That Was AWKWARD

Goodbye frizzy bangs, hello contoured cheekbones. Tweens are cooler, and hotter, than ever. What could go wrong?

- DANIELLE STEIN CHIZZIK

You've surely seen some version of this meme: a photo on the left of brace-faced 12-year-olds with ill-conceived hairstyles and ill-fitting clothes staring confidently at the camera with no trace of awareness that they will ever cringe at this photo, juxtaposed with a photo on the right of 12-year-olds with perfectly coiffed hair and perfectly airbrushed makeup and perfectly taut tummies peeking out from their cropped or bustier-style tops, looking as grown up and put together as a Kardashian on a red carpet. The post is captioned something like "What I looked like as a tween vs. how tweens look today.