The 2000s were such a revolutionary time. It didn’t just happen in the world; it was in our bedrooms. To look back on my early youth, like it is now a trend, bears more of a deeper and a more personal ache for a version of myself more “plugged in” at the moment, and less so to the iPhone I am now looking for as I am typing this sentence.
I have been feeling that since lockdown, I’d been reminiscing about the good old times more so than ever before. My TikTok feed is currently full to bursting with music edits of old tunes (Milky, Just The Way You Are’ on repeat), my Instagram is now a photographer’s dream of unfiltered snapshots of life, whether it be a quote on a quirky new cafe, or a 0.5x zoom selfie, like it’s been taken with a retro camera.
We have entered a new culture that deeply misses another. Maybe it is the familiarity of comforting music, fashion, and media of the 2000s, compared to the adult pressures of modern society, that makes its nostalgic moments feel so crucial (as we all say, we are simply 18-year-old minds trapped in 20-something bodies).
When I flick through Netflix, Amazon, or Disney +, I always find myself romanticizing the more favorable classic chick flicks than the new titles plastered across my screen. Take the likes of Mean Girls, Wild Child, Legally Blonde, or Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging. I chose these movies because they really represent girlhood and emerging adulthood in a way I cannot explain. You can just put one of these movies on, and immediately the serotonin oozes out.
Maybe I am thinking about it so much because The Devil Wears Prada is releasing their much-anticipated sequel 20 years later? The highly nostalgic blend of pre-social-media “dreamy” romanticism and early digital technology creates that comforting aesthetic for our generation, as well as the Y2K vibe of optimistic fashion. I can argue that the 00s felt like the last authentic era, before the rise of influencer culture and the consistency of the ‘online’ movement.
When I was in my teens, I would parade around the house with my iPod nano, blast out tunes, with a few magazines in my hands. My fashion sense was taken from the likes of Hannah Montana, Lindsay Lohan, and Avril Lavigne, as well as teen shows such as Gossip Girl (without the price tag), and Skins. I feel like authentic 2000s fashion seemed lackadaisical in the sense that it was unique, and you could wear anything without judgment, as it just suited the time.
But most importantly, I feel like the technology nostalgia hits the most. I feel reminiscent of my first phone, the iconic pink LG Cookie, my beautiful yet problematic Nintendo DS keeping me up all night long, trying to improve my home in Animal Crossing: Wild World.
I read an interesting article from the LA Times, entitled ‘Why is Gen Z wistful for the late 2000s already?’, and there is a quote by Allyson Rees, senior strategist for WGSN, which totally resonated with me. She stated that ‘digital platforms such as TikTok have become “social gathering places for an increasingly isolated world.”
That begs the question whether we are really craving the things we desired back in the day, or whether we want to feel more connected within a totally digital world. How many search engine articles can you see online? How would we know we feel ‘lonely’ through your own mobile device?
Maybe I am just missing a proper, authentic, glossy magazine, catered solely to the wholesome and pure teenage girl, based on beauty, fashion, and celebrities. Now we are consumed by so much media, it isn’t an escape anymore, but simply just reality. There is no physical boundary to our digital lives. The internet is everywhere and nowhere, and it is exhausting. We are missing a world that allowed us to be so unfiltered and unpolished. I miss the young version in a world that felt larger, mysterious, and a lot less tracked….
This was written by our contributing writer, Megan Evans.
Image Source: Freepik, garetsvisual
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