Social media has collectors and lovers of all things Snoopy and Hello Kitty sharing their latest nds and connecting over the importance the characters had on their childhood. One search on TikTok of either character yields an endless list of Gen Zers and Millennials “Snoopy Hunting” and “Hello Kitty Hunting” at their local Homegoods and TJ Maxxes. These treasure hunters share their journey in buying and nding every item that has been Snoopy-i ed and Hello Kitty-i ed— blankets, mugs, PJ sets, cookie jars, plushies, clocks, you name it, and there’s probably a Snoopy or Hello Kitty version of it out there. It is the bittersweet pain of nostalgia, as well as the relatability in sharing childhood memories with others online, that has led to the repopulation of old characters. The existential dread that we all experience has us returning to the characters, games, and toys that made our childhood truly special. We get farther away from our younger selves as we age, and reconnecting to our childhood favorites allows us to satiate our inner kid. By doing this, we reject the traditional boring ‘adult’ ideals, and now we can nd dinnerware with Hello Kitty on it.
by Annabelle Hochberg
childhood—Snoopy and Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty and Snoopy have been at the forefront of American culture since their creation–and rightfully so. Even now, If you walk into any TJ Maxx, American Eagle, Forever 21, or any retail store, you run the risk of being bombarded with an overwhelming amount of Snoopy and Hello Kitty merchandise. During my childhood, the two ran a monopoly on marketable kid’s characters, and they are dominating the market again, this time appealing to an older generation (the same generation they started with…us!). But it raises the question: What happened to make us former kids obsessed again?
ModeledbyRachelServido andCiaraShore
Photography
Layout by Haniyyah Usmani, edited by Harmonie Chang
Stylingby Ciara Shore and Kate Dowd
TO TIK-TOKERS FROM YOUTUBERS
By: Kelly Cimaglia
The in uencer industry of 2024 has taken the world by storm. Filming, editing, and uploading videos of whatever you want is easier than ever. It’s also never been easier to grow a following, become famous, and ultimately quit your day job to pursue content creation. We’ve seen this rsthand with TikTokers like Jake Shane, Halley Kate, and Alix Earle. While they’re entertaining, creative, and relatable, it doesn’t take much effort to do what they do.
Let’s not forget those who have paved the way for current day in uencers – our beloved, nostalgic 2010s YouTubers. Many of you, including myself, grew up watching YouTube. Bethany Mota, mylifeaseva, Michelle Phan, and RclBeauty101 are the rst to come to mind when considering early YouTubers, whom I would watch for hours on end after coming home from elementary and middle school. From their DIY tutorials, morning routines, makeup tutorials, and life hack videos – these online personalities garnered millions of subscribers and consistent views. With the collective switch from long-form to short-form content in recent years, the “in uencer torch” has been passed.
Thanks to TikTok, the in uencer industry has since changed drastically. In the past, it took our former favorite YouTubers several hours to create their weekly videos. Now, Jake Shane records a ten-second video of himself reciting a shower thought about a Taylor Swift lyric, and it goes viral. While I love both old and current online personalities, it’s safe to say that expectations regarding the effort they put in have dramatically shifted.
Title: From YouTubers to TikTokers
Author: Kelly Cimaglia
Illustrator: N/A
Photographer: Stephanie Lane
Models: Kenya Edwards, Jenna Amorim
Stylist: Lauren Ciccarelli
Makeup Artist: Grace Sigismondi
Written by Caroline Abella
I Saw the TV Glow (2024), written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, centers around two teenagers in the 90’s, Maddy and Owen, and their deep connection to the TV show The Pink Opaque
The Pink Opaque would air on the Young Adult Network and was about the adventures of two teenagers who had a psychic connection and needed to defeat a different monster in each week’s episode. When discussing the show with Owen, Maddy described the show as “too scary and the mythologies being way too complicated for most kids.” The plot of The Pink Opaque becomes more intense and frightening in nature as the seasons progressed, and the overarching villain, Mr. Melancholy, sends monsters to try and trap the main characters in the Midnight Realm. The Pink Opaque is shown on numerous
occasions throughout the film, and has the typical cheesy feel of many 90’s kids shows of the time but with a very surreal and terrifying feel. Schoenbrun had told the production designer that they wanted feel like the memory of watching a 90’s show.
