Falling Down Rabbit Holes with TinyJewishGirl & Bella Newman
Perlmutter, better known to her Tiktok and Instagram followers by her online handle @tinyjewishgirl, has amassed a massive social media following for her colorfully eclectic— albeit somewhat unconventional— style and impressively expansive knowledge of designer fashion.
Newman, a 23 year-old multidisciplinary artist recognized for her intimate character portraiture in her photography and filmmaking, initially met Perlmutter in a sculpture class while they were both attending NYU.
The two bonded over their shared internet muses, both of them driven by their inner children, and drawn to whimsicality, satire, and things that embody, what they call, “cutesy-sexy.” They describe regularly spamming each other with links to Poshmark and niche Google Images searches, out of their mutual habit of falling down ‘internet wormholes.' But aside from their online habits, the two have a lot more in common— from mental health to their childhood upbringings, they connect over their similar worldviews and personal experiences.
office sat down with the pair over the summer to talk more about their unique friendship built on shared online obsessions, creative inspirations, and tiptoeing the line between silly and serious in their own lives.
So how are you both doing today? What have you been up to?
BELLA NEWMAN— I'm doing good. I feel like I've been more on my own time in a way that was maybe overwhelming for me for a little, but I feel like I'm rebalancing myself this week.
CLARA PERLMUTTER— And I just quit my full-time job. And I'm now pursuing doing influencing full-time, or whatever you want to call it. Social media. So that's been crazy. It's been a weird adjustment because I've been traveling a lot, and showing up for my family events. So I feel like I'm doing a lot of the behind-the-scenes business stuff, like managing banking and all of that. And I want to just sit down and be able to create the content. So that's been getting in my way. It’s a little stressful, but I'm really just looking forward to what the future holds.
So I wanted to talk to you two, because you’re both creatives that have this unique friendship built on these mutual interests and obsessions in art, fashion, film, and pop culture— and they’re somewhat niche, like Jeff Koons’ ex-wife Ilona Staller, vintage Playboy covers, and nail art. Can you both talk about why you’re both so fascinated by these things?
BN— I feel like part of it is that Clara has certain interests. And then she'll tell me about them. And then I'll be like, ‘Oh, I like something kind of similar to that.’ I feel like we both just have this passionate approach to things.
CP— And I think that a thread that runs through what Bella and I will find in common that we like is hyper feminine, or just kind of out there. A lot of the time, it'll be a little bit hypersexual, and a little bit girly.
BN— Things that kind of take you out, that have an otherworldly element or a whimsicality to them. I mean, it's very apparent with Clara's style, and also in my archive of things that inspire me and things that inspire Clara. Maybe we were into the same movies as kids or something.
CP— It does feel like that. Or maybe we had similar experiences on Tumblr, something of that nature. I also think that Bella and I just maybe have a little bit in common as people. I think that Bella's work is really reflective of having a strong sense of self and a strong visual sensibility. And I would say that I have kind of a similar thing going on in that I'm visually motivated.
They have a sort of ‘meme humor’ and a camp quality to them.
BN— Totally. I really love theatricality and when things are kind of like, reality, but elevated, which I feel like is is what I try to do in my work. I come from a more photojournalistic approach from when I was younger, and then I came into fashion, which was my dream. I loved fashion. But fashion is also a joke. Like the fashion industry is hilarious. And I think that's something that Clara definitely sees too. We can turn everything on its head. You can mentally manipulate anything to be your vision. Some people get pissed off in Clara's comments section on Tik Tok. And sometimes people get pissed off when I like, just say something. But I like to give people things to talk about. It doesn't matter how much you like alienate other people from you, if you're living your truth, which I think for me and for Clara, the throughline of that are these really strong visual pulls that we have and the influences that we've cultivated through early adulthood to now. We're both from the East Coast…-Ish. And suburban-ish. Deciduous trees.
BN— [Clara] and I have both struggled a lot with mental health things too. And we've both been on medication for a really long time. So I think there's also an element of that where you kind of embrace that you're crazy to a degree.
CP— Yeah, and I have bipolar disorder. So I get manic, and I don't get fully manic because I'm so well medicated and therapy, but I mean, I do have a little bit of that spark. Like almost a manic, except it's almost a manic obsession where I go full on into something and I do a deep dive.
BN— I think that is really our connectors. Like I have OCD, and I get very obsessed with things, and I will deep dive and nerd out in and dig myself into a rabbit hole, and then it's like, ‘Oh, Clara dove into something else,’ and she’s tell me about it. Also, Clara has like the craziest Poshmark.
So what kind of internet rabbit holes are you guys going down?
CP— Well, we bonded over pink Mary Jane's, we bonded over Ashley Williams cat skirts. I will continually send link after link. And I remember. I will go on Poshmark, and I'll dive and I'll dive and— also, we are the same shoe size— so I will find every single pair of Mary Jane's, and I just send, and I send, and I send, and over a timespan of months, they'll be spammed with, like 50 links.
BN— But it's amazing. I love it, because that's kind of what I do too. You know, I'll be in my zone on the interweb, and then I'm just bombing people with links. But it's so fun, because I think it's a similar way [Clara’s] brain works in a way, where you just get really into something, and then you get absorbed by it.
