Meet the Gen Z influencers setting TikTok alight by recreating outfits from hit ’90s TV shows and movies – which aired before they were even BORN – as ‘nostalgia dressing’ takes over TikTok

• These young women love noughties TV so much they dress like the characters 
• Despite being born years later, they adore 1990s and 2000s shows and movies 
• Influencers gained thousands of followers for buying screen-accurate clothing

Have you always wanted to dress like your favorite nostalgia-inducing TV character? 

These TikTok famous influencers made a name for themselves by buying up vintage ensembles either inspired by or directly from their favorite nostalgic shows and movies… even though some weren’t even born when they first aired. 

Despite being in their teens and early 20s, these fashionistas are all about the nostalgia factor when it comes to dressing up on social media. 

Whether they’re recreating famous looks from Friends (1994), Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997) or Gossip Girl (2007), these young TikTok creators are absolutely obsessed with Y2K-adjacent fashion.

Gen Z influencers are setting TikTok alight by recreating outfits from ’90s TV shows and movies – like Audrey Long (left) who has sourced many of the exact items worn in Gossip Girl 

The New York teen has managed to find Blair Waldorf’s school uniform (left) and is also the owner of the purple Nanette Lepore dress Serena wore in the first Thanksgiving episode (right)

FEMAIL talked to three noughties-loving influencers about their millennium-inspired style, where they source their as-seen-on-TV ensembles, and how they became super fans of shows that aired when they were born.

New York City-based Audrey Long, 17, runs the Gossip Girl Fashion Store on Instagram, which offers items from shows like Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, Sex and the City and more. 

Audrey, who was born in 2006, one year before the show came out in 2007, first watched the show at 13. The high school student started sourcing outfits in March 2020, starting out on Poshmark before reselling them on her website XOXO, Poship Girl, which is a play on the infamous sign-off from the TV show, ‘XOXO, Gossip Girl.’ 

Gossip Girl is ‘definitely the top-selling show’ in the store, according to Audrey. ‘Fans are just so fascinated with how they’re able to purchase the exact designer outfits seen on screen — not dupes or replicas, the exacts.’

When it comes to sourcing the clothes, Audrey channels Gossip Girl yet again and jokes, ‘That’s one secret I’ll never tell,’ before explaining she looks for wardrobe department tags that identify screen worn garments. 

Audrey has found that women in their 20s and 30s are the ones buying up items from the Blake Lively-led TV show, because they ‘finally have the disposable income to purchase the iconic outfits they’ve lusted over for years.’ 

The young entrepreneur thinks social media has played a role in the enduring popularity of the show, since viewers can get easily addicted to the soapy teen drama after seeing scenes on TikTok or famous memes on Instagram. 

Audrey has some of the most famous items from the show, including the leather jacket Serena van der Woodsen, played by Blake Lively, famously wore in the pilot episode, which she’s currently auctioning off on Instagram with bidding reaching $850.

Samantha ‘Sammie’ Mowery hunts down costume dupes at thrift stores and online through resale sites, but often ends up making her own version of outfits from hits like Legally Blonde

Sammie went viral on TikTok for her fabulous outfit recreations – many of which she makes herself if she can’t find the exact pieces she wants. Pictured right is her Cady Heron dress, which is pictured left in the movie

day 1 of showing you guys my screen accurate collection ! ✨ #2000s #screenaccurate #legallyblonde #y2k #ellewoods

Audrey, who’s currently applying to colleges, says the show offers a ‘romanticized’ version of what she wants her future life to be like. 

Long Beach, New York-based Samantha ‘Sammie’ Mowery, 23, loves the early 2000s so much she’s basically living it. 

On her Instagram, the vibrant personality shares photos in Y2K-inspired outfits like colorful Juicy Couture sweat suits and Paul Frank baby tees, posing with a hot pink bubble couch behind her, and posters of Paris Hilton and NSYNC. Fittingly, the style icon’s bio reads ‘living in 2004.’

On TikTok, Sammie has amassed almost 800,000 followers who appreciate her inspiring collection of the exact same designs worn on early 2000s TV shows, including screen accurate outfits worn by Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay on Friends and Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. 

Sammie decided to start doing recreations from the shows she watched growing up the first time she ventured inside a thrift store in high school with her older brother.

