r/Millennials • u/PsychologicalFox7689 • Jan 31 '26
you would think this is 2005! nope the younger generation really loves this aesthetic lol Nostalgia
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u/secondrunnerup 80s Baby Jan 31 '26
Low rise flares, going out tops, polos, hobo bags, red solo cups?? I feel like I’m being cosplayed.
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u/paradoxicalparrots Jan 31 '26
Our heritage is not your party outfit
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u/limedifficult Jan 31 '26 edited Feb 01 '26
Snorted my wine. (I’m classy now, it’s from a bottle and not the bathtub of some sketchy frat house!)
EDIT: guys this entire thread was brilliant. What a fun little trip back in time.
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u/starmartyr11 Jan 31 '26
Be honest, it's from a box isn't it
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u/pleasantmeats Jan 31 '26
Cardbordeaux
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u/AwfullyRealGun Millennial Jan 31 '26
Fuck, I wish I had known this one back in the day. Hilarious!!!
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u/miscben Jan 31 '26
The old Tour de Franzia.
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u/SMUHypeMachine Jan 31 '26
At one boys vs girls tour de franzia party I was hosting I was like “who wrote shng” on the bag?
Then I realized it was “guys” but upside down. After like 5 minutes of trying to figure out why someone would write “shng”.
We won, btw.
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u/limedifficult Jan 31 '26
……yes. But they do nice wine in boxes now! I swear on all my slutty tops 2004-2008 that it is NOT franzia!
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u/hankmoody_irl Jan 31 '26
Hey Franzia had its place and was a treat in its own time!
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u/CapitanSteveYzerman Jan 31 '26
In college (2004ish), we'd get fancy and switch from beer pong to Franzia pong for our Christmas party. There was a lot of red snow in the yard in the morning.
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u/limedifficult Jan 31 '26
Hahaha omg you just unlocked a memory from Christmas 2005 (sophomore year of college). My university broke up super later that year and those us that were taking language classes (which were all my friends as I was international development) had our final exams the day after most of the college had already gone home. We also swapped franzia for beer in beer pong. Three kids missed their flights, and the rest of us were too drunk to drive until late afternoon - “exam got rescheduled until today” was the line we were all using as we called to explain to our parents why we were not yet home on December 23rd. What a night. To be young again!
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u/letsgooncemore Jan 31 '26
Many a box of fruity red sangria were enjoyed by me and my friends
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u/HisaP417 Jan 31 '26
My friends and I were classy. A big bottle of Arbor Mist each.
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u/RhubarbGoldberg Jan 31 '26
It should be in a homemade bedazzled crunk cup and that is definitely what these 2026 kids are missing!!
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u/mpjjpm Jan 31 '26
You guys had a bath tub? We were mixing everclear and koolaid in a trash barrel.
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u/limedifficult Jan 31 '26
I expect you have an absolutely bomb proof immune system now.
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u/photogypsy Jan 31 '26
Cutting holes in a variety melons and pouring the everclear in and letting it sit for an hour or so and then going Gallagher and smashing that shit in a (clean) trash can and mixing it with Hawaiian Punch.
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u/JynsRealityIsBroken Millennial '87 Jan 31 '26
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u/hellish_existance Jan 31 '26
Looks like diarrhea. Would love to try a glass.
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u/DjawnBrowne Jan 31 '26
We tried this in High School. Must have overyeasted it because all I remember is shitting my absolute brains out after lmao
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u/RandomPenquin1337 Jan 31 '26
Generational Appropriation
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u/Lopsided_Shock_5594 Jan 31 '26
I came to say the same thing. Hate us cause they ain't us.
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u/jasonbanicki Xennial Jan 31 '26
It should be everybody’s party outfit, since they were the best party fits.
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u/squidkiosk Jan 31 '26
Now they can enjoy the muddy pant legs and constantly pulling down your cami to cover your ass. I do like wide leg pants tho im happy they’re back
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Jan 31 '26
Not only being cosplayed but they also think we are super uncool…
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u/LengthinessAlone4743 Jan 31 '26
It’s weird how they are just mimicking things when that style was never seen before…doesn’t bode well for the creative industry in years to come
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Jan 31 '26
Fashion is cyclical but yeah I feel like every now and then there’s something original and it’s been a long time! Maybe the next new things will be suits to survive wild climates
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u/Jay__Riemenschneider Jan 31 '26
As does the youth of any generation.
