What Back-To-School Shopping Looked Like 15 Years Ago

Countless articles have professed a love for Delia's, the It Girl brand for middle schoolers who just wanted to have fun. How could we forget the inflatable furniture, wOrdS wRiTteN LiKE tHis, and those platform flip flops?

But Delia's wasn't alone — back-to-school gear in the early 2000s was a playground of fuzzy, glittery, shiny separates; shoppers all vying to look like the Lizzie Mcguire of their own schools. Shopping, naturally, consisted of eagerly thumbing through Delia's with a highlighter or Sharpie, putting stars next to all the jeans and lace-up tops you really needed, followed by saving up your allowance to get a leather top from Girlfriends LA or camouflage pants from Alloy.

To celebrate the back-to-school season, we decided to go back in time 15 years, to the turn of the century, rounding up the best throwback pics we could find. These classic 2000s catalogue looks inspired so many first day of school outfits, and probably a few DIY projects, too. Beaded black layers over purple prom dresses? Check. Low rise pants and slightly cropped shirts? Yes, we found those, too. These flashbacks from our favorite fashion reading materials bring us back to a time when all we really wanted was a flip phone and some inflatable chairs. Now, when are those parachute pants coming back?