flickr finds: olivia bee, 2009-2010

It's high time I shared some Olivia Bee photos on here, right?  I think anyone who's ever used pinterest or tumblr will recognize her work.  For the uninitiated, Olivia became flickr royalty when she was in middle school after she accidentally signed up for a darkroom class and started posting her original photography to the photo-sharing site.  Soon, she began garnering attention from magazines and brands, most noticeably Converse, who took her under their wing as part of a mentorship program.  Olivia was a regular contributor to Rookie, has had her work shown in galleries, and has collabed with brands like Adidas and Fiat.  Nowadays she's still living in the PNW, still working as a photographer, and has a farm. 

Truly, there are so many gems in her photostream, and her talent at such a tender age is mind-boggling.  She has such a sweet, wide-eyed way of capturing the innocence of youth, almost as if she knew how quickly it was slipping through her fingertips, and how precious it was to preserve.  Nowadays, it's the norm for kids to have their own cameras and smartphones, but there's something about Olivia's eye that just stands out from the rest.  Looking at her photos gives me that bittersweet pang of nostalgia for things  I did and didn't experience in my adolescence, and I hope she knows how loved her early photography continues to be:

How Big Was An iPhone in 2007?

I can't help but miss the original iPhone of 2007.  It seems that with every launch, Apple makes it bigger and more awkward to hold, which is extremely annoying as a grown adult with baby-sized hands.  These photos from Geeksugar retrieved from the almighty web archive show the OG iPhone's size in comparison with everyday objects—an orange. and iPod, a TV remote, a Blackberry Pearl, and Motorola Razr—assuring readers that "it's slightly larger than the RAZR and Blackberry, but it's also thinner."  Imagine that.

shelley mulshine appreciation

Shelley Mulshine will always be one of my favorite fashion creators/digital it-girls of the late '00s and early '10s.  While her internet presence is more or less nonexistent these days, it's impossible to scroll through old tumblrs and blogspots without spotting her signature smokey eye makeup and blunt-cut, bleached blonde hair, which strived to emulate every day since middle school.  Sadly, many of her early outfit posts have been lost to the sands of time—both lookbook and chictopia, the sites where she public the majority of her looks, have now gone defunct—you can still recover some photos from her old personal blog and the web archive.  Get some style inspiration below:

'cause baby I was born to be brave

On this day in 2011, Lady Gaga put out her third (and imo her best) studio album, Born This Way.  To say this era was anything less than a cultural reset would be an understatement.  Gaga literally changed everything overnight with her pop-perfect anthems that celebrated loving yourself, being who you are, and overcoming your insecurities, and all of the songs of this album hold up even though they were made over a decade ago.  I think Born This Way perfectly encapsulates the optimism of the start of the 2010s, before we saw how ugly the internet could truly become and how bad politics were going to get later on in the decade.  With the death of monoculture, it's hard that this album would make the same impact on today's society—it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime cultural event that you just kinda had to be there for. 

The Age of Innocence: A Sofia Coppola-inspired Lookbook by Masha Mel

This dreamy editorial was put together by photographer Masha Mel, who cites her main reference point as Sofia Coppola on her blog: “Being always inspired by Sofia Coppola films, i decided to do story about the innocence of age. In this shoot I wanted to show the wonderful mood and melancholic atmosphere which are shown in her films.”  The result is a series of photos that are hazy, vibrant, and romantic all at once.  The Lisbon sisters would have definitely approved:

2010 outfits from aclotheshorse.co.uk

While many fashion content creators from the blogging heyday have fallen to the wayside due to internet scandals, public breakdowns, and changing algorithms, AClothesHorse remains one of the most popular (and unproblematic) bloggers.  Originally starting her blog to share her love of fashion and document her vintage-inspired outfits, Rebecca pivoted to focus on storybook style and slow living in her beautiful home in Ireland over the past decade, and her following is as big as ever.  Still, she's kept her witty approach to fashion and keen eye for photography that set her apart from other early fashion bloggers.  Some of her outfits look a little dated (she was a big fan of 2010s twee staples like heeled oxford and '60s-inspired dresses), but I don't think it's a bad thing for your style to represent the era you're existing in (and I hope she isn't embarrassed when she looks back on these photos).  These were killer looks in the 2010s, and I think she does a great job of embracing the trends of the time while working them into her personal style, which to me is the mark of a good fashion blogger.  See for yourself below: 

 

party like it's 2009: photos by Providermag

Like many blogs that popped up in the mid-noughties, Providermag was dedicated to capturing the latest trends in streetwear, fashion, and culture.  To be honest, I don't care that much about streetwear, but I do care a lot about electronic music, which is how I initially came across their flickr photostream that's packed with photos from hip clubs in Rome, featuring the likes of Justice, Busy P, Mr. Oizo, Uffie, and Soulwax.  

Providermag shuttered in 2012, but fortunately, they forgot to delete their flickr which is an absolute blast to look through.  I love seeing people decked out in trendy 2009 outfits (hello nerd glasses and graphic tees), and the facial expressions of partygoers as they live their best life, immersed totally in the moment.  I'm not a complete social media hater by any stretch, but there's something to be said about being able to party fully without any worry about embarrassing yourself online or fucking up your digital footprint.  Take a look below:

☹ shut up peasant ☹ a collection of sassy kawaii posts from tumblr

When people say that tumblr was the wild west in its heyday, this part of what they are talking about.  Cute, kawaii-inspired graphics telling viewers to shut up, fuck off, and/or drink bleach created teenage girls going through their "edgy humor" phase absolutely ruled the site.  Nowadays, you can't post this stuff without getting immediately zapped by an algorithm, but back then, no such restrictions applied.  In fact, the bitchier and more offensive you were, the better.  These types of posts absolutely gave me a massive superiority complex at the age of 14 and probably made me a little too comfortable with insulting people to be funny without realizing I was being a dick.  But, hey, you can only be so good of a person when you're going through middle school: 

exploring blog archives: kittyhell.com

Kittyhell.com was a blog created by a man at his wit's end.  His story goes that his wife started an online store where she sold Hello Kitty items, which turned into a full-on hoarder-level obsession that completely overran his house with Hello Kitty-themed knickknacks.  To vent his pent-up frustrations from being forced to endure cuteness overload daily, he started Kittyhell to document the weird and wonderful Hello Kitty-themed gadgets one can find online, not limited to septic tanks, chainsaws, and “shoulder” massagers.  For some reasons, his post stopped in 2015, and I hope to god it’s because his wife left him for someone who didn’t refer to Hello Kitty as an “evil feline” and supported her hobby.  

flickr finds: Jared Brown breezyallday 2009-2011

Happy flickr friday!  Enjoy these snaps from Jared Brown that had all the OG grunge and disposable bloggers foaming at the mouth on tumblr: