This spring, Kim Kardashian West published Selfish, a dazzlingly narcissistic ode to herself. From her first pre-Instagram selfies with Paris Hilton to today’s endless sheer turtlenecked cleavage shots, the book is a testament to the realness of selfie culture. As brash art critic Jerry Saltz stated in his epic treatise ‘A History of the Selfie,’ we live in “the age of the selfie.” And in this gilded age of the selfie, everyone from your little cousin to the President of the United States is now engaging in the kind of preening snapshots once considered an embarrassing way to check your outfits in the bathroom mirror. Celebrities now have a way of showing you exactly what they’re up to every moment of the day. And we eat it up, with celeb selfies becoming almost newsworthy if they’re special. Like these ones, arguably the best of the year:
1. When Kendall Won Instagram
As hard as it was, we vowed to include only one Kardashian-Jenner shot in this list (runners up: Kim’s pregnant nude and Caitlyn’s first selfie). This one made the cut as it dethroned Kimye’s wedding photo as the most liked Instagram ever, and spawned a legion of copycats with the hashtag #HeartHair. It’s most notable as a kind of pop-cultural case study. Why on earth would a photo of a teen with heart-shaped hair elicit more likes than anything else on an entire social media platform? Your guess is as good as ours. (Also up for debate: is it a selfie if the hands are visible?)
Photo @kendalljenner
2. When Abbi and Ilana Met Hillary
When presidential candidate Hillary Clinton introduced a “Yaaas Hillary” t-shirt into her merch shop, we knew who we were voting for. It was only a matter of time before Hill would join forces with Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson- along with their executive producer Amy Poehler – to create the most kween-tastic girl power selfie our jaded eyes have ever seen. And if this means that HC will have a cameo on season 3 of Broad City, we can die happy.
Photo @broadcity
3. When Sam Smith Invented the Breakup Selfie
Holiday breakups are the worst. So when Sam Smith posted a January-vibe sadface selfie with a large glass of red and an emo caption, Instagram users of the world sympathized (except for those who didn’t – pancake_gurly, you ice queen, you). Luckily, most of us don’t have 6 million followers to bear witness to our ups and downs and Joni Mitchell proclivities.
Photo @samsmithworld
4. When Lily Rose Depp Shared Her Throne… With Mom
2015 was the year Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp’s daughter proved just how famous one could get with two fabulous parents, killer cheekbones, and an Internet connection. The answer: very, very famous. And she kindly brought her accomplished, César Award-winning mother into the frame on their way to a Chanel event. Happily, only 50% of the selfie’s participants chose to employ the classic “faux surprise face.”
Photo @lilyrose_depp
5. When Marc Jacobs Accidentally Posted a Nude
Once Marc Jacobs finally got into Instagram, he got really into Instagram. So into it that he was DM-ing someone feverishly and mistakenly posted a derriere shot to his public page briefly. (We’ll omit posting the actual photo but it was screen-grabbed for your pleasure by Gawker, of course). The Internet got excited, because sometimes the news cycle is slow and a designer’s side-butt is noteworthy. But we love Marc’s response, via Insta comment: “Yeah. I accidentally posted a pic of my bare ass and took it down. I was flirting with someone I met on Instagram. Meant to send it by DM. Oops, my mistake. I apologize to anyone it offended. I’m a gay man. I flirt and chat with guys online sometimes. BIG DEAL!” Word. Team Marc!