Katie Holmes is trying to bring back this Y2K outfit formula and it has divided the internet

Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Cast your mind back to 2004. It was a time when Mean Girls had just hit cinemas, The O.C. was in its prime, tabloids were filled with rumours about Paris Hilton (opens in new tab) and Jennifer Lopez had just called off her engagement to Ben Affleck (opens in new tab)…the first time around. 

Sartorially speaking, the early aughts was an era when “going out tops” reigned, and you could practically wear denim (opens in new tab) to just about any and every occasion. Red carpets were filled with starlets dressed in “jeans and a nice top,” while minidresses were often accessorised alongside three-quarter leggings or (you guessed it) jeans underneath.

Evidently, Katie Holmes is feeling nostalgic for these times as over the weekend she appeared at the iHeart Radio Jingle Ball dressed in a look that can only be described as a complete throwback.

Featuring a strapless bustier top by UK-label Tove (opens in new tab) (or boob-tube top as we used to refer to them in the noughties) and relaxed, wide-leg denim jeans, you would not be mistaken for thinking that the image above was taken in the early 2000s. Though despite the fact that Katie Holmes has barely aged a day since appearing on Dawson’s Creek, I can confirm that this photo is in fact from December 2022. 

With Y2K fashion trending all over again, thanks to TikTok, it should come as little surprise that we have now seen the return of the long top over jeans look. Afterall, the outfit formula was once championed by early-2000s It-girls including Mischa Barton, Lindsay Lohan (opens in new tab) and Vanessa Hudgens.

Holmes’ look felt so authentic to the era, that if it wasn’t for the resolution of the images, you could justifiably presume that the two photos above were taken at the same event. When they were, in fact, taken a whole 18 years apart.