Gravy Train!!!! - Hella Nervous
LiveJournal Celebrity
posted December 10, 2024
link
link
The LiveJournal Celebrity ethos should not be oversimplified, lest it be misunderstood. In her heyday, what we know now as “indie sleaze” was but a glimmer in Mark Hunter’s camera lens. The LJ Celeb comes from a time when Brooklyn was just becoming acceptable for suburban transplants. She represents a swelling cultural revolution at the intersection of art, music, and society. She’s a forerunner, a pioneer, the resident of an inexpensive loft apartment in a converted factory. If you were to catch her at a local coffee shop ordering a dirty chai latte and listening to her iPod, you’d think she might be mousy. But as soon as she’s thrown into a warehouse rave with a little bit of liquor and cocaine in her, she’s the life of the party.
That being said, the LJ Celeb, at her core, is an aspiring it-girl. She’s obsessed with Chloe Sevigny, Cory Kennedy, Leigh Lezark, and other charisma-laden, quirky fashionistas. With fashion blogging and the concept of “internet celebrity” in their nascency, the LJ Celeb has hopped on the train at just the right moment. Her hometown ex-friends and haters seethe when they see her online posts and all of the comments of praise. Not only is she the coolest girl they’ll ever know, but she’s never going to talk to them again.
She’s amassed fans by posting pictures of her retro-cute outfits and party girl antics, cultivating a persona that she secretly finds exhausting. She’s had flings with band members and considers art photographers and electronic musicians among her friends. She has a collection of “ironic” vintage t-shirts that say things like “World’s Best Grandpa.” She will later realize the cog she was in the fashion blogger it-girl machine. But for now, the city is her oyster…
As a teenager, I fantasized about being this kind of girl. A small-time internet celebrity living out her dreams in NYC: dreaming of being an even cooler it-girl. In some ways, she’s a predecessor to the Art School Sophomore girl (you’ll see). Don’t be confused, the LJ Celeb wasn’t so dorky and brain rotted that she did the whole “finger mustache tattoo” thing. She did accessorize with non-prescription vintage glasses and one time made grillz out of tin foil. She had an appreciation for all things alternative: twee, electroclash, emo, old school hip-hop. I’d flip through music magazines like Under the Radar, and imagine myself dating some cool indie guy, or at least hooking up with one, or at least being hot enough to hook up with one if I wanted to.
Now-defunct internet gathering spaces like Xanga, MySpace, and AIM (LiveJournal is still coughing its last death rattles) were the hottest virtual dumping grounds for internet-addicted girls like me to find inspiration. Around this time, an Urban Outfitters opened up at the local mall, and I finally found a store that was edgy, but not Hot Topic edgy (I’d long given up becoming a goth punk chick). I wish I’d kept some of the t-shirts I’d gotten there in my younger years, because they were my way of emulating the idealized concept of LJ Celebrity.
An image of me as a teenager trying to be cool.
Muses: Cory Kennedy, Jenny Lewis, Joanna Newsom, Jen Brill
In the 2020s, there’s definitely a revival of sorts going on, but it seems to lack the cohesion and irreverence of its previous iteration. I know, it sounds pretentious to say that today’s “hipsters” are less sincere in their irony-laced ennui. But this was when American Apparel was at its peak cultural relevance, when VICE magazine was offensive and Canadian, when Apple was the fresh, decidedly left-wing alternative to Windows’ stale Republican energy. The ads!! With the silhouettes!! And the earbuds!!
I get it. Those were the good days, weren’t they? Even if you’re too young to have appreciated them, I bet you wish you wanted to. This me giving you the go-ahead to channel your inner LJ Celebrity.
And because I’m really nice, here are some tips. I don’t think it’s still around, but check Poshmark (and other resale sites or stores) for items by the brand SoundGirl. They epitomized that girly, quirky, mid-2000s Harajuku-inspired style.
These listings may or not still be up by the time I’m posting them.
