The 00’s Fashion Revival is Here! A New Nostalgia Emerges as Another Decade Nears its End

If you haven’t seen all the nostalgic 90’s memes circulating around Facebook lately, then you either weren’t born in the 80s or you don’t have Facebook.

But the 20-teens only have about a year left before the next decade rolls around. So guess what’s coming: nostalgia for the early 2000s!

In this article:

1. The 00’s: The Good, The Bad, and The Why…Just, Why?!?
2. The Best Fashions of the 2000’s We Can’t Wait to See Again
   • The “We Hope These Don’t Come Back” Fashion Trends of the 00’s
   • The “Burn Every Picture of Me Wearing This Outfit” Fashion Trends of the 00’s

It was a whirlwind of a decade. It barreled into the world with Y2K and Prince songs about partying in 1999. There were horrific tragedies like 9/11 and the 2008 economic crash.

But there were also plenty of landmark moments to be celebrated during the 00’s.

The world of fashion had some noteworthy ups and downs of its own during those years – and we’re minutes away from seeing them come back in style.

The 00’s Fashion Revival: The Good, The Bad, and The Why…Just, Why?!?

Pretty much every decade seems to have its own unique style. They also have their fashion faux pas (we’re looking at you, 80’s!). There were a lot of bold, beautiful, and sometimes contradicting fashion trends during the 00’s.

But that’s understandable; it was a new decade, a new century, and a new millennium all-in-one. There was a lot going on. The world of fashion both reflected and amplified this chaos.

The Best Fashions of the 2000’s We Can’t Wait to See Again

First off, let’s sing the praises of the highly underrated bootcut jean. Bootcut jeans came immediately after the flared bottom jeans of the 1990s, which were a throwback to the bell bottoms of the 1970s.

They weren’t as painful to wear as skinny jeans are, and they weren’t as over-the-top as the flare bottoms. They were the baby bear of teens…Just right.

Speaking of jeans, let’s talk about lace-ups!

Lace-up patterns were most common on jeans, but could also be found on pants, shirts, and even full-body catsuits. It added just a tiny hint of naughty flair to your ensemble without accidentally coming off as “too slutty”.

If we happen to see this trend come back in the 2020’s the way that bell bottom jeans were given a second chance in the 90s, we won’t complain!

Raise your hand if you remember popcorn/bubble shirts.

We’re guessing that many of you forgot they had even existed until this exact moment. But why not let popcorn shirts make a comeback? They’re fun, playful, and they come in bright colors. Their super-tiny doll clothes size makes you feel as skinny as you wish you were. Plus, they’re so lightweight and breezy!

We’d prefer to see them come back in more neutral tones for a late summer/early fall look. Pastels could also work well in the spring.

Asymmetrical skirts were a big fashion staple of the early 2000s; but did these ever really go out of style? Many of our in-house fashionistas admit to having one or several in their closet to this day.

They may have gotten shoved to the back of the rack and aren’t as prolific now as they were some 20 odd years ago. But we still believe they’re a fun, flirty fashion staple that every skirt lover should have in their wardrobe.

The “We Hope These Don’t Come Back” Fashion Trends of the 00’s

Before people ever realized that cultural appropriation was a thing (and an offensive one at that), couture trucker hats were are all the rage.

You can also tell that this trend comes from a pure, more innocent time undefiled by hipster irony because people still understood the meaning of the word.

Taking an icon of blue collar culture, slapping a three-figure price tag on it, and wearing it as a symbol of your wealth and status hits levels of irony that even Alanis Morissette couldn’t touch. Not even with rain on your wedding day.

People of the 2000’s put a lot of prep in their step thanks to the dominance of Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch, and the dreaded popped collar.

Popped collars aside, though, there’s nothing aesthetically revolting about these fashions; just the people who wore them.

If your mommy and daddy bought your first car, never forced you to get a summer job, and you couldn’t understand why My Super Sweet 16 got so much hate, odds are your closets were full of these fashions in the early 00’s.

