Celeb Style
Katie Holmes' mini-dress and jeans look reminded so many people of a controversial early-2000s trend...

Katie Holmes Revived A Cursed 2003 Fashion Trend That’s Dividing The Internet

This look is... something.

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The early-2000s fashion trend may have just officially ended — cause of death: Katie Holmes. The actor set the internet on fire after she showed up to the 2022 Jingle Ball on Dec. 9 in a look that instantly transported everyone back to 2003... and not necessarily in a good way. She revived one of the most infamously cringe Y2K trends, pairing a sleek blue minidress with baggy jeans. Suffice it to say, Katie Holmes’ 2022 Jingle Ball look had everyone talking, and led to a back-and-forth about what it means to participate in the Y2K fashion trend.

It’s impossible to ignore the resurgence of early-2000s clothing, accessories, and styling trends in the 2020s. Everyone, from A-list celebs to TikTok influencers, has been rediscovering the colorful, carefree fashions from when the millennium was still brand new. Maybe that’s why Katie Holmes thought her latest red carpet look would hit the mark, because it really is straight out of a dELiA*s catalog. But instead, her look gave every early-aughts teen war flashbacks to what is probably the most roasted trend from the era: wearing a dress over jeans.

Yep — Holmes jumped back in time two decades when she stepped on the Jingle Ball red carpet in a minidress over casual blue jeans and sneakers.

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The dress-and-jeans pairing has become a go-to joke on the internet in the years since it was inexplicably a fashion moment in the early 2000s. Memes of early-aughts stars like Ashley Tisdale, Mischa Barton, and Anne Hathaway rocking the questionable look constantly go viral on social media. But Holmes’ red carpet photo isn’t a throwback pic — she fully wore that outfit in 2022.

It didn’t take long for Twitter users to roast Holmes’ two-decades-too-late dress-and-jeans combo.

But not everyone bashed the Y2K tribute. Some Holmes defenders pointed out that if early-2000s trends really are back in style, then this look shouldn’t be ridiculed.

While the dress-and-jeans pairing probably isn’t going to make a comeback after Holmes’ controversial look, it certainly got everyone talking, and forced some fashionistas to question if they really wanted to bring the true Y2K fantasy back or not.