Do You Remember The Best Going Out Tops From The OC? They’re 20 Years Old – And More Stylish Than Ever

For those among us who remember a world when self-esteem hung like a very delicate thread based on your current position in your best friend's Top 5 on Myspace and Tuesday evenings were spent glued to the TV as you enjoyed the latest instalment of The OC, then you might feel slightly sick upon learning that the show first aired 20 years ago.

Other than lamenting the passing of time while resisting an existential crisis based on all the things you haven't done in two decades (no? Just me?), this might be a time to reflect on one of the more profound messages of this incredible work of television. In a nutshell, it's this: if you're going out or doing anything, you should wear a nice top and jeans.

I'm not the only writer to have recognised the significance of The OC's favourite outfit. A couple of years ago, Instagram delivered a thing of pure joy among the pouting selfies and countless humblebrags so ubiquitous on our screens. It is an entire account chronicling, and I quote, 'the best tops from the best show.' Never a truer word spoken (well, written). Something to scroll through mindlessly as you enjoy the delights of theOCrewatch podcast, hosted by none other than Rachel Bilson (a.k.a Summer Roberts) and Melinda Clarke (only Julie Cooper herself).

But back to the going-out tops. Established by fashion writer Emilia Petrarca – also responsible for the excellent account @sopranosstyle, which documents 'All the best looks from your favourite gaudy goombahs and stylish Italian stallions' – @spaghettistrapsoftheoc is a celebration of the sartorial brilliance displayed by Marissa Cooper and Summer Roberts. There's even a bit of Anna thrown in for good measure – although, presumably because she posed a threat to the Greatest Love Story Of All Time (otherwise known as Summer and Seth), there's only two pictures of her.

What can we all learn from this genius use of social media? Well, nothing that we didn't already know. Which is to say that 2004 sure did love a low-rise pair of trousers and also that I'd forgotten the fact that the gap between top and trousers essentially defined the epoch.

But fashion is nothing if not fairly predictable. And it is truly living up to its cyclical reputation given that many of Summer and Marissa's outfits wouldn't look out of place in a completely-natural-and-not-at-all-posed-for picture on countless Instagram feeds belonging to a multitude of influencers merely following the path forged by The OC's best women. Sort of. All I know is that I, along with my very own Marissa (known as Charlotte to her parents) spent most of 2004 wearing matching Lacoste polo shirts in pastel shades that were too short to meet the low-cut jeans we both bought on a shopping trip one Saturday, in loyal homage to The OC's BFFs. If that's not being influenced, I don't know what is.

Do you, too, want to celebrate the mid-noughties style so perfectly encapsulated by @spaghettistrapsoftheoc? Of course you do. So, shop the best tops below. And you'll probably go viral on TikTok.

It's what Marissa would have wanted.

SHOP: The Best OC-Inspired Tops That Will Look Great In 2023