Rocking the Early 2000s Aesthetic in The Modern Era

If you were a 90s baby or even a noughties baby but had older sisters or watched all of the TV shows, you must be more than familiar with what the aesthetic looked like, and while there have been many iconic moments from Paris Hilton to Lindsey Lohan, we have all seen what the 2000s aesthetic looked like for years, building up to its popularity.

It’s not just women's Y2K earthly 2000s fashion that has made a comeback but also the classic street style that we saw and loved. In the skate and rap scene, we have seen both fuse and be reborn in the past couple of years for a more modern take on these once-popular aesthetics.

So much has changed and happened since the early 2000s, such as the development of social media and all of the apps we now spend countless hours on, artificial intelligence and so much more! While we have had many micro, mini and worldwide trends since then, like the Rhianna tops, cargo pants and athleisure wear, no one was ever expecting that out of all trends to resurface, it would be the Y2K aesthetic.

There were many reasons why we never thought we'd see some of the highlights from the early 2000s, but low-rise jeans were definitely one of them. From an e-commerce standpoint, it seems too costly and extreme to try and replicate those gold pieces from decades ago.

How Did Y2K Come Back?

There has always been a shared love between many generations about the 90s and early 00s. There was so much going on and looking back there were so many risks that celebrities took with fashion, which are still brought back into the light to this day from the throwbacks of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Jennifer Anniston, Lil Kim and Beyonce.

These are just a few of the iconic representations we have seen in the mass media of this aesthetic. However, I have my own theory about why and how Y2K has come back and how both millennials and Gen Z have been a huge factor in it.

As kids, we played with our Bratz dolls and Hello Kitty merchandise, but you also had your Groovy Chic and comfort series, films and just accounts on top of accounts that show us pictures from the past, whether it’s things we lived to see or weren’t around just in time for.

As the saying goes, you always want what you can't have, and hearing about how great things were back then, you can’t blame people for wanting a taste of it. The only way in which we can do this is through generational fashion. Seeing old TV and pictures of what was worn back in the day, why wouldn’t these new generations want to bring it back to life? It’s a way of transporting us back to a time from our childhood with these fashion trends coming back.

With social media being highly influential, it of course only took a couple of viral videos of those representing the early 2000s aesthetic for Gen Z and Millennials to bring it back. Then, you get your fast fashion companies such as Shein and Pretty Little Thing to catch on and create modern adaptations of the aesthetic people are desperately trying to recreate and don’t have the luxury of their mother's old wardrobe.

How To Adapt Early 2000s Fashion to Modern Fashion

The beauty of trends, including the aesthetics of the early 2000s, is that they are there to inspire future fashion choices, so the modern take is usually a fuse of different styles, trends, and personalities but also something new and fresh that we haven’t seen in the past.

So when it comes to styling and how to adapt to this unique era in a more modern and personalised way we have put some tips together.

Pick One Thing

There are so many different iconic moments from this era of fashion, whether it’s a velour tracksuit from Juicy or something more versatile like a micro mini skirt there are many ways you can add glimpses of Y2K into your modern look. I would suggest picking something bold from this era but then adding your own flare, pairing it with modern trends or just getting creative and seeing what you come up with. Picking one thing allows you to style it more easily but also doesn’t put you in the box of one aesthetic.

Modernise With Accessories

A great way to add in some modern trends is to switch it up with accessories. Some modern accessories include flower chokers, sock tights and even ties for women. These little flares of office core and modern accessories create a full juxtaposition which is something that we wouldn’t have seen in the early 2000s. The beauty of social media can show you so many different ways to style and think out of the box.

Fuse Trends

As we all know low waist, big shades, baby tees and hoops were some simple staples from the early 2000s so why not take these things and fuse them into what you enjoy now? Baggy jeans on women have been all the now, and also cargo pants so you could fuse low-waisted with baggy or cargo for the Y2k look. As mentioned, it’s all about fusing them rather than complying with every detail from the early 2000s.

When it comes to blending modern fashion with that from the early 2000s, there are so many ways in which you can transform the aesthetic into something with a more modern feel. The reason why it’s become so easy is that fast fashion is jumping on the bandwagon and producing similar pieces for people who want to bring the old fashion aesthetic back to life.