Beth, far right, on her sisters: “I love being the middle child because, the way I see it, I have someone to look up to and someone to look after. We used to think of ourselves as the Powerpuff Girls of Kingston-Upon-Thames: Jessie [center] was the leader, so she was Blossom; Jasmine [far left] had a habit of getting into really grumpy moods, which meant she was Buttercup; and I was Bubbles due to my crazy blond hair. My hair’s not blond anymore and Jasmine doesn’t get grumpy too often, but we’re definitely still the Powerpuff Girls.”
Styling by Verity Pemberton.“My sisters and I are the best girl gang to ever grace the planet, in clothes borrowed from each other (not always with permission) and the same size feet. We all have really small feet.”
“I remember secret clubs, games with our cats, gross homemade breakfasts for our dad, bedroom dance parties, dressing up, and makeovers. Jas, I’d like to use this opportunity to apologize once again for when Jessie and I gave you that mascara unibrow that made you cry because it wouldn’t come off, but I’m still going to laugh about it until the day I die. That’s the thing with sisters: Even if you annoy them to hell and back, they’ll never stop being your sister. That counts for a lot, in my opinion.”
“I don’t think you can ever love anyone like you love your sisters. They’re like best friends who sometimes make you want to cry but also make you feel like the luckiest person alive.”
Baitong (left) on her sister: “Michelle and I didn’t start off on the right foot. We had a few good years of bickering and teasing before we became what we are now, which is pretty much best friends. Now we spend our days baking, drawing, doing each other’s hair—basically the really girly stuff that I never do on my own.”
“We have this thing where whenever we make promises to each other we have to do a pinky swear, and we have to kiss our thumbs while we do it, to seal the promise—otherwise it can be broken.”
“We recently started going shopping together, and it’s pretty fun. She’s starting to notice fashion more and piecing things together on her own. I started doing that at her age, too, but she has me to guide her and save her from those embarrassing family-photo outfits.”
Sabaa and Sanaa on their relationship: “Like most twin sisters, we’ve developed our own language and sense of humor that are meaningless to everybody else. We have a life plan to be rich and fabulous in five years so we won’t have to split the cost of a Zara jacket and swap it every few weeks.”
“We like spending all day watching Criminal Minds, whispering about life, fighting over clothes, and rolling our eyes at each other. We hate when people ask if we can feel each other’s emotions (no), whether we share a room (no), if we like being a twin (do you like being alive?), and who our parents like the best (Sanaa).”
Rachel (on the right) on her sister: “Rebecca is the best sister ever and my best friend! Everybody assumes she’s older than me. I sometimes feel that way too—probably because she acts like it. She does so much for me.”
“I’m the quiet one. Rebecca is higher maintenance. She’s into fashion and gets excited about things like that guy from Made in Chelsea.”
“I very much look up to my sister (literally too), and I miss her all the time.”
Reba (left) on her sister: “Me and Jess were born three years apart in the same hospital in Oxford. We grew up surrounded by really strong and glamorous women. Our mum, Louisa, and our gran, Sylvia, are as funny as they are tough and intelligent.”
“Our parents are both really interested in feminism and politics, and we would all talk about ideas a lot when we were living at home. We both feel really lucky to have grown up in an environment like that. It couldn’t have been better for two young girls!”
Lotte (left) on her sister: “Before Nancy was born, I enjoyed two dreamy years of solo attention, kisses, and cuddling from our parents. Then this bundle of joy appeared to light up my life with her blond curls and sweet voice.”
“We both live and work in London (best place in the world). I throw parties for a living—not just any old parties, real ones for people to have actual real-life fun times at. Nancy works for our grandparents at their antique and prop rental business. She lends out to the dopest period dramas (errrr, heard of Harry Potter?).”
Sidonie (left) on her sister: “I’m 17 and Zazou is 13. We were both home-educated until we were 12. We love skateboarding, surfing, the ’70s, and Bill Murray.”
“We were really naughty when we were younger and double the trouble when we were together. At school we would set all the clocks forward so we could go home early. We also used to go ’round the school licking the teachers’ elbows because they wouldn’t notice.”
“We’re really close and hang out all the time. The only thing we argue about is clothes and who used to be the bigger Miley Cyrus fan!”
48 Comments
SO BEAUTIFUL WEOIAFsdfjwhge!!!!!!!!!!! makes me want a sister more than anything. all you girlz are immaculate
I love this so so much!! Everything is so gorgeous. Makes me want to do a photoshoot with my twin haha. And Sanaa and Sabaa pretty much summed up our own relationship as well. <3
this is truly wonderful. I loved reading their stories about sisterhood and the images are beautiful. they really depict in a lovely way how they connect and who they are as individuals. lovely, elle.
ELLE this is so prettyyyyyyy
These pictures and anecdotes are gorgeous! I am the oldest of three sisters, but my middle sister doesn’t like me at all, which sucks because we’re so close in age and I want her to be my best friend! Luckily I’m really close with me little sister but she’s 11 I’m 20 so we can only chat about so much. Anyone else got a sister who hates their guts? its the worst.
this is so perfect! makes me wish i had a sister!!
