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Only one word truly encapsulates my high school experience in the early 2010s: swag.
It's a four-letter word that young and cusper millennials revered at the time because swag wasn't just about fashion — it was a lifestyle. Swag simply means something cool or interesting. The era sparked around early 2009 after California-based rap duo New Boyz released their single, "You're a Jerk."
The outfits and styles shown in the video are the basis of the swag-era uniform: brightly colored skinny jeans, snapbacks, graphic tees, checker-patterned garments, Vans, and Ray-Bans. Other pieces like vests, beanies, and shutter glasses also gained popularity.
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Watching Gen Z bring back Y2K style reminded me that fashion is cyclical, so the "swag era" could return in all its cringe-filled glory. If so, I think Gen Z could revive a few trends.
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One of the defining fashion trends of the early 2010s "swag era" was brightly colored skinny jeans. Blue jeans were still on the market, but younger folks gravitated to more outlandish colors like turquoise, lavender, yellow, and sometimes patterns.
Colored and patterned skinny jeans can be flashy in retrospect, but I'm not ready to write them off just yet. Although Gen Z rejected skinny jeans — and I don't blame them — I think they'd find a way to make bright pants cool again. They could also play with different jean styles now that wide-leg and other styles are back at the forefront.
Fortunately, Gen Z might already be working on the revival with the "fun pants" trend. In June, a TikToker named Jessica Britvich pointed out that millennial women often style outfits by wearing a cute top and basic jeans combo, while Gen Zers style their outfits by wearing fun pants and basic tops. Gen Z loves bold pants, so upgrading the bright skinny jeans trend will be easy.
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Another fashion trend that exploded during this time was bow ties, a formal and sometimes quirky alternative to traditional ties. If graphic tees and patterned skinny jeans were the edgier side of swag, bow ties represented the era's clean aesthetic, in my opinion.
Like skinny jeans, millennials went overboard with the trend by wearing "Doctor Who"-esque bow ties with everyday outfits — no matter how unnecessary.
Even so, Gen Z could incorporate bow ties a bit more into their aesthetic to add variety and a fun statement piece to the rotation.
In the early 2010s, streetwear fashion was gaining momentum, and brands like Supreme were considered trendy. Around that time, a fashion company called OBEY was also sought-after for their merch, which typically included "OBEY" in block letters on snapbacks or T-shirts.
The company has grown over the last decade and now offers a wide variety of comfortable, stylish clothes — something I think Gen Z would appreciate.
The swag era's trends were embarrassing, but this one takes the cake. When I was in high school, it was common for people to remove the lenses from stocky Ray-Ban sunglasses and wear them in the name of fashion.
People who couldn't afford Ray-Bans could buy a cheaper, similar pair and still get the same effect. Around that time, large-framed glasses and shutter shades became popular, so this trend was likely a symptom of that. In May 2022, TikToker @ladyyasmina1 shared a video of her wearing swag-era Ray-Ban glasses with the lenses intact.
It was an asinine trend then, and I can't imagine bringing them back.
