When we look back, what will this decade look like?

September 11, 2008 1:48 PM

Neon and skinny ties in the 80s; flannel and nose rings in the 90s. What will be the signature, stereotypical fashion or clothing item of this decade, the one that will be used in the future to instantly reference and signal this time period to others?

If I want to stereotype the 80s, I'll dress men in Miami Vice neon colors and do their hair like the Flock of Seagulls guy. Women will look like Madonna in the height of her thrift-store look.

If I want to stereotype the 90s, I'll dress everyone in grunge flannel, clunky boots, tattoos and nose rings. Maybe that's only the early 90s, but you get my point.

If I want to stereotype the time period from roughly 2000 to now, what will it look like?

posted by Cool Papa Bell to grab bag (67 comments total)

Lisa Loeb glasses and bedhead.
posted by sanka at 1:56 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]

Scarves, Skinny Jeans and Ironic Mustaches and Beards (unfortunately).
posted by skewedoracle at 1:59 PM on September 11

2000s in fashion trends

also, gaucho pants.
posted by almostmanda at 2:00 PM on September 11

Hipster Olympics
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:00 PM on September 11

American Apparel ads.
posted by the jam at 2:00 PM on September 11

I see hipster hairdos and American Apparel outfits in bold, primary colors (no accessories). Oh, and star tattoos.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:00 PM on September 11 [2 favorites]

Yeah, skinny jeans. Skinny jeans and side bangs.
posted by phunniemee at 2:00 PM on September 11

Empire waist blouses on ladies, low-rise drainpipe pants and leather bracelets on the guys, and studded metal belts on most everyone.
posted by Iridic at 2:00 PM on September 11

Low-riding pants (men), thus visible boxers (men) or thongs (women). Hairless chests (men). Jenifer Aniston hair (women), metrosexuals (men).
posted by -harlequin- at 2:02 PM on September 11

Baggy pants.
posted by unixrat at 2:03 PM on September 11

American flag lapel pins.
posted by Asparagirl at 2:04 PM on September 11 [4 favorites]

White earbud-style headphones.
posted by itstheclamsname at 2:04 PM on September 11 [2 favorites]

For girls: Ultra low rise flared jeans with flabby tummies and/or ass cracks spilling out the top. For boys: Huge size jeans that sit halfway down their hips, with the crotch hanging down at their knees, so the only way they stay up is for the guy to walk with a wide stance like he's just poo'd in his pants.

At least that's what the kids on my lawn are wearing.
posted by tula at 2:05 PM on September 11 [13 favorites]

Or - take the 1970s, remove the hair, tone down the colour, and you have the mid 2000's
posted by -harlequin- at 2:07 PM on September 11

Two words: Trucker Hats.
posted by El_Marto at 2:08 PM on September 11

Crocs and huge grandma sunglasses for the ladies.
posted by hamhed at 2:12 PM on September 11

Trucker hats and Ironic Faux-Vintage shirts.
posted by piedmont at 2:14 PM on September 11

What do you call the dark-Victorian ornate, asymmetrical or poorly positioned on the clothing, with typefaces that look like they've been weathered to almost oblivion? Can't stand it, but it's everywhere.
posted by notsnot at 2:22 PM on September 11

What's interesting about this thread is that clearly there are regional differences. The trucker hat has been overtaken by the fedora or porkpie here in Los Angeles.

For women: $200+ designer jeans (usually skinny), ballet flats or extremely high heeled sandals, and tank tops. Long straight or flat-ironed hair. For men: Low-riding designer jeans meant to look worn-in, the aforementioned ironic faux-vintage t-shirts, and porkpie/fedora hats. Oversized white plastic sunglasses for either gender.
posted by chez shoes at 2:23 PM on September 11

lame graphic tees.

Lois: Oh, what about this, Meg? A pink baby-tee that says "Little Slut." That seems pretty hip.
Meg: I don't know if that's really me, Mom.
Lois: Well, they've got one that says "Porn Star" and another that says "Sperm Dumpster." And they're all written in glitter.
Meg: All right, all right. Give me "Sperm Dumpster."
Lois: That's the spirit!
posted by sunshinesky at 2:25 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]

Faux hawk or shark fin. God, I hate those, but you see them a lot of places.
posted by sbutler at 2:29 PM on September 11

Graphic tees, hoodies. Jeans are always dark wash, and pants are always low-ride or REALLY high-waisted.
posted by bettafish at 2:33 PM on September 11

Tramp stamps.
posted by ignignokt at 2:35 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]

chez shoes. True, I haven't seen the trucker hats for a while (of course I don't get out much) but they did have a good 5+ year run.
posted by piedmont at 2:39 PM on September 11

Women: Low rise jeans, capri pants, solid color shirts with v-neck with very short sleeves, flip-flops.

