Natalie Imbruglia wore army pants in the 'Torn' music video because she was “so body dysmorphic and insecure” back then.
The 47-year-old pop star has revealed she refused to wear a dress in the promo for her 1999 hit because she didn't want to show off her body shape.
She told The Independent: “The army pants weren’t even cool army pants – they weren’t in fashion or anything.
“My intention in wearing that was so that you couldn’t see my silhouette, because I didn’t want anyone to see. But it ended up that there was a power in that because it was like [seen as] androgyny cool. But it really came from a place of ‘thank god I don’t have to wear a dress!’”
The Australian-British star - who played Beth Brennan in soap opera 'Neighbours' - also had insecurities about her music career and got into a lot of debt pursuing her dream.
She recalled: “I couldn’t get a work permit and I couldn’t get jobs. “When I signed my record deal, my UK visa was about to run out and I owed two grand to my landlord.”
Opening up about where her impostor syndrome stemmed from, she said: “I had grown up as a stage-school kid – I was a trained performer.
“But in some ways, that felt a little bit cheesy compared to what I was trying to do [as an artist]. So I couldn’t kind of marry those things in my head. And you know, I was in debt and I’d been famous for being on this TV show.”
Natalie recently recalled how she lost some "confidence" after a difficult time when her fourth album 'Come To Life' - which she worked on with Coldplay's Chris Martin - flopped in Australia and saw its UK and US releases get cancelled, and she stepped away from the public eye.
She said earlier this year: “I think I wasn’t going through the best period of my career and I think I was feeling like I’m not good at something.
“It’s my confidence — whatever field you work in, I don’t think any amount of success means you’re never going to get insecure.
“So I just went through a period where I just felt like, 'I can’t do this. I’m not good at this'. And it went on for too long."
She returned with 'Male' - a collection of covers of songs by male artists - in 2015, but wouldn't record her own music for another three years.
Thankfully, a writing trip to Nashville helped her rediscover her self-confidence and pride in her music, which resulted in 2021 album 'Firebird'.
She added: "It wasn’t till I went to Nashville and did a writing trip that I overcame that [insecurity] because I just thought, 'Throw me in the deep end, give me 10 days and two sessions a day’.
“And I wrote this song called 'When You Love Too Much', and I thought, ‘I’m really proud of that. That’s a really good song’.
“And then it was great because to have your confidence back, when you haven’t had it, is the best gift. It’s nice to have that feeling and to have a really creative burst.”
Natalie kicks off 'The Left of the Middle' anniversary tour in Bristol, England tonight (10.10.22).
