2000s Fashion
Despite the numerous and mixed fashion trends of the 2000s Fashion, items of clothing which were predominant or popular throughout the decade include Ugg boots, High-tops, hoodies, and skinny jeans.
Globalization also influenced the decade’s clothing trends, with the incorporation of Middle Eastern and Asian dress into mainstream European, American and Australasian fashion. Furthermore, eco-friendly and ethical clothing, such as recycled fashions and fake fur, were prominent in 2000s Fashion.
In the early 2000s, women and girls wore shoes and boots with rounded or flat toes. Dressy, feminine styles were reintroduced over the course of the decade, as women’s fashion moved away from the more unisex styles of the 1990s. From 2001 onwards, women wore denim miniskirts, burberry, hip-hop inspired sweatpants, ugg boots, Daisy Dukes, ripped distressed jeans, flip-flops, ponchos, flared trousers, denim jackets, preppy polo shirts with popped collars, and tank tops exposing the midriff became popular in 2000s Fashion. Colors like baby blue, yellow, and hot pink were popular in 2000s Fashion.
From the mid-2000s and onwards, European and American women wore lowrise skinny jeans, lycra yoga wear, knee-high boots with pointed toes, 1960s style trenchcoats and peacoats, tunics worn with wide or thin belts, capri pants, longer tank tops worn with a main blouse or shirt, 1940s inspired New Look dresses and sandals, leggings, and vintage clothing including hippie and Boho inspired dresses with paisley patterns are popular in 2000s Fashion.
Popular accessories in 2000s Fashion included aviator sunglasses, small red glass or pearl drop earrings rather than the large hoop earrings of the early 2000s Fashion, shutter shades, crucifixes and rosaries, large silver belt buckles with rhinestones, fairtrade African bangles, Native American beaded jewellery, Indian and Middle Eastern slave bracelets, purity rings, small leather handbags, and simple jewellery made from recycled eco friendly materials like hemp, wood, sea shells, glass, seeds, and white metal.
Beginning in 2006, men and women’s fashion was influenced by 1980s punk, especially acid wash skinny jeans, bright neon colors, fishnet stockings, and jackets customised with metal studs. Shirts and jeans featured ripped fabric held together by an array of safety pins and leather jackets made a comeback in 2000s Fashion. Celebrities sporting the look included singers, Madonna and Mariah Carey.
By 2008, this look had gone mainstream due to the popularity of indie pop influenced by rave and New Wave music. This second, larger wave incorporated more general items of 80s streetwear, like animal print headbands, denim-print jeggings, knitted sweater dresses, Nike Tempo shorts, wonderbra and sloggi underwear, geometric pattern tops, slap bracelets, ballet flats, black spandex leggings, and light, translucent tartan shirts worn with a camisole underneath. Long, baggy empire line shirts were taken in at the bustline and often paired with a belt. Fur coats made a comeback, although many woman used fish fur due to real fur’s association with animal cruelty.
The early 2000s saw the continuation of the 1990s fashion of wearing sportswear as everyday clothes, including tracksuits, light-colored polo shirts (sometimes striped), white Adidas or Nike trainers, cargo pants with zip-off legs, rugby shirts, and baseball caps bearing the logos of football, soccer, basketball, and baseball teams.
In the early 2000s, suits had largely gone out of fashion except for formal occasions like church, job interviews, weddings, funerals, and proms due to the popularity of Casual Fridays. In the workplace, many young men wore Argyle socks, khaki chinos, bootcut jeans, Oxford shoes, loafers, brown, grey, burgundy, rust, maroon, or forest green turtleneck sweaters, camp shirts (often in fancy metallic patterns for clubbing), corduroy pants, belts rather than braces, and (when required) odd navy blue, stone grey, beige, or natural linen sportcoats that fastened with three buttons.
In the early 2000s Fashion, women’s hair was long and straight. From 1996 until 2005 it was fashionable for women to have dyed highlights and lowlights (Rachel haircut) with red, blonde or light brown streaks.
In mid-late 2000s Fashion, dark haired women (and even light-haired ones) favored the jet black hair, as worn by Katy Perry or Amy Winehouse with her trademark beehive hairstyle. Textured hair with volume, natural wavy hair, the bob cut, and side-swept bangs become popular from 2007 onwards in both Britain and the USA.
For black women, cornrows, dreadlocks and curly weaves were popular until the late 2000s, when tamed-down versions of the Afro, Jheri curl and short pixie cuts were popularized by artists like Janet Jackson and Rihanna.
For men aged 25–40, shorter hair styles that usually took the form of a quiff were fashionable in the early 2000s Fashion, although collar-length centrally parted curtained hair (as worn by Tom Cruise) was also briefly popular in the US and remains so in Japan. Another common haircut was the spiky hair popularized by boybands in the late-1990s and into the early millennium.