In the early 2000s, the back middle belt loop of a pair of low-rise jeans was probably the most touched thing in junior high and high schools across the country. It was also mandatory that you keep your lip gloss in the back pocket of your jeans (especially at the mall) so everyone would know that you have lip gloss in the back pocket of your jeans. No outfit felt complete without applying three to seven layers of pink lip gloss with a shimmery finish. In the 2000s, the frostier your lips were, the better they looked. Take a walk down memory lane to revisit some of the biggest 2000s fashion trends. 'Niche interests can garner huge audiences and communities in a way that they had really not been able to previously,' Nudell says. If nothing else, it made for some great memories.Īnd, those trends now live on through Instagram accounts dedicated to the fashion of decades past. The 2000s were when you first started thinking about how your appearance could be an extension of your identity.Īs embarrassing as some of those old pictures may be, consider thinking of the clothes you wore and the way you styled your hair as a rite of passage. Shopping and experimenting with your hair were suddenly becoming important in a way they hadn’t been before. 'For preteens, those early choices that they are able to make of their wardrobe become really important,' Natalie Nudell, adjunct instructor in the art history and museum professions department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, tells Bustle. It’s OK to be swept up by 2000s nostalgia, because it was the time period when some millennials started buying their own clothes and picking their own trends. Everyone has their share of regrets in life - both fashion and otherwise - but lamenting how you looked in the first several years of the new millennium isn't among them. But the thing is, even though you hope your fashion sense has evolved since the preteen stage, if someone tried to extort you with photos of you wearing 2000s fashion trends like butterfly clips and frosted lip gloss, they’d be coming away empty-handed. For millennials, looking back on that period is like reopening a time capsule filled with some of the fondest memories and most devastating embarrassments - and your personal sense of style during those years probably falls into the latter category. It was a time when you were watching Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens and listening to “Dirrty” by Christina Aguilera while typing your AIM away messages LiKe ThIs.

Nostalgia clothes