Emily Ratajkowski and Bella Hadid’s Very First Instagram Selfies

Celebs were snapping themselves long before the term made it into the dictionary in November 2013.

November 16, 2018 5:00 am
Bella Hadid attends 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show In Shanghai - Show at Mercedes-Benz Arena on November 20, 2017 in Shanghai, China.  (Photo by Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Bella Hadid attends 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show In Shanghai - Show at Mercedes-Benz Arena on November 20, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Patrick McMullan via Getty Image

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

 

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A post shared by Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) on Feb 21, 2011 at 10:32am PST

Sadie Newman
Taken: January 24, 2014

 

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A post shared by sadie newman (@sadienewman) on Jan 24, 2014 at 3:52pm PST

Bella Hadid
Taken: November 2, 2014

 

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A post shared by ? (@bellahadid) on Nov 2, 2014 at 1:35pm PST

Duckie Thot
Taken: August 9, 2014

 

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A post shared by Duckie Thot (@duckieofficial) on Aug 9, 2014 at 1:17am PDT


Gisele Bündchen
Taken: April 8, 2013

 

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A post shared by Gisele Bündchen (@gisele) on Apr 8, 2013 at 8:15am PDT

Adriana Lima
Taken: February 26, 2013

 

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A post shared by Adriana Lima (@adrianalima) on Feb 26, 2013 at 9:10am PST

Candice Swanepoe
Taken: July 9, 2012

 

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A post shared by Candice Swanepoel (@angelcandices) on Jun 9, 2012 at 10:43am PDT


Karlie Kloss
Taken: July 3, 2012

 

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A post shared by Karlie Kloss (@karliekloss) on Jul 2, 2012 at 5:39pm PDT


Naomi Campbell
Taken: September 18, 2016

 

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A post shared by Naomi Campbell (@naomi) on Sep 18, 2016 at 7:37am PDT

Kete Upton
Taken: February 27, 2014

 

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A post shared by Kate Upton (@kateupton) on Feb 27, 2014 at 8:01am PST

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