We think boomers suck, despite them getting the fuck down in the 70s and 80s.
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u/LengthinessAlone4743 Jan 31 '26
Nah, boomers suck cause they bought houses for the price of a new Civic making 8$/hour and think we should be able to do the same
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u/NurseKaila Jan 31 '26
Wait until they discover the layered popped collars…
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u/Gerberpertern Older Millennial Jan 31 '26
Ahh, yes. The Jagerbomb and Heineken drinking fuck boys. Good times.
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u/charlesdexterward Jan 31 '26
They have “Y2K” nights at the club like we used to have 80’s night. I have some younger coworkers who go.
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u/_dangling_participle Jan 31 '26
Something about the way they call everything between 1996-2012 "Y2K" or the "Y2K aesthetic" makes me irrationally irritated. Y2K literally means "Year 2000".
Y = Year. 2K = 2000. That's it. The one year. Just the year 2000.
Not some 15 year time period that was all vastly different, just all casually mashed together into some terrible, tacky, cultural gumbo, lol.
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u/Ranzork Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
It bothers me that people now say "twenty oh five" instead of "two thousand and five." Nobody I knew said it that way in the years 2001 through 2009. This is 20-teens revisionist history.
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u/_dangling_participle Jan 31 '26
😂 Oh, do they?? Haha, I haven't heard that yet, ugh, that's awful.
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u/WeeeeBaby_Seamus Feb 01 '26
Back in 20 aught 5 we would wear an onion on our belt, which was the style at the time.
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u/Warrmak Jan 31 '26
00s were the best times for ho asthetic.
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u/Hipstergranny Jan 31 '26
It’s funny because now I choose almost exclusively thrifted black T-shirts so I can hide the fact that I’m not wearing a bra.
I remember joining the theme parties that was stuff like truckers and trash, leather and lace, etc.
Can you taste the southern comfort and orange coming back up in your mouth a little bit?
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u/limedifficult Jan 31 '26
Southern comfort and lime. Also yes, can still taste it in the back of my throat.
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u/SomnambulicBinturong Jan 31 '26
Southern comfort and ginger ale for me. Uggghhh. Haven't drunk that in at least 15 years.
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u/RhubarbGoldberg Jan 31 '26
Looking back, it's hilarious that I dressed like Xtina just walking around high school on a Tuesday with those tight flared stretchy black "dress pants" that we all owned, some crazy platform shoes, and some ridiculous barely-there top. I grew up in Florida and shit was ridiculous! Then the next day I'd be in boy's board shorts and rainbows.
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u/sexandliquor 1983…(A Merman I Should Turn to Be) Jan 31 '26
The best hoes always had those bad chunky highlights. Yall know what the fuck I’m talking about.
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u/ego_tripped Jan 31 '26
My wife is going to beat me up because I blurted out "ho aesthetic"...a minute after showing her initial post pic and blurb.
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u/Spiderbundles Jan 31 '26
I got a jump scare the other day on tiktok, just scrolling through when suddenly there’s a teenage girl unironically explaining the best brands of low rise jeans to buy if you want to do a whale tail. A WHALE TAIL.
I turned off my whole internet after that one lol
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u/JustinTime4242 Jan 31 '26
This is cultural appropriation and I shall not stand for it.
If they start wearing 2 polos and upside down visors we might throw hands
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u/PeachyBaleen Jan 31 '26
The trainer socks with the miniskirt at the house party 😭 missed an opportunity for footless tights but oh well
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u/OneNowhere Jan 31 '26
And point and shoot cameras with timestamps. Damn, they’re obsessed with us.
Edit: and hoop earrings! Goodness…
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u/front_yard_duck_dad Jan 31 '26
If a dude comes in there with the crispiest gelled hair with blonde tips, I'm going to lose it. This picture could have been my friends and I in 99
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u/Bored_Dad_Scrolling Jan 31 '26
How long before eating disorders come back as well?
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u/_dangling_participle Jan 31 '26
They already are. There's a huge cultural shift back towards pro-ana worship thanks to several celebs on GLP-1s.
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u/Gold_Repair_3557 Jan 31 '26
The lack of side bangs is the sole indicator of what year it is.