Men: Sport shirts, denim jeans, flat-brimmed baseball caps, flannel.

This could just be my area, though. Hard to say on a national level.
posted by chitlin at 2:45 PM on September 11

Crocs will be pet rocks of the 00s.

Nthing the skinny jeans, *plus* voluminous tops with a loud pattern.
Also, long, sideswept bangs for women. Oh, and the "fake-wrap" shirts that seemed to pop up outta nowhere a few years ago. Whimsically-patterned rain galoshes.

Who said dork glasses and bedhead? Well, then that makes me very fashionable indeed.
posted by lunasol at 3:05 PM on September 11

What do you call the dark-Victorian ornate, asymmetrical or poorly positioned on the clothing, with typefaces that look like they've been weathered to almost oblivion? Can't stand it, but it's everywhere.

As far as I can tell, this is some horrible mix of the "boutique T-shirt"/Threadless look, Gothic Lolita/steampunk style, and that vector splatter-collage thing, thrown down the Abercrombie & Fitch warp tunnel. Interestingly, the three aforementioned styles are all products of online culture—I originally watched them develop through screenshots posted in a desktop modding/theming community I frequented starting in 2002, and have been fascinated to see them all cropping up on clothing in the last couple years.

You know how they always used to say there was a 6-month lag time between the U.S. coasts and the Midwest in terms of fashion? I wonder what the lag time is between the Internet and brick-and-mortar houses of fashion on things like this. Seems like I'm seeing a lot of things in stores now that were inspired by online design trends from about four years ago, but I wonder if that transition is accelerating at all.
posted by limeonaire at 3:14 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]

So many of these fashions sound late '90s to me, rather than mid '00s. Low rise jeans and babydoll shirts, for example, have been replaced with skinny jeans and empire-waisted or voluminous tunics, for example. "Jennifer Aniston hair" is called a blowout.

Early '00s shoes: ugg boots
Late '00s shoes: Crocs

Early '00s t-shirts: lame graphic tees
Mid '00s shirts: ironic faux-vintage tees.
Late '00s shirts: Threadless-style or urban graphic tees.

I think, like it or not, '00s fashion cliches will be dominated by those hipster ideals - stupid vintage t's, scarves, huge sunglasses and bags, and bedhead.
posted by muddgirl at 3:16 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]

iPods, iPods everywhere!
posted by Carol Anne at 3:28 PM on September 11

Crocs.
posted by iviken at 3:39 PM on September 11

About the 90's nose ring thing, at least in the Chicago area, they didn't seem to be all that popular, and pretty much firmly an alternative thing, and, to some extent, tattoos as well. It seems they've become much more mainstream, though, in the years since. While visiting Hawaii last week (there's acpretty solid mix of people from all over the States staying in Waikiki at any moment), I was actually kind of stunned by how many tattoos and pierced noses/lips/eyebrows I saw. They seem to be as common as, well, a baseball cap or (ugh) crocs these days.

So, it might have gotten started in the 90's, but I think full on mainstream acceptance is in this decade.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:44 PM on September 11

Porkpies are showing up in the midwest, too. And fedoras with stingy brims, plus very short beards.
posted by PatoPata at 4:13 PM on September 11

We haven't got enough distance yet. What will define this period is what looks funny and out of place in 6 or 7 years. Or better yet, give it a decade or two.
posted by MadamM at 4:54 PM on September 11

For guys: artfully ripped dark-wash/intentionally "dirty" looking jeans with a popped-collar striped shirt, or some kind of crinkly western-cut shirt with odd embroidery on it, or striped polo shirt with an animal on it. Fauxhawk or spiked hair.
posted by LionIndex at 5:06 PM on September 11

Faux-hawk - aka that stupid hairstyle where you comb both sides of your hair into a triangular peak on top of your head.

Or if you want to go back a few years, that stupid hairstyle where really short hair was slicked forward except for the very front which was spiked up.

Also, don't forget hipster bingo.
posted by O9scar at 5:27 PM on September 11

Sweats with moronic things written across your butt. Ick. Also, related: Teenage girls wearing PJ pants everywhere.
posted by faunafrailty at 6:07 PM on September 11

Really-squared-off toes on men’s shoes, and really-pointy toes on women’s shoes?
posted by letourneau at 6:39 PM on September 11

Ed Hardy and Sailor Jerry tattoo t-shirts and accessories.
Hooded sweatshirts with all-over printed motifs.
Wearing skirts and dresses over pants.
Pastel colored terrycloth Juicy Couture sweat suits worn in public.
Flip flops worn in public, with or without the annoying shuffling walk.
Ironic or faux vintage t-shirts from American Eagle or Target.
Jeans with too long hems that drag on the ground and become all straggly.
Giant expensive leather purses that look like diaper bags.
Small dogs used as accessories.
posted by pluckysparrow at 6:42 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]

Faux-hawk - aka that stupid hairstyle where you comb both sides of your hair into a triangular peak on top of your head.

