The Return of Early 2010s Indie Sleaze
Get your point-and-shoot camera ready, the club kids are ready to pose.
What do you get when you mix debauchery with point-and-shoot cameras? The indie sleaze aesthetic.
Fashion has waded into the deep end with Y2K revival looks, but it seems we're beginning to drift towards the early 2010s with the emergence of up-all-night party looks and an American Apparel-esque infusion of sex into our wardrobes.
Perhaps it's the slow emergence from the pandemic mindset that has us all wanting to party into the early hours, or at least look like we have been. The late 2000s and early 2010s were dominated by maximalist outfits topped off with tastefully smudged mascara and about 20 layered necklaces. Every few years it seems we swing between minimalism and maximalism. During lockdown, comfort-driven clothing like sweatpants and cashmere sweaters pushed a minimalist, functional fashion forward. As we get back to the bars, clubs, and even offices, statement pieces are making their return. Everyone is looking to show off their duds.
Trend forecaster Mandy Lee, a TikToker also known as @oldloserinbrooklyn, put a name to 2010s club fashion with a TikTok predicting the return of "indie sleaze." Her list of key characteristics from the era includes provocative advertising, amateur-style flash photography, opulent displays of clubbing, mashup music, and retro tech.
These days, provocative ad campaigns have been replaced by sexy Instagram influencers. Flash photography with digital cameras has been supplanted by single-use film cameras. Clubbing is (sort of) back. According to Lee, TikTok has revived mashups and hipsters' use of polaroids and typewriters has turned to the now somewhat outdated use of wired headphones and flip phones.
Indie sleaze hasn't fully dominated yet; we're still rocking bubblegum pink and sparkly turn-of-the-century accessories. Rhinestones are all the rage, but don't be surprised if shuttered shades and watermarked club photos start filtering into your feed. A huge facet of indie sleaze styling comes from the Tumblr era. Back in the 2010s, the website was flooded with American Apparel campaign photos, Arctic Monkeys concert pics, and Skins screencaps.
Effy Stonem, queen of the TV show Skins, may be the perfect representative of this trend. She was a staple on Tumblr and never left a party until the sun came up. Her mascara was beautifully streaked and her stockings tastefully ripped up the thighs. As a middle schooler at the height of her dominance, you either wanted to be her or be with her.
Other darlings of the scene include Katy Perry, the Olsen twins, Sky Ferreira, and Kanye West. Instagram account @indiesleaze has tasked itself with "documenting the decadence of mid-late aughts and the indie sleaze party scene that died in 2012." Its feed is littered with half-baked, fully wasted celebrities and Tumblr sweethearts.
Or, to peruse an adjacent, interweaving trend, look to the resurgence of pop-punk aesthetics. The look is similarly post-party, full of rips, patterns, and dead eyes. The punk scene just has a bit more angst than the freewheeling indie adopters. It makes sense that the two looks would make a simultaneous return, like how the jocks and marching band travel together, despite their differing hobbies. For pop-punk inspiration, just think Olivia Rodrigo or Machine Gun Kelly. Look back to their Y2K predecessors, Avril Lavigne and Hayley Williams.
If you would like to be an early adopter of the indie sleaze revival, purchase tights immediately. Then, add a few major rips up the side. Start hitting the nearby thrift stores in search of pre-layered pearl and chain necklaces. Buy a pair of big black shades to wear indoors. Seek out some OG American Apparel pieces, most importantly the bodysuits and mini skirts. Then, work to improve your alcohol tolerance, or get good at pretending to be drunk in your friends' photographs.
