The Year 2000 is Here.

It happened.

On the one hand I want to blame myself, either for jinxing it or creating some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy that leaked by osmosis into the creative minds of various runway geniuses. (The life of a muse is not without its pressures.) It’s possible that Netflix and BuzzFeed are to blame, these prolific content machines of nostalgic pop-culture pumping fumes — no one’s immune to this, you know. Not even the most otherworldly of creators can withstand the power of a Remember When slideshow nor a marathon of their favorite teenage TV show.

Besides, based upon the trajectory we’ve been following: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s — 92, 93, 94… this was almost inevitable. Naming blame never helped anyone except for lawyers during court cases, so let’s just move on and accept it: the year 2000 is here.

There it is. The wide-armed welcome we all needed. To begin with, per our girl Carmen Electra, above, pants were worn dangerously low. Need I remind you of a collage from our NYFW Spring 16 trend recap? Oh, why not:

That’s the year 2000 in more ways than one: the slouch of a cargo, pants that could theoretically pair with flip flops…arbitrary belts! See that belt on the green Rosie Assoulin look to our right, looped through and hanging low? It had its day on more than one runway this season. Super two-triple-zero. Very Lizzie McGuire.

Let’s hit some more pressure points of the year we keep trying to ignore:

Off-the-shoulder tops: present.

Camouflage: yes.

Corset-fastened “going out tops,” shiny fabrics, baggy-pants with sporty crops?

Yes, yes, yes.

Bucket hats, distressed denim, armpit bags, baby tees, logos and ribbing (her pleasure!) *deep breath*

Bootcut bottoms, pants with random zips, stretched-sleeved sweaters, athletic jackets with toggle ties that cinch the fabric to show off your hips…

All accounted for.

Stop pouting.

It’s going to be okay.

The year 2000 wasn’t bad. It was just confused. The 90s had a strong sartorial run and closed with a cinematic bang: 1998 offered up Can’t Hardly Wait, then 1999 alone gave us such great teen movie hits as She’s All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, Jawbreaker, American Pie, Drive Me Crazy, Cruel Intentions AND Never Been Kissed. 

Trying to follow that lineup would be like poor Mandy Moore coming on stage to perform after Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera already shut down the whole house.

The difference now is that the designers know what they’re doing. They’re exercising poetic irony and lessons in restraint. The vulgarity is gone. Style, experience and a bit of humor stands in its wake.

Here’s the good news: no sight of velour!!!

Yet.

Feature Collage by @rstheory. Collage in Post by Elizabeth Tamkin

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