Selfie, n. (informal): a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.
The above term was only officially added to the Oxford Dictionary five years ago in 2013 – the same year as other gems like “twerk,” “FOMO,” and “jorts” – but the practice dates back farther than that.
According to The Telegraph, the term was coined about a decade before it was entered into the dictionary by an Australian man who was describing a photograph he’d taken following a drunken faceplant at a 21st birthday party.
The young man, who was looking for advice on if he needed stitches, posted a closeup photo of his face and captioned it: “Um, drunk at a mate’s 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.”
Thanks to that inebriated Aussie, celebs like Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner made it common practice to snap pictures of themselves (and made a lot of money from doing so).
While their feeds have hidden those first selfie snaps far in the past, we were able to track down the first solo shots from models including Emily Ratajkowski, Kate Upton, and Bella Hadid.
Control yourself(ie).
Emily Ratajkowsi
February 21, 2011
Sadie Newman
Taken: January 24, 2014
Bella Hadid
Taken: November 2, 2014
Duckie Thot
Taken: August 9, 2014
Gisele Bündchen
Taken: April 8, 2013
Adriana Lima
Taken: February 26, 2013
Candice Swanepoe
Taken: July 9, 2012
Karlie Kloss
Taken: July 3, 2012
Naomi Campbell
Taken: September 18, 2016
Kete Upton
Taken: February 27, 2014
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