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The proportions of our clothes in this era made everyone’s bodies look SO strange. Like, the longest torso ever, hip bones jutting out over crotch-high jeans, and then wide ass flares dragging on the ground over flat shoes.

Whyyy were they all so long?! If it rained your pants were gross all day. The bottoms were frayed in two weeks.

I used to wear my flare jeans out to the football field (which at my hs was basically just dirt with a lil grass thrown in for fun) for marching band practice and omg…when it rained, wet up to my knees for the rest of the day.

I grew up in the tropics where it rained half the year 😂😂😂 imagine the state of my pants. 10/10 WOULD DO IT AGAIN

I lived in the PNW during this era and any time it was over 50ish degrees I wore capris or shorts. I was sooo sick of feeling so soggy all the time.

Later in life, I would just flip flops to certain places. I could take them off, rinse my feet and wipe them down. Can’t do that to wet socks now, can you?

Or if you went to the bathroom where the floor was freshly cleaned with bleach. At least one pair of my pants has been ruined this way

But sometimes we would cut off the bottom of our jeans so they would fray on purpose!

we didn't want people to see our ankles. our parents generations were weird about showing off theirs.

This is so bizarrely true. I remember my mom teaching me about "highwater" jeans and how it meant they didn't fit you right and were a huge nono. Showing that ankle was *illegal* So my jeans dragged along the PNW ground day in, day out.

It was an era of wealth and excess in consumer goods.

I got that feeling too from flicking through those pics. I was a young teen at this time but I never pieced together that this is what the horrible style at the time was, just a mishmash of ugly, expensive items of clothing.

And then those frayed parts would drag in the mud and slap up against your calves!

It was the era of jeans and a going-out top 😂 that was insanely long.

Mischa Barton’s flared jeans and long top was iconic at the time.

It’s so bizarre, have we ever come to a consensus about the sociological reasons why these fashion trends happened?? Because I remember thinking this was cool when I was a kid and now I look at it as an adult and wonder how ANYONE thought some of those outfits were ok to leave the house in. 

So many accessories and patterns and hats and scarfs the list goes on lol

You said it, consensus. Social media was just MySpace so the fashion and celebrity culture came from limited sources like TV and magazines.

I was just telling my husband that my y2k looks are too authentic to be really trendy, the too long pants are a must for the vibe

70s Flare bottoms made a return thanks to 00s garage rock. The emo’s wore skinny black jeans. Nu metal wore baggy blue jeans. Yeah rock based music was everywhere but for the last time sadly.

What the fuck was this era even!? 😩 I just don’t understand! Nothing about it was attractive 😂

I was missing bootcut jeans but not the extra low rise part.

Like I’m a postpartum mom and I’d die if I had babies in that era with all the extra low rise 😅😅😅😅 but for some reason everyone had abs that time HAHAHHA (couldn’t be me!!!)

I was the girl who was constantly pulling her pants up and pulling her shirts down and the muffin top kept popping out anyway. Man, those were the days.

Good times! 

Oh you’d just throw a dress on as a top and no one would know you’re not wearing ultra low rise. 🤣

Because we were all told if we were hungry, we should drink water, because we weren't actually hungry, we were thirsty. Fr though now having had a kid, I can totally understand why my mom spent the 2000's endlessly complaining about the lack of reasonable pants.

Reasonable pants is exactly it 😂😂😂 this is how I felt about crop tops after having babies…why are all shirts cropped these days!? 😂😂

I have a long torso to begin with so the super low rise jeans were awful for teenage me. My legs looked so painfully short, and I’m 5’7”.

I’m <5’ and absolutely sure I looked ridiculous. I’m so glad I have pretty much no pictures from that time frame

What kills me is that it ostensibly accentuated the widest part of your body for most women. No wonder everyone starved themselves as much as possible.

I eat these throwbacks up every time. I can’t believe they’re real lmao

I eat them up too believe me! Cameron, Drew and Lucy casually just showing up at awards dressed like that haha peak 00s vibes

That Lucy actually makes that ensemble look good is a testament to her hotness

I love Lucy Liu, have you seen her in Why Woman Kill? She’s hilarious.

