Baggy jeans and crop tops: TikTok drives Y2K fashion search surge says Stylight

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 4, 2021

Every generation has an era whose vintage looks it likes to adopt and adapt and with Gen Z, it seems that the year 2000 is a key reference point.

That’s according to fashion, beauty and design search platform Stylight, which said it’s seeing major search spikes for Y2K-relevant pieces at present.

Stylight also said much of this is being driven by the influence of video-sharing platform TikTok and it’s interesting that Google Trends shows global searches for the keyphrase ‘TikTok fashion’ are up 195% since January 2020.

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Looking at key items, so far this year, there’s been a 170% increase in Google searches for 2000s-style trousers such as baggy jeans, pocketed cargo pants, and ultra low-rise fits. It’s a crucial move away from the skinny cuts of the past few years, with baggy jeans in particular set to “make a big comeback in 2021”.

Stylight has also seen a 38% increase on its own platform for cut-out and cropped tops, with crop-tops also having proved to be a key runway trend for the season.

Corset-fit tops (up 42%) that are teamed with baggy pants are also trending with both the cropped variety and the corset top, perhaps taking inspiration from Y2K girl group favourites like All Saints.

And the company has seen a 49% rise in monochrome tracksuit searches too. This, of course, fits in with the general loungewear trend that’s been impacting fashion choices due to lockdowns.

But it looks like it could have a post-lockdown life too due to TikTok with Stylight saying “matching sweatsuits have blown up” the platform. Oversized and tie-dye, designer or second-hand, coordinating sweat ensembles are all widely worn throughout the app.

And Stylight has also seen a massive rise in clicks on oval and angular sunglasses.
In company with clothing, the Y2K fashion trend has crossed over to accessories. Searches for geometric-shaped sunglasses have increased by 104% in recent months, while the massively-popular oval-shaped style has seen a 477% increase in searches.

Other popular items, click-wise, on the platform include pleated miniskirts (up 131% and channelling Alicia Silverstone in Clueless), and the sleeveless sweaters that were a cool-girl favourite around the turn of the millennium (up 54%).