20 Throwback Pics Of Alexis Bledel That Make Us Want To Binge Watch Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is a TV show that allowed us to embrace our love for small towns, coffee, junk food, and the fascinating relationship between mothers and daughters. Many of us were in junior high or in the middle of high school when the pilot premiered on The WB and we loved the show from the very beginning.
The two stars were, of course, Alexis Bledel as Rory and Lauren Graham as her hilarious and charming mom, Lorelai. These days, Alexis Bledel is still a super successful actress, along with a wife and mother herself. She has wowed us with her award-winning role in The Handmaid's Tale (which, it's safe to say, is a very different show from Gilmore Girls). No matter how many other TV shows we have counted as our favorites, there is something about this drama set in Stars Hollow that always gets us right in the feels.
It's fun to look back at the 2000's and remember this beautiful time in pop culture. Here are 20 throwback pictures of Alexis Bledel, which are definitely going to make us want to binge watch Gilmore Girls… but then again, we've seen the series so many times, we're always up for another episode.
20 School Days
For many of us, who attended public school, watching Gilmore Girls made us want nothing more than to wear a uniform every day. Rory Gilmore just made us want to study and dream about attending ivy-league schools, didn't she?
We were jealous of everything about her Chilton get-up, from her tights, the pretty blue skirt, even that little sweater vest. When Rory first sees her uniform, she's super excited and can't want to be a private school girl, and we felt those feelings right along with her. This throwback picture of Alexis Bledel in Rory's school clothes is enough to make us want to rewatch the whole thing right now.
19 Team Dean
Are we Team Dean? It's a tough question and while we all have our preferences as to who Rory should have been dating the entire time, we can see logic and know that there is no right or wrong answer. (That being said, of course, we do feel that we know what's best for her… and, okay, we might have some strong opinions here and we might be a bit stubborn about this topic.)
This is another great throwback photo of Rory and Dean from the early years of the show. They look so young and innocent, don't they?
18 Happy 21st Birthday
While we've all binge watched Gilmore Girls a few times since it went off the air in 2007 (and we got a Netflix revival, too), nothing will ever compare to the first time that we watched it. We were probably close in age to Rory and so it felt really special to be able to relate to this character.
When Alexis Bledel turned 21, this photo was snapped of her and Lauren Graham, and we love it so much. She's 37 now so this was quite a long time ago… as in 16 years.
The mother/daughter relationship is the whole point of this show, and from all of the photos that we've seen of the actresses who played Rory and Lorelai, we can say that a lot of bonding happened IRL, too.
17 The Best Mom/Daughter Team Ever
While there are mothers and daughters on other TV shows, no one was quite like Lorelai and Rory. Fans love them because they are BFFs and it showed us something other than a more typical mom/daughter relationship. Instead of lecturing Rory about the best way to live or being super strict, Lorelai was fun and funny and always making life an adventure.
And what a photoshoot theme! Zebra-on-zebra is a pretty intense way to print-match… Sometimes it's great to look back (and laugh), and certain fashions we took so seriously in the 2000's. Makes us want to rewatch Rory and Lorelai just to see their fashion evolution!
16 Too Cute
For those of us who are on Team Jess, there is no one else for Rory, and they belong together.
Did we know that Alexis Bledel and Milo Ventimiglia were actually a couple? It's true. According to Popsugar, they were together until July 2006 and it was a four-year-long relationship. It certainly looks like they were in love, as we can see Alexis and Milo smiling at each other and looking smitten. Team Jess forever is what we say (and we love that we can watch Milo on This Is Us these days).
15 The Big Dance
Every Gilmore Girls fan remembers The Big Dance. It was a massive deal for Rory to ask Dean to attend Chilton's school dance with her and she couldn't believe it when he wanted to go.
In episode nine of season one, "Rory's Dance", Rory and Dean fall asleep, resulting in Rory missing her curfew, and Lorelai freaks out (which is definitely an understatement). Lorelai is so furious because her own mom, Emily, is worried that the past will repeat itself and Rory will become a teen mom, too. Talk about feels. We love this photo and we'll always remember how fun it was to watch her get ready.
14 So Young
Alexis Bledel looks so youthful in this photo, which definitely makes us miss watching Gilmore Girls. She was 18 years old in the first season and this picture looks like it was taken around this time or at least within the first few years of the show.
As soon as we play an episode and hear that theme song, it's like we're back where we were when we first started watching it, and it's the best thing ever. From the upbeat tune to the scenes of fall in Stars Hollow to the beloved characters, we can't think of a better opening sequence.
13 We Miss Luke's Diner
How many times did we wish that we could grab a table at Luke's Diner and order some blueberry pancakes? Or copy Lorelai and run behind the counter to grab muffins or donuts and, of course, coffee (but that goes without saying)?
Every time that we watched an episode, we wanted to be there with Lorelai and Rory, and that's why this throwback picture of Lorelai and Rory at the best diner in Stars Hollow (or the best diner in general, really) is so nostalgic for us. Let's watch this series all over again so we can pretend to live there, too.
12 She Won
Alexis Bledel won Best Actress for playing Rory at the 4th Annual Family Television Awards. She looks so happy and surprised while accepting her award, but we're not surprised at all because we can't see that there was anyone else who could have played Rory so well. Check out her low-rise trousers as well, what a noughties vibe!
There are certain actors or actresses who we look at say, "They just had to be that one character". Alexis playing Rory totally fits into this category, she brought so many great qualities to the role, not to mention a whole lot of charm and sweetness.
