Instagram fashionista BaddieWinkle is fierce, fashionable and fabulous – and she just happens to be 92 years old.
The Instagram star, whose real name is Helen Ruth van Winkle, catapulted to fame at the age of 85 for her wild sense of style, DGAF attitude and vivaciousness that you’d be hard-pressed to find in someone a quarter of her age.
Baddie – as she’s affectionately known to her 3.5 million followers – is proof that there’s truly no age limit when it comes to having fun with fashion, and dishing out a major dose of sass while your at it (her Insta bio reads “Stealing Your Man Since 1928”).
The great-grandmother, who was born in Kentucky during the Great Depression, first created her BaddieWinkle alter-ego following the death of her husband and son after her great-granddaughter suggested it.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen to you,” she told Refinery29 in 2016.
“I blamed God forever. I cried all the time because I couldn’t come to terms with it, so I made myself over into BaddieWinkle.”
“One day, I was laying out in the sun, and I put on some tie-dyed shirt and a pair of cutoff shorts of my [great-]granddaughter Kennedy’s. She came home and said, ‘Oh, Granny, you look so cute! Let me take a pic of you.”
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As for how she came up with her famous Instagram handle, she said: “I’m a bad bitch; always been a rebel. So we decided ‘bad’ — ‘baddie.’ And then my last name was van Winkle, so we put the Winkle on.”
According to Kennedy, her great-grandmother has always been “different” to other grandmas.
“She’s always been just very outrageous in general,” said Kennedy. “She’s always flirted with boys, she’s just always been different than other grandma’s I’ve known.”
Since then, the Instagran has gained a cult following – including celebs like Miley Cyrus and Rihanna – and scored a slew of endorsement deals while also being gifted the latest trends and outfits from some of the world’s hottest clothing brands.
“I don’t like ‘old women’ clothes. I never wore them in my life,” she explained. “But I would also never be caught dead in pasties or short-shorts that show half of your butt. I’ve had pictures made like that, but I just did it for the fun of it.”
While her internet fame has seen her attend award shows and hang out with the likes of Khloe Kardashian and Fergie, Baddie believes the most important aspect of her online persona is encouraging others to live life how they want to.
“BaddieWinkle has helped me a lot — in spirit, anyway,” she said. “The lessons that I have learned is live and let live.
“I would love to be a role model for older people. You’re only here once in your lifetime, so have fun.”
All hail our fierce fashion queen!
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