The shameful fact is I went through a phase of dressing like this - polo shirts, skinny/torn jeans.
What saved me, you ask?
1. Weed
2. Enduring 'indie discos'
3. Ecstacy
4. DN FUCKING B
I think this was inevitable for people of a certain age - even at my most resistant to "indie" I still had the mid-00s student guy uniform as did every guy I knew. I'm still continually amazed that skinny jeans stuck around and didn't become a passing trend the same way boho chic or tan chinos did.
Anyway I got saved by:
1. techno and house and disco
2. going sober, staying in depressed and not going to "indie discos"
3. discovering warehouse parties
But I still have residual fondness for some of this era, really. There is a lot to be said for a house party at 5am when someone puts on the Soulwax remix of The Gossip and everyone in attendance is a certain age