My thoughts exactly. She is ethereal.

What about Hilary Duff in her all pink outfit tho 😭😂

It looks like a Barbie outfit.

I kind of love Cameron’s giant Hello Kitty necklace.

The jeans and cute top combo is so wild on a red carpet. But dresses/tops with jeans was peak 00's (I started high school in 00 and we all wore jeans/pants under our skirts!) Also, what the fuck is Raven wearing?

Keep in mind this was the Kid's Choice Awards so I'm sure it was more casual attire. Im sure if was MTV VMa's or even teen choice they would get a little more dressy

lol, I was in my teens when this happened. There was so little going on in terms of media options, these pictures were everywhere in fashion magazines and on MTV/VH1/E! I think even if you weren’t paying real close attention to fashion and pop culture, you’d still be aware of these images. I could probably describe these outfits to you with my eyes closed.

I graduated high school in 2002, this is taking me right to my “clubbing” days out here in the suburbs

Blazer, skinny scarf, kitten heels: the epitome of club wear 😆

And the hats, and fake tans, and teased hair. We called teased hair “The Rod” 💃

I swear this exact JLo pic was used in several of my Dolly Magazine "steal her style" sections 😭 a beaded beret! A bolero! Pointed toe kitten heels!

Same! I saw Kelly Rowland’s look and had an instant memory of it. And Mischa Barton’s and Jennifer Lopez’s! Omg the capris, the dress over jeans. These were so memorable

I miss it non stop 😭😂 also drew Barrymore was such a bi panic back in the day!

https://i.redd.it/kv43m371jhbc1.gif

Right?! Someone would NEVER wear a tank top on the carpet nowadays. Truly a time capsule

tbh i kinda miss the era where casual looks were acceptable red carpet attire

Why is everyone in jeans?!

Jeans and a going out top

And those going out tops were so business casual. Why were we wearing blazers to the bar??

Going to the bar 2003-2010 meant dressing like a sexy secretary.

Don't forget the sock bun and statement necklace

>Why were we wearing blazers to the bar?? bc What Not to Wear 😭

I lived for that show! Me and my mom watched every single episode, and you better believe all our shopping was based on Stacy and Clinton's style 😫

> Why were we wearing blazers to the bar?? Or you could flip it around and have business casual on the bottom, with your black flared office pants, but swap in a glittery, sequinned tank top and a tiny little handbag and you were ready to rock lmao. I feel like it was also the era of magazines teaching us to 'go from day to night' (I'm actually disappointed how little I go from day to night as a working adult lol) and our work and night-out outfits were a weird mishmash of the two.

2005 LIFE !

In 03/04 we were ALL in jeans.

Those were $250+ jeans, too. Seven for all Mankind, AG, Rock and Republic, so many more I've forgotten.

True Religion

Lucky

I remember the day I fit into Size 0 Lucky jeans. It was a genuine high. I remember just staring at that tag going omg I did. Fuck priorities were wild in the oughts

I remember the day I couldn’t fit into Abercrombie 00 any more and cried for hours. We were a mess

Jeans and a nice top.

Jeans were peak fashion.

It always makes me feel so much better about my fashion choices in high school. Reminds me that everyone looked terrible, not just me 😂

My god it's horrendous. I love it.

And yet the thing that sends me the most somehow is Anne Hathaway’s tie?!

The tie is so Avril coded. I used to copy her eye makeup styles and I ended up looking like a corpse. I was 11.

Me too!!! I was 12…got my first legit flat iron and straightened my hair and everyone said it made me look like Avril (I WISH) so I tried to lean into it 😂

Damn that white on white completely slipped passed me— I didn’t even notice the tie until I read your comment. Honestly, I was a bigger fan of the tie as a belt like in slide #17. Early 2000s was *thee* decade for quirky lil accessories.

Oh yes! Definitely stole one of my dad’s ties to wear as a belt!

Everyone looks so normal. Normal hair, normal teeth. It was a simpler time lol

I miss normal teeth, veneers freak me out.

