'This $2,195 Balenciaga dress is my early 2000s nightmare.'

In some rather pressing news, we need to talk about Balenciaga’s new $2,195 dress — because it's everything that precisely no one asked for and it's deeply haunting.

It's called the Balenciaga Layered Lace Trimmed Printed Ribbed Stretch Modal Mini Dress, and it looks just as confused as it sounds. 

For reasons that are entirely unclear, someone at Balenciaga thought it would be fun to sell the dress we all wore when we were 16 and slap a fat price tag on it to see what would happen.

Watch: Wearing outfit #3 to a family dinner would 100 per cent be a crime against your Nan's eyeballs. Post continues below.

The design combines three layers of material sewed together to give the illusion of multiple tank tops/stretchy dresses with lace trim stacked on top of one another — pink, some kind of patterned blue situation and white.

Here it is in all its glory. 

Image credit: Balenciaga.

I… I just…

Lauren Conrad is SHAKING.

In case you blacked out at the start and missed it, this stretchy tank top/dress is being sold by the designer for $1490USD (so just over $2000 here).

It’s described on the website as a mini dress (obviously styled over jeans) "evoking styles from the early aughts".

I think I need to lie down.

For the unacquainted, this… layered tank top… was all the rage in the early 2000s and was a very popular look that was pulled together using very cheap tops, usually from Supre.

Commonly worn over a pair of tights or jeans with a chunky belt and an oversized pair of sunnies, it almost certainly made you feel like you were very hot and cool and should maybe be on the Disney Channel red carpet instead of looking for your shade of Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in Target. However, it's now 2024. And there is absolutely no reason this dress had to reappear on the fashion scene. 

Who did this? SHOW THEM TO ME.

On a related note:

• The white top should be worn at the bottom, not the top.
• Is this legal?
• I hate it.

"What in the Laguna Beach is this?" content creator Erin Miller (also known as @overthemooonandfaraway) said in a viral TikTok video. 

@overthemoonfaraway

This is offensive.

♬ original sound - Erin Miller

"This should only be allowed to be sold in a dark, dark Hollister in 2004 while you almost die from inhaling too much cologne and Ocean Avenue is blasting so loud you can't even hear your own thoughts," she said.

And the comments were exactly what we expected and we give them full marks and a kiss on the head.

"My culture is not your costume, Balenciaga," someone quipped.

"We would NEVER layer the white tank on TOP!? That’s the bottom accent piece and everyone knows that!'" said someone else.

SEE?!

"I have all three of those undershirts in my drawer from 2002. Total cost — $6," someone said. Released as part of the Winter 2024 collection, the shirt/dress is currently only available for pre-order, just in case you had your sights already set on adding it to your cart ASAP.

And look, the good news is that if we've learnt anything from The Devil Wears Prada, it's that everything 'high fashion' will soon trickle down into the mainstream stores.

Meaning? This will soon be the cerulean blue sweater they spoke of in The Devil Wears Prada and there’s precisely nothing we can do about it.

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What do you think of the Balenciaga dress? Share your comments below.

Feature image: Balenciaga/Canva.