This Dress Over Pants Trend Is Straight Out of the 2000s

20 Years Later, This Unexpected Y2K Trend Is Making a Comeback

Getty Images

As POPSUGAR editors, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you’ll like too. POPSUGAR has affiliate and advertising partnerships so we get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase.

Hold the phone because we have some news to share and don’t want to be interrupted: the dresses over pants trend is back. We spotted it at last month’s AAFW runway shows St Agni, Albus Lumen and Bianca Spender.

In the early 2000s, celebrities like Anne Hathaway, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie stepped out of black SUVs and onto the red carpet wearing mini dresses over jeans. You might have tried to replicate the look at the time, and since burned all photographic evidence of the attempts.

But now, we’re seeing this fashion “faux-pas” evolve with a quiet luxury feel. Today, the dress-over-pants trend uses silks and neutral colours, and is all about sleek (and not frumpy) silhouettes.

Lindsay Lohan Glamour Red Carpet - Dresses Over pants trend — Image Source: Getty / Jon Kopaloff

“The way this is different from the 2000s Paris Hilton era is by layering over tailored trousers or relaxed silk pants,” says Australian stylist Georgia Downe. “The materials should all feel expensive, and ideally the pants shouldn’t be denim. When recreating this trend from things you already own, the skirt or dress layered on top should either be the same colour or a similar neutral colour.”

With these tips in mind, we’ve put together an edit of pieces to help you nail the skirts and dresses over pants look.