Top 159 Quotes & Sayings by Tavi Gevinson

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American writer Tavi Gevinson.
Last updated on September 17, 2024.
Tavi Gevinson

Tavi Gevinson is an American actress, writer, and magazine editor. She came to public attention at the age of 12 due to her fashion blog Style Rookie. By the age of 15, she had shifted her focus to pop culture and feminist discussion. She started to take acting roles regularly beginning in 2013, and currently stars in the rebooted version of HBO's Gossip Girl.

When I was starting out, I saw it as something that was definitely going to end. Every time I came to New York for fashion week or to interview someone, I was so sad going back home because I thought, 'These things don't get to last.' That's sort of the narrative of young success.
I think it'd be great to own a fun concept store with my friends and just sell books and records.
The idea that feeling confident and feeling misunderstood are mutually exclusive really bugs me. — © Tavi Gevinson
The idea that feeling confident and feeling misunderstood are mutually exclusive really bugs me.
I try not to do anything I don't like, so I stay motivated pretty easily.
I'm not obsessively a follower of fashion in the way I used to be. But I still have all those magazines I bought at the time because I bought ones that felt a little timeless, more like books.
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 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.
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.
As feminism becomes more integrated into mainstream publications and conversation, I feel weary of an obsession of celebrity culture masquerading as activism or as conversation or action. It's clickbait.
So much about 'Rookie' has been very organically familial among our contributors, among our readers. Yeah, if I interview someone like Lorde, who I do know outside of work - sometimes I'm just so happy; it's so cool that this is organically, effortlessly, the warm, supportive friend vibe that we want here.
In high school, I was doing my magazine 'Rookie' and a lot of writing, and I became a little less interested in the fashion world. I was approached by an agent for writing, and I said I wanted to act as well. They sent me scripts, and then I got my first Broadway play, 'This Is Our Youth'.
I'm a lot more productive in an actual office. I love being around our other editors, and going there every day alleviates some of the guilt that I think many self-employed people feel when you know you could always be working from your laptop at home. I feel so relaxed there, while completely engaged and inspired.
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.
Sometimes if you expose your vulnerability, someone else will feel comforted. It's like we're all in this boat together. — © Tavi Gevinson
Sometimes if you expose your vulnerability, someone else will feel comforted. It's like we're all in this boat together.
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.
I think it was my mom's attitude about art and being part of the narcissistic digital generation or whatever that made me think anyone would care what I had to say about anything!
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 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.
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.
I feel lucky in that I don't really have to go to college to study something job-specific. I just want to go to learn about what is interesting to me and learn about the classes that you don't really get to take in high school because you have to take the basics.
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.
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'm really good at making teen angst romantic. I'm really good at dealing with heartbreak and things like that and making it into this whole experience. But there's no way to make someone-on-the-Internet-said-something-mean-about-me into romantic angst where you can listen to music and cry or whatever.
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.
'Rookie' is not your guide to Being a Teen. It is, quite simply, a bunch of writing and art we like and believe in.
Half of my closet is Barbie clothes - PVC skirts, cropped fuzzy sweaters, and velvet minis.
My dad is an English teacher, and my mom is a textiles artist. My parents made my sisters and me feel that if we wanted to pursue something creative, it could be done. They've always been supportive of everything from the beginning.
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 think people get excited about someone discovering something that blew their mind when they were younger. I think it makes people kind of nostalgic and happy. That's one of the really great things about the Internet, that it can bring people together in that way of just being interested in the same stuff.
Maybe I need to make a change, or maybe it's living here in New York or using social media or working in media and entertainment, but I feel like I'm constantly trying to maintain this sense of, 'Why do I do what I do?'
I have a problem with people saying feminine means anti-feminist, and I think it's counter-productive to immediately associate anything 'girly' with vanity or stupidity.
Oh God, I'm awful at sports. In gym I just try and avoid getting hit in the face.
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.
One thing that I always liked about fashion was that it was tied in with music and art and film.
If the next thing I do is not necessarily filling the role of 'the future of journalism,' it'll probably be whatever is making me happiest, and that's enough for me.
I first met Solange at a party for her gorgeous and inspiring website, Saint Heron. I'd already had so many phases of listening exclusively to 2012's 'True' and admired her activism and radiant style.
You like the style of the people you like because it reflects something inside them.
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. — © Tavi Gevinson
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.
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 got into one of the schools I applied to because of the essay I wrote about Holly Hunter's character in 'Broadcast News.' She's the only female producer on this news network, and she's really good at her job, but she allots time in her day to just sit at her desk and cry. And then she's just back to work. I find that really effective.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that writing is mysterious; you don't ever truly know where it is coming from, so don't edit yourself line by line. Don't get in your own way. Whatever is truly there at the core, that is your voice.
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.
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 so think it's limiting to define an audience ahead of time. This is something I've brought on myself by being like, 'There are no 'real' teen publications! That's what I'll do!' But then it's like, well, if I want 'Rookie' to be successful and popular, then people will invalidate the realness by saying it's popular and mainstream.
I think that everybody wants to be heard, and the easiest way to be the loudest is to be the hater.
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.
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.
I love the Internet, but I think you have to only use it in the ways that are good for you. I think there's so much speculation that happens.
When I first watched Bette Davis in 'All About Eve', I was struck by how much I felt that she is Margo Channing and that she's Bette Davis, where she was able to do both, where you're like, 'What an icon.'
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 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.
I would like to write a movie and, if it wasn't too crazy, also direct. — © Tavi Gevinson
I would like to write a movie and, if it wasn't too crazy, also direct.
I try to be very honest in my writing. It's amazing, though, to think that people are responding to what we do, but it's okay if they're responding in a positive way too, because I think just creating anything at all to put out there is a gift.
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'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.
I'm really thankful for every experience I've had, even the ones that were puzzling or disorienting, because they taught me so much.
I am a Justin Bieber fan, but I am also so fascinated by how weird pop music can be and how manipulated it can be, so I enjoy thinking about that side of it too. I feel bad for him. I could never imagine growing up that way.
When you work online, staying on the Internet more than you need to feels like being at the office after hours.
There are moments when I am really not happy with how I look, or I think it would be an easy way out to try and do the conventionally attractive thing. But part of it is that I don't have the energy to put on, like, makeup. If people want to do that, that's fine. But I've learned that it's not for me.
I love 'First Wives Club' and 'Death Becomes Her' and movies about women like that.
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