#noughty fashion

[rachymarie]

Monday's child is fair of face

...and reliant on filters 😅

[deftonesbadboy]

I have a HUGE blog of all of the past emo & scene queens from myspace & tumblr if anyone wants to credit any old images that get uploaded or spot catfishes then I recommend taking a look!! Also cos it took me years of research to actually compile lol

[neplusultraa]

[vixenangel]

[motherssorrows]

☆

[the-internet-is-underwater]

Library Find #15 New Club Kids - London Party Fashion in the Noughties Oggy Yordanov

[angelicdesires]

[ghettophatbolousblingringtones]

2000s Decade Mashup by Dj Earworm

[theseimmortalcoils]

Martin Grant's Galaxy Dress from the noughties. Model and photographer unknown.

[marplediscopuchine]

Dreams of luxury from the noughties.

[deftonesbadboy]

Some recents

[neplusultraa]

2000’s Advertising Campaigns >>

[vixenangel]

[thelondonblonde]

Noughty - Anti Frizz Serum

[brian-in-finance]

Photo courtesy of Caitríona Balfe

Caitríona Balfe on the final season of Outlander

The multi award-nominated actress on leaving behind her career-defining role in the hit series

If I was talking to Caitríona Balfe in the early noughties, the focus of our conversation would have taken on a completely different flavour. This was Balfe’s heyday as one of the most sought-after models of her generation. After being scouted, aged 18, while collecting money for charity at her local shopping centre in her native Ireland, she almost immediately became a mainstay of fashion month, opening and closing shows for high-fashion juggernauts including Chanel, Givenchy, Moschino and Louis Vuitton.

But mention Caitríona Balfe now and most will immediately reference one thing: Outlander.

The Starz show, based on the series of books by Diana Gabaldaon has become a cult series, beloved by fans worldwide. It follows the journey of Balfe’s Claire Randall, a former WW2 nurse in post-war Scotland, who finds herself thrust back in time to the highlands of the 18th century. The hugely popular show is currently broadcasting the second part of its penultimate season and the cast has just wrapped shooting the very final series. It will mark the conclusion of more than a decade of Balfe’s professional life as an actress.

“It’s been such a strange year,” Balfe admits, calling me from London, where she lives with her husband, the band manager Tony McGill, and their young son. “Knowing that it was coming to an end, we all definitely felt heightened emotions at various times throughout the process. Finishing up was so emotional.” After the show’s final days, both Balfe and her co-star Sam Heughan embarked on solo, somewhat spiritual, adventures. “I went away and did a yoga and meditating retreat and Sam's about to go on a trek in the Himalayas,” she says. “I think we're all finding something to put our energy into. That's a very long-winded way of saying, 'I think I'm OK!'”

Photo courtesy of Starz

The role of Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser is, one might say, the role of a lifetime – or several in fact. Balfe’s decade-plus relationship with Claire has been an actor’s gift, allowing her to traverse time periods and cross the genres of period drama, action, war and fantasy epics. The emotional arc alone has stretched Balfe’s artistic muscles such that she has been laden with plaudits, including Golden Globe and Bafta nominations, throughout the show’s run.

“My relationship with Claire has completely evolved over the years,” she says. “In the beginning, you were filling in all of these blank spaces of her history and her memories and then, as the years went on, you're living it, you're creating them in real time. And so, in a way, you know, without sounding weird, she lives within you. I think more than anything what I realised is, for me, personally, what an amazing teacher Claire has been.”

Indeed, before taking on the role in 2013, Balfe might perhaps have been known as that loaded phrase ‘model-turned-actress’ – with largely just an uncredited role in The Devil Wears Prada and a small part in Spielberg’s Super 8 – to her name. Yet Balfe’s talent in Outlander is unavoidable, right from her earliest appearances. “Oh my resumé was so short and sweet before Outlander,” she says, laughing. “But the great thing about this genre is that it can be so many different things, and it has been so many different things. So as an actor I've been brought to a really incredible depth of emotion.”

And there is much, Balfe says, that Claire taught her on a personal level. “She taught me how to be responsible, taught me how to use my voice, how to stand up for myself and for other people, about compassion and empathy,” she says, pausing – already sounding slightly nostalgic. “I hope I brought some of those qualities into it, anyway.”

Claire taught me how to use my voice and how to stand up for myself.

