Why do we love the amateur 2000s way of dress so much as of recently? Beauty in the amateur chicness of the early digital world

As someone who has a deep appreciation for the 2000s era of life, I am a big fan of the clothing from that era. I was unfortunately a bit too young to have immersed myself in the "Y2K" fashion of it; prime mall culture, logo mania, layered everything and tons of whimsy. I could've only wished I was even a few years older so I could have been able to partake in the eclectic colorfully layered whimsical clothing culture. Despite only having been 4 by the end of the decade, I have many memories from the late 00's of what I saw as a little kid witnessing the world around me. I was always an observer just watching what other people were doing and starring at people just gaining information on the world around me which in turn has left me with a very detailed catalogue of memories of what the world looked like around me. Like my own internal google maps street view built into my brain.

The eclectic whimsy of the 2000s pooled over into the early 2010s and imo lasted until around 2012-13 so i got a little taste of what it was like and what my teen years were supposed to be. Also just living canada meant that these fashion trends were always a bit late to fall out so it pooled over for a bit longer where I was. 

I've gained a deeper appreciation for the fashion of that time and the more I look back I tend to wonder why I like that era of clothes and fashion of that time way more than anything made in the last 10 years. I spend a lot of my free time collecting old photos on Pinterest and scrolling through dead flickr accounts observing the outfits and clothes of that time. I try to not to look only at the high fashion or celebrity clothes of that time since it gives a skewed perception of what everyday people wore. Even from what toddler me remembers, 2000s fashion wasn't just Britney spears red carpet looks and mean girls costumes, that was the minority for those who had money. 

As I scroll through my own old photos of childhood seeing the way my relatives dressed back then, snapshots of everyday peoples lives on dead flickr accounts trapped in 2006, old archived blogs forever buried in the old-web and niche pages that share the mundaneness of life of a time that once was, I began to understand why I am so drawn to the life that once was 20 years ago or even 10 years ago(mostly prior to 2015/16 when i feel that's when the switch happened.) Of course a portion of my nostalgia and yearning is my severely rose tinted glasses but the tint began to fade. 

Now I will clarify that obviously in this late stage capitalist economy, older fashion and clothes will generally be of higher quality and nicer fabrics than compared to modern day standards, but in talks to specifically the 2000s and a little bit of the early 2010s, I miss the casual luxury styling of that decade which led to the effortless casual edge that was both dressed up but kept it tame almost every single person wore back in the day. 

This had nothing to do with class whether you were middle class and could afford the go to Abercrombie regularly and shop at sears, Macys and fancier stores like Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss, or if you were lower class when old navy was a treat and getting one lace cami from Abercrombie for Christmas felt fancy, every one regardless of class had standards. 

Casual luxury is a term I like using to describe the style rule of the 2000s. I didn't coin it, Abercrombie used it a lot in their marketing in the 2000s and many other brands used similar wording that elicited the same meaning. As a result it seems it led to the normalization and cohesive messy but dressed up style that everyone followed in the 2000s. Combined with standards of dress still being somewhat present, people weren't going out in pjs, slides and ill fitted hoodies to work or school. People cared a lot more about how they dressed and it helped that most clothes, even the cheaper brands like old navy or urban planet sold cute good (sometimes high)quality clothes that were always a little dressy, form fitting and perfect both casually and for girls night. I even remember it being more normal for the average person to dress up more when going out in public back in the day. For men its more noticeable since men's clothes have always been so bare bones and lacking since forever, but damn at least 10-15 years ago most men wore nice loose-fit or bootcut jeans or khakis with a simple flattering t shirt and sneakers or boots. Compared to nowadays or like the past 5-10 years, I rarely see jeans and its always the same baggy sweats or skinny ill-fitting joggers paired with the ugly top and those thin Columbia jackets(idk what they're called). Of course among younger people I'm seeing us care a little more about our dress but its such a small majority like all those fashion people you see online are ONLY ONLINE. 

I don't care what anyone says, no matter if you had a 2000s digi cam, you just can't replicate that effortless candid vibe of everyday people in the 2000s because the clothes are chic like that anymore. 

