Britney Spears on Teen People magazine, February 2000

I used to be a magazine hound as a teen, and the late 90s through mid-2000s were quite the era for magazines. The fashion editorials, the celebrity profiles and covers, those sex articles in Cosmo that had my friends and I snickering…it was quite the time. But going back to those covers: the magazine editors then put some serious effort into those covers. The cover star, the photography, the blurbs and typography…it all got my attention. So, since I’m a sucker for nostalgia and enjoy celebrating #throwbackthursdays, starting every first Thursday of every month, I’ll revisit some of my favorite magazine covers from yesteryear. I aim to post covers that celebrate a milestone anniversary this year (like covers from 25/30/35 years ago), but it’s not a promise. 

This month, I travel back to the year 2000. If you’re an old like me, you’d remember seeing a mag called Teen People at the newsstands. TP, which was created by the editors of People magazine and lasted from 1998 to 2007 (?), competed with Seventeen, Teen, and YM. Among those titles, I liked reading TP and Seventeen the most, and TPs issue with Britney happens to be part of my collection (not my pic, btw). That cover exudes pure Y2K teen beauty. The futuristic tone of her makeup and jewelry, the aura of optimism and joy she’s giving…and to witness her ascent to Icon status in real time! You just had to have been there. Us olds remembered Britney when she was happy and on top of the world, and, going by her interviews then, she seemed like someone us teen girls at the time could relate to. 

Snippets of her cover story can be found here (I can’t find the full article anywhere right now). Is it just me or was fashion more simple yet cooler then? 

Also, that “Bush Is Back” blurb…🤭