What Is McBling and How Is It Different from Y2K?
Juicy Couture tracksuits with the signature logo on the bottom, Von Dutch caps, sparkly accessories – most people would call it the “typical Y2K-aesthetics”. But what many overlook: These “Y2K icons” actually represent another trend which also happened in the early 2000s – this was the so-called “McBling”-trend.
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Terminology
Before looking into the details, it is important to differentiate two “Y2K”-trends: Firstly, the current Y2K-trend where trends from the late 1990s, early 2000s, a contemporary version of the original trend. Items are taken from the period, they are vintage or inspired by the trend and they are worn as per today’s trends and tastes. My most favourite example of a contemporary version are the wide skater-cargo pants. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, these were worn – by men and women alike – very low, usually the boxer shorts were visible, even if you were a girl. Others preferred bootcut trousers which were also low-rise. Today’s interpretation of these cargo pants is similar to then, often worn with crop tops the pants are worn much higher up.
Secondly, there “Y2K” in the sense of when the trend actually happened. You know Y2K is the Year 2000. Y2K, in its original meaning “Year 2000” refers to the time at the turn of the millennium. In terms of fashion, it is assumed that Y2K was from around 1998 until 2003 in the narrow sense, some experts apply a broader time frame from the mid-1990s until even the late 2000s. But as I said in other articles, it is very difficult to cut off a certain train at a very defined date, as fashion is something that “lives”, because we wear it. Trends may overlap, fade out and the length of a trend also depends on the geographic region. Most often, the definition of the time period for Y2K and therefore also McBling depends on the view of the journalist, YouTuber or expert. It is common that the McBling trend is lumped together with the Y2K-trend for reasons I will elaborate further down. One note: When the trend happened, we did not call them “Y2K” or “McBling” – this is usually the case, as trends or movements in (fashion) history are named after they actually happened. For us, this was just what we liked to wear, we did not care or know about a terminology.
Lastly, we have McBling. Again, there are some people with a strict view on the trends, according to that point of view, McBling lasted from 2002/2003 until 2008”. I find this a bit problematic to cut it off exactly at those years. Some literature makes the mark of McBling around 2003 and says it went until the end of the 2000s. Again, I think we should apply a more flexible approach when it comes to the timeline here. A reason why Y2K and McBling (and also some other trends) are now often lumped together under “Y2K” may be that people see the bigger picture, because more time has passed. Think about other time periods: We tend to lump trends together as “Sixties Fashion”, for example, even though there were several movements and trends, often diametrically opposed, at the same time. The fashion of Swinging London was different to what people still wore in other parts of the world as aftermaths of the “New Look”. The hippies were different from those who followed the space trends. And because Y2K and McBling happened so closely together or after each other, they often are often seen as one. I would not dismiss that and say that people do not know what they are talking about, this is just a fairly normal thing when we look at history and fashion history in particular. Some experts go even as far and see McBling as a sub-trend of Y2K. And due to the current revival of all things 2000s, people pick up inspiration from various trends and label them as the current “Y2K”-trend, just like some of us were inspired by the so-called “Sixties Fashion” when we were younger and when we did not really look into the particulars of all the various movements within the 1960s. In the case of the fashion of the late 1990s, and the early and late 2000s, it is also difficult to really separate because many trends overlapped or were mixed with each other. In the late 1990s, there was still a big influence of Grunge which had started earlier in the 1990s,.Punk and Hip Hop were also a big topic, so was electronic music and its fashion. In the short-term, two to four years seems long, but when we look at the bigger picture today, almost 20 years later, they are actually relatively short. It is, therefore, a logical consequence that everything that happened around the time is sometimes labelled under the Y2K-umbrella term.
What Is McBling and How Is It Different from Y2K?
If you apply the narrow sense, one big characteristic of the Y2K-trend was low-cut pants – especially denim. These came in different interpretations –cargo-pants, usually worn by the “skater movement” and bootcut, low-cut jeans for those who did not identify too much with this more casual style. In the German-speaking countries there was a clear distinction between the skaters, who listened to Hip Hop, and the ravers, who were into electronic music. Often, people did not identify with either, like me. We then took elements we liked from both groups. Irrespective of your personal interest, most of us paired cropped tops with everything. Some were shorter than others, but the shirts ended at least about 2 centimeters above the waistband. As mentioned earlier, the fashion was clearly influenced by music. In addition to the skaters, there were still elements of Grunge and also Punk. Furthermore, there was also a kind of “preppy” movement – Ralph Lauren polos, Tommy Hilfiger jeans, the odd pearl earrings. The previously mentioned ubiquitous denim also reflects the overall trend of colours: blue and silver elements. The latter reflected the futuristic movement. Nevertheless, blue and silver were not the only dominant colours. I remember colourful tops in yellow or pink as well. Another characteristic of Y2K was the clean lines and the simple, quiet aesthetics, which were a relic of the 1990s.
Signature McBling Elements
Analogies from movies are a great way to illustrate the difference between the two trends. While Y2K in its narrower sense is often illustrated by “The Matrix” with its futuristic references, I would actually add further movies: “She’s All That”, “10 Things I Hate about You” and “Something about Mary” show the relatively simple lines, quieter aesthetics with pops of colour. McBling is probably best represented by “Mean Girls” from 2003, maybe even “Legally Blonde”, if we want to stretch it a bit.
The “Plastics” in “Mean Girls” and their signature outfits represent McBling.