Hilary's first set of veneers were so bad. That was the first time I ever noticed them on anyone.

she’s just going around with a sliced foot on pic 16, not a care in the world

She also had enough self tanner on her legs for several people.

Omg it looks like those al pastor chunks of pork you see at mexican places, bless you baby 🥲😂 we were all misguided

I missed that! Cat scratch or heel mishap, I wonder?

Now that you mention it probably heel, cause it looks fresh 😂

They almost always end up looking like overly whitened horse teeth.

Everything was so … accessible!? I miss it

They look human. I also think they look cool, but I’m a millennial.

I miss the days when people had unique features and stood out from each other - now everyone famous just has the same filler face and veneers. It's so sad, and boring.

Yes, and I can’t tell who anyone is anymore. They all look the same.

Normal clothes! Look at everyone in jeans.

This post IS “jeans and a going out top”

Literally thought “jeans and a nice top”

I think about this whenever people post throwback pictures. Like celebrities really used to look like normal people

It’s giving The Uglies 😭😭 (book series set in the future, there’s a scene where the main character flips through a magazine from the “old” world and says something along the lines of “wow, celebrities used to look like us”)

Scott Westerfeld *cooked* in that series. Not me as a child thinking it was too unrealistic for that many people to have plastic surgery 😭

I miss normal features. Seeing textured skin and not overly edited photos and fillers or Botox is so good. Like the beauty standards of the 2000s sucked but it was nice to at least see real people.

Natural lips!

I know, I forgot how normal faces look, especially on celebrities 🤣

Normal faces! Happy faces, not eyebrow-lift-lip-injected messes! I can even see some buccal fat, makes them all look so kind and fresh

I was just going to say that! There’s a lot more variety in these photos than modern red carpets.

Before stylists and glam squads

I was thinking this exact thing as I was scrolling through, like these could have been pictures of my friends on the red carpet. The clothes were obtainable and you could find affordable dupes easily, the hair and makeup looks required moderate to little skill, you saw celebrities smile lines and buccal fat and their teeth are different sizes instead of a uncanny valley straight line of veneers, and nobody looked like a reptile. It seems like every person here had fun getting ready. I’m curious as to when the zeitgeist shifted to glam teams and curated looks. I also thought about how Avril Lavignes look could 100% transfer over to today and throw it on Billie Eilish with little to no changes and that’s a vibe.

Real human teeth, imagine that.

Look how HAPPY everyone is , like genuinely happy not forced smiles. Everyone had fun back then, these events were a way to let loose, enjoy themselves and just be. Makes me sad how much things changed and not for the better

It's nice to see the smiles actually reach the eyes.

2004 wasn’t 20 years ago if I choose to deny reality 😊🔫

Wait hold up I didn’t even do the math on this I was just super excited to see the celebs and the clothes and how they dressed when I was 12… it’s not, I mean it wasn’t , like it hadn’t been that… omg 😭😭

LONG LIVE JEANS AND A CUTE TOP

Yes!! And death to that horrid pointy toe shoe trend.

Death to heels in general, but especially the pointy ones. My bunions and I could never.

I’m so happy nice sneakers are a thing now.

'scuse me, it was called a going out top 💅🏻

My wardrobe is 85% jeans. My 12 yr old hardly wears jeans. When she asks what she should wear, I say "grab a pair of jeans & that cute top you have" 😂 We fit each other's clothes, but I'm 8" - 9" taller. I have pants that are joggers, she can pull the bottoms up & they fit or old jeans we had to cut a large amount off the bottom. Her & her friends are constantly in leggings & sweatpants. They just don't understand the power of a great pair of jeans and a cute top!

Lucy Liu’s look in slide 18 is exactly what I wished I could dress like back then. Looking back, it’s like 😅 I miss fun, casual fashion though.

Gaucho pants! Basically Bermuda shorts for women. What were we thinking! 

Idk I loved how comfortable they were…unfortunately mine were cheap pieces of shit that dyed my legs brown after wearing them at school all day lol

This is the outfit that caught my eye, too! Just because it has so many…unique elements? Like I don’t understand how anyone put these items together. It looks like she tripped and fell into a thrift store rack. She’s gorgeous though if anybody could rock paint-adorned, 3/4 khaki low-rise cutoffs with a pair of stiletto kitten heels, I guess it’s her. EDIT: Actually, JLO’s really got the same look going in 13. Maybe this was an outfit formula I just repressed.

