15 of Kelly Clarkson’s American Idol looks, ranked by ’00s-ness

Kelly Clarkson took the stage to sing “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls for ’80s week. By then, she had already cemented herself in American Idol’s first season as one of the strongest performers around. When it comes to Kelly’s early ’00s fashion, let’s just say that she didn’t disappoint.

Clarkson took the stage wearing her typical chunky-highlighted hair pulled back into a messy twist. She wore a fitted wine colored jacket with light colored stitching for contrast. I fondly remember a similarly detailed pair of jeans from that period.

Speaking of jeans, Clarkson wore an embellished pair of wide leg pants that hung low on her hips. The detail on Kelly’s pants complimented the fancy embroidery on the sleeves of her shirt. Back in 2002, low slung hip huggers were all the rage. She wrapped the whole outfit up into a pretty package with an amber pendant necklace and a color coordinated belt.

By the time Kelly performed this late era disco hit, she had already managed to climb her way into the top four. The other three contestants were Justin Guarini, Tamyra Gray, and Nikki McKibbin. It’s worth noting that all of these artists went on to make more music after season 1 of American Idol ended.

The most notable of the three who didn’t take home the win would be Justin Guarini. After Kelly was announced the winner, Justin and Kelly made a movie together that most fans would remember. It didn’t do so well at the box office and likely because of that, there were no more American Idol movies.

That didn’t stop Justin’s success, though. He is the creative force and the actor behind Little Sweet from the Diet Dr. Pepper commercials.