21 celebrities who are millennial style icons

From a marketing standpoint, the best thing about the Spice Girls was that fans could pick and choose a favorite based on a particular style that matched their own, and fans did just that. Oh, and those platform shoes became as recognizable as the group.

Those not familiar with the Olsen twins game, think again. It wasn’t so much that Ashley and Mary-Kate were wearing the coolest clothes; they continued to grow their bank accounts by launching a tween clothing line in the ‘00s. That left a lot of millennials scrambling to get anything with Mary-Kate and Ashley’s names on it from Walmart.

Skateboarding had a renaissance of sorts as many millennials were entering the new millennium, and while one could point towards Tony Hawk, he was not in them streets as much as the potty-humored pop-punk kings of their day, Blink-182. That trio guaranteed the likes of Vans and PacSun were going to have customers.

One can only thank the costume department when a movie is synonymous with its fashion. So first and foremost, shout out to Mona May. Without her, a generation wouldn’t be absolutely obsessed with yellow plaid, knee-high socks, and the iconic Alaïa dress.  

When it comes to cool, there might have been no one comparable to Christina Applegate in the ‘90s. Both as Kelly Bundy in Married with Children and Sue Ellen Crandell in Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, Applegate shined when it came to fashion. She played the hot girl on the small screen, and on the big screen, she was right on top of everything as an assistant in the fashion industry. She truly was the moment.

The impact of hip-hop and West Coast rap in the ‘90s is immeasurable, and while many could be pointed to as leading the pack in that, Tupac stands supreme as his entire being has been cemented into the mainframe of the millennial experience, including his unforgettable bandana.

Lisa Turtle would’ve been a fashion influencer had she been around in the 21st century, and not on a ‘90s sitcom. The Bayside student’s whole personality was wrapped up in being the look queen of the halls, and fans took notice, mirroring her from head to toe in clothing that’d make anyone at the mall do a double take.

The world of MTV had been pretty boy band-heavy when Britney Spears entered the picture, and young fans quickly took notice. Millennials wanted nothing more than pigtails and a school uniform, and later even loved her wildly memeable jean ensemble that she rocked on the red carpet alongside her now ex.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas, known to the cool kids as JTT, walked so Bieber Fever could soar. He was that big and then some, even voicing young Simba in The Lion King. So was everything about him influential? One thousand percent.

When it came to cool, Aaliyah was that girl — and she didn’t even have to try. It appeared effortless for her as she constantly served in everything she wore from Tommy Hilfiger overalls to red carpet-ready looks.

Whether it was in her music videos or on TV as the titular Moesha, Brandy was always serving a look that made fans scour their local mall to try and be just like her.

The Sandlot wasn’t even set during a time when millennials were even a thought, but somehow, that ragtag group of baseball fanatics’ style felt timeless as kids on playgrounds far and wide emulated those looks. Very easily too with the likes of Kmart.

Some millennials saw the pop singers and were amazed, and then others took one look at No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani and were hooked.

Find a millennial who loves to always dress like they’re going to be seen by everyone they know running errands, and one will have found a millennial who swore up and down that Raven-Symoné’s Raven Baxter from That’s So Raven was the fashion queen supreme.

No one was cooler than Will Smith in the ‘90s, and it showed in how much his fresh style was mirrored at schools from West Philadelphia to Bel-Air.

Selena remains one of the biggest losses the music world has ever known, as she was taken at only 23 years old, right before it looked like she would finally break into the mainstream. She left behind not only a musical legacy but also a fashion legacy. Her looks are duplicated annually by fans of all ages, including many millennials in Selena’s legendary purple jumpsuit.

By the end of the ‘90s, millennials had their fair share of Baby-Sitters Club content. The books were Scholastic Book Fair wonders, the original live-action series was a quick, enjoyable watch, and the movie was Criterion-level for every 4th grader in America. In digesting all of those, fans of the series attached themselves to a favorite sitter, and in turn wanted nothing more than to be just like them, including dressing like them.

Every genre has a poster boy, and Kurt Cobain was that for grunge. The Nirvana frontman probably would scoff at the statement, but there’s no denying his I-don’t-care style helped push a lot of plaid in the early ‘90s. It would later inspire another fashion favorite of millennials, the cast of My So-Called Life.

TLC never stayed in one lane when it came to their overall look. They allowed themselves to evolve and really gave fans new ideas from vibrant ‘90s streetwear to crazy, sexy, cool looks to futuristic fashion.

Melissa Joan Hart started as Clarissa, explaining it all on Nickelodeon where she rocked an eccentric array of clothes that highlighted individuality. On the flip side, as the bewitching teenage witch, Sabrina, she became more modern as a cool New Englander who could zap herself into new outfits with one quick, magical point of the finger. Talk about fashion goals.

One cannot talk about the millennial fashion experience and not mention the emo ways of the 2000s. MySpace and music were huge inspirations behind this. When it came to music there were a lot of bands one could point to, but it was My Chemical Romance who really helped usher in not only the genre, but the style that sprang from it; skinny jeans, massive amounts of eyeliner, swooped bangs, and angst.