Photo: Getty

Breaking the “Fourth Wall”
It’s worth noting that in researching this piece, we reached out multiple times to some 20+ self-styled “outfit” blogs, and none of them have responded. Jessica was not surprised by this. “They are pretty pissed about us breaking the ‘fourth wall,’ [in our Storyboard piece]” she told us, referring to the fandom’s self-policing policy of keeping everything within their community. It’s a way of thinking that’s a bit like “what happens on Tumblr stays on Tumblr” – they feel like the press portrays them as being crazy and that those outside the 1D fandom do not and cannot understand them. “It was as if the fans felt they had been ‘found,’ that we hacked into their secret world, and spied,” Jessica tells us, saying that some fans even went so far as to send death threats to the ask boxes of Tumblr staff upon finding out about the piece.

She also shared with us that the One Direction fandom as a whole is unlike any other on Tumblr. There are many devoted fandoms on the blogging website, like the Harry Potter and Doctor Who communities, but that this is the first time outside of the sci-fi community that they’ve seen devotion on this level. “It’s constant, and unending,” she said, adding that it’s impossible to keep up.

The occasional bout of insanity aside, we think these boards can be a fun way for fans to express not only their love for their favorite boy band but also their own personal sense of style, and when has that ever been a bad thing?

While we’re kind of glad a record of what we would have worn circa 2000 doesn’t exist – can you imagine the horror show of super low-cut, thong-revealing “destroyed” denim and cropped sequined halters? – we would have had a ball planning what we would have worn to prom with Lance Bass as our date (Yes, I was team Lance and I’m still totally gutted we will never date). Plus, we think some of these girls have great taste – we’d absolutely rock those colored skinny jeans, and we spied at least one Céline bag in the mix.

We picked out some of our favorite One Direction themed boards and included them in our gallery – do they inspire you to plan your outfit for that (imaginary) picnic with Ryan Gosling this weekend? Hey girl…