The Pink Opaque Owen’s lives throughout high school, though after a major time jump, the nostalgia’s roots to the TV show become much more dire and sinister. We are hit in the face with the acknowledgement that our memories may not hold up so accurately to reality, and when we must face the truth, it can make us question everything that we’ve built ourselves up to believe for most of our lives. Was our time well spent, and how much of ourselves do we project onto the media that we feel so passionately about?
Stylist:
We Are the Pink Opaque
Photographer: Gina Slavin
Model: Lauren Larsen
Kate Dowd
Makeup Artist: Caroline Abella
Layout: Genevieve Vanston
If 2000s media has struggled deeply with something, it’s showing healthy representation of queer women. Few movies successfully portray them free from the male gaze. Luckily, out of the rough emerged D.E.B.S. (2005), a campy queer spy movie featuring actresses such as Jordana Brewster and Devon Aoki. Written and directed by Angela Robinson, this comedy follows a group of teenage girls recruited as spies by the U.S. government for their ability to lie, cheat, and fight. They attend D.E.B.S. Academy, where they’re assigned to go on missions to help save the world. The girls are assigned to go on their most important mission yet— taking down notorious villain Lucy Diamond, one of the most dangerous villains in the world. However, chaos ensues when Amy, the academy’s top recruit, starts to fall for Lucy.
straight couple and treats them as a real relationship. This movie doesn’t oversexualize the two either which highlights how this is a positive relationship, and moreover, the movie treats Amy and Lucy’s relationship as a legitimate one—in the same cadence of the other straight couples.
DEBS
Positive Queer Representation in 2000s Movies
Written By Charlotte Terry
D.E.B.S. depicts Amy and Lucy’s relationship like any other
D.E.B.S is femaledirected, which distances the male gaze from behind the camera and ensures their relationship isn’t treated as a marketing ploy for a teenage male audience (A good example of the opposite would be Needy and Jennifer, from Jennifer’s Body (2009)). It’s critical to have good queer representation in the media to promote acceptance and help the LGBTQ+ community.
Photography by Annabelle Hochberg Styling by Baba Sogbetun
Modeled by Kathryn Labagh and Audrey Hoffman
Layout by Harmonie Chang
According to Dewey Finn, we have the responsibility to stick it to e Man. Finn, the main character in the 2003 lm, School of Rock, is an imposter substitute teacher with a goal to teach rock music instead of math at an overly prestigious school, challenging the norms of being an educator. As a child, listening to the nontraditional lessons from Dewey Finn made me excited about all the fun awaiting me in the classroom.
Entering high school with School of Rock in mind, I was de nitely disappointed that my school did not actually have teachers like Dewey Finn who wanted to disregard math and science for rock ‘n’ roll. Being in a classroom lled with laptop screens and TV projectors with recycled PowerPoint slides made it di cult to really enjoy school. With an increase of stress on our generation regarding academics, college, and careers, it feels like most of us have forgotten that school is supposed to be the place where we can become better people.
As we experience our formative years in college, we have that chance to try again by viewing our education through a di erent lens. Today’s cultural and political climate should be making us question the status-quo and be uncomfortable. Education is an opportunity for us to learn about the sciences and humanities, but most importantly, it’s the perfect time for us to learn about e Man and how we can...
Author: Makena Monaco
Status Quo Get Schooled Stick it to him.
