Emily Ratajkowski and Bella Hadid’s Very First Instagram Selfies

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

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

Sadie Newman
Taken: January 24, 2014

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

Bella Hadid
Taken: November 2, 2014

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

Duckie Thot
Taken: August 9, 2014

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

Gisele Bündchen
Taken: April 8, 2013

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

Adriana Lima
Taken: February 26, 2013

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

Candice Swanepoe
Taken: July 9, 2012

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

Karlie Kloss
Taken: July 3, 2012

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

Naomi Campbell
Taken: September 18, 2016

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

Kete Upton
Taken: February 27, 2014

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

More Like This

Autos

How to Car Camp in a Porsche, According to Brock Keen of @996RoadTrip

Culture

Sun Valley Billionaire Conference Draws Scorn From Local Pilots

Music

30 Songs for a More Pensive Fourth of July

Style

Armani’s “Freedom” Collection Comes in the Wake of Sweatshop Raids