Page 68 - Marie Claire Australia (January 2020)

PARTY LIKE IT’S

Flip phones, frocks and fears ... 20 years

since the turn of the millennium, four
women recall what they were wearing,

doing and thinking as the clock struck 12

Leah (left) relives her
night on the town;
and in the early
hours of New Year’s
Day, 2000 (far left).

T H E PA RT Y G I R L
L E A H , 42

In 1999 I was a 22-year-old fashion assistant, still trying to
figure out who I was. It was a pretty exciting time. The new
millennium and the Sydney Olympics were coming; the vibe
was celebratory and alive. My friends and I went out every
weekend in Sydney. No-one was interested in “wellness
inspo” like today’s 20-something influencers. We never
did any exercise – except of course bopping away to house
music at Goodbar till 2 or 3am, then Q Bar till about 10am.
Hungry Jack’s was like a disco the next morning with all the
clubbers chatting and eating burgers.
At the turn of the millennium I partied all night with my
best friends. We went to Gas, a fun little Sydney basement
club and I was wearing a new Alannah Hill dress, the height of
fashion at the time. I met a boy and we went back to his place
for an afterparty; I was dying to pash him although I didn’t get
to. My girlfriends and I laughed our way home through the
streets of Woollahra at 8am, still dressed in our finery (above).
My life is hugely different now. I’m a fashion buyer with
kids under 10. On that New Year’s Eve I hadn’t experienced all
the wonderful and horrid things the world has to offer. At that
age you don’t know what’s ahead, but it’s an amazing ride.