Hands up if you’re wearing these 2000s trends now

What goes around comes around.

Let me set the scene: It is 2001. I am 14 and earning a child labour-sized $5.50/hour working the Hungry Jack’s drive through like nobody’s business. My uniform consists of a trucker hat, burgundy lipstick and a pair of straight-leg navy trousers no teenage girl should be asked to wear. It sucked. That is, until I got my first pay. I told my mum to clear my schedule – I was going to City Beach.

I bought a full outfit: a bright green boob tube with HAWAII 5-0 emblazoned on the front in varsity letters, a pair of offensively low-cut white pants, and a red Billabong bowler bag. If memory serves me correctly, I asked the shop assistant if I could wear the whole outfit home, and put my old loser clothes in a shopping bag.

As the years progressed, I wholeheartedly embraced every 2000s trend. So, it’s a little bittersweet for me to now see these trends come back full circle, with the next generation wearing them outside clubs while I’m on my way to the gym.

Here are a few key trends that are back to haunt us from the 2000s.

Cargo pants

First they were cool, then they were painfully uncool, and now thanks to the I.AM.GIA phenomenon, they’re cool again. Bonus points applied if yours come in Destiny’s Child-inspired camo print, and are worn with a crop singlet.

Hoop earrings

Traditionally, hoop earrings were one of the only ways you could sex up your school uniform. They’re now back, bigger than ever (literally) and grown-ups like them too.

Logo tracksuits

As well as the revival of Juicy Couture velour tracksuits, we’ve also been blessed with branded trackies from the likes of adidas, Champion and Kappa. Comfort is key, and perfect for those of us approaching old age.

Coloured shades

Remember that singer Anastacia and her wardrobe full of – quite frankly – iconic shades? There were ombré pairs, coloured pairs and teeny tiny pairs; all of which are back right now, touring the festival circuit. That Anastacia truly was ahead of her time.

Lace-up pants

They were sexy, but not too sexy. They flashed just the right amount of skin so as to leave something to the imagination when you were up there dancing on the podium with a Midori Splice in your hand. Now, 18-year-olds everywhere are bringing it back on our behalf.

Diamante jewels

Back in ’03, you would’ve needed a pair of Anastacia’s sunglasses to peek into my jewellery box – the sheer amount of diamantés would literally blind you. Sure, when you wore them they would rust and turn your fingers and neck green but we didn’t care. Around last year diamantés came back in full force, but this time they’d been given a ghetto kind of makeover with chokers and pinky rings and I’m not hating it.

Sxc vinyl

I remember when I was younger my sister’s friends would come over to my house before they hit the club, wearing matching scarf tops and vinyl pants à la Coyote Ugly or Christina Aguilera in Dirrty. I thought they were insanely cool, because they were. Now vinyl is huge again, having been reincarnated into skinny pants, mini skirts and military jackets.

Baker boy hats

2003 Britney just LOVED her hats. Tilted fedoras, chic berets, vinyl baker boy hats – you name it; Britney wore it on her head, which was a shame, because she had killer 2000s streaked hair. While I pray each and every night that we don’t see her feather fedora come back, we’re definitely making up for it in baker boy hats and berets. 

Corset tops

A favourite of Eve, Beyoncé and Paris Hilton, satin corset tops were often paired with bootleg, sandblasted denim as the original ‘jeans and nice top’ combo. These days, they’ve been treated to the Kim Kardashian update to become corset belts, worn with oversized tees. 

Body chains

Ohh, remember body chains? They were so hot, even if they were mostly reserved for celebs atop a super yacht in the pages of New Idea. Body chains encouraged you to channel your inner Rihanna in the ‘Pon de Replay‘ film clip, and made you think like you could dance like her too.

Mini bags

15 years ago, all we really needed for a night out was our patent mini wallet, Body Shop lip gloss pot and slider phone, which all fit conveniently into a mini bag the size of our hand. For a while, we lost our way with oversized totes, until mini bags made a comeback on the runways – to the cheers of sore shoulders everywhere.

Dresses over jeans

A truly daring combo, dresses over jeans has more recently been reserved for the extreme fashion girls stalking around fashion week. But once upon a time, the jeans and Lauren Conrad-inspired boho dress was a look we all did… But to be honest, in hindsight, and with a simple Google search, probably not that well.