The fact that 2000s fashion is now considered vintage continues to cause me and my fellow elder Millennials shock and despair, but even we have to admit, there is some joy to be gleaned in seeing our nostalgic fashion favourites come back in style.
After all, Mary Kate and Ashley were my childhood fashion priestesses – and every song from One Tree Hill was the soundtrack of my moody, teenage existence. With them came the height of a very haphazard time in fashion. Juicy Couture velour tracksuits reigned supreme thanks to Regina George and Paris Hilton. Meanwhile, Sienna Miller and Kate Moss added their Boho spin to noughties style, accessorising their looks with big, woven belts and beaded pendant jewellery. Then, of course, there was everything in between, from Sketchers to Miss Sixty jeans, to Abercrombie hoodies to Hervé Leger bandage dresses.
Paris Hilton during Jordan Two3 Fashion Show in Manhattan at Chelsea Piers in New York City, 2002Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Carrie Bradshaw’s Sex and the City wardrobe was a time capsule of 00’s style, really. One day she was in a silk nightie and that tiny, Fendi Baguette bag, the next in pedal pushers and a bandana. Sex was on everyone’s minds – with the likes of Versace and Roberto Cavalli spinning barely-there sheer dresses every season: the most famous of them all being that JLo Versace kaftan that led to the invention of Google Image Search.
Perhaps it’s exactly the sartorial freedom of early 2000s fashion that appeals to the Gen-Z-ers who are driving trends today. Instead of prescriptive fashion rules or perfecting microtrends that arrive and disappear within a fortnight, there’s something quite comforting about this hedonistic way of dressing, putting together clashing, at times kitschy clothes that are just, well, fun.
Sarah Jessica Parker attending the screening of Season Three of Sex and the City on 1st June, 2000 in Los AngelesRon Galella, Ltd./Getty Images
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt attending the Emmy Awards on 10th September, 2000 in Los AngelesRon Galella, Ltd./Getty Images
Butterfly clips and blue eyeshadow had already fluttered back into our lives this summer, as have jelly shoes (much to my mother’s continued disapproval, 20 years on).