Layout: Sophia Rivera-Korver
Photographer: Wesley Scott
Models: Makena Monaco, Victoria Pérez-Huerta, J Huxtable
As I watch the most fashion-wise mugger of all time rob Carrie Bradshaw of her Manolo Blanhik’s on a street corner, I couldn’t help but wonder: is this what I really have to look forward to in my twenties?
e messy, bold and tenacious leading Sex and the City ladies of the early 2000’s are raising a whole new generation of twenty-somethings. anks to streaming services, Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbes, are not just iconic names in pop culture history, but people that are living and learning alongside us. We look to them for guidance and they have us re ecting on our own experiences and even questioning our actions– for better or for worse.
As a 21 year old, I nd myself gravitating towards Sex and the City because it doesn’t shy away from the unglamorous parts of navigating relationships, careers, sex, and friendships as a young adult. Despite nd myself longing for their glitzy invite-only parties at the most exclusive clubs, Saturday morning brunches where they debrief the previous night’s adventures and their absurd shopping trips (columnists do not make enough money to
However, at the core of each episode is their unshakable friendship that keeps each oat. Carrie’s boundless love, Samantha’s instinctive protectiveness, Charlotte’s refreshing optimism, and Miranda’s brutal honesty all complement each ey will always be there to bail eachother out of a terrible date and hold each other’s hand through some of their
Even though their friendships aren’t perfect, no man could
ever get in between Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha because they are forgiving of each other. In true TV fashion, each episode usually ends with the women calling each other and making up a er their ght. In reality, friendships cannot be packed into 20 minute episodes and they take much more time and care than we see on screen. Nonetheless, being down and get back up again with the support from their friends, excites me for my future. As I am approaching a time when my friends may no longer be at my ngertips, the ladies of Sex and the City show how important these friendships are and that we must care for them, even more so than our relationships. And just like that, these imperfect women have made me feel a little more eager for my own tumultuous twenties.
I Couldn’t Help But Wonder, , How Will I Get Through My Twenties?
From Splurging to Sustainability: H Se x and the City Fueled a Culture of Mat ial Exc s
Models:ChelseaDeLalla,SarahZampino, CamilleRivas
Writtenby:ChelseaDeLalla
Carrie Bradshaw, the fashionforward icon of Sex and the City, reigned as the “It Girl” of the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Over six seasons, she turned Manhattan’s streets into her personal runway, e ortlessly aunting her signature Jimmy Choos, Manolo Blahniks, and Christian Louboutins. But behind the dazzling out ts lies a deeper question: did Carrie’s glamorous persona fuel the consumerist frenzy that came to de ne the early 2000s?
In the era of y2k, consumerism surged, aided by easily accessible credit and the boom of e-commerce. Fast fashion took o , o ering trends at lightning speed but at the expense of sustainability and fair labor. Television glamorized this culture of excess and luxury, with shows like Gossip Girl, Friends, and, of course, SATC leading the charge.
Carrie embodied this unattainable dream. Despite scraping by on a modest columnist’s salary, she managed to live in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the U.S., as well as amass a $40,000 shoe collection. By romanticizing a lifestyle built on nancial fantasy, Carrie helped normalize the idea that luxury was within everyone’s reach, driving the surge in hyper-consumerism. is unrealistic portrayal of 30-something single life had realworld consequences, pushing viewers into personal debt and excessive consumption in pursuit of a fantasy that was never meant to be sustainable.
the 2021 reboot of SATC, which swapped out dazzling designer pieces for the charm of vintage nds. In this new chapter, 80% of the lead’s wardrobe features a carefully curated collection of second-hand treasures and beloved re-wears. ese looks not only pay homage to iconic out ts from the original series but also re ect the fashion industry’s growing focus on sustainability. As the characters strut the streets in these eco-conscious ensembles, there’s hope viewers will embrace a new fashion mantra: mindful consumerism.