BN— There’s also an element of like the “cutesy-sexy,” like that Ashley Williams cat skirt.
CP— Oh, and random animals. I've sent you that really shiny horse.
BN— Oh my god, the shiny horse— what are they called?
[For reference, they are referring to the Akhal Teke horse, otherwise known as the ‘Golden Horse’ for their distinctive metallic sheen.]
BN— Clara, what kind of movies did you like as a little kid?
CP— Oh my god. So I realized that, in retrospect, I was really attracted to mise en scène and like, that was what qualified movies as good. So movies that I thought had good costume and set design. You know, a movie that I loved as a kid was Josie the Pussycats, which is a satire on the music industry. I think most of that flew over my head when I was little. Now I have friends with record labels, and I appreciate it more. But the costumes in that are insane. I also loved really bright cartoons. And I did love musicals, things that I could sing along to. I think I was a theatrical child. I never did theater, but I would put on performances for my siblings, and I would sing everything. I liked things that had really well dressed teenage girls in them. Movies for me weren’t just entertainment. I would see someone, and I’d be like, ‘That’s who I want to be.’ Freaky Friday, or Mean Girls. I'd see an adult girl, and be like, ‘I want to be an adult girl, so I can wear whatever I want.’ What about you, Bella?
BN— I really liked old movies, ones that had sets that were all built out. I was fascinated by set design. The Neverending Story was a huge one for me. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was a major one for me.
I really love this sense of silliness that you’re both drawn to— the duality between the silliness and seriousness in some of these things. You both have this sense of humor about fashion and art, with also this extensive knowledge about it. It feels playful.
BN— For me, being surrounded by things that make me happy to look at gives me genuine joy. And being surrounded by those things doesn't let me sink into anything dark. They kind of keep you afloat. So I feel like it's also a life raft in this vehement collecting of strange objects or strange items of clothing. I just bought a shirt with an anthropomorphic rooster riding a chariot with pigs. It was a sweatshirt that was cut up. It's so cool.
CP— The phrase, ‘life raft’ is an accurate descriptor. I need visual stimulation for my sanity, and having these things around me that are fun and whimsical really just helps me to be a stable, sane person. And I can think about the humor. I like clothing that is so playful. If I can only own statement pieces, that would be my dream wardrobe. And I'm kind of getting there. I mean, I think things like the Jeremy Scott Adidas bear jacket that I have with the matching bear shoes. Like I really want the matching pants, by the way. I'm keeping my eyes peeled. They're gonna be expensive, so I'm just sitting tight, waiting to find the perfect pair. But I just need something that isn't just going to make me smile. I think I like making other people happy. I like to make other people smile when I walk down the street, and they're like, 'Oh, I've never seen anything like that before!' I think fashion can be a really social thing. Because while I'm expressing myself, I'm going out into the world, and other people are seeing it. And so being able to start that conversation is really nice, just doing it with my clothing. Because sometimes it's overwhelming. 'How do you talk to someone?' 'How do you start a relationship?' Just expressing your truest self with what you're wearing, and expressing that sense of humor, expressing whatever's going on inside-- just let people know straight away who you are.
About a year ago, Bella and I hung out, and we did a little photo shoot. And what was really interesting was that we bonded over being aesthetically attracted to messes. Like my apartment, we made it a complete mess. We threw clothing everywhere, and we kind of use that as scenery. And I think that attraction to something that looks like a tornado hit [my apartment], there's beauty in having every piece of your life just strewn out across like that. I think that we're on the same page about how just letting everyone see the mess within can be so beautiful. Because I'm not gonna lie, my apartment looks like that all the time. But for someone to be able to capture that, and make it beautiful, and understand that every day I play dress up with myself, and every day I have to clean up that mess.
BN— I feel so lucky that I had the chance to figure a lot of things out when I was younger. All my Maslow's hierarchy of needs were fulfilled, so I just could be this way. And I can know that I am this way by the age of 23, which a lot of people can't do. I think that is something I saw in Clara. I was like, ‘This person was definitely raised similar to me, probably where their parents let them be a little too much of a freak. And it shows.’
CP— Absolutely. I also think that having my mental health struggles at a young age, and figuring them out at also at a young age allowed me to get over my insecurity about what other people are thinking about me, and just be my most authentic self. From the time I was a child, I was an individual, and I had my own interests, and I pursued them, and I was encouraged to pursue them. I felt like my needs were met, so I could just like be myself, and I could just figure out who exactly that is.
BN— And maintain the inner child, which is often jaded by things that happened. But choosing to have it, because a lot of people don't choose to have it.
CP— Totally. And I do think that when I would consume media, and I'd be like, ‘I want to be an adult,’ I wanted to be an adult who was cool, and dresses in whatever way she wants. And I do feel like I've actually done that. Like I've kind of fulfilled all my dreams, I’ve become a person who is authentic to themselves.
BN— Yeah, and knowing that Little You would be so proud of you. Because sometimes you just have to look at a picture of yourself, and be like, ‘I would do anything for her.’
CP— Do you think that your Little You would be proud of you?
BN— Yeah, I think Little Me would think I'm awesome. I think Little Me would be pleased with herself. But also, never satisfied. Never complacent. But that just comes with keeping your imagination alive. You can't you can't really ever be complacent if you have a huge imagination.