11 Team Jess
Team Dean, Jess, or Logan: it's a big deal for fans and we honestly knew in our hearts which of these guys we were into from the beginning. It's fair to say that as soon as we saw Dean, Jess, or Logan on our television screens, we were in full support of his love story with Rory and thought that they needed to end up together.
A throwback of Jess and Rory, this picture is enough to make us pretty emotional. Look at them. So young. So cute. So into each other. Awwww. If this doesn't make us want to binge watch the series again, we're not sure what would.
10 Fresh Faced
It doesn't seem like there is a better way to describe Rory Gilmore than "fresh-faced". That's how we would describe this photo of Alexis, too. Her shiny hair and cute white t-shirt are total and complete girl-next-door perfection against this clean background.
What's so fascinating about Alexis, is that Rory was basically her first role and her big break. As Thought Catalog says, before she took on the bookworm part of Rory Gilmore, she had a very small role in Rushmore. But Rory was her big break and what brought her fame, and it's how we all know (and love) her.
9 The 2000s
A true throwback photo, Lauren Graham tweeted this photo when Alexis turned 35 and said, "Here we are back in the aughts looking sassy."
We often hear about how we have nostalgia for the 1990's and the pop culture from that time period. While that's absolutely true, when we think about it, we also feel that way about entertainment from the 2000's. Gilmore Girls fits into that category and all we have to do is picture this mom/daughter team, and all of the amazing people that they were friends with, and we just miss the sweet town of Stars Hollow so much.
8 100 Episodes
This photo was taken of Alexis Bledel at an event after they filmed 100 episodes of Gilmore Girls, and she looks stunning. We love her light pink outfit and how this shade really brings out her bright and beautiful blue eyes.
Making it to 100 episodes of television is impressive. It's pretty exciting when we're watching a show and then realize that we're about to view the 100th episode. It's often a special one and definitely feels like a celebration. There are so many new shows to choose from these days and so many ways to watch TV, but we'll always love Gilmore Girls more than anything else. We wouldn't say no to 100 more episodes…
7 Team Logan
And we've come to a photo of Rory and Logan, a.k.a. her college boyfriend. How do we feel about Logan? He's an interesting character because he seems like the opposite of both Dean and Jess. While Dean is a sweetheart and has a small town boy vibe, Jess is a bookworm who is sassy and smart. But Logan is kind of a jerk at times and doesn't always treat Rory the best, which makes it a little tough to be on Team Logan, although other times he seems like the perfect guy.
Yes, we have a lot of complex feelings about these characters. Let's focus on the photo though. Rory and Logan do look like a cute couple here… We wonder if this was before or after they rendezvoused in the woods with Logan's secret society?
6 Looking Pretty
Alexis looks so pretty in this purple-ish dress that she wore when this photo was snapped back in 2002. She was only 21 in this photo, that's college-age Rory Gilmore!
Chances are, we were in middle school or in high school while watching Gilmore Girls. While we might be all grown up these days and we have jobs and don't go to school anymore, we still love this mother/daughter show more than anything else, and we still would drop anything in order to watch an episode. So on that level, not much has changed.
5 College Girl
It was really fun to watch Rory Gilmore go through her college years. Fans know that she was desperate to get into Harvard and had been dreaming of that since she was a kid. We all figured that she would get into an Ivy League school, along with any school that she applied to since she was always studying and working hard.
She changed her mind from Harvard and set her sights on Yale, making her grandparents proud. The photo above is of Rory standing in the Yale college newspaper office, which brings back so many memories of Rory writing and reporting and making her journalism dreams come true. In her first ever published article, Rory crushed the dreams of a Yale ballerina by giving her a bad review. She (sort-of) regretted it later on!
4 Back In The Day
Taken at the 2003 Teen Choice Awards, this photo was in the middle of when Gilmore Girls originally aired on TV since it ended in 2007.
It's fun to look back and see photos of our favorite celebrities from the 1990's and 2000's. It's easy to see how fashion has changed, and this photo is a perfect example. While this dress was definitely stylish back in 2003, we might think that it looks a bit dated. But this was simply what people were wearing back then and this type of shiny dress was what we saw all over the red carpets at award shows and Hollywood events.
3 This Classic Hat
Oh man. This hat. When Rory learned to play golf in the third episode of season one, "Kill Me Know," she wore this hat and enjoyed a lovely day at the club with her grandpa, Richard. Lorelai couldn't believe that she was doing this… but Rory seemed to have a really great time.
Rory looks so cute in this hat, don't we think? She always has such a bookworm and collegiate vibe about her since she dresses very smartly. Sure, we get that the hat is kind of silly, but we like it and it reminds us of the first season, and of her grandfather… and now we're crying.
2 All Smiles
Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham are all smiles in this photo, and that makes us smile, too.
It sounds like these two do get along IRL and will always be tied to each other after working on the show together, but as Bustle reported, they're not Lorelai and Rory level BFFs. The publication quoted Alexis who once said about Lauren, "We have hung out outside of work, and it's fun, but we see each other so much at work that it's almost like if we hung out outside of work, we'd hang out all the time! We'd never be apart."
1 We Love Rory
We have to look at this throwback picture and think, "We love Rory." There is really no other reaction that we could have and if this doesn't scream nostalgia, we don't know what would.
Rory looks so sad in this photo, and she's eating chocolate in her Chilton uniform, which just proves that we're the same person (or at least meant to be best friends). We all can relate and go for chocolate when we've had a bad day.
It looks like we'll have to grab some chocolate, along with our favorite junk food, and binge watch Gilmore Girls from the beginning. Well, if we must…
