19 images you'll only find hilarious if you were a teen in the early 2000s

Put on your Von Dutch hat, because somewhere in a parallel universe, you are layering polo shirts, scrunching your hair, and stuffing photo collages in your clear three-ring binder. You’re texting 777-Idol, but maybe in this universe, you’re instead voting for Ruben Studdard. Would you do it all over again? Maybe not. But like sands through an hourglass, these are the flared jeans, the chunky highlights, and the away messages of our lives.

1. This was your “example picture” you brought to Mystic Tan.

2. You were rooting for the Next contestants to find true love.

3. You had about 5 completely full Funsavers you’d been meaning to develop. 

4. Somebody once told you the world was gonna roll ya. So you bought the whole album for one song.

5. Mom was right. You didn’t need that $200 Juicy Couture tracksuit. (Or maybe you did, you do you.)

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6. You asked your stylist for the “Kelly Clarkson.”

 7. Nothing says “I’m chill” like a puka shell necklace.

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8. All you wanted in life was a bedazzled Sidekick, was that too much to ask??

9. Your definition of a “delicate timepiece” was a powder blue Baby G.

10. Any crush who could decode the cryptic lyrics in your Away Message could win your heart.  

11. You lived in these shorts. 

12. This Christmas special was everything.

13. Though you had a backpack, you felt the need to also bring a tiny designer armpit bag to show everyone how bougie you were.

14. Admit it, you had a crush on the Dell Guy.

 15. These were essential for storing your mixes.

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16. You rushed home to catch the TRL Countdown.

17. You wore a tie and dickies, because you were ~tWiSteD~ and ~aLt~ like Avril.

18. And you really wanted one of these.

19. After loading up on mini-polo shirts, the cool girls covered their textbooks with these bags.

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  By Claire Downs