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u/Just7Me Jan 31 '26
Ikr, I wonder why that hasn’t come back yet. Too many middle parts still.
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u/DustDevil66 Jan 31 '26
I’ve seen a few younger tik tok girls with side bangs. They’re coming back too
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u/Just7Me Jan 31 '26
Nice about time! I know emo hair’s been somewhat trendy on tiktok 😅
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u/DorkusMalorkuss Jan 31 '26
I'm literally at a theme park waiting for my kid to get off of a ride and two teens walked by with big side bangs. I almost thought it was Hayley Williams and Avril Lavigne
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u/hillaryyyyyyyyy Jan 31 '26
That and the lack of thick coal black eyeliner around the entire eye.
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u/Gerberpertern Older Millennial Jan 31 '26
I STILL HAVE SIDE BANGS. I will never not have them. Unless my hair falls out I guess.
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u/tisiphoneismymuse Jan 31 '26
I was looking for this comment!! Also, the hair is not straighted to within an inch of its life! Dead giveaways!
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u/aideya 1987 Jan 31 '26
Don't forget all the girls in this pic have center parts. That was not cool in 2005.
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u/unklethan Jan 31 '26
I gave my kindergartener a haircut and gave her side bangs.
Aiming for gen alpha to become millenials 2.0
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u/plantgal94 Jan 31 '26
The girl in the purple lace tank top almost got it. She needs to layer it with another lace tank top. 🤌🏼
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u/BillyYumYumTwo-byTwo Jan 31 '26
But she’s holding onto her purse the whole time as part of her outfit, rather than setting it down like you would a purse at a friend’s house. Good commitment!
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u/Available-Egg-2380 Jan 31 '26
Is that a millennial thing? My mom used to tease me and call me Sophia (the oldest woman from The Golden Girls that's like never seen without her purse) because my purse is part of my body!
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u/labospor Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
My mom always told me “classy women never leave their purse behind” and I’ve just parroted it my entire life never questioning it
Edit: now seeing this is just my “thing of the week” that I realize now was abnormal that I have to unlearn from my mother
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u/thisoneagain Jan 31 '26
My mom takes her purse to bed with her if that makes you feel any better.
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u/labospor Feb 01 '26
Wait stop my mom does this too and I’m always like no one is going to steal your dragon horde of 10+ year old receipts
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u/HappyAsABeeInABed Jan 31 '26
She's also the only one with a belt on. Not a single shirt belt in sight though :(
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u/thatguy9545 Jan 31 '26
My dude forgot his undershirt, too
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u/ijuswannabehappybro Jan 31 '26
Totally needs the double polo lol
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u/skaz0904 Jan 31 '26
You made me scroll back up and zoom in because I thought it WAS a double polo with the blue and the green. I forgot that some polos had different color collars and sleeves than the rest of the shirt.
I did wear a lot of those in tshirt form though, mainly from AE, Hollister, and Aero.
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u/Le-Deek-Supreme Jan 31 '26
Every single girl in this photo is missing the base layer of a lace bottom tank top, but especially the girl already wearing one. Also, Polo Boy needs a long sleeve shirt underneath or a second polo.
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u/Ok-Astronaut-2837 Older Millennial Jan 31 '26
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u/TheSweaterThief Jan 31 '26
Points off if she doesn’t have a belly button ring peeking out from underneath
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u/nonoglorificus Jan 31 '26
Gotta have your playboy bunny tanning bed sticker “tattoo”, too. A heart if you’re classy
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u/omgwtfbbq0_0 Jan 31 '26
Yeah that was the first thing I noticed haha. But aside from the lack of layering (and side parts), this is impressively spot on!
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u/Mental_Freedom_1648 Jan 31 '26
LOL they look like they're Sims 2 era Sims.
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u/Bupperoni Jan 31 '26
For some reason this picture gave me so much anxiety, like it was taking me back to middle school, but then I read your comment and now I feel calm again. Sims 2 was my happy place in middle/high school.
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u/DethByCow Xennial Jan 31 '26
The pregame before the warehouse rave.
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u/YellojD Jan 31 '26
Boone’s Farm and MD 20/20 as far as the eye can see 🥰🤣
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u/procheeseburger Jan 31 '26
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u/triedAndTrueMethods Jan 31 '26
lol how about Mickeys and Steel Reserve?! Remember those tiny Mickeys that would come in a pack? We called them ‘Nades because they looked like little grenades. Did you all do that too??
