2000s in fashion

Early 2000s

A model of tracksuit used as casual wear as of the millennium.

T-shirts, trousers nylon Tracksuits, formal shirts, fleece sweatshirts, polo shirts, medium to tightish skirts (older women), tightish jeans, fleece jogpants, crew necked jumpers, fleace sock hats and baseball caps held sway in the UK and Ireland millennium. The colouring of older girls and teenagers t-shirts pastel for girls and any for teens. Boys' clothes were any colour, but men's clothes were in muted colours.

Teenage girls finally moved on from the 'dark and long' style that involved dark, long and sometimes floral skirts, dark sweatshirt, dull pinafore dresses, muted t-shirts and Argyll socks.

Buffalo Boots were a brand which platform models were popular, especially in Europe (notably Germany and Scandinavia), from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s. Elton John has and has had a large collection of platform shoes, many of which he auctioned off for charity.

Fashion began to move away from the minimalist aesthetic in 2003, with the rise of Boho in women's fashion, as well as distressed denim. With the exception of black miniskirts, skirts and casual dresses were both de-emphasized during the early 2000s, until the advent of Boho fashion in 2003. The sophisticated urban look, one of the key trends of the latter half of the decade, began in 2004.

Dark denim was popular in the first half of the decade. This trend culminated in 2004, as light denim became scarce. Denim in the early part of the decade was dominated by wide straight leg styles. Women's denim was generally fitted through the seat and thigh down to the knee, with the leg opening being either boot-cut or flared. Low cut waists became increasingly popular in women's denim over the first half of the decade.

In 2002, women's denim with no pockets became fashionable. Some of these pocket-less jeans featured a built-in denim belt. Women's jeans with an elastic strip down the side (generally a white strip with either a black or red stripe down the middle) became popular in 2003-2004. Women's jeans with a built-in nylon belt were popular from 2003-2005.

After a moderate trend in the late 1990s towards women wearing pantsuits to some formal functions, the pendulum swung in the opposite direction in the early 2000s, as dresses again became the norm for women at formal functions. This even as pantsuits peaked in popularity as women's business wear in the years between 2000-2002. Women's formal dresses in this period often featured plunging necklines and backlines, wide straps instead of sleeves, and shiny fabric. Red was the most popular colour for formal women's dresses in the early 2000s, although various shades of blue were also popular. Women's necline would get more plunging from this date onwards.

Whale tails were common in early 2000s, but had died out in the UK, by the late 2000's, along with the Laddette culture.

The increased Anglo-American popularity of low-rise jeans led to increased exposure of the whale tails in the early 2000s,. This was considered to be very 'Ladette' (a female chav) in the UK. The word ladette has been coined to describe young women who emulate laddish behaviour and engage in heavy drinking sessions.

A man wearing a hoodie.

Hip hop fashion progressed a lot during this decade. Hip hop culture fashions (especially hoodies and sweatpants) influenced many subcultures including chav, juggalo and gangsta. Within hip hop clothing, baggy jeans, denim-jean jackets with matching jeans were popular,along with track suits (primarily made of fleece that matched top and bottom usually worn with a headband for men). Bandanas with rhinestones were popular from late 2000 to early 2002 and Phat Farm shoes and apparel were popular during this time. The "tough guys wear pink" craze hit young members of the hipster, preppy and British chav subculture.. This continued on until about 2007. In 2003, trucker hats and vintage t-shirts from American Eagle and its many counterparts became highly popularly. Mitchell & Ness throwback jerseys were made popular by the rapper Fabolous. Big, bulky, gold chains were a Chav fashion essensial in the early 2000's, while women's braclets got a bit thinner.

Heavy metal fashion was worn by a notable subculture of teenagers, based on the biker, rocker and leather subcultures. Nowadays, heavy metal remains common among the youth in the US, and parts of Europe.

