Y2K fashion is back but will you be wearing it? (2024)

Fashion is relentlessly cyclical and the 2000s (or as the kids like to call it, Y2K) is the latest era to stage a comeback.

It started trending on TikTok all the way back in 2021, then the celebs came – Paris Hilton walked the catwalk for Versace’s Spring 2023 show, Gigi Hadid started wearing pedal pushers and Kendall Jenner was seen in mini UGGs. Now it’s drifted down to the high street with capri pants, ballet pumps, motorcycle jackets and more relaxed denim all trending for 2024.

So what does it mean for our wardrobes now? Or to put it another way, can pedal pushers and cargo pants ever really look good or should we just shut the door and hide in our houses until the fever has passed and we can get back to wearing flattering full-length trousers again?

Let’s take a deep dive into this divisive decade to see what we can borrow and what we should leave well alone.

What is Y2K fashion?

To take you back to the era that style very much forgot (or tried to) until the past few years, this was a time when Destiny’s Child were singing about freakum dresses and wearing barely there butterfly tops and low slung, bootcut jeans. Pop culture was at its peak (or nadir, depending on how you look at it). We had Britney, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. Posh and Becks were in their Gucci era.

The Y2K look actually spans from the late 90s to the mid-2000s and was typified by scarf tops, boot cut jeans, velour tracksuits, pastels, metallics, cowl necks, pedal pushers (aka capri pants) and showy accessories, from furry bucket hats and trucker caps to bowling bags and butterfly clips. Think Mean Girls, the early Sex and the City years and The Simple Life.

As someone who very much came of age in the early aughts, I was there and definitely wore the slogan T-shirt. And the pink Juicy Couture and UGG boots (at the same time, of course). And the low-rise jeans. It was a bit like playing dress up – we experimented with silhouettes and proportion, wearing dresses over trousers and peplum tops, which, to my knowledge, have never looked good on anyone.

I remember when Kate Moss first started wearing UGG boots with her skinny jeans and you couldn’t get them in the UK yet. I ordered a pair from Australia and had to wait five torturous months for them to arrive. Friends and family now refer to that dark time as UGG-gate.

We wore GIANT necklaces. (I think I knew the gig was up when I bought one from the 2011 Versace x H&M collab that weighed the same as a small toddler.) This was style on steroids and, dare I say it, it was fun. Which might explain its revival. When times are tough, who doesn’t want to cover themselves in rhinestones and velour?

The nostalgia effect

With the original millennials now in charge at fashion houses, it’s no surprise the fashion they loved as teens has influenced their designs. A prime example is 34-year-old designer Nicola Brognano who took the reins at Blumarine and promptly kickstarted the Y2K comeback tour with a collection full of slouchy denim, statement belts and butterfly tops.

Netflix documentaries from the likes of Britney Spears, David Beckham and Robbie Williams have reminded us why we fell in love with them in the first place. The OC celebrated its 20th anniversary, making us nostalgic for weekends spent watching Seth and Summer and T4. Blink 182 are touring again.

And the iconic brands of the decade are back by popular demand. Baby Phat and Juicy Couture have been reborn. UGG has collaborated with menswear designer Feng Chen Wang and is now sold on Matches (with next-day delivery, praise be!)

Just like the decades before them, we now view the noughties’ crimes against fashion with a sepia-tinged fondness. The passing of time has made them palatable, covetable even (certainly if you do a quick Depop trawl). Suddenly, Ed Hardy T-shirts are cool, Juicy Couture is kitsch, Britney and Paris are sympathetic survivors. Enough time has gone by for us to only see the good bits (not, for example, the worrying celebration of skinny frames; low-slung jeans don’t really allow for actual hips). Hence, the decade’s return to our wardrobes.

But what does it mean for your wardrobe?

According to the fashion rulebook, if you wore it the first time round, you shouldn't go back. But my approach with returning trends has always been “never say never”. Put it on the right style icon and I can definitely be persuaded. Having once recoiled at the idea of wearing kitten heels again, I now love a delicate heel with a pair of straight leg jeans or pinstripe office trousers.

The key to throwback fashion is taking the pieces that work for you and styling them in a modern way. Take cargo pants. In the noughties, they were oversized and worn low on the hips with a baby tee. Now they’re cut slightly slimmer and can work for the office with a sharp shirt and (yep) a kitten heel or pair of trainers.

Even pedal pushers can be reimagined. My advice? Add a little length so they don’t cut you off at the calves and pair with an oversized shirt or cardi and some chic ballet pumps - think more Audrey Hepburn, less Carrie Bradshaw.

This season’s A-line minis aren’t going to be for everyone. But worn with a skinny knit, tights and loafers, they tap into that modern, preppy trend with just a hint of Clueless.

I'll be wearing my mini-UGGS with leggings and oversized shirts and blazers. Motorcycle jackets, meanwhile, are now worn slouchy and oversized instead of tight and shiny a la Grant Mitchell.

As for low-slung jeans, I’ll leave them to Gen-Z, but I will be wearing my straight-leg denim a little more relaxed, in a nod to my carefree student self. Because I sort of miss her and her giant necklaces.

And that, of course, is how it gets you.