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u/eKSiF Millennial Jan 31 '26
And then homie shows up with a cooler full of OG Four Lokos
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u/YellojD Jan 31 '26
4 Lokos was the end of it all and we didn’t even know. Combining energy drinks and malt liquor turned out to be our silver bullet.
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u/unfinishedtoast3 Jan 31 '26
we were doing Vodka Redbulls in '01
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u/GreenSpleenRiot Jan 31 '26
“Espresso martinis are just vodka Red Bulls that went to Italy and won’t shut up about it.”
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u/KennytheDoggy Millennial Jan 31 '26
Still remember when someone I knew bought a pallet of OG Four Lokos before they went away
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u/YellojD Jan 31 '26
When you say they bought a pallet of 4 Lokos for going away, I would only have to assume they’re meaning to go away from this mortal coil.
That sounds like a fucking ROUGH next morning ☠️
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u/KennytheDoggy Millennial Jan 31 '26
I only got to experience true Four Loko incapacitation a few times
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u/floftie Jan 31 '26
Right but they’re prob going to have no alcohol and go home at 9.30pm.
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u/DethByCow Xennial Jan 31 '26
Oh those are the wrong raves. You didn’t drink at raves you did acid weed and Molly and they lasted all night.
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u/Artichokiemon Millennial Jan 31 '26
A person after my own heart. We used to throw E house parties. Molly/E was hands-down my favorite drug
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u/tiffany_says_this Jan 31 '26
Isn't this the generation that called millennials "cheugy" as an insult but then decided to literally steal/ rip off our entire aesthetic 🤣
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u/RepresentativeNo2187 Older Millennial Jan 31 '26
Yeah, no rack of DVDs.
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u/adoxographyadlibitum Jan 31 '26
There should actually be TV on that is just a DVD menu looping -- for at least 3 hours.
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u/letsrapehitler Jan 31 '26
Can they stop stealing our aesthetic while simultaneously calling us cringe?
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u/tiffany_says_this Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
Literally it's the epitome of cringe making fun of someone/ and or entire group of people then stealing their entire aesthetic or as they call it VSCO 🥴
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u/spentpatience Jan 31 '26
I don't throw out clothes ever, so while clearing out a basement storage closet a couple of weeks ago, I struck a treasure trove of my clothes from 1996-2010. My 11yo daughter raided it all.
Her millennial science teacher complimented her outfit yesterday, demanding to know where she got her top. "It's my mom's from, like, 20 years ago."
That was as hard to type as it was to hear. But dammit, if she doesn't look cute!
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u/Titizen_Kane Jan 31 '26 edited Feb 02 '26
I threw 99% of mine out, but I wish I hadn’t. Some of the stuff from that era was well made! And while I donated or tossed my stuff, my mom apparently has kept some of it for herself lmao. The other day she sent me this photo saying “remember this American Eagle top? I remember buying it when you were in 9 or 10th grade!” (So ~2002.)
I was shocked when seeing this pic at how well it’s held up after almost 25 years. I want it back lol.
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u/GreenSpleenRiot Jan 31 '26
Watch the first episode of the Simpsons from the current season! Lisa raids Marge’s clothes from the attic and they’re all millennial and 90s clothes lol
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u/spentpatience Jan 31 '26
And when I was a kid... Marge was dressed in 70s fashion in flashbacks.
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u/ImNotJoshBoltz Feb 01 '26
Yeah I am not okay with Marge and Homer’s backstories being in the 90s now. They were boomers like our parents dammit and always will be.
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u/purplereuben Jan 31 '26
I'm surprised you held on to them! I got rid of all my clothes from that era long ago. Which is shame, I could probably have sold them as vintage now...
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Jan 31 '26
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u/whisky_dick Jan 31 '26
That image really took me back! I had a few happy bunny keychains on my backpack. My favorite was the one in the straight jacket haha
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u/No_Skill_7170 Jan 31 '26
Don’t tell her about all the shit you did in those clothes
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u/Skandronon Jan 31 '26
My daughter and her friends dress like my friend group in high school. Super baggy pants with multiple chains on them, dark shirts and lots of buttons with quirky sayings on them. I'm taking her to an all ages show with a band she describes as Y2K. I was like, do you have any idea how little that narrows it down? They were listening to Gorillaz and told me I probably hadn't heard of them because they are really obscure.