Seconding that. Dunno how things are in the States or elsewhere, but downunder, *every* guy under about 30 (who isn't a hipster) does his hair this way.

Since the original & basic David Beckham style fauxhawk, it's morphed into a hideous kind of quasi mullet fauxhawk, which I can't look at without thinking that people will laugh "what the HELL was I thinking?" the way they used to with things like bellbottoms, disco gear, etc.

Here's an example of the mulletfauxhawk.

on preview: yes, hoodies with prints all over. Those things *already* look absolutely fucking shit ugly & daggy beyond belief. You know you're onto something that people in the future will only wear to theme parties & laugh themselves stupid over, if even when they first come out they look terrible.
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:01 PM on September 11

These chunky glasses.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:05 PM on September 11

Oh, and nothing says "I'm possibly pregnant" like empire-waist tops.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:17 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]

Two words: trucker caps.
posted by zardoz at 7:40 PM on September 11

"I don't know if it's [due to] Fin de siècle," a friend told me in an East Village bar in '91,
"but it seems like anything goes" fashionwise.

This century brought back a lot of ugly from the 1970s: empire-waist tops, Barbara Streisand goggle-sized glasses, Hunter S. Thompson commemorative aviator shades, shoes as clunky as ski (and apres-ski) boots such as Uggs, polyester shirts, wide belts, and glam-rock make-up.

From the 1980s: skinny, distressed jeans (then from hunger, now from planned obsolescence), asymmetrical haircuts that today resemble Jimmy Neutron or Ed Grimly. More petroleum-based hair products.

From the 1990s: the normalization of Modern Primitive tattoos and piercings.

From the 2000s: denuding everything between knees and neck. Off-center T-Shirt prints mentioned above by limeonaire.
And coming in '09: LED bracelets. You heard it here first!
posted by doncoyote at 8:02 PM on September 11

Messenger bags
posted by cadge at 8:25 PM on September 11

These chunky glasses.

I can't access Flickr from here, so I don't know what you linked, but...

I think black-rimmmed, low rectangular prescription glasses will go the way of the dodo before too long, and will be the subject of many photo album excuses: "but it was the noughties! everybody was wearing them, i swear!"
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:45 PM on September 11

Leggings, ballet flats, oversized sunglasses, huge handbag.
posted by casarkos at 8:45 PM on September 11

`Salmon' polo shirt, collar popped, over a white top. Fauxhawk.
posted by tomble at 8:48 PM on September 11

Loungewear as streetwear
Flip flops, Uggs and Crocs
Long sideswept bangs on girls
Fauxhawks on guys
Big slouchy bags carried in the crook of the arm
Oversized sunglasses
Wrap tops
Low rise skinny jeans on both sexes
Graphic tees
posted by exquisite_deluxe at 8:55 PM on September 11

Maybe tight sweatpants with words like 'juicy' (or your sorority) across the ass. Also, I've noticed odd attempts at clothes layering in recent years.. all kinds of pieces of clothing and colors that don't really go together. I don't know if it started with the Olsen Twins or what, but it seems to be the style on every single CW teen drama.

The fashion for men seems to be ridiculous hair cuts.. I think Zac Ephron (I'm not double-checking the last name spelling!) was the first bad hairdo.. and it's just gotten worse. It's that kind of crunchy/spiky hairdo like that irritating Christian guy from that one fashion reality program (the one who apparently only knows the word 'fierce') has. And, I guess fauxhawks.
posted by Mael Oui at 9:14 PM on September 11

Porn-star chic, from clothes to tattoos and body hair.
posted by maxwelton at 9:30 PM on September 11

uggs with skirts.
posted by iamkimiam at 11:00 PM on September 11

nth the 'windshield substitute' sunglasses.
posted by defcom1 at 11:25 PM on September 11

For boys: fashion baseball caps and diamond necklaces. White tracksuits and sketchers. Basically some nightmare, 9th-generation photocopy of hip-hop chic, c.1988. Hoodies over baseball caps. Oh, and n^thing the low-pants-with-everything look.

