The year was 2016, I was in the process of growing out a killer bob and had just discovered Twenty One Pilots – as far as I was aware I was the coolest person about.
And if my Grandma’s Facebook page is anything to go by, I was right.
Exhibit A:
What was apparently trending at the time, according to various famous figures, is a little different to what was trending for me. Here is a conclusive list of the biggest things in my ten year old life in 2016:
Twenty-one pilots:
Off to a killer start with my Twenty-One Pilots obsession. Their album Blurryface had come out the year prior, and I ever so kindly purchased it on CD as a Father’s Day gift.
My Dad and I almost exclusively listened to this album in the car, leading to my knowing of the album front to back. The obsession became so deep that it even inspired some artwork I created as a Girl Guide:
And yes, I did know all the words to Heavydirtysoul, and believe that I probably could still recite them to this day.
Harry Potter:
Like most kids, I did go through a very intense Harry Potter phase. I read all of the books around this time (which is insane because you would not catch me reading a book that big today), and was obsessed with the films.
I was also lucky enough to go to Universal Studios in 2016, which was basically my met gala at the time.
I was obsessed with Hermione Granger. I wanted to be her so badly that I actually think it made me try harder in school. I even made my Mum buy me one of those replica wands you can get at Universal Studios.
And yes, I was ten, of course I waited for my Hogwarts letter to come in the post… and was very upset when it didn’t.
Patterned leggings and crop tops:
As a young girl I believed that the epitome of fashion was in the racks of New Look. 2016 is where we really hit our stride with a plethora of patterned crop tops and leggings.
It became almost a uniform for me, but then again it seemed to be a uniform for every young girl at the time.
This hat…for some reason:
In yet another image of the epitome of fashion in my ten-year-old brain, here is the hat I would literally wear almost every day. I believed it greatly elevated my coolness and street cred, despite the fact that it was clearly way too big for my head.
Being a ‘tomboy’:
As most girls do at some stage or another, I most certainly went through a tomboy phase. 2016 was a year of rejecting anything ‘feminine’. I was insistent that I did not like pink, or glitter, or God forbid, One Direction. I did, however, enjoy dressing almost exclusively in sports gear, wrestling, and generally trying to upset my family with my manners and attitude.
As you get older it’s nice to realise that these things can co-exist.
