This Instagram Account Is Posting Throwbacks Of Celebs And The Internet Can't Get Enough
From looking over old family snaps and laughing at your mom's questionable fashion choices or your dad's retro 'tash, to sitting there with a good friend recounting stories of your school days together, it's fair to say that nostalgia is a strangely beautiful feeling.
Offering a glimpse into the past with all the bad bits filtered out by time, it's more or less the mental equivalent of the cozy combo of tea and toast. But it's not always our own lives that we're longing for, and so when an Instagram account named Velvet Coke started posting throwback photos of the world's biggest celebrities, the internet was all for it.
In some of the snaps, the great and good were just living their surprisingly ordinary lives, in others they were meeting those more powerful, or simply posing for photos that they may have imagined would be iconic but that history soon forgot about. And having now clocked up over 400,000 followers, the account is only set to get bigger - so let's look at some of the best bits so far.
Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp, 1990
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
Pictured at the premiere of Edward Scissorhands, Winona and Johnny were the Hollywood power-couple of the early '90s. Depp actually had the words "Winona Forever" tattooed on his arm, which he promptly had changed to read "Wino Forever" after their split. Awkward.
Everyone from the '90s, basically
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
This picture has everything: Ginger Spice, Jennifer Aniston, Stephen Fry, Prince Charles, all in one place. Geri looks how we feel.
Axl Rose, 1992
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
For a man that's mid-way through being arrested, Axl Rose sure looks like he's in pretty good spirits. Rose had only moments earlier touched down at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, but was taken into custody as he was required to stand trial for his part in a riot that broke out after the band’s aborted show at the Riverport Amphitheater on July 2, 1991.
The Fresh Prince and Hilary, 1996
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
If you had to create a time capsule of the 1990s, you'd have to put The Fresh Prince of Bel Air - or at least, a grainy videotaped recording of the show - inside. This snap of Will Smith and Karyn Parsons, taken at the Fresh Prince wrap party in 1996, is giving us all the feels.
Princess Diana and Prince Harry, 1987
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
Known for wanting to make her children's lives as normal as possible, Princess Diana made them queue at Disneyland, let them eat Maccy D's and even took them on public transport. She looks every inch the doting mother in this sweet snap - and also, that sweater is just too cool.
Victoria Beckham, 1998
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
This is perhaps the only photo you will ever see of VB - or Victoria Adams, as she was then known - smiling.
Amy Winehouse, 2004
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
Seeing this photo of Amy Winehouse looking so happy and healthy, it's hard not to wonder what could have been. And while the picture may look like it came from some kind of studio setup, it was actually taken in her bedroom, with the singer wearing her nan's fur pelt.
Natalie Portman and David Spade, 1996
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
Portman was only 15 years old but already a big name when this picture was taken at the MTV Movie Awards in 1996. After it was posted by Velvet Coke, Spade re-grammed it, asking out loud the question we were all thinking: "Wtf am i wearing??" and adding: "Poor @natalieportman had to strug thru this pic. Ive met her probably 4 times and im star struck every time."
Nicole Kidman, 2001
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
Tom Cruise already has a pretty questionable record when it comes to marriage and this photo of Nicole Kidman gleefully skipping away from her attorney's office after the granting of her divorce from the actor will have done little to help. Various theories have been put forward as reasons for their split, including one that the Church of Scientology had "facilitated" their separation.
Sophia Loren, 1965
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
Proving that she's one of the world's original sex-symbols in both her beauty and in her outlook on life, Sophia Loren once said that "Everything you see I owe to spaghetti." Pass me the pasta, please.
Mariah Carey, 1999
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
She's known as the diva of the pop world, but 1990s Mariah wasn't above a dirty, dirty cheeseburger and a giant heap of fries. Even better, she sat in the 'restaurant', like the rest of us commoners.
Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, 1998
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
Seen here during the filming of The Talented Mr Ripley, Gwennie and Jude are just as much household names today as they were back then.
Leonardo DiCaprio, 1994
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
Leonardo DiCaprio, pictured in the days when he still had to ask people to kiss him, rather than beat them away with a stick.
Julia Roberts, 1990
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
Meryl Streep, 1981
Credit: Instagram/ Velvet Coke
She may be history's most Oscar-nominated actress, not to mention holding the record for the most Golden Globes in acting categories, but once in a while Meryl still has to ride the subway like the rest of us.
Of course, these are only a few of the more than 4000 photos on this nostalgia-fueled account, but they give us a nice little reminder of the couples-that-were and the time before the Kardashians ruled the world. More than that though, they ultimately serve to remind us just how boring and normal most of these A-list megastars really are. If you've got a few hours to lose to the rabbit-hole that is Instagram, this account is worth a look.