When it comes to teenagers, fashion is a major part of self-expression, and with this comes fast-changing trends. Teens call this wave of fashion Y2K, a shorthand for the year 2000.
One factor in this trend coming back is social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok influencing the youth.
“I’ve always been on the internet,” junior Ana Huerta said. “Since middle school, I was pretty chronically online, and I’ve had a big fascination with alternative and emo culture and fashion.”
Junior Levi Thomason looks to film and social media to find the inspiration for his clothing.
“I watch a lot of movies, mainly from the 90s, early 2000s,” Thomason said. “I am on social media and the internet, and I see people dressing this way; it inspired me to start dressing this way.”
“The term rose to new popularity in 2020 when users on TikTok and Instagram began popularizing nostalgic early 2000’s fashion styles as Y2K, The John Hopkins News-Letter reports in the article “Why is Y2K popular again”. Now, it has inspired a widespread revival in early 2000’s staples such as velour tracksuits, ballet flats, tiny shoulder bags, crop tops, bedazzled shirts, denim and baggy jeans,”
The revival of the Y2K fashion movement is owed to nostalgia and wanting to bring that period that we knew in our past.
“Young millennials and older Gen Z who grew up in the early 2000s never got to fully experience the original Y2K style, but its new popularity allowed them to do so.” according to the John Hopkins News-Letter.
Another factor in this change in fashion is online and in-person stores selling this returning wave of clothes. Also, thrift stores are popular locations for finding these clothes.
“I buy clothes online, thrift shops and places in the mall,” Thomason said.
Huerta also finds her clothes online and in other in-person retail stores.
“Most of my band shirts I usually get secondhand from, Mercari, Poshmark, Depop, or Hot Topic,” Huerta said. “Then for jeans, I’ll go to Goodwill.”
Over time, fashion trends come and go; some stick more than others, but this one seems to be sticking.
