Taraji P. Henson, Alicia Silverstone, Julianne Moore, Helen Mirren and more female stars over the age of 40 who’ve posed nude are redefining conventional standards for what sexy looks like and we’re so grateful.
Thanks to women who choose to bare it all, nude photos are not nearly so scandalous or rare as they used to be. And yet — we’re a long way away from women being able to rejoice in their naked bodies without judgment. Regardless of their age, women who pose nude are either criticized as promiscuous and attention-seeking or shamed outright and told to cover up, to show some decency.
Luckily, our current crop of celebs have been fighting back hard against the idea that you should have to look one specific way in order to feel good about showing off your body.
Paulina Porizkova, for example, frequently speaks out on Instagram about navigating her changing appearance as a former supermodel in her 50s. She has posed nude countless times to prove how much beauty she has to offer in this iteration of herself, and to share commentary on how we’ve treated nudity in media for so long.
“I post bikini and nude photos because I finally feel good in my skin,” she wrote below a November 2021 post. “I don’t do this for compliments or likes. (Although they are very nice indeed). I’m doing it because you see thousands of images of younger women in the same situations. That’s what you’re used to seeing. No one tells them to put their clothes on. By what standard is it ok to ogle a nude teen, but not a mature woman?”
Porizkova’s logic makes perfect sense to us: a society that encourages teenagers to sexualize themselves while denying women in their 50s the same right is not a world we want to continue to live in, on either end of the spectrum.
Porizkova is just the tip of the iceberg — read on for more women who posed nude over the age of 40.
Alicia Silverstone
At 48, Alicia Silverstone bared it all for a good cause in January 2025 in a PETA campaign against using sheep wool in clothing.
This isn’t the first time the longtime animal rights activist has stripped down. She also posed nude in 2022. “I never, ever, get naked in TV, in film, nothin’, never, nope — but I’ve done it for PETA because that’s how much it matters to me,” she said in the campaign’s behind the scenes video. She added, “I’d rather go naked than wear animals.”
Taraji P. Henson
Like Alicia Silverstone, Taraji P. Henson feels strongly about animal cruelty, and she put her fabulous figure to use for that cause, posing for a naked PETA campaign (see here via Essence) at age 41 with the slogan “Fur? I’d rather go naked.”
Lisa Rinna
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Lisa Rinna celebrated being 60 with a daring nude in a January 2024 photoshoot, baring it all in Cosmopolitan’s Sex After 60 issue. In the shoot, Rinna posed topless and in a totally sheer catsuit and looked amazing while doing it.
Naomi Campbell
As a model, Naomi Campbell often has to strip down for camera and did just that in a 2020 Valentino campaign in which she posed with nothing but a handbag on the New York City subway.
In 2023, this time age 53, she posed nude and covered in spikes for an Alexander Wang campaign.
Sofía Vergara
In 2017, Sofía Vergara appeared completely nude on the cover of Women’s Health when she was 45!
“Here’s a woman, 45, being able to show her body,” Vergara said in the cover story. “It’s not like before, when it was just young girls who would make the cover of a magazine.”
Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Hurley took showing off her stunning figure to a whole new level in February 2023 with a special Valentine’s Day picture of her posing completely nude in bed. “Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️❤️❤️❤️💗💗💗💗,” she wrote in the caption. We love to see it!
Kourtney Kardashian
In 2023, at age 44, Kourtney Kardashian posed topless with only her husband, Travis Barker, covering her in a stunning pregnancy photoshoot before the birth of their son.
Madonna
In May 2022, at age 63, Madonna announced she was releasing a line of graphic NFTs of her naked body called “Mother of Creation,” in which one sees, among other things, a full-frontal view of her vagina giving birth. As for non-virtual posing, Madonna is known for posting frequent lingerie and topless shots on her Instagram as well, even briefly earning her an Instagram Live ban this past spring for failing to follow community guidelines.
Helen Mirren
In 2010, a 64-year-old Helen Mirren posed nude for New York Magazine in a bathtub photoshoot.
Jessica Simpson
At age 41, mama of 3 Jessica Simpson posted a super sultry — and fully nude — Instagram photo that shows her lounging in deck chair, covered up only by a cowboy hat and daisy-rimmed sunglasses.
Mel B
Mel B, AKA Scary Spice, posed for a nude Instagram post in 2016, at age 41, showing off her stunning figure and goofy personality in a quick shower video that left little to the imagination.
Paulina Porizkova
Paulina Porizkova has spoken extensively about what it feels like to age in the public eye after her long modeling career, and one of the ways she processes dealing with her changing appearance is by posting photos that celebrate her current appearance, in all its glory, onto Instagram. In the summer of 2021, at age 56, she posed for the cover of LA Mag fully nude too, and later shared an unretouched version of the nude cover on her Instagram.
Britney Spears
At 41, Britney Spears had a new lease of life after the end of her conservatorship and celebrated her freedom with some freeing Instagram posts. In Oct. 2021, she posted a series naked photos of herself and showing off just how good 41 looked on her.
Jennifer Lopez
J.Lo in her 50s is even more powerful than we could have imagined! In 2022, she launched new product lines is J.Lo Body with a fully nude ad campaign which dropped on her 53rd birthday.
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston has always been living proof that you can, in fact, get better-looking every year — and her 2008 GQ cover wearing nothing but a tie at age 40 was just one more bit of evidence (see here via Time).
Nia Long
In 2011, 40-year-old Nia Long posed both naked and pregnant on the cover of Ebony magazine (see here via HuffPostUK), showing off her beautiful pregnancy glow and defying expectations about timelines for both pregnancy and posing for sexy nude photos. “I think if we’d just take our time as women, and do what comes natural to us and for us, we would make fewer mistakes,” she told Ebony at the time. Amen!
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore has since debunked that she was 100% naked on set for these photos, but in 2010, Bulgari released a seriously sexy ad campaign featuring 49-year-old Moore draped in (what appears to be!) handbags, lion cubs, and nothing else (see here via Racked).
Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers celebrated her 73rd birthday back in 2019 just as she should: releasing a new naked photo to Instagram that shocked and delighted her fans.
Stephanie Seymour
Supermodel Stephanie Seymour posed alongside Claudia Schiffer for Vogue Italia in 2019, and one very risqué snapshot of Seymour shows her wearing only a low-slung belt and high heels.
Helena Christensen
At age 51, Helena Christensen dipped her toe back into nude modeling with a gorgeous 2020 Harper’s Bazaar shoot that shows her modeling swimwear, draped in wet cloth, and swimming entirely naked.
Mariah Carey
At age 41, in 2011, Mariah Carey posed nude on the cover of Life & Style (see here via Billboard) showing off her baby bump just a few weeks before giving birth to twins Moroccan and Monroe, whom she shares with ex Nick Cannon.
Leave a Comment