It’s happening. The day many of us naively thought would never come is actually here. If you are a millennial who experienced the truly iconic Y2K era (“The Millennium,” if you will) then you may feel a shiver of horror when you read what we are about to reveal.
Low-rise jeans are back. shudder.
Yes, that’s right. Low-rise jeans in all their unforgiving, buttcrack-revealing glory have staged a comeback this year, along with many other Y2K fashion items.
As if we haven’t all been through enough in the last year and a half, now we have to be faced with Y2K fashion staples such as belly chains, butterfly clips, and trucker hats.
But it’s not all bad! There are some much-beloved Y2K fashion items we’re seeing hit shelves that are actually quite cute and making us feel all kinds of nostalgic. Let’s examine, shall we?
What is Y2K?
Y2K sunglasses and your other favorite accessories
Y2K fashion was extra in every way, especially the accessories. “Less is more” wasn’t really a thing during that time (unless you were referring to the size of your dog).
6. Those sunglasses
According to style-watching website What To Wear, the rimless, translucent, and shield-shaped sunglasses you wore to that Backstreet Boys concert 20-years ago are now “trendier than ever.”
7. Butterfly everything
You can thank Mariah for this one, because she was the ultimate butterfly accessory trendsetter. From butterfly bedazzled jeans, to bufferfly hairclips, statement jewelery and more, the butterfly is in a time of rebirth right now.
8. Belly chains
Well, you can’t have low-rise jeans without a blingy belly chain can you? This was such an “It” accessory and we’re seeing it pop up again in 2021. More jewelry than an actual belt, it’s not meant to serve function but instead add a bit of bling to your look.
9. Trucker hats
Bennifer is back. Britney is (almost) free again. Paris Hilton has a new show. So naturally, it was time for trucker hats to come back on the scene. Which honestly we can roll with (can you think of a better grocery store disguise than a face mask, sunglasses, and a big trucker hat?). But we draw the line at Ed Hardy.
Fashion expert Christian Allaire has this advice for adding the trucker hat to your Y2K fashion revival. “The consensus seems to be to let the hat take center stage, and to keep the rest of your fit simple,” Allaire wrote in Vogue. “Whereas Y2K stars wore their Von Dutch trucker hats with extremely maximalist outfits — think with ripped jeans, camo tees, and bejeweled sunglasses — now it’s all about balancing out the gaudiness of a trucker.”
