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The year was 2015. Instagram was booming and Kim Kardashian was releasing an entire book dedicated to the art of the perfect selfie. Since then, Kardashian has added three children to her family, gone through a divorce, and passed the baby bar, while the rest of us have been busy trying to learn how to pronounce the name of the latest Covid-19 variant.
A lot has changed in the past seven years, but one thing that has remained consistent is Kardashian’s skill at selfies. Take, for example, her first of 2022.
In the photograph, Kardashian is lying down on a sunlounger facing towards the sun. Her left arm provides shade for her face which is tilted slightly upwards and to the right—in the direction of the camera above. On her face, she wears a pair of brown sunglasses, which match the chocolate shade of her bikini. Her lips—slightly pursed and catching the direct sunlight—have nude lipstick on them and lipgloss over the top, lined ever so slightly over her pout to accentuate her cupid’s bow. The look on her face is one of content, she’s not smiling but she’s smizing—something visible even without a direct look at her eyes.
Behind Kardashian lies a well-worn magazine for good measure and in her ears are old school Apple headphones—cord and all. At first glance, the headphones are easy to miss: there’s a lot to take in here—such as Kardashian’s tout tummy. But once you see them, it’s impossible to ignore that this accessory is a statement in its own right.
As TikTok users have long speculated, corded headphones are becoming a trend as we get deeper into the Y2K and Indie Sleaze era. Bella Hadid and Lily Rose Depp have long been spotted wearing the same white Apple headphones as Kardashian and there’s even an Instagram account dedicated to the phenomenon: @wireditgirls. Furthermore, the headphones make sense with a certain someone’s relaxed aesthetic: that of Kardashian’s rumoured new boyfriend Pete Davidson. Kardashian even gave a hint to what she’s listening to while she lounges through her caption, which was made up of Mariah Carey lyrics: “Sweet sweet fantasy baby.”
Of course, there’s an elephant in the room here: the location of said photograph. While there’s no telling whether this photo was taken recently or not, Kardashian’s first selfie of the year was uploaded from somewhere warm—she’s in a bikini in the middle of winter, while even her home of L.A. is unusually cold. It also comes at the exact moment in time when she’s been seen on vacation with Davidson in the (very warm) Bahamas.
A perfect pout, a hint at a new romance gone international, and a subtle call to women everywhere that Airpods are out all in one photo. Only you, Kim.