Part of why I feel so many people my age, but also in general have been gravitating towards a more amateur and everyday 2000s look that a regular teenager or young person would dress is because of just the way we really have lost standards for the way of dress and clothes are just not chic like that anymore to a degree that everybody just looked like that back then. I can attest to this because I've seen so many flickr photos from just regular peoples lives from the 2000s or just pre 2013 and they're outfits are just so much better even the casual ones. I don't hate sweatpants and athletic wear like that stuff used to be cute. Just go look up old lululemon, old adidas and puma, any brand that sold athletic wear and see what they used to sell 15-20 years ago. The sets are actually really cute and I wouldn't mind wearing a lot of those as everyday stuff today. 

There's something about the just normal dress of teens and regular people of the 2000s that just screams effortless chicness. You just don't get that anymore. I mean just to add onto the whole casual luxury moto of the 2000s, you can pick out any brand from the 2000s and guarantee their stuff regardless of how cheap the brand was, the stuff was cuter and often better quality than anything made today. I be finding lots of old-school urban behavior, old navy, joe fresh, ardene and these items outshine a lot of the stuff made today both in style and quality. These aren't super fancy brand either, these were cheaper brands that were at the bottom of the fast fashion tier list back in the day so it was super budget friendly. These items I came across at the thrift were basics too for the most part like tanks and solid color tees and holy do they outshine the stuff today. 

It's a combination of many factors that have contributed in why there's just such a stark difference in the dress outside of just different trends and the fact that society uses phone cameras as the dominant tool for photography nowadays. 
I miss 2000s fashion, but I also miss the causal luxury way of styling back then, when it was normal to be a little dressed up for anything whether it was going to school or the mall. Millennials might joke about the layered colored polos and gauchos they wore with uggs or flip flops, but at least they got to have fun dressing up and playing around with funky clothes and make that trip to the mall feel a lot more fun. Gen-Z and younger gens don't have that variety anymore and because the standards are basically gone, you have everyone wearing PJ's in public with house slides at the mall and in public. Millennials could argue they did the same, but at least your sweats were cute with fun colors, low-rise, embroidery and patchwork, and your flip flops had cute prints and a wedge sometimes. The only time you see anyone really dress nicely is when you quite literally need to, but even those cases god do some of ya'll really don't give a shit do you? I can't tell you how many times I've seen men show up to events wearing the same shit they wear at home, but the only difference is the polo and gelled hair but still got on socks and slides. Don't think I'm not gonna come for the girls to, its basically the same thing but with a little more care. Its like face beat but you in sweats and shapewear, genuinely.

I will acknowledge that people don't dress like that anymore because those clothes aren't made and people buy just what's available so that I understand. The girl aren't wearing lace camis and the boys aren't wearing edgy graphic tees because those clothes aren't being made anymore, but I guarantee if they did start making clothes like that one for one today, I can say the girls would 1000% buy it(maybe not the guys so much) but the girls would kill for old-school VS Pink. 

Bring back effortless chic and casual luxury way of dress into the mainstream. 
We need to have standards again.
There's so many really cute vintage 2000s basics at the thrift and it makes me really mad that no one buys any one them even if they're in perfect condition and sometimes BNWT. Like I'm going to hold your hand and say this, you don't need to buy new basics because they are so easy to come at the thrift. These 2000s basics literally outshine your shapewear and zara blanks. 

Don't dress 2000s just for the aesthetic, but do it because in truth you look way cuter in those clothes than todays stuff. Do it to save stuff from landfill and save money. 

As apart of the whole meme about the great reset of 2026, I petition to add my two sense to the list of things that we reset to factory settings and that being the revitalization of casual luxury everyday 2000s dress. As a result of the timeline being reset, so will our wardrobes and lace camis, cute underwear, 2000s tank tops, y2k basics and casual but chic way of dress will be normal again. You have my word. I'm already doing it and if I can so can you. 

Give yourself some discipline and dress up more often, doesn't mean gowns and suits, but proper pants like some nice jeans, a cunty shoe and a decent top go a long way. Dressing up everyday has made me appreciate the day a lot more and just enjoy living. Makes life more fun when you get to play dress up everyday. Also prepares you for when the unexpected picture gets taken. 
Do it for yourself and hold yourself to those standards. Its classy and just overall nice when someone cares about the way they dress. 

I've ranted for long enough so I'll end it off with this. 

Some of y'all need to learn to be inconvenienced a little bit. 
Seeing the way a lot of people live and talk about it makes me think y'all want WALL-E and are asking for it so desperately. 

TTYL

S.S

Inserted a fews pics of everyday people from the 2000s and what i mean
Do peoples pics look this effortless and cunty nowadays like...!?!??!?!
I dont think so