Pop punk fashion characterized by wearing baggy jeans, wristbands, spikey hair, patrol caps or trucker hats, Aviator sunglasses, and full-zip hoodies (which are now urban and preppy in the late 2000s) was very popular in the early to mid 2000s. This was due to the success of bands such as Blink-182, Lit, Sum 41, and Green Day.

Clothing worn by left activists enjoyed moderate popularity during the early 2000s. These included Che t-shirts, Keffiyehs (associated with Palestine activism), and t-shirts supporting various other activist causes and groups. The popularity of activist fashion peaked during the protests prior to the start of the Iraq war in early 2003. Activist fashion has declined in popularity since 2003, although it has not entirely disappeared. In a notable exception, Keffiyehs have become a mainstream fashion item in the latter half of the decade, appearing in up scale clothing boutiques beginning in 2005.

The Gypsy style/Bohemian style, commonly known as Boho or Boho-chic, began as an underground fashion style in 2000, and emerged in mainstream women's fashion in 2003 as influenced by Kate Moss. This style peaked in popularity in 2004-2005, and was commonly associated with Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen. The popularity of Boho began to wane in 2006, but the influence of boho continued to be felt as late as 2008. Boho featured loose, flowing tops; loose flowing a-line skirts, often with uneven hemlines; and loose flowing a-line dresses, often with only one shoulder strap and/or an uneven hemline. Peasant blouses and Gypsy tops were also briefly popular among teenage and younger girls in the early 2000s.

2004 witnessed both the culmination of certain trends of early 2000s fashion (notably the trend towards darker denim), as well as the introduction of a few fashion trends that would continue into the latter half of the decade. Building on the distressed denim trend that began in 2003, acid-washed denim began to make a comeback in 2004. 2004 also saw the beginning of the trend towards brighter colours, as well as the beginning of the sophisticated urban look with striped dress shirts and black dress pants.

Boonie hats became a moderate summer Anglo-American trend in 2005 and stayed there after. By 2009 Boonie hats were on the wain except with children and older men. Popped collars briefly became trendy again among American youth, until around 2005. This would cach on with British youth who wore Polo shirts about a year later.

British pre-teens' character ware (Hello Kitty), (Buffy the vampire slayer), etc., became more popular since 2003-4. Younger children would see there character ware (Thomas the tank engine) and (Dora the explorer) take off in 2005-6. Babies’ bobble hats, sherper hats and mob caps were becoming more popular at this time.

British Handbags and sports holdalls became lighter and less bulky from 2003-4 to about 2008-9.

Late 2000s

Women's fashion in the late 2000s became increasingly feminine, and dresses and skirts enjoyed ever increasing popularity. The sophisticated urban look became popular among professional men, and featured striped dress shirts, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. There was a move away from dark denim towards a greater variety of denim colours and washes. Narrower, more fitted clothing became popular with both sexes, but especially among women.

The Sophisticated Urban Look became popular among many urban professional men beginning in 2004. The look featured pinstriped dress shirts, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. There was a general shift in popularity away from Khakis and towards black dress pants. Black suits became increasingly popular. Charcoal grey pinstripe suits also enjoyed popularity. There was a move away from 'casual Fridays' in some professional offices and towards 'formal Fridays,' though casual Fridays still remained the norm in some professional business environments.

Rapper Kanye West.

In hip hop, the throwback jersey and baggy pants (popular in the '90s to early 2005) look was replaced with the more "grown man" look which was highly popularized by Kanye West around the fall of 2005.

Leggings returned as a women's fashion item in 2004. Leggings rose in popularity in 2007 after introduction by brands such as American Apparel. Initially available mostly in black and grey, leggings gradually became available again in a wide variety of colours. These were often worn with long, fitted tunic tops, or baby-doll dresses and shirts with empire waists. As in the 1980s, they were sometimes paired with mini skirts. Sometimes also worn with shorts dress type or athletic type.

Opaque tights footed or footless also became common leg-wear from 2005 through now. Worn mostly with skirts and dresses and flats or sometimes canvas sneakers or Uggs. Also worn sometimes with shorts or sometimes under capris.

