1. What is that outfit I’m wearing?
The early 2000’s were not a universally flattering time when it came to fashion. So the first thing I usually notice flipping through old profile pictures is my clothes. Sometimes the clothes weren’t the right size, too big and baggy or too tight, and they definitely lacked the fashion sense that comes with time and age. Hopefully you saved a few of those bad fashion choices, though, because there sure will be ’00s throwback parties sooner or later.
2. Why did I ever date him?
This thought doesn’t need much of an explanation. With time comes closure, but when you actually flip back through those pictures and see the person who was once the “love of your life”… well, you’ll probably cringe a little. We live and we love and we learn, and today it’s easier to look back at romantic missteps with confidence that all things work out as they’re supposed to.
3. Did my eyebrows really look like that?
The guy version of this thought may be, “What’s going on with my facial hair?” But for the ladies, eyebrows today are the frame of the face–a work of art that takes thought and time, waxing, and plucking. The art of the eyebrow has developed only in recent years, though, so older pictures are often a little painful to look at. For the gentlemen who currently have facial hair, old pictures without it remind them of their old baby face looks.
4. Did I think that selfie actually looked good?
The “duck face,” the peace sign, the weird angle… Old selfies can be scary! Can you remember the days when we didn’t have front-facing cameras on our phones? No wonder some pictures turned out so bizarre, we had to balance a camera backwards in the air!
5. Where was that taken?
More often than not, the picture that makes you wonder, “Where was this even taken?” features you hold an alcoholic beverage… or two. During our heyday of craziness, we all liked to show off how frequently we went out to bars or parties. As we age, this pictures tend to fade away and be deleted or hidden. Let’s be real, our ability to party, though fun, is not the part of our character we want displayed first and foremost on our profile. Plus, with the expansion of social media, employers and future employers tend to look down on those sort of displays of craziness.
6. Why did I crop half my face out?
This one is inevitable. In the early days of Facebook and other forms of social media, we all had the tendency to crop confusingly. You’ll see an old picture that’s far too zoomed in, cropped right around the corners of your face–or one with an excess of blank background floating about your head. Facebook itself encouraged better use of the crop tool by implementing the square profile picture, and thankfully many people learned how to use it.
7. Wow! I’ve grown up.
Some people choose to delete old profile pictures–but I think they’re a great way to look back on how we’ve grown and changed. The good, the bad, the ugly. The poor fashion choices, the old boyfriends, the awkward selfies. They all serve to remind us that we’re all growing and changing, and that’s not a bad thing. So stroll down memory lane and look through your old profile pictures… and then, for a little extra fun, check out your friends’ old pictures!
