ARE DIAMANTÉS THE 2019 WAY TO WEAR THE NOUGHTIES?

2018 saw an obsession with 90's style. Hardly a day went by without some 'it' girl having a throwback moment. Everyday was essentially Thursday. However, at the tail-end of the year, there were threats of a noughties redux. Many, including myself, were sceptical/wary/filled with dread. Images of low-rise, thong exposing jeans and trucker caps, flashed in a nightmarish montage of club-hopping celebs - velour tracksuits by day, crotch flashing paparazzi by night. Von Dutch was a way of life not just a clothing brand.

Things were garish and uncontrived, mainly because celebs seemed to roll straight out of the club to the nearest 'it' spot and straight into the pages of OK magazine. What was mistaken as 'fashion' was actually just a hangover. It wasn't so much about creating an inspiring outfit, as it was about distracting onlookers from the Jaeger-haze. It was a simpler time, when Kim K was a wardrobe sorter-outer, social media hadn't yet been conceived and socialites stood in place of the influencer.

The noughties wasn't perhaps fashions' best moment. However, that hasn't deterred the revival. Early adopters of this noughties renaissance have favoured many a piece long thought (wished) dead by fashion. Polly pocket sized sunglasses that defeat the object of protecting eyes, hair barrettes straight out of the school yard, bucket hats that strangely straddle both Disney and the rap genre and Kickers shoes that are only marginally more flattering than UGG boots, to name a few.

It would seem that bloggers, influencers and 'it' girls aplenty have bizarrely embraced this amnesia of tastes, instilling these aforementioned pieces with new momentum. This is the comeback that just keeps coming back. The gift that keeps on giving; like a cold sore. And worryingly enough, it seems to be contagious.

Whilst rewatching Legally Blonde for the 700th time, I caught myself actually admiring the outfits (eek). Despite my fondness for Elle  Woods and her shattering of the glass ceiling one 'bend and snap' at a time, I had never previously acknowledged the clothing as anything more than a prop (though her commitment to pepto bismol shades was truly ahead of it's time - hello colour of 2016). In a film about demolishing stereotypes, the 'dumb blonde' archetype established irony and offered comedic effect (note the Playboy bunny costume Elle wore when deciding to get serious about her education, or the very literal collegiate green skirt suit worn during Elle's first day of Yale). 

It took eighteen years for me to fully appreciate the fashion, the bootcut jeans, impossibly long skinny scarves and rose coloured glasses. Though, full disclosure, I'm still not committed to a total noughties reboot and even the shock of my minor empiphany ricocheted through my wardrobe as it's current residents shuddered at the thought of what they may one day be paired with... 

To clarify, and quell my closet's fear over what's to come, I will not be adopting the Britney low-rise bootcut denim - I'm not fancying a kidney infection. I am now, however more than partial to the 00's ice du jour, the diamanté. The noughties was a time when diamantés encrusted many an erogenous area, emblazoned upon the chest and cheekily on the derriere. Long before every cheek was glistening with heavy highlighter, there was hair glitter, rhinestone sticker tattoos and gems sparkling on teeth. Having reigned in the millennium, the party continued with celebrities famous for acting/singing/being rich, becoming infamous for their after hours behaviour and fashion followed suit with club-hopping wears of the shiny variant appearing on many a catwalk (search 'noughties' on pinterest for reference). 

Whilst gems smattered across arse and chest are not quite the noughties vibe I wish to reinhabit, I have noticed a subconscious gravitation towards all manner of diamanté clad accessories. Hooped earrings are updated with a garish flash of fun, tacky sparkle and waterfall earrings offer a contrastingly subtle swish when peeking through casually tousled hair. 

For a more casually grown-up variation, dainty diamantés about the décolletage act as an easy means of imparting glitter on your life. Whereas a pair of square toed, minimalist sandals are exponentially more fashion when laced with strings of diamantés, as is a denim 'everything & the kitchen sink', carry-all featuring diamanté fringing, melding zealous embellishment and  ardent practicality. Day-time, nighttime, out out, casual outings, there's a diamanté for all occasions. 

Though my reluctance at embracing the noughties was staunch at first, it is futile to ignore its 2019 guise as au courant. The 00's had many a questionable trend, yet despite this the decade was filled with a lustre undeniably alluring, the golden tans of the Hilton sisters, the glistening hair of noughties' pinup Elle Woods, the lacquered lips of 'it' girls everywhere. It was fun, coquettish and undeniably sexy, almost at complete odds with the trucker hats and combat trousers that plagued the 00's by day. And it is the tacky sophistication of the decade that is epitomised in the diamanté bling. The key is to incorporate the noughties into 2019, modernising rather than rewearing - no one needs to relive that again. In summary, 2019 is the year to shine bright -  like a diamanté.

(Images via : instagram : @lisamcconniffe, @whowhatwear, @area, @shesfarrout & @thehautepursuit)