Both Shortalls and skirtalls became popular again since 2007. Layered tees, shirts, polos and ¾ sleeved blouses have become popular again and still are today. Croped (¾ length legged) women's trousers emerged for the first time in the UK, and male cropped were breafly poular amongst youths in 2008-09.

During most of the early and mid 2000s the smart casual style made it unfashionable to wear formal clothing except in businesses and churches or at special events. This changed in the autumn of 2006, when the power suit received worldwide popularity amongst young men for its structured design. Men's suits of this era moved about the late 1990s style of bulky double-breasted jackets and towards single-breasted tailored jackets with thinner lapels, a higher gorge and low two-button stance.

Skirts and dresses became especially popular in Women's fashion during the second half of the decade. Boho-chic continued to be a significant source of inspiration, although non-boho influenced styles were also popular. Teenage girls wore both fitted denim mini-skirts and ruffled skirts, the latter being worn by all the main characters in the 2004 movie Mean Girls. Women's skirts were predominantly mid-length, both straight and a-line, ruffled and non-ruffled. Dresses were popular in both straight and a-line cuts. Thick straps and ruffles were popular with a-line dresses, and spaghetti straps were popular with more form fitting dresses. Many skirts and dress had uneven hemlines.

European teenage girl wearing skinny jeans and thin-strapped vest top, both popular fashions in 2008. Vest tops have got tighter fitting since 2009.

Sagging, popularised by rappers and popular for the majority of both the 1990s and 2000s, lost its appeal by the end of the decade as expensive, close-fitting designer jeans rose in popularity, particularly amongst men. Baggy and loose styles of the late '90s and early '00s gave way to boot-cut and straight leg jeans popularized by 7 for all Mankind, True Religion, Rock & Republic and Diesel S.p.A.. Boot cut women's trousers became an essential fashion item in the mid to late 1990's.

A woman in a vest top, during 2009. Lycra led to closer fitting vest tops in the late 2000’s.

Men and women began to wear skinny-fit lowrise jeans that became even more popular later in the decade. Hip-hugging, denim mini-skirts were also worn. Teenage and preteen girls also wear tank tops or T-shirts tucked into high-waisted, flowy skirts since 2008.

Polo tops, and feminine striped dress shirts were the norm amongst young males, especially pink polo tops popularized by rapper Cam'ron. This trend continued into the late 2000s. Wearing Hoodies and in general T-shirts with sweaters in winter season had replaced baggy long winter coats that were popular in the 1990s.

Although Waltish, Military attire became popular among indie fans. Men originally wore surplus dress jackets which were later produced by companies for the civilian market while women wore versions with more feminine lace or beading on it.

Camouflage patterns, bandanas or shemaghs are frequently worn as scarves by young people in winter. Recently this trend has spread to the hip-hop subculture where it is worn by pop rappers such as Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Kanye West.. Camouflage had become popular in the redneck subculture as well in the mid and late 2000s.

Headbands have seen a resurgence in the late 2000s through today. They come in many different styles including sports styles worn by softball players especially as well as other athletes. They are also worn with casual or formal wear.

In 2005, other styles that appeared on the scene were Capri pants or pinocchietti as they were called in Italy, where they were popular. These usually stopped at just below the knee, and could be worn casually with sandals, dressed up with high heels, or worn with boots in winter.

Pop singer Britney Spears set many trends.

New Rave becomes popular in the United Kingdom in early 2006, with the trend lasting until mid 2008.

Young Italian men favored rumpled jeans and designer sweatshirts in the late 2000s.

The early 2000s continued the grunge look of the early-to mid '90s in mens fashion, though with a more modern twist: flannel shirts worn with bright colored shirts underneath, T-shirts worn with long sleeved thermal shirts, vans, beanie hats, work boots and ripped loose-fitting stonewashed jeans. Flannel and lumberjack tops are worn with skinny jeans. Although in the 90s, flannel shirts were baggy and usually unbuttoned, the 2000s flannel was usually tight, buttoned, and part of the scene or emo look.

