I'm really thankful for every experience I've had, even the ones that were puzzling or disorienting, because they taught me so much.
Tavi Gevinson
I think that everybody wants to be heard, and the easiest way to be the loudest is to be the hater.
People don't know what to do when writing a story with teens that takes place now - they think you have to make a bunch of references to Facebook.
I have a pair of Rodarte leggings. They're crazy, but I wore them for one day, and then by the end of the day they weren't tearing, but they were getting a little loose.
I was eight years old when Miley Cyrus made her debut on Disney Channel's 'Hannah Montana' and beginning my senior year of high school when she delivered the VMAs performance that single-handedly butchered the teddy-bear industry.
It brings me no joy and not enough comfort to dwell too much on things I've said or written or made or worn in the past.
I think that when people who've had success from a young age go through a train-wreck cycle, it's usually because they're working on someone else's terms, so they feel the need to rebel. But when it's something you've built, you don't have that same kind of resentment or angstiness. But it's also difficult to keep those standards for yourself.
The idea of being a 'child star' always sounded awful to people my age, and so I was just very aware that these things are kind of fleeting and that a lot of it didn't have to do with me: it had to do with my age; it had to do with whatever came to mind when people thought of a young internet sensation.
For all of the continued awareness of systemic violence and oppression, there isn't a lot of talk about that psychological toll of racism, at least in white circles and white media.
When I was around 12, my heroes were Cindy Sherman and Bob Dylan and Samuel Westing from the kids' novel 'The Westing Game'.
Fashion intersects a lot with art and film and music, and that was appealing to me. I read a bunch of fashion blogs and wanted to be part of the community.
One of my intentions with 'Rookie' is for the girls reading it to know that they are already cool enough and smart enough and pretty enough.
I'm not exactly in a position where I get to be super-picky about the roles I get. But I would also never want to be a part of something that I think is poor in taste or doesn't align with what I believe in.
I think I surprise some people because a lot of the time, I roll out of bed and go to school, and it's like I don't wear anything that interesting sometimes.
My to-do list is the only form of organization I have, other than my iCal. It's not all work stuff; it's a lot of movies that I want to watch sooner rather than later. I have a list that's like, 'Read an essay from this book, then this one, then go back to this one.'
If my parents ever had to ground me, they didn't really know what that would mean, because I was inside most of the time anyway.
I like 'My So-Called Life' and the 'Riot Grrl Movement' and 'Freaks and Geeks.'
I understand that a lot of girls feel encouraged by what I have been able to do, but I've never felt like I'm a role model. I'm not concerned with building a great legacy or anything because I'll be dead so it won't matter.
I don't know that a lot of boys read 'Rookie', but we get quite a few nice comments and e-mails from them. To say I'm devoted to making it girls-only is a little extreme, because I don't actively try to exclude everyone else, just make sure girls know that this space is for them first and foremost.
Solange's new album, 'A Seat at the Table', is so many things at once: an antidote to hate, a celebration of blackness, an expression of the right to feel it all. After a move to Louisiana and period of self-reflection, the artist joined forces with a range of collaborators to put her new discoveries to music.
I love 'First Wives Club' and 'Death Becomes Her' and movies about women like that.
Half of my closet is Barbie clothes - PVC skirts, cropped fuzzy sweaters, and velvet minis.
People ask me about the decision to transition from fashion to 'Rookie' magazine. But it wasn't a decision. I was 14, and my interests were changing.
I'm good at utilising body parts as letters.
My life motto is basically to lower your standards and expectations so you're never disappointed and never put any trust in anything, and I try to prepare for the day that I wake up, and everyone I know is like, 'LOL JK best long-running practical joke ever', so I've never really let myself freak out or get too excited about anything.
I really just don't think that teenagers and adults are maybe as different as people think, and so the best roles, to me, are treated like real people and not like these 'crazy kids we don't know what to do with.'
I get breakfast when everyone else is on their lunch break. I usually go to Dimes, which is a short walk from my apartment. Usually, I'll have chia pudding or an acai bowl and toast and sausage.
