The Moment

Kim Kardashian has declared it “Selfie szn,” and honestly, the evidence is compelling.

In a new Instagram carousel shared Tuesday, the 45-year-old reality star and business mogul posed poolside in a tiny leopard-print string bikini, hair slicked back, oversized black sunglasses on, and that classic kissy face aimed straight at the camera. It’s peak Kim: glossy, curated, and very aware of its own power.

The post wasn’t just thirst-trap energy, though. After the bikini shot, she shifted into family mode with photos of her four kids with ex-husband Kanye West – North, 12, Saint, 10, Chicago, 7, and Psalm, 6 – all smiling during an outing with the family matriarch herself, Kris Jenner.

Kim Kardashian takes a selfie with Kris Jenner and family members.
Photo: Instagram/Kim Kardashian

Kim also included a rare glimpse of her grandmother, Mary Jo “MJ” Campbell, followed by a surprise nostalgia bomb: a snap from a sleepover with sister Khloe Kardashian and Britney Spears. If your brain immediately time-traveled back to low-rise jeans and early-2000s paparazzi chaos, you’re not alone.

Kim Kardashian gets a kiss on the cheek from her grandmother Mary Jo "MJ" Campbell.
Photo: Instagram/Kim Kardashian

She captioned the whole thing simply: “Selfie szn.”

According to a December 2025 entertainment report and Kim’s own captions, the star has been leaning into poolside downtime after sharing that she failed her latest attempt at the California State Bar exam this fall. Around the same time, she also posted photos in a gray bejeweled bikini that appeared to be taken during Kendall Jenner’s star-studded 30th birthday beach bash on November 3.

Kim Kardashian in a gray studded bikini, headscarf, and oversized sunglasses.
Photo: Instagram/Kim Kardashian

The Take

On the surface, this is just another day that ends in “-y” for Kim Kardashian: tiny bikini, big sunglasses, even bigger engagement numbers.

But look a little closer and you can see the strategy. This carousel reads like a whole life thesis crammed into one post: sexy first slide, soft family core, multigenerational women, and a dash of pop-culture nostalgia. It’s not just a selfie dump; it’s a mood board for “I’m still that girl, but I’m also exhausted and trying my best.”

Kim has always understood something most celebrities either ignore or learn the hard way: in 2025, your Instagram grid is your press release. When the law journey gets rough – and failing another bar exam, especially after studying publicly, is no small emotional hit – she doesn’t disappear. She posts a bikini. Then the kids. Then Grandma. Then Britney. It’s like saying, “Yes, things are stressful, but look, my life is full and beautiful and I’m still in control.”

If we’re being honest, a lot of women 40 and up recognize this pattern in a less glamorous form. You bomb at work, your to-do list is on fire, hormones are staging a coup – and what do you do? You post a good photo from a better day. Her version just happens to include a leopard bikini and a billionaire shapewear empire.

The interesting twist here is the contrast between grind culture and soft life culture. Kim has spent years selling herself as the woman who can parent four kids, build multiple businesses, film a reality show, and study law at night. That’s a superhero narrative. Now we’re seeing more of the crash: the failed exam, the need to lie by the pool, the sleepovers with sisters and old friends. It’s giving, “Maybe having it all also means letting yourself drop a ball sometimes.”

Think of this post like a Christmas tree: the bikini is the big shiny ornament, but the real story is everything else hanging quietly behind it – the kids, the grandmother, the lingering hope that even after setbacks, you can still rebrand the vibe and keep going.

Receipts

Confirmed

  • Kim shared a series of new photos on her official Instagram account on Tuesday featuring herself in a tiny leopard-print string bikini, captioned “Selfie szn.”
  • The same carousel included photos of her four children with Kanye West – North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm – along with their grandmother Kris Jenner.
  • She also posted images featuring her grandmother Mary Jo “MJ” Campbell and a sleepover moment with Khloe Kardashian and Britney Spears.
  • According to a December 2025 celebrity news report summarizing the post, Kim has recently spoken about feeling stressed while studying for the California State Bar exam and revealed she failed her 2025 attempt.
  • In earlier photos shared this fall, she wore a gray bejeweled bikini with a silver scarf and oversized sunglasses; those images were reported as being from Kendall Jenner’s private 30th birthday beach celebration on November 3.
  • Kim has publicly documented her law studies for years, including on her Hulu series “The Kardashians,” and announced in 2021 via social media that she passed California’s “baby bar” exam after multiple attempts.

Unverified / Framed Carefully

  • The idea that the latest bikini post is specifically timed as stress relief or image “damage control” after failing the recent bar exam is interpretation, not something Kim has explicitly stated in this caption.
  • The gray bikini shots “appeared” to be from Kendall’s 30th birthday party; this is based on visual context and reporting, not a detailed event breakdown from Kim herself.
  • Any suggestion that the Britney Spears sleepover hints at a future collaboration is fan speculation at this point; neither woman has announced a project together.

Backstory (For Casual Readers)

If you dipped out of Kardashian world a few seasons ago, here’s the quick refresher: Kim Kardashian rose to mega-fame through reality TV, then flipped that into a sprawling business empire that includes Skims shapewear and beauty and fragrance lines. In recent years, she’s also taken on criminal justice reform and started studying law, choosing a California program that lets people apprentice with lawyers instead of attending traditional law school.

She has spoken openly about failing early exams – including the so-called “baby bar” – before finally passing that in 2021. Since then, she’s kept at it, juggling legal studies with parenting four kids, co-parenting with Kanye West, filming her Hulu show, and running her brands. Her social media has become a blend of glamour shoots, family life, advocacy posts, and the occasional very pointed fashion statement.

What’s Next

Kim hasn’t laid out a detailed public roadmap after this most recent bar-exam setback, but based on her past behavior, it’s unlikely she’s giving up on the law path. She’s invested years, multiple televised storylines, and a lot of emotional capital into this identity shift.

Expect more of this two-track posting style: law grind in interviews and on her show, soft-focus luxury and family content on Instagram. The leopard bikini and “Selfie szn” vibe suggest she’s in a “reset and recharge” phase – regrouping with her kids, her mom, her grandmother, and long-time fixtures like Khloe and Britney before diving back into the books.

Fans will be watching for a few things: whether she shares more directly about this latest failure (beyond throwaway mentions in captions), how much of the struggle shows up in the next season of “The Kardashians,” and whether she leans even harder into the wellness/soft life aesthetic as she gets older.

For now, the message is clear: the hustle is still there, but the filter has shifted. The body is in a leopard bikini, the brain is on bar prep, and the heart seems to be somewhere between the pool lounger and the family group chat.

Your turn: When you see posts like Kim’s “Selfie szn” – glam shot first, family and vulnerability after – does it feel authentic to you, or more like smart image management?

Sources: Kim Kardashian via Instagram (photo carousel captioned “Selfie szn,” posted December 2025); December 2025 entertainment news coverage of the post and her recent bar exam comments; Kim’s 2021 social media announcement and on-air remarks about passing California’s baby bar exam on “The Kardashians.”

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