We need to talk about 'millennial-core'.

It feels like just last week Gen-Z were cancelling millennials for our choice of jeans and calling everything we do "cheugy".

They were questioning our side parts. Making fun of our love of Gilmore Girls and Pinterest boards and our prolific use of the term #girlboss.

But oh, how the tables have turned. Because as 2024 drew to a close, we saw the rise of the 'millennial-core' trend.

Watch: Mamamia's Annaliese Todd trying to be like a Gen Z. Post continues below. 

According to Vogue, Gen Z has started "copying millennial style". Rather than making fun of the things that bring us joy, it's now about channelling us. Like, in a non-ironic way.

Young people are rediscovering the style icons of the mid-noughties, and the fashion trends that shaped our wardrobes, and taking inspiration.

All this coincides with a recent kind of reframing of the millennial era and its, well, let's call it our cultural legacy. In the past year, we seem to have gone from tragic to… aspirational. We're your favourite reference, baby.

Adam Brody is the boy everyone wants to date again. Lindsay Lohan's new romcom has top billing on Netflix. There's a Cruel Intentions TV series streaming on Amazon. Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton have reunited for a Simple Life reboot.

Are we finally getting the credit we deserve… or is this all just a really clever marketing strategy to tap into our collective nostalgia (and wallets)? Either way, it's working. We're validated.

Let's take a closer look at what the "millennial-core" movement is all about.

Giant bags, to pair with your giant Starbucks.

There was a time when no celebrity worth their column inches would be papped without a huge body-obscuring leather bag by Balenciaga or Chloe, accompanied by a Starbucks Venti latte the size of their head.

And according to British Glamour, the "giant status bags" of the early 2000s are back in style. Bye bye, tiny totes!

"We're swapping our minimalist micro-bags for slouchy totes we can literally live out of," the publication reports.

Case in point: the iconic Balenciaga City bag, which was the Hollywood arm candy of choice for stars like Nicole Richie and The Olsen Twins in their paparazzi heyday, was recently seen on the arm of supermodel Kaia Gerber in New York City.

Nicole Richie and one of her many Balenciaga City bags in 2006. The slouchy style was the ultimate celebrity It bag. Image: Getty. 

California girls (they're unforgettable).

If you were once extremely invested in the friendship between Marissa Cooper and Summer Roberts, you probably also found your wardrobe heavily influenced by the 'fits you saw on The OC, as well as spin-off reality shows like Laguna Beach and The Hills.

Hope you held onto that sparkly tunic, because 2000s Cali-girl style is back in fashion: think capri pants, layered tank tops, flippy miniskirts and empire-line everything.

Left, Samaire Armstrong, Mischa Barton and Rachel Bilson of The OC in 2003; right, the cast of The Hills at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards.

We don't even need to tell you how big flip-flops and thong heels are right now, and we've heard peep-toe heels are primed for a resurgence.

Return of the Brit girls.

Meanwhile, the UK It-girls over the pond are experiencing their own revival.

In the early noughties, Alexa Chung, Sienna Miller and Kate Moss were inescapable. Beyond being constant tabloid fodder, their outfits at Glastonbury and on the streets of London were the stuff of legend.

Now, they're playing muse once again. Alexa Chung has recently collaborated with major brands Madewell and Mango, while Moss just dropped her own line with Zara featuring looks based on her personal archive. Her daughter Lila Moss has also been seen wearing… wait for it, skinny jeans.

L-R: Kate Moss models her Zara collection, Alexa Chung at a fashion event recently, and Sienna Miller at a Chloe runway show. Images: Instagram/@katemossagency; @alexachung; @chloe

And in 2024, thanks to French fashion house Chloe, Sienna Miller's trademark boho look has fluttered back into fashion, all tiered dresses and embellished hip belts.

Be still, our little millennial hearts.

2000s beauty.

It's not just the outfits: "2000s beauty" is trending too. Those pearly pink and frosted lip shades we all wore at the turn of the millennium are having their moment again, and a very specific throwback makeup look worn by the Olsen Twins went viral recently — the red-brown smokey eye look the pair wore to the 2004 premiere of their iconic film New York Minute.

Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen's now-viral glam from the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. Image: Getty. 

In case you missed it, TikTok creator Sabrina Marie posted a picture of Ashley Olsen's glam from the event, captioned, 'I need someone who's going to do this.' Beauty influencers answered her request, with fresh interpretations of the look sweeping #beautytok.

They cancelled us, now they wanna be us.

Feature image: Getty.