Complicated singer Avril Lavigne has hit out at critics who have disparaged her new glamorous look, insisting it's all part of her growing up.
The Canadian-born singer burst onto the music scene when she was 17 years old, and made a name for herself with her tomboy looks and edgy attitude.
She explains: "I used to come across as really tough, because that's who I was. When I was in high school I was always hanging out with the guys, getting drunk, smoking, getting in fights, playing hockey.
"My band were all guys, so I was only around guys, but when I got older I started being more of a chick."
The 21-year-old appeared on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in February, trading in her cargo pants for a floor-sweeping Giorgio Armani dress and champagne-blonde highlights, causing some critics to label her a "sell-out".
Lavigne hits back saying: "It's annoying. I dyed my hair a year and a half ago. But now everyone's like: 'Oh, she has this new look!' It wasn't overnight at all.
"I broke out on the scene looking like the 17-year-old that I was. And from then to now I look really different - but that's called growing up."