The Vintage tattoo aesthetic spawned the likes of Ed Hardy, Xtreme Couture, and Affliction.

If Abercrombie and Hollister were the go-to Fashion choices for Rich, spoiled, entitled people, Ed Hardy and its ilk were filling the closets and drawers of their white trash cousins who lived on the wrong side of the tracks.

The style started out cute, creative, and with a vague hint of street artist passion; unfortunately, the design was quickly co-opted by people who live and love The Jersey Shore lifestyle (the show, not the place).

If saying goodbye to this style forever can help discourage that type of culture from making a comeback, we’ll happily make that sacrifice.

A male equivalent of “The Rachel” from the 1990’s exploded in popularity near the end of the early 2000s. “The Bieber” was a young, boyish bowl cut style popularized by the tweenage pop star of the same name.

For the love of all that is holy and decent in this world, please don’t bring this style back, people! No offense to Ron Weasley, but nobody over the age of 12 should ever wear this haircut. Ever. It screams “my mommy still cuts my hair and lets me stay up past 9 PM if I eat all my vegetables like a good boy!”

Is it a skirt? Is it pants? Nope – it’s gaucho pants!

Now, we get that this style of pant (also known as a coulotte) has some utility to it. You get the breezy, flowy comfort of a skirt without the painful chafing of your inner thighs rubbing together.

You get to “wear the pants” in the boardroom or at the country club political fundraiser while still feeling feminine and fashionable. But in every other possible situation, that aesthetic is a hot mess. Just wear some sexy bandelettes with a real skirt! Trust us, you’ll be just fine.

Velour tracksuits are another ironic fashion trend from the early 2000s which, frankly, we can live without.

At the time, we admit that they were cute and soft and made us feel pretty without having to go out of our way to dress up. But they were also heavy, impractical in hot weather, and didn’t belong anywhere near a gym.

Thanks, but no thanks – we’ll stick to our yoga pants and leggings!

The “Burn Every Picture of Me Wearing This Outfit” Fashion Trends of the 00’s

97.23% of people who colored their hair in the 2000’s now deeply, sincerely regret that mistake.

Frosted tips were a big trend among boy bands (and guys who wanted to look like pops stars to get the chicks). We ladies were often sporting chunky highlights, even though we weren’t tigers trying to camouflage ourselves in the jungle.

Colorists should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this trend to happen in the first place. Like, Game of Thrones-style ashamed.

Dresses-over-jeans is a cautionary tale of how, sometimes, opposites do not attract.

Most dresses are meant to be light, wavy, breezy, and carefree. Most jeans are made of thick, rugged denim. We get that sometimes an opposites attract style creates a beautiful look. But jeans with dresses did not.

We enthusiastically hope that this fashion faux pas stays dead and buried in the past where it belongs.

Lastly, can we please scrub the Earth of any evidence that popcorn shirts ever existed?

Let’s all be honest with ourselves and admit that these shirts look &%@#ing stupid.

They looked like a lightweight version of your grandmother’s hand-knit sweater, but after her vision had gone bad while using yarn that was WAY too thick. They looked like baby clothes after you washed them. Almost every woman owned one, moreso out of peer pressure than anything else. And nearly every woman is ashamed of them.

You may be scratching your head, asking yourself: but weren’t popcorn shirts already mentioned on this list?”

Yes, yes they were. You get a gold star for paying attention!

While our staff members were researching this article, we discovered that popcorn shirts are almost as divisive as pineapple pizza: either you have good taste, or you’re the type of person who eats pizza with fruit on it and feels a warm pang of nostalgia wondering where your old popcorn shirt is now.

No matter which side of that battleground you fall on, we hope that this trend never comes back if for no other reason than to keep the peace. There are enough polarizing things happening in the word today. We don’t need battles over popcorn shirts to push society over the edge.

We hope you enjoyed this article. You can read more about fashion here.