Photo courtesy of Starz

If Outlander was the perfect advertisement for Balfe’s considerable talent, it was the 2021 film Belfast that gave her recognition on an unprecedented level. She received a Bafta and Golden Globe nomination for her role as Ma in Kenneth Brannagh’s critically acclaimed film. It served as a reminder that, really, Balfe’s acting is only getting better and bolder. Between breaks in Outlander, she took roles in the films Ford v Ferrari, Money Monster and The Cut and next spring will see her opposite Rami Malek in The Amateur.

She has avowed to take a break following her decade of Scottish time travel, but after having directed an episode of the show, this may prove another new direction for the multi-talented Balfe. “I was asking our producers for a little bit if I could, and in season seven, I got the opportunity to do some second unit stuff,” she recalls. “That was amazing as a first foray into it. When I got to do a whole episode, it was just so much fun, so I would love to do more.”

“I am going to try and have an actual break though,” she says, sighing. “And then I have a project I'm trying to write myself…” She won’t be drawn on more, so I ask what legacy she thinks her landmark series will have left. “Honestly,” she says, “I think the thing I'm the proudest of is that after 11 years, we're all really great friends, and we all have such a love for each other. There are just so many amazing moments I will cherish.”

Outlander S7 Part 2 is now available to watch on MGM+ in the UK & on Starz in the US.

Harper’s Bazaar

Remember… I think more than anything what I realised is, for me, personally, what an amazing teacher Claire has been. — Caitríona Balfe

[pseudowho]

Good god, I thought I was the only one that would literally roll my eyes and exit the page at child like descriptions of genitalia in fanfic. Do you have any insight as to why that has become a thing?

Side note: You absolutely rock in a cool older sister way

Warning! Please do feel free to block me if this is not to your liking. Personal theories and opinions ahead that may well make you hate me!

I have quite a lot of theories, but! all of them are theories, interspersed with my personal opinions, and none of them are pleasant. Here they are...

The trend of hyperfetishisation of, and normalisation of sexualising extreme youth/barely legal young women, has possibly created a push towards extra young 'women' being viewed pornographically. Those who are young in our communities may often therefore feel their burgeoning sexuality is validated, and seek to reflect images of extreme youth in their depictions of pornography (smut).

The rise of labiaplasty; once more, teaching young women that their perfectly normal bodies are disgusting has paid off. I can say with firsthand experience that the amount of women paying money for surgery to make their genitalia as 'barely there' as possible (almost like a child's) is climbing.

The trend towards hypermasculinity, and traditional male!dom, female!sub roles in the heterosexual community where historically the man has been significantly older, and this was considered normal. This has created a push towards 'daddy' culture (in an older man, and much younger girl/woman, way). This will ultimately increase the push for women and girls to be portrayed as younger in porn/smut.

Women's bodies have, throughout the ages, been expected to fall into fashion trends, as if we are clothes to be worn by men. Pin-up girls were expected to have a certain shape (the in fashion shape!) to cater to men. Noughties 'cocaine/heroin chic' builds were typically the ones that would be seen on the arms of the most famous men.

And now? The hyperfetishisation of youth is back. So our society is now creating a progressive push towards extra young women being pushed to the foreground as aspirational partners.

What's even filthier about this, is it has allowed more and more people to feel ethically validated in 'blurring the line' between girls and women, and it appeals to young girls and young women, at the time in their lives when they're often most likely to seek validation.

Society is taking advantage of young women and girls wanting to be wanted, by telling them that it's okay for a barely legal girl to be pursued by a much older man.

In short: I worry about what I feel is a concerning rise in the push towards extremely young women being the 'partner of choice'. There seems to be a patriarchal push back towards women remaining less powerful in more submissive societal roles and in partnerships with men, and it's being packaged as 'womens' choice'.

I'm not saying that young women and girls being able to explore their sexuality is wrong; not at all. I fully support it. I just always ask the question: who is leading this, and why, and who is in control here?

Not all men are as feminist as we write them on Tumblr. Not all men are how we write Nanami Kento. As well most of us know. Which is why we're here...writing men who will be dominant/take care of us while respecting us fully. Because deep down, a lot of us feel that this man is a fantasy.

Older women aren't bitter than men our own age often want younger women; we're suspicious of their reasons for it. Is it because she's less self confident? That you perceive her as easier to mould? That she's less likely to see all of your red flags? Hmm.

Love,

-- Haitch xxx