Within the mid part of the 2000s Emo and the related "Scene" became popular. The Emo look was based around black clothes that included band T-shirts and skinny jeans. This is a major departure from the early Emo look of sweater vests and scarves. Scene was very similar, but bright colors were very common. The Scene style evolved with the introduction of the Hipster look into mainstream and now there are many similarities between the two including v-necks, plaid, and skinny jeans.

Hipster fashion, with ironic t-shirts, vintage clothing, tight low pants, and thick rimmed glasses became fashionable. This includes duffel coats, pea coats, skinny jeans with pumps or Converse All Star sneakers. 'Low rise' jeans were coming of age.

Funnel necked tops were the in thing in the winter of 2008-9, but had started to die out in 2010 .

In 2009, the Jerkin' movement influenced much of the urban community to switch from baggy pants and oversized shirts to fit/skinny jeans, fit clothing and brighter colours. In late part of the 2000s v-neck shirts became popular among men.

The "Lads from 2000" look consisted of wearing Argyle socks over tracksuit bottoms, Rockport boots and Lactose tracksuits etc. This dress combination was popular amongst British males during the early 2000s.

Baseball caps, particularly flat billed designs by New Era, were popular for casual wear among teenagers and college aged people. Once confined to the gangsta and redneck subculture, these caps were popular among many different groups and became more mainstream. They also were called "fitted caps" which are caps that don't bend and stay completely stiff. Many wearers kept the adhesive label on the peak to show others their hat was brand new.

English singer Amy Winehouse with her trademark beehive hairstyle, 2007

In 2009 a recent imagining of the dapper 1950's style as espoused by Buddy Holly was merged with the Punk fashion of the 1970s.This was,in part,inspired by the English Power Pop/Punk collective which esounced The Librarians.

Christian Audigier's clothing brand based on Ed Hardy's tattoo designs became a popular clothing brand.

Both low rise jeans, low slung jeans, wide belts, polo shirts, vest tops, cropped trousers, trainers, baseball caps and boonie hats were going strong as the year tiped in to 2010.

Neckties had nearly died out in the UK by 2008.

The crop top

A crop top (or cropped top, half shirt and cutoff shirt) is a T-shirt or blouse with the lower portion cut off, resulting in the exposure of some of the wearer's abdomen. The halfshirt (or bellyshirt) is a variety of woman's shirt that is cut off from the bottom of the chest. They ere popular in the UK and USA in the mid 1980’s, mid 1990’s and ever since the millennium in the USA and in the early to mid 2000’s in the UK.

The boob tube

This woman was with a group of performers at the first annual "Fiestival", which took place at Olympic Plaza in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The tube top (British: boob tube) is a shoulderless, sleeveless "tube" that wraps the torso. Such a top is generally very tight over the breasts in order to prevent the garment from falling. This is usually achieved with elastic bands at the top and bottom of the garment. It has generally held popularity in the early 1980’s and late 1999’s to 2000’s in the UK. They ere popular in the USA during the late 1970’s, early to min 1990’s and the early 2000’s.

Glasses in the 2000's

Designer glasses (often with thick rims) as worn by Anastacia, sunglasses such as Ray-Ban Wayfarers, aviators, and rim-less glasses became widely available and extremely popular as geek chic went mainstream. This trend started about 2004 and has continued into the late 2000s for both males and females.

In the UK, ordinary glasses became thinner, with smaller, rectangular lenses from about 2007 to 2009.

In the USA, Shutter Shades also garnered popularity near the end of the decade. They were normally thin, and rather than bearing lenses, the glasses had horizontal bars spaced a few millimetres apart from the top to the bottom of the frame and are marketed as suitable for both men and women. They take the appearance of window shutters, hence the name 'Shutter Shades'. Some also have a mirror-finish coating beneath the shutters, reflecting light.

The UK's feminine use of sunglasses took off in about 2008 and the became the huge out sized sunglasses of the 2010's during 2009.

