It was my DSLR-selfies-in-my-high-school-bedroom era. My index-finger-ballpoint-pen-mustache-tattoo era. My hashtag era.
It was 2010, and I was wearing circle skirts and polka-dot tights with "acid-washed" band tees cut into crop tops. I had successfully hunted down a pair of sold-out Jeffrey Campbell Lita platform boots and wore them everywhere despite suffering a sprained ankle. I even fell for an internet scam over $12 studded denim cutoffs because I wanted them so badly but my local mall was selling only low-rise Bermuda shorts. Anything to be the epitome of fashion-of ~Tumblr fashion~.
I rabidly thirsted for the very specific aesthetic, something I'd spend the next decade making fun of myself for. But now that said look is once again in (see: Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly, Kravis, the grungecore-meets-Jess-from-New-Girl vibes all over your feeds), I've realized something: I may have been cringe, but at least I was free.
In my small Tennessee town, where a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Cheesecake Factory was exciting news, I saw Tumblr as my window to life outside of the suburbs. I stared at GIFs of British TV dramas, read One Direction fan fiction, and kept up with trendy internet fashion that had yet to make it to my hometown (if it ever would-I can't stress the Bermuda shorts problem enough). My classmates would praise me for being a "trendsetter" and I would accept the compliment, all the while keeping the secret that I was actually behind on style compared to the big bloggers out there.
This story is from the Issue 03, 2022 edition of Cosmopolitan.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue 03, 2022 edition of Cosmopolitan.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
sabrina carpenter
The singer, actor, and miniskirt enthusiast just wants to chat.
Y'all Better Not Be Sleeping on Canada
It’s so much more than Niagara Falls, okay? And it’s literally right there points up*) waiting for you and your next epic vacation.
We Need to Talk About Secondary Infertility
With reproductive medicine under political attack, this long-overdue conversation is more necessary than ever.
Young Love ON THE Streets OF Mexico City
OUR COUPLE SPOTTING SERIES HEADS SOUTH TO BRING YOU MORE DELIGHTFUL PAIRINGS.
Is Speed Dating...Back?
Hear us out: one outfit, one makeup application, multiple dates.
You're About to See Vacation Everywhere
Sunscreen. But, like, fun.
LOOKING FOR TONI LANE
She was crypto's It Girl, the young woman onstage at the conferences hyping blockchain as a way to radically reshape an unjust world. The young woman at the industry parties schmoozing with wealthy venture capitalists to get them on board. The young woman at the spiritual retreats seeking endless ways to self-improve. People loved her. And then she disappeared. What happened to Toni Lane Casserly-and what does her tragic death reveal?
Higher Power
There will be no \"I just can't believe it!\" sentiments in this story. Twenty-two-year-old pop sensation Tyla isn't interested in being a wide-eyed ingenue-she always knew she'd get here.
COQUETTE
You know it. Tarot actor Avantika knows it. Having gotten a much-needed update, bows are absolutely inescapable right now. Here, we humbly suggest a few ways you can wear them without looking like everyone else.
What It's Really Like to Cut Off Your Parents
More and more young people have entered their family estrangement era, for better or worse. But mostly for better.