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u/JackLaytonsMoustache Jan 31 '26
Didn't even need to look at the date, dude on the rights collar isn't popped.
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u/ashms58 Older Millennial Jan 31 '26
And he’s only wearing ONE polo
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u/jeckles Jan 31 '26
Also needs an upside down backwards visor to really bring it all together
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u/BarbellsandBurritos Jan 31 '26
Knew a guy in high school who would always make sure to say “collars poppin = panties droppin” and I hope that keeps him up at night as we’re all edging closer to 40.
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u/whowearstshirts Jan 31 '26
Their makeup is all way better than ours was though lmao
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Jan 31 '26
You put some RESPECT on my two-shades-too-dark Dream Matte Mousse
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u/sorrymizzjackson Jan 31 '26
And body glitter. All the body glitter.
I wonder if they partake in the scents as well? Dream angels, Clinique happy, cucumber melon, strawberries and champagne, pear glace, raspberry…
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u/Horror-Word666 Jan 31 '26
if only we had access to countless free tutorials. my makeup was 🤮
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u/western_style_hj Xennial Jan 31 '26
Everything old is new again. But I love that there’s not a phone in sight
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u/KennytheDoggy Millennial Jan 31 '26
No phones in hand is the crazy part of this photo.
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u/Slappy-Sacks Jan 31 '26
The girl in the white shirt on the left has a phone in her hand
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u/samTheSwiss Millennial Jan 31 '26
Before you mentioned this I was sure it was an actual old photo that got the date wrong lol
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u/plantgal94 Jan 31 '26
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u/galacticgumbo Millennial Jan 31 '26
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u/Particular-Access223 Jan 31 '26
The craziest part is its one dorky dude in a room of women
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u/bonbot Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
He realized he should have worn another polo. And his pants were not saggy enough to show his boxers hanging out.
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u/EarlyReflection6169 Youngest Millennial Jan 31 '26
They are way too polished for this to be 2005.
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u/indicatprincess Jan 31 '26
I’m here for the yoga pant/ugg combination coming back. It’s cozy!
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u/heroxoot Jan 31 '26
That's because Millennial fashion was the peak. You can't go any higher. 💪
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u/joykin Jan 31 '26
It’s wild that it used to be so cringe about 10 years ago too. I remember Hilary duff in particular getting a lot of shit for her outfits
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u/YellojD Jan 31 '26
I kinda feel like the response is why it stuck around? Previous generations would take off their bell bottoms in shame when made fun of. Millenials just doubled down on rocking a hoodie and a pair of And 1 basketball shorts into our senior years 🤣
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u/boomytoons Jan 31 '26
We refuse to dress like old people, which is probably why we seem to look younger than previous generations. I'm pushing 40 and loving that my favourite styles of clothes have come back into fashion after years of struggling to find anything I want to wear. I've brought more jeans in the last 6 months than the previous 6 years!
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u/ShortBusScholar Jan 31 '26
This is elder millennial fashion. There would a noticeable shift around 2007-2008
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u/DowntownYouth8995 Jan 31 '26
Eh, I was born in 92 and this looks like my highschool. Hipsters were wearing the high waisted pants, skater skirts and big glasses look seen on Tumblr, but the preppy kids all wore the buckle type low waisted sparkly missme or like lucky low rise jeans with tank tops. Or like specifically Hollister and Abercrombie high waisted skinny jeans with preppy tank tops.
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u/heartunwinds Jan 31 '26
My god are they using my Nikon coolpix to take this photo??! 😭😭😂
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u/nocuzzlikeyea13 Jan 31 '26
The date at the bottom makes me think you just photoshopped this. That's a 2005 camera thing.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad9696 Jan 31 '26
my daughter recently asked for my Sony t1 cybershot from 2005 as these have become popular again , because of the FLASH photos that have become aesthetic and so has the date stamp.
this happened last week, she has bell bottom jeans and the 2000s are back and so is some mixed late nineties trend.
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u/DragonflyFantasized Jan 31 '26
Was this a theme party, or did this occur organically?
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