REMEMBER THE malls we frequented as young teenagers? Trips to SM Megamall or TriNoma just weren’t complete without copies of our favorite magazines. Our first K-Zone and Total Girl purchases were childhood highs—more so was getting dibs on their latest issues.

Though most physical reads are already off their racks, Twitter user magasin archive (@glossyarchive) is able to replicate the bygone joy of leafing through these pages on our newsfeeds. Through its simple premise, the account’s zestful spreads and narratives from Philippine teen magazines successfully fill our timelines with bite-sized love letters to the ‘90s and the new millenia nostalgia. From vintage fashion to cheesy love life forecasts, glossyarchive has it all.

Pinoy pride and preservation

Culture writer and glossyarchive’s handler Fiel Estrella initially had no major plans for the account, but achievements have abound regardless. “There’s definitely been some success,” she shares, “Not just because a new generation of teens gets inspiration from [the scans], but also because I’ve connected with editors and photographers who worked on them.”

It’s no surprise the archive blew up for being so in tune with Western Y2K aesthetics, which have held more sway over Filipinos than their local takes have had on them. Through the years, international movements have been raved over and deemed stylish and hip, while their Pinoy versions jologs and baduy.

For Estrella, this dichotomy only arose later in the 2000s when mainstream Filipino television struggled to meet the youth’s new fixes, like Gossip Girl and Teen Wolf. “There used to be a balance between enthusiasm for Philippine and international entertainment, but that also went away,” she explains.

Now, whatever clashes nostalgia evokes, glossyarchive mends. Given the account’s raging success for posting scans, it becomes clear that print media isn’t really dead. “Hopefully, with teenagers returning to physical media to reclaim the concept of ‘ownership’... it would mean that magazines could crowd bookstores and newsstands again,” Estrella says, lobbying for print media’s comeback.

Auras worth stanning

glossyarchive’s growth isn’t only seen in retweets—interactions with local celebrities like Baron Geisler and Bianca Gonzalez augment the account’s presence, too. Estrella’s most memorable encounter to date, though, is with Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, who wished to see her first ad on Candy and Seventeen.

“It was so out of the blue and monumental!” Estrella recalls. “It was such good timing because I’d found the ad just the day before and was planning to post it.”

The ad sees 11-year-old Pia, fresh-faced with a flower in hand. It’s leagues different from today’s spreads, where artists strike fierce poses in bedazzled garments. Though equally iconic and buzz-worthy, teen magazines’ then laid-back vibes made reading them worthwhile.

glossyarchive captures this simplicity with candid stills of celebrities around the metro in casual, everyday get-ups. Here, public figures are more human and could pass as friends, classmates, and neighbors. These slice-of-life photoshoots are just some of the archive’s scans that spotlight personalities’ lives beyond the limelight, reaching whoever reads and gushes over them.

If Filipinos are an undisputed powerhouse in music, TV, and film, then the local fashion and entertainment scene can also hold its own globally. As glossyarchive brings authenticity to show business, it shows that we can unearth more perspectives on our diverse pop culture. There’s no telling where Pinoy media is headed next, but the account’s cultural cornerstones are sure steps in the right direction.