Upon the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s recent, inescapable pop single “Good 4 U”, comparisons between the song and Paramore’s 2007 pop punk track “Misery Business” were widely disseminated online. Escaping down the wormhole of TikTok reaction videos comparing and remixing the two songs, you might notice recurring themes of content outside the music itself.
Not dissimilar from previous millennial obsession around being a 90s baby, it is hard to ignore how influenced the current teenage zeitgeist is by early 2000s, Y2K aesthetic. Many subcultures of TikTok content, ranging from music to food or television, include videos with captions like “The Best Early 2000s High School Movies” or “Brands from the Early 2000s You’ve Never Heard Of”. Being a teen herself, it’s clear Miss Rodrigo’s nod to one of the era’s most defining tracks was not coincidental when preparing her breakout pop era look and sound.
Y2K is not only popular on TikTok, but has also taken over another app popular with Zoomers: Depop. The digital thrift store, recently purchased by Etsy for $1.6 billion, gives users the option to tag listed items as “Y2K” (one of the site’s most popular categories). Other tags, which include streetwear, rave, boho, and grunge also help paint a bigger, connected picture about how Gen Z currently wants to dress.
Like any style subculture, Y2K is built on an eclectic foundation of references. Britney Spears and other pop stars from the era, Disney Channel movies, and Bratz dolls all make up a blueprint for one aspect of this kind of nostalgia dressing. Over-glossed lips, silky lingerie tops, and designer repeat logos like Fendi or Dior make up a dominant side of the look.
Another version of the aesthetic is the edgier “bad girl” flip on the candy-sweet style. The references are Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, Avril Lavigne, and the Jersey Shore cast. The staples are bedazzled tattoo pieces by Ed Hardy, low-slung True Religion jeans, and baby tees with schoolgirl plaid skirts. Both versions of the aesthetic are gender fluid, with male-identifying zoomers rocking trucker hats and the sexier cuts of the 2000s along with jewelry and eyeliner. According to the Aesthetics Wiki, this style is also referred to as “McBling”, whereas Y2K involves more spacey and 60s futuristic elements, like the costumes in The Fifth Element designed by John Paul Gaultier, however, the kids have decided on #Y2K to tag their style to reference the early 2000s as a whole.
Emma Rogue, a TikTok star turned vintage dealer, has made an empire out of the Y2K aesthetic. After starting her wildly successful Depop shop in 2018 she opened up a retail store in Manhattan's Lower East Side this summer. Just a few blocks down from Round Two, where people can buy Supreme and other streetwear brands popular among millennial hypebeasts, is a vintage shop with early 2000s movie posters and baby tees featuring the Paul Frank monkey and Disney cartoons that cater to Gen Z shoppers. According to i-D, 400 people waited in line the day Rogue's shop opened to browse pieces hand-selected by Emma.
While there are many NYC-based boutiques reselling similar items in the downtown area, Rogue's comes with its own niche community of TikTok and Depop fans. The store collaborates with other brands selling their own clothing that have the same essence a vintage Lizzie McGuire tank top might and make events out of their “drops”. One weekend recently featured a drop of deadstock Happy Bunny merchandise, the bunny character that had snarky sayings under (ie. “you suck and that’s sad”), with a guest appearance from the bunny’s creator, Jim Benton. Being a staple of the early 2000s, this was a huge deal for Rogue fans, a caveat carefully selected by Emma and her team who also like to credit their best-dressed customers on drop and event days.
Other companies have taken note of the success of Depop’s top sellers. The RealReal, known for luxury consignment online, launched a Y2K edit of their own this week, which features sought-after items like Dior saddle bags, rimless designer glasses, and high-end heeled flip flops. The items in the collection range from $75 to $25,000, which begs the question if maybe part of the allure of dressing #Y2K comes from its low, thrift pricing. Is Gen Z really going to spend their allowance or babysitting money on $1,000 clear Chanel sandals?
In a similar vein, designer brands are bringing back older, previously discontinued styles to fuel the nostalgic vibes people are looking for. Prada’s Re-Edition collection brought back handbag styles from 2000, 2005, and 2006. Dior’s saddle bags, which were carried by celebrities throughout the early aughts, have made their return in a variety of sizes for both men and women, including a tiny airpod case version. Similar reinventions have happened for the Fendi baguette bag and many of Gucci’s handbag styles, like the Jackie bag.
Being the savvy entrepreneurs they are, it appears that Depop users have already caught up with big brands, finding the actual vintage bags on their own and charging lower than the retail prices for the OG versions. Will this kind of dressing stand the test of time? It’s safe to say that you should probably save some things in your closet before selling them online because it’s only a matter of time until 2010s aesthetic ends up in style #hypebeastcore.