Shoes in the 2000's

In the first half of 2000s, women's boots and shoes had extremely pointed toes.

Both men's women's and children's shoes underwent several changes of style in the decade.

By 2005, stiletto-heeled shoes with elongated extremely pointed toes became the dominant trend in women's footwear. In 2007, ballet flats appeared yet again, and the toes of many women's shoes became rounded, rivaling but not entirely replacing the pointed-toed stiletto-heeled shoe. Boots came in a variety of styles, some with the heels high, heavy and geometric in shape. By 2009, many designers had also brought back the high heel coupled with platform sole, last seen as recently as the end of the 1990s, and, as with the combination of pointed toe and stiletto heel, never far from popularity somewhere in the spectrum of fashion. The newer platform sole is often referred to as "concealed" when it is covered with the same piece of material as the upper, in the manner popularised by Vivienne Westwood.

Also from the 2006 through today Uggs became popular especially with females. Usually worn with jeans tucked in boots or leggings tucked in boots with a skirt, pair of shorts or short dress over the leggings. Also seen worn with shorts. Uggs come in short and tall varieties.

From 2006 through today canvas sneakers have become very in. Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars in many colours especially black are popular. And Keds are popular especially the black champion canvas. navy blue champion canvas, white champion canvas, and light blue champion canvas styles.

Flats and mary janes became popular as an alternative to heels. Worn with everything from dresses and skirts to capris, skinny jeans, shorts, and with skirt and dresses with leggings underneath.

Bright coloured plastic clogs known as Crocs were a brief fad in the summer of 2006. In Europe in the autumn and winter of 2009, stiletto-heeled shoes and ankle boots with cone-shaped heels were very popular.

Boat shoes such as Sperry became more popular towards the late 2000s, they were typically worn with skinny jeans and without socks. Or with shorts or capris. Mixed rubber/plastic flip flops took off in 2008.

In 2009, mens shoes got longer, more pointed, squair tipped toes. They became a trend with all males, exsept for the elderly and children. they, along with both moccasin style loafers and Trainers (A.K.A.- 'sneekers' in the USA and 'trekkis' in South Africa) were still in vogue to, as were climbing boots for every day streetware. Court shoes and Oxford shoes declined as Karrimor hiking trainers and conventional trainers took an even stronger hold in the UK.

Kids velcro-lock strap Plimsoll shoes were the new Anglo-Irish vogue for children's shoes in 2009 and continued in to 2010.

The British Chav look

A cartoon of a British "chav".

The Chav burst on to the social and fashion seen in the early to mid 2000’s. Burberry is a clothing company whose products became associated with the "chav" stereotype. Burberry's appeal to "chav" fashion sense is a sociological example of prole drift, where an up-market product begins to be consumed en masse by a lower socio-economic group. Burberry has argued that many "chavs" bought counterfeit versions of the clothing. "They’re yesterday's news", stated Stacey Cartwright, the CEO of Burberry. "It was mostly counterfeit, and Britain accounts for less than 10% of our sales anyway." Both Japan, South Korea, the P.R.C.’ socio-economic elite and Hong Kong also bought lots of Burberry caps and scarves at this time.

The much derided chav was dead in 2005, his Burberry cap was discontinued by 2006 and his bling chains dumped by 2010.

Japanese street fashion

The immediate influence of Japanese street fashion is said to be popular in China, South Korea and Taiwan. Geographical and cultural affinities are said to be among the most important factors. The similar body shape and figure also made Japanese style an easier sought-after than those of European or American. However, the influence is not direct emulation, but only takeing elements out of the Japanese style and to assimilating them.

Japanese Street fashion is also said to have a particular influence on the West Coast of the United States because of its link to hip-hop culture.

Japan is also known for its significant consumption of foreign luxury brands. According to a data of 2006, Japan consumed 41 percent of the entire world’s luxury goods. Many global fashion houses run focus lines that are exclusively available in Japan. The blue line of Burberry is among the most successful in this arena.