I have two older sisters (+4 years and +8 years) and, while we’ve never just DESPISED each other, we’ve never been close. Maybe it’s the age spread? Siblings are weird.
Anyways, beautiful as always :)
This is my favorite thing.
THESE PHOTOS ARE MINDBLOWINGLY BEAUTIFUL
I really adore your photos! I also love your illustrations and collages that you’ve posted on your tumblr. What are you inspired by when illustrating/drawing? Thanks! x
These photos and little stories to go along with them are sublime! I have a younger sister (5 year age difference) and we can’t stand each other. I wish our relationship was more like what these girls share :)
me and my sister are really close.we’re the best of of friends.once,though,when she was like a year old(i was probably two or three) i put stickers on her head in the shape of devil horns.
oh also those girls make me wanna learn how to skate SO BAD UGH
i’m going to cry these are so perfect!!!!! i wish i had a relationship like this (but i’m an only child)
i love #15 and everything really
This is amazing! It’s so ROOKIE. I love this. I wish I had a sister.
This is my favourite photo set on Rookie EVER!
I love photo 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Just to let you know there seems to be some weird error where a bunch of ??? appear randomnly throughout the text.)
What browser are you using, and where do those question marks show up?
I’m using safari on an iPad. They seem to show up in the place of apostrophes.
They’ve disappeared now
amazing!
i want one of these with brothers… me and my twin might not get along sometimes but he still the guy i shared a womb with…
if only my sister and i were like this. we’re the complete opposite but i guess that’s the way it has to be sometimes. eleanor, these are wonderful. you’ve captured their love so well.
Amazing!!
This is making me so excited for my sister coming home for the weekend!!
This album is so dreamy. It makes me miss my sister (we’re half a world apart at the moment). Em if you’re reading this I love you!
Now i REALLY miss my sister!
oh my gosh this is such a lovely eye candy. My sisters and me are also the same size, same shoe size and we always borrow clothes from each other, sometimes without asking! The relationship between sisters is really special and these photos capture this very well. <3 <3 <3
I’m an only child, most of the time I don’t mind but now I wish I had a sister! They all seem so cool and the styling and photography is beautiful!
I love how Jessie’s pale skin, white hair and dark lips match so beautifully
This is so beautiful <3 makes me a little sad about having two brothers and no sisters. It's just not the same
These are so lovely! I don’t have a sister but these photos are really sweet.
These pictures gave me shivers! So beautiful. I do think the sisterly relationship is something that can’t be beaten. I have a bit of an “Everybody hates Chris” situation, my younger sister looks older and is brilliant at everything. Solange Knowles gives me hope though as her sister is Beyonce and she’s still her own cool person.
This made me text my sister immediately and send her the text that accompanied photo #4 omg.
Ahh this is so sweet but miles away from my own reality….I have two younger sisters and I WISH we could all look fab is mis-matched swapped clothes but stolen clothes usually = arguments…
these are so beautiful! they made me appreciate my sister even more!
Dying inside with the beauty of these <3
These are incredible! I especially like the amazing and cool skateboarding blondes. But how could you like a person’s elbow without them noticing?
Absolutely positively ahhhmazing!
this is so so so so amazing. i always wanted a sister.
This slideshow seriously hit home. It’s my favorite one I’ve seen on here so far! I love, love, love it.
i typed this after i read ‘We also used to go ’round the school licking the teachers’ elbows because they wouldn’t notice.’ on photo 23. what?
WHY DON’T I HAVE A SISTER
Ah this is incredibly beautiful! I really cant wait until my sister is a little older (she’s 11 and i’m 16) and we can share everything. I adore her but we’re not as close as we used to be because I’m always out doing something and she’s a bit young to discuss some things with. but still, gorgeous photos!
this is so sweet and all of the sisters are so beautiful!! it makes me so sad that i don’t have any siblings </3
i love this so much!! i really want a sister!! also glad to find out that theres someone else called Reba <3 <3
this is touching, but also so so depressing for those of us out there who have less-than-lovely/photographable relationships with our sisters. I always wanted to be close with my sister but because of not sharing a mother and years of lack of communication in our family + age difference + a sibling passing away it’s complicated. I can’t help but wonder how many other girls with similar issues are out there looking at these beautiful photos and feeling as bad as I am. Not reprimanding Rookie but just acknowledging these issues in case someone else is reading who has them… it’s hard.
Hey babe. I’m sorry to hear about your sibling who passed. I know what it’s like to feel distant from your sisters during difficult times at home—I wrote about it a little (although we’re not estranged, just different). And Lola actually wrote to a Just Wondering question about having difficulties with your sisters, in which she also talks about a conversation a lot of us had in our staff Facebook group about not-great sibling relationships. We’ve got a lot more coming about all different kinds of family ties this month, and I really hope you find something that makes you feel recognized in those pieces. Mad love to you.
I love this concept so much. It’s inspired me to have a photoshoot with my sister in the future :)
I love my sister so much! (: It’s the best relationship ever! <3