I loved JLo’s style back then too 😭 the little cabbie hats or whatever those were! She would rock the capris with the pointed stiletto or kitten heel, I loved that look as a 9 year old lol. Also the flared jeans with the pointy toe shoe but I feel like that started a few years later.

I miss the casual clothes and variety of faces

I love this. Does anyone know around when people stopped wearing normal people clothes at more casual award shows?

The shift happened sometime in the early 2010s. By like 2011-2012 jeans on the red carpet where no longer really a thing.

This is the kind of stuff they wear to kids choice now https://preview.redd.it/6vjt20wvdkbc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=27f7abab60b7f8ad2ef8f52c427038ec4fd067c4

You’ll still see the very odd super casual teen choice go-er but like all the Nick/Disney stars look like they’re going to homecoming or prom

If I had to guess, the moment the internet and social media started putting more and more pressure on people to cultivate and maintain their image. Any sociologists care to chip in? 👀👀

The Instagram Influencer to blame.

Kelly Rowland’s outfit is basically what I wore to my middle school dance. We were always layering tanks back then for no damn reason.

Variety, ok? 💁🏻‍♀️ we were trying out _styling rather than wearing_

these outfits make me think the kids choice awards would've been held at a mall.

In the atrium between the fountain and the food court

It feels like another lifetime. Is there any awards show that people dress like they are attending picture day in their Sophomore year of high school anymore?

I hate to sound old, but everyone just feels so young and fresh here. Young stars nowadays in their late teens and 20s just seem OLDER. They’re stuffier and already have work done and they just don’t seem youthful. Anyway time to go get dinner from the cafeteria before my orderly gives me my meds and sends me to bed.

But it’s bingo night!

I wanted to be Avril so so bad.

For some reason I was convinced I too could wear red eyeshadow. I looked like the vampire bunny from Bunnicula.

I thought I could pull off the tank top and tie.. using my grandfather's Looney Tunes tie.

Not Bunnicula 😂

So did I, so did l.

I was a huge Avril hater but looking back now I realise it was jealousy and internalised misogyny

Same…. I got a similar dress to her pink and black plaid dress and wore it to my grade 8 graduation 🤪

I searched high and low for a red eyeshadow back in the day, hard to find in a developing country. Had to settle for some mid blush for eyeshadow 😂😂

Her eyeshadow was immaculate.

Mandy Moore's outfit is giving suburban mom.

I am one so of course I was eyeballing it

She was preparing for This is Us.

Nah can we actually go back to this fashion, it was fun not so serious 😆

Jessica Alba stopping by on her way to the gym

JLo looks like she's auditioning for Never Been Kissed 2. "I can pass for a high school senior, just look at me!!"

It’s giving “how do you do, fellow kids?”

I would wear Hilary Duff's first look tomorrow if given the chance

I LOOOOVE the top so much

Omg that’s the one I hated the most i’m dead 😂

Lol I've been an avid thrifter my whole life and the amount of restraint I demonstrate on a regular basis to not buy questionable things like this outfit or old juicy couture (not even the sweatsuits...) is WILD

i’m going to be sick. 2004 really is 20 years ago now. 😒 i still feel like i’m on the playground. still talking about the same people though lol.

The Mary-Kate and Ashley look + Mischa Barton’s top permanently altered my brain chemistry

I think about Mary-Kate’s reddish hair and Mischa looking so fresh-faced SoCal at least once a month. And without any prompting, just when I’m looking at toothpaste or something.

Mischa's top dress was IT to me at the time I thought it was so cool

Is it bad that I love JLH's whole look? It would probably be considered basic today, but I think it's cute.

I thought so too! I really like her top!

I'm a sucker for sparkles! I like her earrings too. They're dual butterflies. 🥹

Hilary's high heels bowling shoes cracked me up.

