Flicking through the Insta carousels of editors at fashion week this season, some unlikely references kept popping into my mind. It’s thanks to the new appetite for pencil skirts, pumps and blazers, a look not seen in capital F fashion for 20 odd years. Put together, city-ready and just crying out for a Blackberry, fashion editors had ditched the oversized jeans and scarlet knits and were instead dressing like the heroine from your favourite Noughties workplace rom-com.

I say “yours” because I assume that you share my taste for this golden age of films, starring [delete as appropriate] Kate Hudson/Sandra Bullock/Jennifer Lopez/Cameron Diaz/Eva Mendes, usually as an ambitious but emotionally closed-off career woman who – oops! – fall for a guy when they least expect it, and learns that they do, spoiler alert, have a soft side after all.

If some (a lot?) of the gender politics has grown dated over the 20-odd years since these films were in the cinema, their charm remains. I’m sure I’m not alone in hitting play on one of these sure things on a night between boxsets. This precise genre of Noughties rom-com is the visual equivalent of comfort food. And now we’re looking at the outfits too.

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Jennifer Lopez as Mary in (2001).

Maximum Film / Alamy Stock Photo

Sandra Bullock as Margaret in (2009).

ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

The Noughties rom-com woman doesn’t really do sneakers. She often wears skirt suits. Heels are a non-negotiable – they’re even a plot point in . She opts for chic understated polo-necks in neutral shades when off-duty – like Diaz driving on the wrong side of the road in y. Versions of this look were visible on editors at fashion week but also on the catwalk for autumn. See the return to suitable-for-work skirt suits at Chanel, tucked-in shirts at Kallmeyer and polo-necks and neutrals at The Row. Add in Prada’s diktat that it’s skirts only for spring/summer 2027, and it’s little wonder that early Hudson and co are suddenly enjoying style icon status.

Prada SS27.

This is a new development. If I have long enjoyed watching these films, the wardrobe often appeared hopelessly dated. But that’s changed. Watching the trailer for while researching this piece, Jennifer Lopez’s wardrobe looked newly desirable – that butterscotch custom Tom Ford Gucci coat in particular.

The appeal of the style in these films is even more notable for those who have fresh eyes on the material. Have a browse on TikTok to find creators digging into this look, whether its “always the rom-com girls and their cardigans” or “becoming your favourite rom-com girl”. Or look to Substack, where writers are discussing pressing topics like the the best ways to bring Noughties rom-com style into 2027. Throw in the fact that is 20 years old this Christmas, and you can expect to see many more screenshots of Cameron and her coats on your feed.

Eva Mendes as Sara in (2005).

Cinematic / Alamy Stock Photo

Erika Veurink, the writer behind the Long Live substack, has long been a fan of rom-com dressing. She sees the current interest in this era as part of a longer history. “It all comes back to Diane Keaton in for me, which is technically the late 80s, but still encapsulates this era,” she says. “The way she dresses to match her surroundings is very , and highly relatable.”

Veurink says some of the new interest in these old films can be put down to a common affliction – , the nostalgia for an era you did not live through. “I think a lot of the people who are fiending over these particular looks are a bit young to be nostalgic, me included, but love the idea of imagining romance unfolding outside of cell phone screens,” she says. “Dressing in a monochrome khaki look feels like a modern way to embrace these movies.”

Of course, everyone has their favourite Noughties rom-com. For one girl it might be (hi!), for another , the 2002 cult favourite starring Brittany Murphy as a party girl and an eight-year-old Dakota Fanning as her unlikely charge (they watch this at movie night in , by the way, a Gen Z endorsement if ever there was one). Emilee Russell, the writer of fashion substack It’s Critical, namechecks the film, with deep dive knowledge of the era part of her appreciation. “Moschino Cheap & Chic is my favourite brand, so seeing Brittany Murphy in that white SS02 dress with the cartoon ladies on it feels insanely personal to me.”

For Russell – who refers to rom-com references by character name – these films are a study in dressing for yourself. “Carrie Bradshaw, Molly Gunn [], Andie Anderson [How to Lose a Guy] are sure of themselves when it comes to personal style,” she says. “Her clothes feel lived in. She’s a little messy, but never manufactured.”

Cameron Diaz as Amanda in (2006).

Photo: Columbia Pictures / Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo

In fact, it’s the Noughties rom-com heroine’s wardrobe’s authenticity that sets her apart. “The discourse for years has been that people yearn for the rom-com formula to make a real comeback [as a film genre],” says Russell. “But I actually don’t think it’s just the formula people miss. The Noughties rom-com heroine was more than a plot device. Her clothes looked like they came from her own closet.” And now, two decades on – once I find a version of Lopez’s coat – they will also look like they come from mine.