The high-end fashion brands like Comme des Garçons on the other hand has continually to play a big role in the global industry since the 80s, especially through frequent cross-over guest design with other brands. Rei Kawakubo two recent guest designs with Louis Vuitton and H&M have both proved to be commercial successes. Recently, Abercrombie & Fitch has become popular among aspiring American-preppy Japanese teens. There is a demand for the A&F brand in the Japan, and the company has opened of its first Asian location in upscale Ginza.

Tomoko Yamanaka`s work was featured at London Fashion Week, 2010.[3]

Gallery

A selection of images related to the period.

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  A woman wearing a shrug. They were popular in the mid 1980‘s and after 2009.
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  A typical 2010 style vest top/sleeveless t-shirt.
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  Haute couture dress from spring 2006
• Lower back tattoos, a 2000s fad
  Lower back tattoos, a 2000s fad
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  Ugg boots became popular in the mid 2000s amongst men and women alike
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  Paisley handbag associated with the preppy look
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  Modern leggings came into fashion in the late 2000s
• Japanese teenagers on the Harajuku Bridge "Flat Bill Hats" became very popular towards the mid to late 2000's, mainly due to the rising hip hop culture.
  Japanese teenagers on the Harajuku Bridge "Flat Bill Hats" became very popular towards the mid to late 2000's, mainly due to the rising hip hop culture.
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  In late 2008, especially in Italy, the denim waistcoat was a popular feminine fashion accessory.
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  Slim-fit tweed jackets have gained in popularity since early 2008.
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  Vintage printed tees worn across Indie, Scene and Nu-Rave fans.
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  "Revival" of grunge fashion in late 2000s.
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  Example of Emo Style
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  Scene Kids in 2008
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  Brazil’s TV celeb Amanda Françozo in a still fasionable short skirt, during 2004
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  Nikki Cox in a long sleeved T-shirt in the year 2000. They were fashionable from the late 1990’s to the mid 2000’s.
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  New Orleans musician and personality Sarabeth Wildflower at the Carrollton Riverbend in 2009. Women‘s Cut-off Jeans were popular in the early to mid 2000’s
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  A girl in still popular 1990's style leggings in 2009.
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  Dancing at Snoqualmie Moondance festival in 1992. The woman on the right wares a form of Gypsy top and a long, floral skirt. The skirt would become more popular with younger women and teens in the late 1990’s and early 2000's. The top would become popular from about 1999 to 2001 with teens and older girls.
• 
  A Miss Peaches Swimsuit in 2009.
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  German Football kit in 2009. It was used in the UK for boath football and rugby (sport) kit in the UK through out the 2000’s.
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  A German athlete in a crop top at the Bonn Fitnessstudio, Germany.
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  Actress Carine Quadros in a cropped gypsy top.
• Kim and Forest Starr on Midway Atoll in 2001
  Kim and Forest Starr on Midway Atoll in 2001
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  A Malaysian wedding in 2008
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  A German woman in cycling shorts during 2002. They were popular in the UK for doing such activities from the mid 1980’s to early 2000’s.
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  A capped Oxford shoe with brogued cap seam.
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  Tasseled loafers.
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  A Karrimor hiking trainer.
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  Romanian children's clothes in 2008.
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  A variety of colourful flip flops.
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  Woman waring sun glasses in Porto, Portugal.
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  A young woman wearing outsized sunglasses while visiting Zoo Vienna, Austria.
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  New Orleans in self supporting tops and tight jeans at the 2009 Uptown Super Sunday parade.
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  A member training in Seattle Mist Lingerie Football in typical late 2000’s woman’s sports kit
• 
  The black trousers and blue tunic top’s sleeves are both cropped. They are Norwegian women, but cropped cloths are a now a growing western phenomena.

See also

• 1980s in fashion
• 1991–1999 in fashion
• 2010–2019 in fashion
• Japanese street fashion
• Hoodie
• Chav