10 Years On: How Things Have Changed Since STELLAR First Hit Our Shelves

You’ll be glad to hear that some things have stayed the same, though. Products we shouted out in the first few issues that have stood the test of time include Armani Luminous Silk foundation, Nars Laguna bronzer, and the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick. What can we say, we’ve always known our stuff.

Money

In 2008, Ireland was enjoying the very tail end of the Celtic Tiger, blissfully unaware that we were about to be hit full in the face by the economic downturn. An article in the first issue lists all the ways one could save for a designer handbag, and the second issue recommends hiring a DJ for €300 (which was considered ‘reasonable’) to really impress at your house party. God be with the days, like.

Obviously, this just isn’t the case any more. Many of us are saving money in the blind hope that we may someday in the very distant future put a down payment on a house, or spreading ourselves thin every month just trying to pay ever-increasing rents. While things are said to be slowly (ever so slowly) turning themselves around, we’re not even close to recreating the excesses of the Celtic Tiger. And would we want to? Be honest.

Dating

How innocent we were in the late 2000s, out at pubs and clubs looking for love or hoping our mates would set us up with
a friend! Would you try online dating? No, you weren’t desperate. But times have changed. Now you can find someone to
go on a date with in a matter of seconds via Tinder, and if you don’t like them? Just arrange another date right after. Of course, this has caused its own problems. The knowledge that something ‘better’ could be right around the corner has made us a bit lazy about forging connections. Would you wish to be back in the dating scene of 2008, though? That’s your call.

We as women have started asserting ourselves a bit more (thanks, fourth wave feminism!) and the tone of the chatter around dating and sex has changed massively. It’s now widely accepted that women also enjoy sex (gasp) and while vintage STELLAR used to ponder about how to make HIM feel good, how to keep HIM happy, etc, we’re interested in asking ‘What are YOU going to do for US?’

Body Image

Perhaps the most striking change in the past ten years is how we talk about fitness and weight. The body positivity movement was barely a twinkle in anybody’s eye in 2008 – and even though the size zero backlash was in full swing by that point, the only real ‘curvy’ representation came from Kate Winslet and Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks.

Diet tips were normal in women’s magazines in those days, and STELLAR was not very different – articles like ‘Get Your Body LBD Ready’ and ‘The Smart Girl’s Guide To Losing Weight’ would never fly today. Even a piece discussing ‘body acceptance’ and Hollywood’s warped beauty ideals (somewhat daringly titled ‘Are You At Your Sexiest Weight?’) was more to do with how men reacted to our bodies than how we felt about them ourselves. However, even then there were early inklings of the attitude we have today – the first few issues declare that “life is too short to always be on a diet” and implore readers “not to worship at the size zero altar.” Dead right!

And in 2011, we started our naked shoots, in which beautiful readers of all shapes and sizes volunteered to strip off for the cameras and share a little bit about their relationships with their bodies. We’ve always believed in loving yourself for exactly who you are – that will never change.