Don’t dig the pumps and statement necklaces out of your closet just yet. 2010s fashion might be creeping back onto your feed, but here’s why the trend is falling flat before it takes off.
Fashion trends are coming and going faster than ever. A few years back, the 90s had its moment with wide-leg jeans, slip dresses, and chokers. Then came the Y2K craze with miniskirts (the size of a belt), low-rise jeans, and trashy little tanks. But while we wore those styles to their fullest, this decade just isn’t hitting the same.
What’s Different This Trend Cycle?
The trends of the 2010s were, well, unique to say the least. Athleisure met festival fashion met corporate club met twee in a way that only Jessica Day could truly understand. It makes chronological sense that the 2010s are next, but while your For You page is overrun by 2010s nostalgia, the real world—brands, are business as usual.
A 2010s fashion revival lacks the cultural context that made it such a special time in fashion history. These are the trending old styles that you won’t see on the streets any time soon.
The Death Of Day To Night
The new millennium brought with it the rise of club culture. Listen to any pop song with a Pitbull feature from that era and you’ll see that the party girls weren’t slowing down any time soon. That energy bled into the 2010s, but so did the recession. With financial stress in the back of everyone’s minds, clubbing was more than a pastime. It was a form of escapism. Hence, “Day to Night” was born.
If you’re not familiar, the idea is that one outfit could take you from your nine to five to drinks and dancing after work. The best of both worlds meant ankle-breaking heels in the office and business casual in the club. Whether this was an actual need of millennial women, or a rom com inspired cash grab by fashion companies is up for debate.
Regardless, you might think clubbing might provide the same reprieve in today’s cost of living crisis. However, after growing up on the sidelines of club culture, many members of Gen Z are disenchanted with today’s nightlife scene.
According to a July 2022 survey from Keep Hush, only 25% of Gen Z surveyed were interested in going out. Plus, with more people today than ever working from home, there’s no need for day-to-night outfits anymore.
Pumped Up Kicks
Did Foster The People’s 2010 single predict how shoes would define a decade? Probably not, but the point stands. Several shoes defined the 2010s, but two opposing styles dominated the streets: sneakers and pumps.
Take a trip back in time to the club and the array of pumps you’ll find will shock you. Not only were they sky-high, but they were embellished. Studs, straps, buckles, rhinestones—if you can imagine it, Jimmy Choo probably put it on a shoe.
But the real it-girl shoes? Jeffery Campbell’s Lita Boots. These iconic shoes were lace-up, five-inch heeled boots with a 2.5-inch platform, and were a staple of any respectable fashion blogger’s wardrobe.
But if you step outside today, you’ll find that flats and kitten heels are still trendy. If you do see a heel with some height, it’s most likely a solid color, sans the platform. It makes sense that we’re gravitating towards something more lowkey. As we’ve already seen, we have nowhere to wear Saw traps on our feet. Nonetheless, it’s a sad loss of flair for the theatrical girlies.
Sneakers
For a more street-style casual look, 2010s ladies laced up their statement sneakers. Wedge sneakers dominated from 2010-2012. The most famous version was French designer Isabel Marant’s Bekett Shoe. At their first launch in 2011, the shoes sold for around $750, but of course, there were plenty of fast-fashion versions to choose from.
Later in the decade, Balenciaga’s Triple S sneaker brought back the “dad shoe” trend of the 80s and 90s. If chunky wasn’t your look, Adidas’ sleeker Stan Smith and Superstar styles saw a rise in popularity as well.
This year alone had its share of sneaker trends, most notably Adidas’ Gazelles and Sambas. Slim is in for 2024. But while these shoes are known to add a pop of color to an outfit, they’re just not the statement shoes we saw a decade ago.
Can a trend really come back if it never left? Of course, you won’t see many high-top wedges walking the street today. But it’s fair to say that our love affair with a statement sneaker wasn’t new then and isn’t now.
Statement That Necklaces Aren’t Making A Statement
Speaking of statements, videos have cropped up recently of people showing off their old collections of statement necklaces and basking in the early 2010s nostalgia. These pieces truly live up to their name, showcasing weighty stacks and chains of large, brightly colored beads.
The modernized version of these necklaces often features one large pendant. It’s a much bolder choice than the dainty chains we’ve seen more recently and a great way to spice up your outfit when high temperatures call for less clothing. But to call it a statement necklace? It’s nearly insulting to the girls who spent the 2010s carrying the weight of the world on their necks.
Takeaways
What’s to blame for this watered-down comeback? The quirky, awkward flair of the 2010s is lost on Gen Z. 2010s fashion came at a time when social media had just begun to gain traction, which allowed a mix of diverse styles and influences to spread faster than ever before.
This was a special time in fashion history. In the sweet spot between the birth of the internet and TikTok brain rot, we got to fully experience the social and economic influences of the decade through fashion, and blog it at the same time.
Chalk it up to bad timing or the ever-increasing speed of trend cycles finally catching up to itself. If your summer travel plans include a nostalgia trip, you might be on your own this time.
