WHY2K: Why Millennials So Often Dread the Y2K Trend

Alexa, play "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" by Britney Spears.

Today, Back Row introduces a new series: WHY2K, featuring essays and interviews that reflect on the Y2K era, which is wildly apparent in fashion today. Today’s essay is for paying subscribers. If you are a free subscriber, upgrade to paid for $5 a month or $50 annually to read this story along with two Back Row posts each week. You’ll also get access to commenting.

I was biting into a slice of pizza in Los Angeles last week when a fuchsia velour track suit with “Juicy Couture” in sparkles across the seat walked right past me. I turned to my lunch companion, eyes wide.

“Did you see that?” I said.

“I’m glad you got to see a Juicy tracksuit while you’re here,” she said.

The Y2K trend is so big in L.A. you might not know what year it was if you didn’t occasionally see delivery robots making creepy solo voyages down the sidewalk, like sad little knockoff Mars rovers. In less than a week there, I observed in the wild: bucket hats, trucker hats, cargo pants, and many, many pairs of low-rise jeans, almost always paired with shrunken tops.

Back Row reader Lily made an astute observation about the Y2K trend on a recent story about Reformation’s Y2K vintage prices ($128 for an Old Navy denim miniskirt). I wrote that I’d rather ingest sawdust than return to these clothes. She commented:

…it's been quite something to observe both

a) the sneering reaction to millennial horror at the return of y2k styles (and the associated body image issues) as well as

b) the OTT sneering - usually by male music critic types, but some women joined in too - at the idea of later-00s indie sleaze

Especially considering the latter, fashion-wise, was an era that many of the said millennials (particularly 80s-born millennials) do in fact seem to remember with fondness in a way that they don't with early-00s/y2k styles…

I have been thinking about the Y2K resurgence a lot since fashion month because, well, that many cargo pants and flatform shoes destined for four-figure price tags simply can’t be unseen. I have also been reflecting on why I personally don’t want to wear it. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it. I enjoy Bella Hadid outfit clickbait as much as the next Old Millennial. But I don’t like it for me, probably in large part because of the memories I have of both my life and culture at that time.