Avril Annoyed At Critics Of Image Change

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 a little s**t, 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 (06), 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."