Remember the “Plastics” in Mean Girls, Regina George and her friends? They loved micro-skirts, Juicy Couture tracksuits (even Regina’s mother was a fan) and the Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami special edition. Today, most people associate all of these with Y2K, but they are actually McBling. And speaking of the Juicy Couture tracksuit: Another analogy from TV would be “The Simple Life”, the reality TV show with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Furthermore, music had a big impact: Missy Elliott, LL Cool J, Eve can be seen as representatives of the McBling trend. McBling involves are logos, big, chunky jewelry, sparkle, loud colours, very often pink – it is called McBling for a reason. Paris Hilton’s “Don’t Be Jealous” T-shirt is as iconic as Missy Elliott’s tracksuits and embellished outfits. Probably the show which probably symbolizes McBling the best was “Pimp My Ride” hosted by Xzibit on MTV. There was even an episode where they put rhinestones on the gearstick.
How Did This Trend Develop?
The start of McBling trend is considered after 9/11 and it lasted until the market crash in 2008. It is a very American phenomenon which was then picked up all over the world, and therefore, interpreted differently depending on the region. In America itself, it was kind of a distraction from politics and people turned towards consumerism. The term “McBling” is actually not a term from the time itself. It was invented by the Creative Aesthetic Research Institute, in particular by Evan Collins, in 2016. The “Mc” refers to McDonalds – the epitome of American consumerism. “Bling” refers to the aesthetics – a lot of sparkles, jewellery and maximalist elements.
At the onset of the 2000s, the “fear” about Y2K was over. As a younger reader you among may not even know about this, but this fear was real. It was the beginnings of the internet as we know it today; I will never forget the modem sound when dialing in. Even though technology had a different meaning than today when our whole life is digital, it still was important and there was one big challenge. Throughout the 20th century, only the last two digits of the years were used. This was no problem until 1999, but what would happen in 2000 – would there be chaos because the computers would not know that 00 was not a reset? It seems funny and even a bit ridiculous today, but it was a big issue. Furthermore, there were countless conspiracies about the millennium– especially the theories of Nostradamus from the 16th century were really popular. He was said to have predicted that the world would end in 2000. And as he was also said to have predicted the sinking of the Titanic, a lot of people believed it. He was obviously wrong with Y2K. Because of this polarization – on the one hand, the fear of a technological problem paired with the excitement of the internet – it was exciting times but also uncertain ones.
McBling represents this new perspective: 2000 was behind us, we are moving forward. Phones became more and more sophisticated. In addition to simple games, the first phones with cameras were launched and the flip phones were extremely popular. Soon, smartphones would conquer the world – the first iPhone came out in 2007. Already before that, the Blackberry was connecting professionals and the iPod became much more than a tech gadget, it transcended into a fashion statement. MySpace and smaller regional platforms marked the beginnings of social media. McBling definitely also shows this path towards a digital life – the funny phone accessories, flip phones covered in rhinestones or phones which looked like makeup cases are the most obvious example. I do think McBling stands for the positive excitement of the time. And it also stands for breaking down barriers.
Missy Elliott in one of her signature tracksuits.
These barriers were also overcome in terms of fashion and style. McBling was over-the-top: overdone consumerism, bling, brands. Maybe it was to create an alternative reality? Brands like Ed Hardy, Von Dutch and Juicy Couture probably horrified the older generations, but the younger ones loved them. McBling was loud, it was logos and bright colours – no matter if it corresponded to the standards of “good taste”. The Italian brand Blumarine also had a popular phase during the McBling trend, later on also Abercrombie and Fitch. McBlingers loved to carry the Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas, especially the Murakami editions, and also the Gucci canvas. They wanted all the attention on them. The easiest way to do this was with “bling” – big jewellery. And do you remember the rhinestone glitter belts? The easiest way was to pair your jeans with a glitter belt and glittery makeup, even body glitter gel. Despite the loud elements, denim was still a big topic. But it was a more “elevated” – for McBling it had to be branded denim. 7 For All Mankind and True Religion were huge and even luxury brands started to incorporate more denim.
Paris Hilton, always “fashion-forward”, is inextricably linked with McBling – the tan, the blond hair, micro-skirts, pink and glitter elements.
McBling was also heavily driven by celebrities. I already mentioned them before. It was probably another reflection of the time. MTV and magazines like InStyle were the precursors of social media. Celebrities became more accessible, a lot of them participated in reality TV shows. Some invited us into their houses on MTV Cribs, others let us be part of their lives – “Hogan Knows Best”, “Laguna Beach” and “My Super Sweet 16” were hugely popular – in America and overseas. It definitely contributed to the allure of America abroad. There had been Hollywood movies before, but these shows gave us, outside of the US, access to “the real American lifestyle”.
McBling also involves an element of fake in it –the overly tanned skin – either achieve by excessive tanning, visits to the tanning studio or fake tans or spray tans. Extensions were big, exaggerated platinum blonde and fake nails were an antidote to the natural beauties of the 1990s like Claudia Schiffer or Cindy Crawford. Some people, therefore, also call it trashy. Furthermore, also the beauty ideal changed, from the more androgynous role models like Kate Moss towards a more – let’s try to put it diplomatically – “feminine” ideal. If we label it a bit more negatively, it was definitely more sexualized –miniskirts, cropped tops and deep necklines, lingerie tops and also the trend of having the G-string peak out of the low-cut jeans… Let’s please all burry that picture. There were strange trends like the Playboy Bunny on T-shirts. Together with the uber-popular Victoria’s Secret fashion shows, these icons of McBling also contributed to creating this sexualized image of women.
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Disclaimer
This article is based on the personal, views, experiences and research of the author, no fees were received by the organisations and people mentioned above. All information as of the date of publishing/updating.
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