I didn’t wake up yesterday thinking that I would stumble upon my most beloved pieces from childhood by sorting through the items in our basement storage closet but am I rejoicing that I did.

Growing up, Justice, Juicy Couture, and any other brand defined by their exaggerated Y2K expression were all I could be caught wearing. If a piece of clothing didn’t have peace signs, splatter paint, glitter, or pink on it I wouldn’t even give it a second thought. Thankfully, times (and my style) have changed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that those inklings have left me for good.

I gasped when I pulled out the embellished Juicy purse from a random bag in my basement. After all this time I completely forgot about it despite taking it everywhere with me for years. Whenever my grandma would take my siblings and me on errands with her to Bloomingdales I couldn’t leave satisfied without taking a lap around the Juicy section. One day, I saw that bag sitting on the display and knew I had to have it, and am I glad I did! The buttons and strawberries on top of the hot pink velour fabric are everything. It can be dressed down (with a Juicy tracksuit HELLOOOO) or up (maybe a white oversized button-down and black boots). Regardless of how this gem is styled, it’s a statement piece nonetheless, and a true ode to 2000’s style.

Another piece I stumbled upon was a blue fuzzy and bedazzled journal from Justice I kept up with for five days in June 2009. I documented the time my Swedish cousins came to visit my family in Atlanta in markers so neon-hued that I can barely decipher what I wrote. Am I still going to use it? Yes.

And last but not least my Havaianas. This was one of the first pairs of ‘adult’ shoes I got once my foot stopped growing. My family took a few days to explore Paris after our routine bi-annual trip to Sweden in 2012 to visit my mom’s side. We were browsing at Galeries Lafayette and came across their Havaianas concession area, which had a customization booth they recently opened. I remember being insistent on having the flower charm on them, and my mom suggested adding the bedazzle on the outside. The funny thing is that I could still picture myself wearing them almost 10 years later. (Here’s a photo of me from that trip 😂😂😂).

As with style, you’re never too old to try anything or bring anything back from the past. And basement storage diving is never a bad idea!

💘 Hanna