I mustache you a question. Do you still have your owl statement necklace? Have you recently yearned for the forgiving embrace of a peplum top? Are you finding yourself eying a new pair of ballet flats for fall?
It may seem incredibly premature to millennials, but the return of 2010s fashion—categorized as the period between 2010 and 2016—is just around the corner. Slowly but surely, the decade’s hallmarks are being transformed from “cheugy” to cool. Fashion websites are offering tips for replacing your delicate gold jewelry (sob) with statement necklaces, and insisting the aforementioned peplums are “actually cute.” Young TikTokers are yearning nostalgically for 2014 Tumblr culture, they’re grooving to “Like a G6,” and they’re sharing their tips for cutting a T-shirt to hang off the shoulder, declaring, “The 2010s are back.”
If you still don’t believe me, just check out this photo of Gen Z style darling Sofia Richie wearing Chevron pants.
“I’d never thought I’d say this ever again, but strangely enough I’m here for tights under shorts…in a nonpatterned way,” Viola Bergstrom, a style creator who recently posted a TikTok sharing her favorite statement necklaces for summer, tells Glamour.
Bergstrom says she’s embracing the return of 2010s style with both “pleasure and intimidation.”
“I happily embrace the statement necklaces but will style it together with more quiet-luxury looks and not with crazy patterns like back in the day,” she says. She’s also iexcited to add peplum tops to her wardrobe.
In hindsight, the canary in the coal mine likely was the return of the ballet flat, which we at Glamour recently noted was having a massive comeback for 2023, driven largely by fashion’s recent obsession with the old-money or “stealth wealth” trend, but a 2010s staple nonetheless. The return of the shoe was also a big sign for Lillian Ahenkan a.k.a. Flex Mami, an Australian influencer and television host who has her own jewelry line, Post Primadonna.
“No less than two years ago, people were scoffing at the possibility of ballet flats returning to the mainstream and claiming that we as a society would never make ourselves—or our arches—suffer again,” she tells Glamour. “Yet now go to the website of any major retailer and you’ll see them front and center.”
Ahenkan recently posted a video on her TikTok account for her jewelry line and predicted the return of statement necklaces, saying, “Hate to break it to ya.” The comments on her video were split, with about half cheering the return and swearing to dig theirs out of the closet, with the rest saying something along the lines of “please God no.” Ahenkan, though, says she’s here for it.
“As a lover of wearing my weight in gold, this warms my heart,” she says.
For most creators, the draw of leaning into their inner 2013 is mixing some elements of the aesthetic with current trends, with their own personal style twist. One, Jordyn Edgerton, tells Glamour that along with ballet flats, she’s noticed a proliferation of bows and Peter Pan collars on TikTok, which she says she is excited to try. She’s also noticed a rising interest in the Tumblr indie-sleaze aesthetic, with patterned tights, knee-high socks, and plaid growing in popularity too.
“For the most part, I am excited to reintroduce 2010s fashion into my style,” Edgerton says, adding that she’s recently been discovering some 2010s finds in thrift stores. “I recently thrifted a skater skirt dress and it has become one of my new favorites.”
Edgerton says when she first started to see signs that the decade was coming back around, she wasn’t overly enthused: “Initially when I heard that 2010s were coming back, I had a negative reaction, [because] to me 2010s fashion was a fever dream,” she says. “The first things I thought of were nerd glasses, mustaches, and skinny jeans. I will stand firm that no force on earth will get me to wear skinny jeans ever again. Things like the cold-shoulder tops, owls, and high-low cuts I will happily do without.”
And for those of us who were already eagerly rolling up our socks in anticipation of creating a huge rolled bun on the tops of our heads like we used to during the Obama administration, Bergstrom says, “Not so fast.”
“Can we burn the hair doughnut and never look back?” she says.
However, Edgerton says—and this may be controversial—she is here for the return of galaxy print, and the campier elements of the decade.
“I am excited to try 2010s fashion in a Betsey Johnson kind of way,” she says. “Hot pink cheetah print, fishnets, and bright lace dusters—2010s Betsey Johnson is top-tier archival fashion.”
So while some millennials, and maybe even some Gen Z’ers, may be shuddering at the thought of returning to the days when we dressed for the club in business casual, Bergstrom has a helpful hint for those who may want to dip their toe into those Chainsmoker-infested waters.
“Alexa Chung was truly the pioneer of 2010s fashion and still remains one of my biggest style icons, so a good scroll on Pinterest of ‘Alexa Chung 2010’ will surely still deliver some great outfit inspiration,” she says.
