An Ode to Children’s Fashion

Dressing like it’s 2005 might be the truest way to honor your inner child

By: Gracie Kibort

Your eyes slowly open as the sun shines softly through your bedroom window onto the film photos lining your walls. It’s a true “Legally Blonde” moment, and this day will be a perfect one. You pop on your 2000s Spotify playlist, brimming with Hilary, Selena, and Miley, and browse your closet. Today you’re feeling overalls… or is it a baby tee and baggy jeans? Unsure… but pigtails for sure… or butterfly clips? “Don’t Forget” blares as you stagger back, realizing how far and how little you’ve come over the past 15 years. 

Sometime in the whirlwind of 2020, Y2K fashion came back hard and fast. Butterfly clips, smiley faces, even Juicy Couture sweatsuits—all the rage. Scroll through your Instagram and the list of regressive trends multiplies. Fashion is cyclical and everything is bound to make a comeback; we’ve been prepped for the war on low-rise jeans for years. But why do we revert to Y2K fashion? Dressing in bold, colorful, patterns makes us feel comfortable, upbeat, and happy. It’s been dubbed “dopamine dressing” to explain the rush we feel when donning tie-dye crops and tiny sunglasses. 

The 2000s were a time of abominable fashion choices—the image of Ashley Tisdale on the red carpet is permanently seared into my brain. Nevertheless, the Disney Channel fiend in me lived out her popstar dreams through her distressed denim skirt and microscopically tiny pink scarves. Though impermanently trendy, I robed as a DCOM star. My eight-year-old self absolutely obliterated the competition in her third-grade classroom and felt proud wearing her neon green Justice garb. This is why I’m wearing ”Converse with my dress” and pressed velvet until I’m horrified once again—I owe it to my eight-year-old self, the little girl slaying her classmates, destined for pop stardom and greatness.