I usually end up making a huge mess every morning when I get dressed. My outfit affects my whole day. I'm always running late, and I'm always trying to make sure I feel really good in what I'm wearing, because if you're wearing something you're not comfortable in, it ruins your day.
I created 'Rookie' because I read a lot of websites that I thought were cool and interesting, but they weren't for teens, and I wanted us to have something that could be ours.
Sometimes if you expose your vulnerability, someone else will feel comforted. It's like we're all in this boat together.
Having your stuff online - some people think of it as gimmicky, but in a way, it's one of the most pure forms of having your work judged.
Sometimes you want something really serious that makes you feel emotional and makes you think, and sometimes you do just want a pop song. What I love about Taylor Swift is that she offers both.
I think what human beings need is to be able to laugh at the absurd, hold on to ambiguity, and learn to love nuance, instead of making everything one or the other, and structurally, so much of the Internet and online publishing doesn't have room for any of that.
Feminism to me means fighting. It's a very nuanced, complex thing, but at the very core of it I'm a feminist because I don't think being a girl limits me in any way.
When you're playing someone else, it sounds so negative to say you want to erase yourself, but part of the joy of it is you get to not be yourself.
I'm a big journaler, so for every new journal, I would change the way my room looked and change the posters on the walls, and I would change what I was wearing, and I would have a playlist, and it all kind of corresponded and matched, and I would change my handwriting in the journals.
When I feel really insecure, or I'm in a social situation where I'm nervous about how I come off, or I'm trying to control the situation too much, I literally just try and use the same muscles that I had to use on stage - just paying attention to the other person and trusting yourself to respond as emotionally honestly as possible.
If I'm extremely bored and I don't have a book with me and I'm being an obnoxious teenager, I'll read 'BuzzFeed' on my phone. But even that just leaves me feeling icky because I think for some reason my comfort zone is to just not really be in the loop about stuff like awards shows or things like that.
If I'm thrifting, and I find this great dress, but it won't fit me, and I won't grow into it because I'm impossibly tiny, I don't want to let it sit there. I'll buy it and send it to a friend.
I think people can tell when you're pandering to them, and they feel insulted. I think that one thing that is really nice about the work that I do is that I can just sort of make mistakes or try out different ideas or be inconsistent and be vulnerable.
When you're a kid you're already trying to create your own world and organize the one in front of you, but then you get all insecure around 6th grade and don't think you have a right to share that.
I don't know if I'll ever make rap music, but I just like people who are like, 'I am going to just find the medium that's best for this idea and master it and do that.'
I think it's foolish to interview someone who's just promoting a movie that they're in and ask if they consider themselves a feminist. That's not about feminism; that's about the journalist wanting to gauge how much this person is aware of the world or is aware of the feminist movement.
There are a lot of distractions when you're in creative industries like publishing or fashion or media, and it's a real blessing to have witnessed some of those up close at a young age. I think when you get past the glamour, that's when you get to the good stuff - the stuff that really feeds your soul and enriches you as a person.
I think that when you make yourself vulnerable, the thing that you do next is better. It's not like you have to inflict pain on yourself in order to make yourself better, but I think it helps. The thing that bonds you to a new friend isn't that you went to a really fun party; it's 'cause you had a really weird, sad conversation.
I get kind of sad when I look at all of my magazines and think about how at one time I was much more impressed with a certain fashion editorial, or how I feel like I can't really relate to being that excited about fashion anymore. Maybe it's being jaded, but I honestly like that now, when something's really good, I feel more affected by it.
I feel like one thing that a lot of creative people go through is that they feel like they don't have the right to be creative or to put their stuff out there. I'm glad that blogging from a young age kind of got that out of the way for me.
I'd like 'Rookie' to be a helpful resource, but I never want it to be too prescriptive. Hopefully, it also makes the reader feel encouraged to think for herself.
Sometimes 'Rookie' is written about like, 'Finally! Something for alternative girls!' and I'm like, 'No!' Obviously it's not for everyone, but I used to think that there are cheerleaders, and there are art kids.
Since the age of 14, I have littered - excuse me, adorned - the Internet with Taylor Swift analyses.
