Schoolies in Australia never really changes

There’s always lots of talk about how Australia is changing but a series of wild pictures reveal just how much it isn’t.

COMMENT

Every generation believes they are doing something radically different, but once you glance at photos from Schoolies in the early 2000s, the images prove the theory wrong.

Schoolies week is a cultural rite of passage for Aussie school leavers. They go and party in Queensland for a week and text their parents that it isn’t as wild as it looks on the television.

There are lanyards, themed parties — where everyone goes as the sexy version of the theme — and a horrifying amount of alcoholic drinks that taste like lolly water.

This photo is from 2004 but how current does it look?

Trucker hats are back so be prepared to see more of this. Picture: David/Clark

It is a time when people are heavy-handed with their fake tanning and light-handed with their standards, and Jason Derulo’s music reigns supreme.

Schoolies are fun to look back on because nothing changes. Like Richard Wilkins and his gorgeous hair, it is something we can count on.

The best thing about the annual event is that it is the great equaliser.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a top student who is set to study medicine or someone who spent their entire senior year vaping in the school bathroom. You’ll both look the same once you touch down in Queensland.

Slightly trashy.

This photo is from 2004 but could be from 2023.

You’ve got to love the 2000s belly shirts. Picture: Geoff/McLachlan

The trashiness of Schoolies is part of the raw appeal.

Whenever there’s a new young generation, there’s always talk about how they are different.

They are anti-drinking, less interested in sex and meticulous about how they use their language.

They probably won’t hug family members just because it is polite, and there’s a high chance they’ll lecture you on how a word you use is now considered offensive.

This is a good thing; we want younger generations to challenge previous generations; otherwise, we’d never evolve.

But still, when Schoolies rolls around all that progress falls by the wayside, and they behave just as ridiculously as the drunk ones that came before them.

All common sense goes out the window along and Schoolies people just desperately want to wear neon pink and a denim mini skirt with giant sunglasses.

They always look like a combination of Kesha meets Corey Worthington when he threw that infamous house party in 2008.

Fingers crossed it happens again this year.

Tummies are always out at Schoolies. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen.

The gals end up having fun, always. Picture: Nathan/Richter

The school-leavers get to dress as they would if they didn’t have to walk past their parents, who would likely heckle.

“You’re not going out like that!”

Which means we can always count on fashion chaos at Schoolies; that and someone thinking it is the prime time to debut extensions, which always get caught in something.

Generation Z has brought back low-rise jeans, be-careful-how-you-bend skirts and belly shirts, and there’s no doubt they’ll be showing them off this week.

Prepare for a gaggle of girls in miniskirts with tiny handbags creating havoc through the streets.

By havoc, I mean someone will definitely cry because someone kissed some guy they said they wouldn’t.

This will then cause the girl stuck in the middle of the feuding girls to hold separate consulting meetings about the matter.

Usually, one cries in a gutter, and the other cries while resting against a wall, and both have been drinking Smirnoff Ice Double Blacks

A photo from 2003 that no parent wants to see.

The resurgence of early 2000s fashion has meant that snaps of Schoolies two decades ago suddenly look current or like outtakes from a Sabrina Carpenter music video.

It is all the same stuff: miniskirts, bikini tops being worn as regular tops, tiny handbags and belts that share a similar width to miniskirts.

The world might be changing far too fast; the younger generation might be more woke than ever, but Schoolies has stayed the same.

It remains a classless event, where young people let loose, wear neon outfits, and have good old-fashioned Aussie fun.

Hopefully Gen Z embraces it for what it is this year.