remember when all you needed for tumblr fame was an HD camera and an upper middle class suburban lifestyle? Back in my days when the “quality” aesthetic reigned supreme, posting a picture of a victoria’s secret bag or a bath and bodyworks candle was enough to gain tens of thousands of reblogs. so much simpler than all the hoops one must jump through to become an influencer these days. travel back in time with these photos from itstimetosmilee.tumblr.com
I’m fascinated by this tumblr aesthetic known as the “hipster/summer” aesthetic. Mostly because it is the least hipster thing ever—these are photos of popular teenage girls in bikinis and outfits purchased at forever21 in their local shopping mall—everyone knows the real hipsters thrifted everything they own, right down to their underwear. The photos of “hipsters” reblogged by these Tumblr users are derived from a suburban 12-year-old’s understanding of what a hipster was, which is “someone older and cooler than you who dresses in trendy clothes. (and I know because I was a suburban 12-year-old during this time).
By the year 2012, real hipsters were long dead, but their capitalist apparition still haunted the clothing stores of the mall before it too finally became a victim of the ever-changing trend cycles. To me, the hipster/summer girl is to hipsters what mall goths are to OG goths—posers who try, but don’t have the right kind of social capital to fit in with the scene. But in a way, it becomes its own scene, its own vibe, that’s just as aesthetically pleasing and nostalgic.