Where curiosity meets style is MTV’s notorious series, My Crib, which gave viewers an insight into their favorite celebrities’ decked-out homes. The series is a time capsule into the stylistic choices of the 2000s and also a caricature of the teen room. Disney’s airing of Lizzie McGuire offered a more feasible look into teen rooms than the My Crib. Characteristic of the eclectic wave, her room features bright color combinations, contrasting patterns, and miscellaneous trinkets. Fun, wild, young, and youthful are the essence rooms in this era radiated. Trending rooms during this time reflected
Written by Sue Wari
the leisure boom of the 2000s; people were delving into exciting expressions in caricaturistic ways. These spaces served as personal sanctuaries, showcasing individuality and the burgeoning influence of digital culture. Here, we analyze the defining features of 2000s teen rooms through a peek into Lizzie McGuire’s
Blinded by color, Lizzie’s room was characterized by vibrant, often clashing colors. Bright pinks, electric blues, and neon greens dominated, coupled with graphic prints and whimsical patterns. Popular themes included pop culture icons such as Britney Spears and boy bands, reflected in posters, bedspreads, and wall decals. This eclectic style allowed for personal expression and rebellion against traditional design norms.
The 2000s also saw the rise of technology as a central element in teen rooms. The proliferation of personal computers, gaming consoles, and smartphones
space. Lizzie’s desk is cluttered with gadgets, while entertainment centers showcased large TVs and gaming systems. Wall-mounted shelves displayed CDs, DVDs, and video games, illustrating the importance of media in shaping identity and social connections.
Like other teens, Lizzie embraced DIY projects, using craft supplies to create personalized wall art and handmade décor. This enhanced the uniqueness of each room and allowed for creative expression. Additionally, teens often incorporated mementos from friendships, such as signed posters and concert tickets, further personalizing their spaces. These ideas sustain her photo collage with handmade butterflies, pictures of friends, memorable letters, stickers, and gems .
The architecture of 2000s teen rooms reflects a period of dynamic change, marked by bold aesthetics, technological advancements, and a strong emphasis on individuality. These spaces were not just physical environments but reflections of a generation’s identities and experiences, making them a fascinating subject of study in design and cultural history. As we move further into the digital age, the evolution of teen spaces continues to be shaped by emerging technologies, like our beloved TV shows, and shifting cultural norms.
Photography by Lucy Gile
Modeled by Niamh Cogley
Layout by Niamh
A Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl Like Me!
Written By Liz Lemieux
Since watching the rise to fame of the Midwestern princess Chappell Roan, there is only one icon I could possibly compare her to: Lady Gaga. The cover stories released this autumn of Roan in Rolling Stone and Gaga in Vogue bear the resemblances of two women who are known for their eccentric individuality. These bold personalities have been displayed in the form of elaborate outfts and makeup that add layers to memorable looks and performances, and in lyrics that refect the experience and struggles of love, gender, and sexuality. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Lady Gaga personifed the meaning of camp–ironic and exaggerated elements in fashion–within the music industry, leaping from inspirations like Madonna and Elton John in order to create an entirely new “little monster.” While it was dificult for some audiences to understand the grungy, absurdist, and occasionally scary styles of Gaga’s performances and music videos, our generation has come to appreciate her attitude in promoting individuality and diferent ideas of what expression and sexuality may look like. Now, amidst the discovery of Chappell Roan, fans fell in love with her similar elements of drag and maximalism incorporated into concert ensembles and red carpet appearances.
Though Roan released music for years before gaining popularity, her career refections encourage audiences to commit to their dreams and aspirations, much like the messages seen in Lady Gaga’s lyrics and words from interviews on her years of projects. While Gaga discussed her struggles with fame later in her career, Roan has recently released statements
towards crazed fans, attempting to set boundaries and expectations as a young woman in a giant spotlight. The two have faced criticism–as many women in the music industry do–for speaking up and simply being themselves, but both continue to act as positive role models. I am excited to watch Chappell Roan’s success and acceptance in the music industry, while feeling nostalgic for my childhood spent with Lady Gaga; these icons will continue to inspire generations of super graphic ultra modern girls like me.
