DISCLAIMER: I may not be “bringing them back” as maybe they never left in the first place. I wouldn’t know. I didn’t realize that all these 2014 Tumblr things were out of fashion until it hit me that it’s been 10 years and I’m still wearing my Joy Division shirt, choker necklace and Doc Martens outfit to go on a date.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the best year ever—2014, if you’re a former Tumblr girl like me—I decided to dive into my blog’s archived posts and try to remember those things that maybe at the time meant nothing, but today are considered nostalgic. And what did I find? An absurdly large number of posts (why was I hitting the post limit daily???), trends I forgot completely (mermaids? What?), my posts with ZERO notes (I dyed my hair purple and got 0 reblogs, I wanted to die), and many, many gifs and screencaps of TFIOS (The Fault In Our Stars, for those who may be too young).
Anyway, here is my list of things I intend to bring back, in no particular order.
14. Iced drinks in bell jars
Everyone these days wants to be a Stanley Cup girlie, an Owala girlie, or a Hydroflask girlie. The real question is: what happened to the Bell Jar girlies? (Unrelated to Sylvia Plath’s homonym work). Ah, I can still remember when I ghostwrote an essay for English class in high school and got paid with an iced chai latte in a bell jar. Good times indeed.
13. Black chipped nails
Of course, my nails were black and chipped. Of course, I painted them with a Sharpie. No, you cannot convince me that this is not the epitome of aesthetics. And yes I posted a picture of my chipped nails and I got zero notes. (What else was I expecting? 😭)
12. Holographic everything
The peak of fashion was the holographic trend: I had a holographic makeup bag from Forever 21, a pair of holographic stilettos I never used (for sale, holographic stilettos, never worn 😔), and a holographic background in my iPhone 5 ( yes, with a Marina and the Diamonds quote on it). I wish I could find more pictures of my items, but I only have reblogs of the things I aspired to own.
10. Grid and quote in Arial font
Self-explanatory, though I would like to add: that these images went hard when used as a lock screen on an iPhone with a broken screen.
9. Pastel goth
If I dress pastel goth today, I believe it would be misinterpreted as a dark coquette. Make no mistake, if you see me wearing pink bows and a bat-shaped purse, that’s not me trying to fit in with the new trends, it’s me yearning for the past.
8. Transparent items
I had a transparent backpack in high school—what did I have to hide, anyway? I didn’t smoke, I didn’t have cigarettes with me, not even as a metaphor. Once a guy I liked asked me: “Why is your backpack invisible?”. I responded: “It’s not invisible, it’s transparent”. He never talked to me again.
7. Circular skirts with a t-shirt
I loved the versatility of a circular skirt (also known as a skater skirt, if you’re a bit cooler) and a t-shirt with a cool print (anything from a band name to a punk Disney princess). It made me feel alive.
6. The Fault In Our Stars philosophy
From putting the killing thing right between your teeth but never giving it the power to kill you, to “the world is not a wish-granting machine”, TFIOS made me think I was an intellectual for comprehending such complex and intricate philosophical concepts 🚬🗿. It was literature, it was cinema, it was everything.
5. Lorde
My 2013 Christmas present was a book (TFIOS, obviously) and a CD: Pure Heroine, by Lorde.
To say that it turned me the way I am is an understatement, as every time I get scared by the passing of time, I remember this queen’s quote: “It feels so scary getting old”. Right? Right?
4. Electra Heart
Speaking of queens—Marina and the Diamonds deserves a Nobel prize for her permanent contributions to teenage girls. Although she now goes by MARINA only (what happened to the Diamonds?? I thought we were the diamonds), in my heart I will always remember her with a heart on her cheek, 4 archetypes, and 12 music videos I’d watch practically every day after school. Electra Heart, you will never be forgotten. (I genuinely believe all my love relationships fail because I may be a little bit too much like Electra).
3. British Fanatism
I don’t know how this was for British people, but from the other side of the world, I can assure you we all wanted to be British at that time. Tumblr was full of Doctor Who, One Direction, Sherlock, Marina and the Diamonds, Charli XCX, and Ed Sheeran… it was everything we ever wanted.
2. That Grandma who smoked weed and wore SHOPJEEN clothes and accessories
Okay, I did a little research, and I’m glad to say she’s still alive and posting! But she’s no longer on that SHOPJEEN aesthetic, there’s not much I can do about that.
- Logan Lerman
What can I say? I’m a simple girl: I watched Fury for Logan Lerman, I said I liked Percy Jackson but never read the books, and my most watched film for years was The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I loved being in love with Logan Lerman.