Every few years, the world seems to find itself stuck in a “time period” vortex. During this time, the present finds itself obsessing over and captivated by the culture of the past. For example, the 80s and 90s came back strong in the late 2010s. This past year, the world has been living for the iconic Y2K style, which dominated the 2000s. The 2000s have seen a comeback in all facets of our lives, most predominantly in fashion and on social media.

The entertainment industry loves to exploit and capitalize on the culture of nostalgia. One of the easiest ways to relive the 2000s is to take a single moment to scroll through social media apps such as TikTok or Instagram. Here, you will find nostalgia-fueled videos aiming to “unlock hidden memories.”’ A classic example of this is point-of-view style videos, such as “POV: watching The Polar Express on the last day of school be- fore break.” Creators of videos like these aim to remind viewers of moments from their childhood. Additionally, creativity runs rampant on social media, allowing users to recreate looks, indulge in 2000s music (Duvet by Bôa is trending right now), and rediscover other nostalgic media. Nearly everyone, teenagers and adults alike, went crazy when Twilight was added to Netflix this summer, cementing our society’s obsession with nostalgia and past decades.

As a society, we consistently cycle through fashion and trends, often bringing back a singular decade at a time. Throughout the past year, the Y2K era of fashion has noticeably made a return with the influence of Generation Z. You may have noticed more and more people wearing these iconic staples recently: low rise jeans(unfortunately), matching velour tracksuits, cardigans, blinged-out baby tees, Uggs, and denim on denim. Much of this style has been repopularized with a spin due to influencers such as Emma Chamberlain, in addition to the collective admiration for movies that were popular at the time, such as Mean Girls and Legally Blonde. There’s an added benefit to the return of 2000s fashion, too. It’s easily available in secondhand shops, making it less environmentally taxing. This aspect of 2000s fashion appeals to many, and senior Mackenzie Leitzell is among those who value it.

In case you haven’t noticed, the revival of the 2000s is directly related to celebrity culture right now. The recent rebirth of 2000s culture has been cemented as a trend due to the reappearances of celebrities from that decade. Britney Spears, a pop icon of the 2000s, has been in the spotlight for the past few months as she and the rest of the world fought for the end of her conservatorship, which had gone on since 2008. Additionally, Lindsay Lohan returned to the big screen to star in a new Christmas movie on Netflix and Katy Perry has dyed her hair black once again, returning to her look from the past. Megan Fox is back in the public eye after finding love with rapper Machine Gun Kelly. With the resurgence of 2000s celebrities in mainstream media, much of the general public have found themselves romanticizing the 2000s.

Trends come and go, as they typically rotate within the short-lived trend cycle. It’s smart to take advan- tage of and admire this Y2K resurgence right now, because it will inevitably end. But hopefully, this doesn’t mean that 2010s fashion will come back, because those were the darkest of days.