For girls: glossy hair, visible ink (hands, back of the neck, small of the back), and rectalinear, Sarah Palin-style eye-wear.
posted by Sonny Jim at 12:41 AM on September 12

Wearing pajamas out in public. Wearing shorts and jeans down by your knees. Related: showing off your boxer shorts. Tramp stamps.
posted by eratus at 3:49 AM on September 12

this thread turns me on.
posted by ihope at 5:55 AM on September 12 [1 favorite]

my 2c:

1. Distressed Jeans: although Skinny Jeans are everywhere now (2008) its taken them a few years to get totally mainstream and they hadn't really made a significant impact until 2005.

whereas Distressed Denim (ie bought to look old / scratched prefaded) has had much greater penetration for the entire decade. you could and did buy it in say 2002 and even still today its around in fair quantities.

2. Haircuts. Emo / Excessive Haircuts on guys. I agree. In the early 2000s it was the Hipster Mullet, Beckhams faux-hawk etc. for the last 3-4 years the EMO cut has been coming to dominance everywhere. you can go to country towns in Australia and the "in-every-other-way-conservative" guys have EMO big Fringe haricuts.
posted by mary8nne at 7:39 AM on September 12

Affliction shirts worn by middle-aged guys.
posted by LordSludge at 7:44 AM on September 12 [1 favorite]

Ironic t-shirts and muffin tops.
posted by pianomover at 10:50 AM on September 12

Uggs. With mini skirts. ew.
posted by radioamy at 10:59 AM on September 12

"Green" (environmentally-friendly) themed t-shirts and clothing seem to be in these days. So, late '00s?
posted by lunit at 11:31 AM on September 12

It's really tough, because this decade has followed in the footsteps of previous decades' fashion trends. There seems to be a perennial fascination with fashions of 20 years ago, no matter what decade you're in. In the 90s it was all about the 70s, and in the 00s it's an 80s plunderfest. I predict that the 10s will rob the 90s wholeheartedly. Borrowed nostalgia for the youngsters, who then seed the fashion world for the over-the-hills who desperately want to appear young. So filter out the 80s clothing as you can, and I predict the residue will be hipsters and emo kids who brand this decade.
posted by mullingitover at 2:31 PM on September 12

I predict that the 10s will rob the 90s wholeheartedly.

Yeah, actually, the current thing is becoming dressing like it's 1992. Which I plan to wholeheartedly embrace, seeing as I was too young in 1992 to dress the way I would've liked.
posted by limeonaire at 6:28 PM on September 12 [1 favorite]

limeonaire writes "Which I plan to wholeheartedly embrace, seeing as I was too young in 1992 to dress the way I would've liked."

I think this general statement explains a lot about about the cyclical nature of fashion.
posted by mullingitover at 8:36 PM on September 12 [1 favorite]

Wearing your boots over your jeans (unthinkable 5 years ago).

Seconding leggings/skinny jeans, straight hair, ballet flats, huge handbags, and large sunglasses. I blame it on Kate Moss.

Scarves. Oh my, the scarves I see on young, arts majors.

Crocs are really unfashionable in Canada, at least in Ottawa. They're only worn by kids or adults who are oblivious to fashion trends.

Old-skool Converse shoes -- aka Chuck Taylors -- made a comeback. There's also canvas slip-ons in all sorts of varieties and flavours.

Patterns were pretty cookie-cutter in the 90s, or they didn't exist at all. In this decade, the most bizarre patterns are acceptable. A throwback to the 70s, I guess.

I'd say a trend that started in the 00s -- as opposed to coming back -- would be Bluetooth mobile devices. Nobody was talking into the air in the 90s or several years ago.
posted by Menomena at 5:38 AM on September 13 [1 favorite]

shrugs
posted by k8to at 1:26 PM on September 18

Orange jumpsuits.
posted by CoffeeCake at 2:51 PM on September 18

Wearing your boots over your jeans (unthinkable 5 years ago)

This is very true.

Recently, both skinny jeans and leggings have been big, and with them have come big, billowy tops. A lot of tops and dresses have no defined waist now. Pairing a loosely-fitting jersey-fabric minidress with brightly-colored leggings and calf-length boots is a huge trend right now. Add a ridiculously long necklace and chunky sunglasses, and you have the more fashion-forward half of my campus right now. The other half wears Threadless tees under hoodies, boot-cut jeans (usually not skinny, but NEVER flared), and sneakers, which tend to be very brightly colored. Oh, and messenger bags. That's for both sexes. Fashionable guys just wear nicer versions of the same stuff.

Side bangs, side bangs. I remember seeing them in a magazine 5 years ago and laughing. Now I have them.

And around here, Rainbow brand brown leather flip-flops are EVERYWHERE.
posted by showbiz_liz at 4:24 PM on September 20