Now, she shops almost entirely secondhand at thrift shops and online at Depop, Poshmark and eBay, which she describes as her ‘life.’ 

‘My fashion went through multiple phases and I couldn’t quite find my personal style,’ Sammie admits. ‘When I started thrifting it was like a time capsule.’ 

The influencer gravitates towards low-rise jeans, shiny going-out tops and velour Juicy Couture tracksuits, which rekindled the love she had for her favorite movies and TV shows growing up. 

‘Now that I am older and have a way of recreating these looks, I am absolutely going to do just that,’ Sammie says, echoing Audrey’s thoughts about twenty-somethings now having the disposable income to channel the characters they always dreamed about dressing like. 

Sammie dressed up as Phoebe from Friends, the classic NBC show popular with millennials and Gen Z that debuted in 1994

Sammie grew up watching That’s So Raven, Hannah Montana (left), Zack & Cody, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Lindsay Lohan movies. Right is her dupe of Hannah’s outfit

dream dressss 💅🏼 #2000s #meangirls #y2k #2000sfashion #diy

Sammie’s first recreation video was based on the 2004 movie Mean Girls, where she reimagined all four of the main character’s outfits. 

While the reactions were mixed, with some people begging her not to bring 2000s fashion back and others telling her to leave this trend in the past, plenty of people were ‘obsessed.’

Sammie thinks these shows and movies are still popular with younger viewers because ‘it doesn’t get more iconic than the 2000s,’ calling the fashion ‘legendary.’ 

She not only wears these outfits online but everyday as well, and says she mostly gets positive reactions. 

‘My favorite comment people make is when they say, “I used to have that exact Juicy Couture bag!” or “You’re giving me such nostalgia with that outfit!”‘ she said.

French influencer Lila Genix went viral for her ‘screen accurate’ clothing, which she pieces together by sourcing the exact pieces worn by characters on-screen in shows like Gilmore Girls (left) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (right)

Lila has mastered the art of procuring the exact same outfits worn on her favorite nostalgic TV shows, often looking to Sarah Michelle Gellar’s hit show Buffy (seen) for inspiration 

More Btvs content because it’s my favorite show 💗 Who’s your favorite Buffy character? #buffysummers #buffy #buffysummersedit #buffythevampireslayer #buffythevampireslayeredits #buffythevampireslayerfan #buffythevampireslayercosplay #buffythevampireslayeroutfits #btvs #btvsedits #btvsoutfits #omwf #tabularasa #willowrosenberg #buffysummerscosplay #xanderharris #rupertgiles #cordeliachase #anyajenkins #taramaclay #dawnsummers #joycesummers #rileyfinn #sarahmichellegellar #alysonhannigan #smg #nicholasbrendon #jamesmarsters #angel #angelandbuffy #spikeandbuffy #spuffylove #spuffy #bangel #tillow #xanya #michelletrachtenberg #charismacarpenter #emmacaufield #amberbenson #angeltheseries #thechosenone #thehardestthinginthisworldistoliveinit #btvscosplay #cosplay #cosplayer #cosplayers #screenaccurate #screenaccuratecosplay #screenaccuratecollection #screenaccuratecollector #screenaccurateclothes #buffycollection #buffyfandom #buffyfans #2000 #2000s #2000sthrowback #2000sthrowbacks #y2k #y2kfashion #y2koutfits

Like Sammie, France-based influencer Lila Genix, 19, went viral for her screen accurate recreations and has a closet that would strike envy in any elder millennial. 

The vintage-loving teen regularly shares screen accurate clothing from shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Charmed, Friends, Gilmore Girls and more with her 60,000 TikTok followers. 

She films videos with Buffy, Mean Girls and Notting Hill posters behind her. 

Lila told Dazed she buys up vintage items from brands like Marc Jacobs, Betsey Johnson, Nanette Lepore, Versace, and Juicy Couture, searching for months on popular resale sites like eBay, Depop and Vinted as well as auction sites. Lila often uses the Google reverse image search and reads interviews with costume designers to find out which brands were used most. 

Lila’s favorite show is Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which came out in 1997, years before the fashionista was born. 

However, her obsession transcends time and proves that with social media, Gen Z is getting exposed to and embracing all of the cult classics from the ’90s and 2000s. 

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