Gen Z’s Obsession With 2000s Culture – The Brooklyn College Vanguard (2024)
By Rami Mansi
With paper-thin Victoria’s Secret models being the figure of the decade, and every celebrity finding their own gay best friend (“GBF”) of the week, the 2000s were known for iconic pop culture moments and even more iconic fashion statements. Wearing business casual to the club with statement necklaces and foundation on your lips was the energy that delusion and fashion needed to thrive in the 2000s. This creates a struggle for Gen Z, as now we need to combat the ever-aching dilemma of loss of creativity.
Known for our sarcasm and constant chase for nostalgia, Gen Z is obsessed with the 2000s era of fashion. With pleated skirt looks of the “Gossip Girl” set to the messy looks of “Jersey Shore,” the beloved Y2K is making its way back into current fashion trends.
Fashion trends constantly fluctuate, and the switch from the 2000s to present-day fashion is a phenomenon that begs the question: why does Gen Z constantly go back to the 2000s in search of new looks? Are we struck for creativity or just too infatuated with the fantasized 2000s?
The phenomenon is explained by the 20-year cycle. As defined by A Magazine, trends that were popular 20 years ago tend to come back with a modern edge added. This is seen with the 2000s taking heavy influence from the 80s, the 80s being into the 60s, and so forth. The next decade always uses the past decade as its foundation, and that doesn’t change for the 2020s.
With 2023 being defined by constant reflections of the past, it is a defining year of the 20-year cycle seen through newer trends like baggy clothes and weird clothing combinations that shouldn’t work but end up working perfectly.
Take over-layering your clothes. Get your favorite dress, put some denim jeans on, with a beret and ballet flats, and you have the perfect 2000s recreation. What was then a fashion statement is now an outfit to wear ironically to a themed party. However, this doesn’t stop people from still paying respects to the brave fashionistas that were 2000s “it girls!”
These trends create constant references to the past in our media in the act of paying homage. We see this in homage pieces like Ariana Grande’s music video for her hit single “Thank U, Next,” with references to popular 2000s movies like “Mean Girls,” “Clueless,” and “13 Going On 30.”
Another example of a clean-cut reference would be Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” in which both the song and music video are taken after the 1995 bubblegum classic, “Clueless,” with outfits, the high school setting, and the iconic “Ugh! As if!” line being recreated, as well. The homage is done with respect being paid to the original and a clear intention of wanting to make the audience recognize the reference.
Gen Z is in an era where originality is faltering and original ideas are hard to come by (and have been for a while). It’s been new trends that start the new age of thinking through the decades, but if our trends come from the past then most of our ideas will just be revamps of older trends. We simply get a reference and work off that and although it might work in the moment, it creates a sense of short-term victories.
That is why we are consistently looking back on the 2000s; the nostalgic era of new ideas being brought to the table excites us. Gen Z might be striving for originality, but what we lack in that department, we make up for in resourcefulness. We grab these ideas and mix them with our unique imagination raised by quick-witted TeenNick characters, “High School Musical,” and savvy “Wizards of Waverly Place” protagonist, Alex Russo.
This mentality of grabbing those moments and redoing them conveys the idea of just how much we rely on moments in 2000s history and how mainstream media relies on recreating older moments. Gen Z is a powerful generation, but fashion trend fluctuation is just as powerful.
However, Gen Z has their moments of brilliance and revolutions in modern-day fashion. With a keen eye for sustainability, inclusivity, and individual expression, Gen Z is slowly reshaping the industry with lasting, positive impacts. Their embrace of diversity, disparate cultural influences, and a commitment to being eco-conscious are not just trends; they’re movements toward a more inclusive and responsible pop-cultural landscape.
For many Gen Zers, '90s and 2000s were their formative years, a time of social progress and prosperity. It might also represent an escapist desire for simpler times, especially when people put on nostalgia glasses looking at a distant but noticeable reality.
The term rose to new popularity in 2020 when users on TikTok and Instagram began popularizing nostalgic early 2000s fashion styles as “Y2K.” Now, it has inspired a widespread revival in early 2000s staples such as velour tracksuits, ballet flats, tiny shoulder bags, crop tops, bedazzled shirts, denim and baggy jeans — ...
Youth nostalgia fosters a sense of belonging. Ho says that nostalgia reinforces relationships through shared experiences, which builds trust. In a time of social and political turmoil, it makes sense that younger generations (specifically Gen Z) would turn to nostalgia.
Cybercore (also referred to as Y2K Futurism, Cyber Y2K, Y3K (in Japan), or just simply Y2K) is an aesthetic that was prevalent in popular culture from roughly 1997 to 2004, succeeding the Memphis Design and Grunge eras and overlapping with the McBling, UrBling, Surf Crush, and 2K1 aesthetics.
According to Langham, nostalgia can "provide a more meaningful outlook on life and is also said to boost our sense of social connection". In particular, she says the '00s "represents a time before the social media explosion, which can be particularly compelling as it indicates a simpler and more connected time."
Feeling like they are constantly connected and able to continually communicate is a core driver for why Gen Zs are on social media. The ease by which they can stay in touch with their broad network means they can maintain a breadth of connection with their peers, regardless of geographic proximity.
Centers of technology, such as power plants, were also threatened by the Y2K bug. Power plants depend on routine computer maintenance for safety checks, such as water pressure or radiation levels. Not having the correct date would throw off these calculations and possibly put nearby residents at risk.
Emma Baker, a fashion historian, elaborates on this sentiment: "The '90s evoke a sense of pre-digital innocence that is particularly appealing to Gen Z. It was a time when people were not constantly connected, and personal style was less about online validation and more about individual expression."
We've referenced Gen Z's reputation as digital natives, but thanks to their love affair with plastic surgery, some media outlets also refer to them as aesthetics natives. Heavily influenced by their constant screen time, Gen Z craves the same procedures as their favorite content creators.
While Millennials and Gen X listen predominantly to '90s music, 29% of Gen Z prefer to listen to '90s music over 23% to 2000s music. This trend will continue in 2024 with businesses re-releasing iconic '90s and 2000s toys and accessories, in hopes of appealing to the younger generation.
From issues like discrimination and human rights to personal safety and violence, it's all stressful to younger Americans. But, like their older counterparts, health- and finance-related concerns topped the list of stressors.
Gen Zers have been criticized for being the most "challenging" generation to work with, according to managers. They are frequently dubbed "lazy," too easily offended, and not productive enough. Some managers have even said that Gen Z workers need to be managed "every second of their day."
Y2K bug, a problem in the coding of computerized systems that was projected to create havoc in computers and computer networks around the world at the beginning of the year 2000 (in metric measurements, k stands for 1,000).
In the year 1999, computer programmers and users feared that their computers would stop working at the turn of the century. Everyone was being warned and told to shut down their machines so that their computers did not freak out when the clock changed to 12am on January 1st of 2000.
The Y2K problem was solved by thousands of programmers around the world who carefully scrutinized millions of lines of legacy code for places where dates were stored or manipulated using only two decimal digits for the year.
According to McKinsey, over half (55%) of Gen Zers report having either been diagnosed or receiving treatment for a mental health condition, compared to 31% of people aged 55 to 64, who have had decades longer to seek and get treatment.
Generation Z is the name given to the generation of people born between 1997 and 2012. It's commonly referred to as "Gen Z," for short. This generation comes after Millennials and before Generation Alpha.
GenZ's fears are summed up in two words: FINANCE and FULFILLMENT. The desire to get rich early and spend time with families could cause a stigma if not fulfilled. Every GenZ has a perfect dream in their head to achieve.
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