Words by Maria de Feo, Writer

With exam season and its frenetic rhythm, I have realised one thing: I really need new earphones. The pair of earbuds I own keep slipping away, or suddenly running out of battery. It is exhausting and annoying. In the meantime, I keep running into beautiful people who are wearing gorgeous, wired headphones. Online, I frequently notice famous celebrities, from actors to models who have actively chosen to style themselves with wired headphones.

Bella Hadid, for example, is captured by paparazzi walking down the street with her wired white Apple earbuds. The simplicity of the earbuds matches the casual grey matching set that she is wearing. The model also wraps herself in an oversized coat and wears combat boots, elements which add flair to an otherwise very casual outfit, almost reminding its viewer of loungewear. What remains constant in the outfit, though, is a love for minimalism, which I think the Apple earbuds, with their simple design and lack of patterns, really embody.

Lily Rose Depp, in one of her mirror selfies, matches the cool tones of her baby blue sweater and classic blue jeans with a pair of silver Bose QuietComfort headphones. She then adds effortlessness to the outfit by mixing metals. In fact, instead of matching her jewellery to her silver headphones, she disrupts complete cohesiveness by opting for a dainty golden necklace and gold ring combination.

The Olsen twins were also photographed prioritising minimalism with their dark coats, trousers, and beanies. From underneath one of the two beanies, one can spot the wire of a pair of white Apple earbuds. The white in the earphones matches the white of the sneakers and contrasts the darkness of the rest of the outfit.

Seeing the headphones styled in so many ways tempted me to buy some similar ones for myself. To me, the appeal is in the fact that they are less discrete than wireless earphones. The wires are more noticeable and take up more space in an outfit. I therefore feel like they contribute to the outfit, rather than simply being a tool for listening to music.

For this reason, wired headphones are more fun. One can be more intentional with their colors and patterns, and they can match or add dimension to an outfit. I believe the popularity of wired headphones is connected to the return of Y2K fashion and pop culture.

In popular TV Shows of the 2000s such as Gilmore Girls, we often see the titular protagonist Rory Gilmore wear wired headphones, listening to music from a Walkman while attending Chilton.

In the 2004 rom-com Garden State, Natalie Portman’s character Sam also wears a pair of wired headphones, personalising them by adding colorful stickers to them.

The nostalgia evoked by early 2000s movies and, in general, Y2K culture, seems to stimulate a desire to imitate. It is almost as if, by wearing clothes or by using objects from a different time, we project ourselves into these memories or movie scenes.

At least to me, wearing the same outfit as one of my favorite characters in a movie was always a way to feel more like the character, or to romanticise my days. The power of the wired earphone seems to lie not only in how fun they are to match to outfits, but also in the nostalgia they evoke for Gen Z and Millennials alike.

Wired Headphones!