for the support, kind words and happy birthdays!"
Earlier today, she also took to Instagram to share a body positive message to all her followers with a Marc Jacobs quote that reads, "I always find beauty in things that are odd & imperfect - they are much more interesting."
"Embrace all that you are," she captioned the shot. "Scars & everything. Your imperfections make you perfectly you. #loveyourself."
Winter underwent breast reduction surgery in June 2015 after she could no longer deal with her uncomfortable 32F's any longer, as HNGN previously reported. Not only were they too large for her petite 5-foot-1-inch frame and giving her seriously painful back problems, but she never felt comfortable in anything that she wore on the red carpet.
"I definitely seemed confident; I'm an actress, that's what we do," she said at the time. "But on the inside, I wasn't feeling so happy...It's hard when you're a teenage girl and you already have a lot of ridicule and then you pile on more, and it's kind of...it gets too much. We live in a day where everything you do is ridiculed. The Internet bullies are awful. I could post a photo where I feel good, and 500 people will comment about how fat I am, and that I am disgusting."
Following the surgery, she was in such a happy place and feeling so much better about her body, and ever since, she's been able to really wear the things she's always wanted to wear and feel comfortable doing so.
Picking out her gorgeously detailed SAG Awards dress wasn't easy, and after trying on about 20 dresses, she ended up choosing one of the first one's she tried on.
"I really just try on all of the dresses and go for whatever I feel good in. The dress is so great and so fun for tonight," she told Teen Vogue while getting ready for the big event. "The dress is pretty self-explanatory, it's pretty cool and it fits my body right. Being a curvaceous girl, it's really important that I find a dress that compliments my body."
A photo posted by Ariel Winter (@arielwinter) on Feb 2, 2016 at 7:55am PST
