Pull on your quippy graphic tee and zip up your tracksuits—we’re wearing the 2024 version of McBling. If you’ve been searching “Y2K” on Depop, or scouring thrift stores looking for Von Dutch trucker hats, Juicy Couture tracksuits with “Juicy” splashed across the butt, or tight baby tees with the bedazzled, cursive “Baby Phat” logo, you’re actually searching for the McBling aesthetic.
McBling is all of The Plastics’ costumes in Mean Girls. It’s blasting “Low” by Flo Rida on your pink metallic iPod Nano. It’s spraying your Viva la Juicy perfume around your chunky highlights.
Plenty of aesthetics get pushed under the Y2K umbrella, but it’s a defined subculture of its own. Coming up in the late nineties and lasting through the early 2000s, Y2K landed a tad earlier on the fashion history timeline, and was marked by—among other looks—frosted tips and ultra-low waistlines. The era morphed into something more defined—a teched-out, splashier sister. If Y2K is The Matrix, McBling is The Simple Life.
McBling style was all about, well, bling. Trend-setters sparkled in bedazzled outerwear and jewelry, with tech becoming the newest and shiniest accessory.
Anything colorful—preferably pink—and sparkling became your best friend during the rise of McBling. The mini skirt became shorter, and velour and streetwear became the uniform of the red carpet. Many staples born from the McBling era include graphic tees with sassy phrases, bedazzled tracksuits and jeans, and sequined accessories.
While it may be lighthearted and poppy, the aesthetic is a byproduct of political and economic hardship. If Y2K ended after the dot-com bubble burst, McBling rose to popularity in 2003, following the American invasion of Iraq, and ended with at the onset of the Great Recession in 2008. Artists like Missy Elliot, LL Cool J, and Eve helped popularize tracksuits, matching sets, blinged-out accessories, and colorful streetwear. Stars like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie also popularized the aesthetic, wearing graphic tees and tracksuits on the street and on-screen in their show The Simple Life.
Labels like Baby Phat, Von Dutch, Juicy Couture, Playboy, Victoria’s Secret, Ed Hardy, Rocawear, and even higher-end labels like Blumarine rose in popularity during the McBling era.
Phrases like “phat” and “juicy” adorned jeans and sweatpants, shamelessly drawing attention to the backside. Paris Hilton owned the McBling graphic tee trend, sporting shirts that read “Stop being desperate,” “Don’t be jealous,” and “I heart shoes bags boys.” Luxury items like the Louis Vuitton Multicolor handbag—which hit the runway at the brand’s spring 2003 show—and the Balenciaga Motorcycle Bag were also popular.
Like many style aesthetics, McBling marked an era of new and emerging culture. A pervasive techno-optimism carried over from the Y2K and 2K1 eras. With the fear of world-ending computers in the rearview, the shimmery promise of easy-to-use technology finally came into fruition. The BlackBerry became one of the first mobile phones marketed towards consumers with full keyboard functionality; the iPod broke records with its ability to hold 1,000 songs; Myspace became the first social media network.
The era was also the beginning of celebrity culture as we know it. Digital photography and the desire to access the biggest names in Hollywood birthed celebrity magazines and paparazzi craze, and shows like MTV Cribs offered insight into celebrity life. Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton were among these celebutantes who became fixtures in the zeitgeist.
McBling reflected the shining early stages of the digital revolution and the interconnected world we live in now. Mobile phones became more popular, texting became easier, and with celebrities becoming more and more accessible with the rise of entertainment-focused journalism, the possibility of an interconnected world soared to new heights. McBling was all about mixing glamor with ease, drawing attention with color and shine.
With the rise of thrifting, many shoppers have found vintage stores stacked with the staple McBling pieces.
Search for matching tracksuits, sparkly accessories, and shimmery stand-out pieces. If you’re looking to shop McBling brands now, many of them are making a comeback: Kimora Lee Simmons is releasing a new Baby Phat collection, Juicy Couture just launched a menswear label called House of London, and Von Dutch recently opened up a pop-up store in Los Angeles.
McBling seems to have an especially strong foothold in Gen Z, who was too young to enjoy the trend the first time around (unless of course, you partook in Limited Too’s supply of sassy slogan tees.) Addison Rae has proven a dedicated fan of the graphic tee, while Ice Spice wore head-to-toe Baby Phat to the 2024 Grammys, and Bella Hadid rocked Rocawear.