That being said, the LJ Celeb, at her core, is an aspiring it-girl. She’s obsessed with Chloe Sevigny, Cory Kennedy, Leigh Lezark, and other charisma-laden, quirky fashionistas. With fashion blogging and the concept of “internet celebrity” in their nascency, the LJ Celeb has hopped on the train at just the right moment. Her hometown ex-friends and haters seethe when they see her online posts and all of the comments of praise. Not only is she the coolest girl they’ll ever know, but she’s never going to talk to them again.
She’s amassed fans by posting pictures of her retro-cute outfits and party girl antics, cultivating a persona that she secretly finds exhausting. She’s had flings with band members and considers art photographers and electronic musicians among her friends. She has a collection of “ironic” vintage t-shirts that say things like “World’s Best Grandpa.” She will later realize the cog she was in the fashion blogger it-girl machine. But for now, the city is her oyster…
As a teenager, I fantasized about being this kind of girl. A small-time internet celebrity living out her dreams in NYC: dreaming of being an even cooler it-girl. In some ways, she’s a predecessor to the Art School Sophomore girl (you’ll see). Don’t be confused, the LJ Celeb wasn’t so dorky and brain rotted that she did the whole “finger mustache tattoo” thing. She did accessorize with non-prescription vintage glasses and one time made grillz out of tin foil. She had an appreciation for all things alternative: twee, electroclash, emo, old school hip-hop. I’d flip through music magazines like Under the Radar, and imagine myself dating some cool indie guy, or at least hooking up with one, or at least being hot enough to hook up with one if I wanted to.
Now-defunct internet gathering spaces like Xanga, MySpace, and AIM (LiveJournal is still coughing its last death rattles) were the hottest virtual dumping grounds for internet-addicted girls like me to find inspiration. Around this time, an Urban Outfitters opened up at the local mall, and I finally found a store that was edgy, but not Hot Topic edgy (I’d long given up becoming a goth punk chick). I wish I’d kept some of the t-shirts I’d gotten there in my younger years, because they were my way of emulating the idealized concept of LJ Celebrity.
Muses: Cory Kennedy, Jenny Lewis, Joanna Newsom, Jen Brill
In the 2020s, there’s definitely a revival of sorts going on, but it seems to lack the cohesion and irreverence of its previous iteration. I know, it sounds pretentious to say that today’s “hipsters” are less sincere in their irony-laced ennui. But this was when American Apparel was at its peak cultural relevance, when VICE magazine was offensive and Canadian, when Apple was the fresh, decidedly left-wing alternative to Windows’ stale Republican energy. The ads!! With the silhouettes!! And the earbuds!!
I get it. Those were the good days, weren’t they? Even if you’re too young to have appreciated them, I bet you wish you wanted to. This me giving you the go-ahead to channel your inner LJ Celebrity.
And because I’m really nice, here are some tips. I don’t think it’s still around, but check Poshmark (and other resale sites or stores) for items by the brand SoundGirl. They epitomized that girly, quirky, mid-2000s Harajuku-inspired style.
These listings may or not still be up by the time I’m posting them.
Clockwise: A-Line Dress, Moss butterfly Juniors blouse, Patch jeans, Hoodie, Retro dress. Promo photo from SoundGirl c. 2006.
Remember, you can find most of these pieces used for low prices. Fred Flare accessories are hard to come by, but they’re the perfect cherry on top to your LJ Celeb look. I’ll leave you with these old American Apparel ads as some real sleaze inspiration.
Remember, you can find most of these pieces used for low prices. Fred Flare accessories are hard to come by, but they’re the perfect cherry on top to your LJ Celeb look. I’ll leave you with these old American Apparel ads as some real sleaze inspiration.
These are so delightfully hedonistic that they circle back around to being innocent and wholesome, like they are untainted by the horrors of COVID or TikTok. It’s refreshing, I’ll give you that much.
Stay copacetic, friends. Until next time!