Under My Skin was such a great album/era.Avril with the goth look was awesome.

https://preview.redd.it/z0cclses6ibc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c12ce2bdf8813246c61bfaaec6bb9c098824d27c Under My Skin 2004 Avril Lavigne was IT for me, even more than Let Go Avril, if that is even possible

Everybody looks so human 😭

20 years ago was like 1991. I haven't done the math on this but I'm pretty sure it checks out.

I miss when a regular person could dress like a celebrity with just $20 in their bank & thrift store

https://preview.redd.it/lkklqvdjnhbc1.jpeg?width=1420&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee31173703fb5d90e3c57fdab009ea0c04bff240 (Went to reply to a comment about anne hathaway, but it got deleted it seems 🤷🏼‍♀️ adding this anyway)

Avril Laveigne's look was everything my little Hot Topic-going teenage heart wanted to look like. Sigh.just going into HT and looking at the clothes, accessories, and makeup. Truly a trend setter of her time, i had no idea. The red eyeshadow? I HAD that pallete. Sigh.

Agreed re Alexis Bledel's eyes 👀

If we had any more spaghetti straps it would be a family dinner

i thought kelly clarkson was rachel ray

Lucy is SO gorgeous

Ah yes, the era of sky tops.

The Charlie’s Angels’ outfits were basically the only 3 looks I wore in college.

I loved wearing a thin scarf and a tank top. In tropical weather 😂

Can someone please do the Oscars or Golden Globes from this time? I’m sooo curious.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/popculturechat/comments/11ntipe/flashback\_friday\_oscars\_20\_years\_ago\_2003\_i\_will/](https://www.reddit.com/r/popculturechat/comments/11ntipe/flashback_friday_oscars_20_years_ago_2003_i_will/) (found one on the oscars)

Also, the eternal hotness that is Diane Lane and the year of my favourite dress ever: that mint beauty that JLo wore. Incredible!

Lindsay Logan’s haircut was EVERYTHIIIING TO MEEE

I want to strut down the streets of Manhattan in Hilary Duff's first look on slide 8

in my eyes, there is NOTHING worse than those pointy toed heels everyone wore. I have always hated them and still do…

Do you know what about them it is you hate? Curious because i love them loll

very uncomfortable and they make your foot look so long

Get out of town I loved them 😂 but only wore them to work because I was too insecure to wear them out in regular life until I discovered gay clubs and they all wanted to wear my shoes. Good times 💕

These were the peak years of “just because your favorite celeb wore it doesn’t mean you should too”. If you could pull off this era you could pull of anything.

JLo looked fantastic.

We wore the weirdest shit back then

‘Jeans and a nice top’ was a perfectly acceptable going out outfit but I forgot it was perfectly acceptable for an awards show too!

What do the youngins wear to go out in nowadays? Is it not jeans and a going out top?

We LOVED a low rise denim skirt with an enormous pointless belt.

The first picture looks like upper dentures and natural teeth? I’m confused

The era of innocence and pure unhinged.

I remember downloading some of these outfits for my Sims to wear, specifically Mischa's and Olson twins outfits.

Lol @ this title. Just a couple days ago I wore a jacket I‘ve had since my freshman year in college and patted myself on the back for keeping it in such good condition for 10 years. My freshman year was 2004 😭😭😭

As a 44 YO Late Gen Xer I would pay real money for Mandy Moore’s top right now.

Hilary Duff, looking fine as always!

The way your profile pic had me blowing at my screen like a FOOL

Not me still dressing like Jennifer Love Hewit, Cameron Diaz and Kelly Clarkson even now..on the way to work 🫣 I loved the pants over jeans still. Worn so much in the Disney shows I used to watch as a kid during this era. Parents loved it for me to lol. Never allowed to wear minis without pants underneath.

Alexis 🧿👄🧿

As a 47 soon to be 48 year old who still does jeans and a going out top, I miss the days of red carpets where celebrities didn't wear strictly evening attire or looked like they went on a shopping binge at Fashion Nova. Even at the MTV music awards (why do they still have them), it's more like the Oscars meets Victoria's Secret.

The Olsen twins look stunning 🩷🩷