The 2000s were genuinely strange years. For the early half of the decade, it felt like Mercury was perpetually in retrograde; people were just kind of wandering around, listening to Nelly, wondering if their diamante-embellished fedoras and bellybutton rings would stand the test of time. But the early aughts, despite being rife with pube-skimming pants, wasn’t all bad. It gave us the best years of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and, depending on who you ask, Beyoncé.
The same can be said of early '00s style: It was an era that emphasised that the bigger your sunglasses, the more monogrammed your handbags, and the more belts you had to throw around your tank tops and dresses, the more chic you were. And the style status symbols of the time weren’t your timeless Chanel three-pieces or demure Cartier Love bracelets. Instead, they were emblazoned trucker hats that cost a small fortune, velour tracksuits, and anything sex-tape-era Kim Kardashian would have worn. Name brand recognition was everything, and if the price of your outfit wasn’t instantly recognisable through logo ubiquity, it wasn’t worth it. And though times have certainly changed since then, there's nothing more fun than taking a trip down memory lane. Ahead, we remember some of the most iconic 2000s status symbols, and look at how they became famous and the legacies they’ve left behind.
Return To Tiffany & Co. Bracelet
If you had a birthday of note (a Sweet 16, or maybe even a 21st) in the early 2000s, the number one “timeless” piece on your list was an oversized, super-chunky Tiffany & Co. bracelet. And when I say chunky, I mean you could unclip that thing, whip it around your head, and use it as a weapon. Clad with a round or heart-shaped engraved tag that read, “Please Return to Tiffany & Co. New York,” and a unique registration number (so that if it were ever lost, the finder could return it to the Fifth Avenue store, where it could be reunited with its rightful owner), the piece paid tribute to the Return to Tiffany keyring that was first introduced in 1969.
The bracelet became ubiquitous when it was seen dangling from the wrists of socialites like the Hilton sisters and Nicole Richie in the early 2000s. For us normals, owning one wasn’t totally out of the question. While the 18k yellow, white, and rose gold versions might be prohibitive (upwards of £2,000), it also came in sterling silver for around £150 (which still isn't cheap, and back then, it meant saving all your summer job cash, which, if you were 19 in 2004, was more than worth it). Today, it retails for £255. Now, the Return to Tiffany & Co. bracelet is more at home between the elbow and Pumpkin Spice Latte on a sorority girl, eclipsed in the zeitgeist by the much more delicate Cartier Love bracelet.
YSL Tribute Sandals
Platform shoes weren’t classy until Yves Saint Laurent stepped in with the Tribute sandal in 2007. Worn by Lindsay Lohan, Lauren Conrad, Beyoncé, and just about every other celebrity photographed in the second half of the 2000s, the Tributes were designed, as the name would suggest, as an homage to the golden era of platforms, the 1970s. Instead of being a clunky, dorky Disco Stu throwback, though, the Tribute was, and still is, subtle and elegant, with a 1.2 inch platform next to a 4.1 inch heel.
The ultimate leg lengthener, the Tribute is still kicking around, and with a mean £580 price tag. It's the more laid-back, Hollywood pool party cousin of the Louboutin pump; the kind of thing you can have in your wardrobe forever and always find occasion to revisit (like now, considering platforms are already back again). In other words: Kanye probably didn’t make Kim throw hers away when he trashed nearly her entire wardrobe back in 2012.
Von Dutch Hats
When you hear the words “Von Dutch trucker hat,” you probably want to curl into yourself and die, but not before thanking god that Instagram wasn’t a thing when you were rocking your baby pink one in 2003. The trucker hat was an early “hipster” trend, believe it or not, and symbolised “working-class anti-fashion” according to Jennifer Gayer Moore’s book Fashion Fads Through American History: Fitting Clothes into Context. Pharrell Williams wore one as early as 2001, and by 2003 luxury brands had picked up on the trend, with Von Dutch, in a renaissance phase of business under designer Christian Audigier, capitalising on the fad.
Photographed on the heads of everyone from Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie to Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, the piece transcended genre. Costing upwards of £40 (although you can get one now on Amazon for £18) it became a mainstay at Los Angeles celebrity store du jour, Kitson (RIP). The obsession, thankfully, didn’t last long. Moore says celebrities began disavowing the tacky hat around 2004, with the public slowly following suit, making our association with Von Dutch hats nothing but a distant cringe.
Juicy Couture Tracksuits
The matching velour tracksuit now synonymous with the Juicy Couture brand, was actually first custom designed for Madonna in 2001. Juicy was attempting to gain publicity by sending its designs to celebrities, and it worked, with Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, Britney Spears, and countless others following in Madge's trendsetting footsteps. The speed with which the set caught on is a testament to the the adage, “Just because Madonna did it, it doesn’t mean it’s cool," being, at least for a time, incorrect.
By the mid-'00s, the Juicy tracksuit became synonymous with “new money.” Unfortunately for the double velour get-up, sales began dwindling around 2010, with major retailers dropping the brand. In 2014, Juicy shut down all its U.S. stores, and began selling exclusively at Kohl’s, where you can now pick up a tracksuit on sale for $30 (£21) 30. Despite its fall from favor, the Juicy set is an icon of 2000s style, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London will be displaying a 2004 iteration of the two-piece in its Undressed: a Brief History of Underwear exhibition, launching in April 2016.
Fendi Spy Bag
You can still probably get yourself a fake Fendi Spy for the cost of dinner down on Canal Street, and even back in its heyday, fake Fendis were swinging on the arms of normals hoping no one would notice the difference between their knockoff and Nicky Hilton’s £900 one.
The Fendi Spy was released in 2005, designed by Silvia Fendi to capitalise on the success of the brand's Baguette Bag. It was considered high fashion, and was worn by the era’s most important style icons: Victoria Beckham, Sarah Jessica Parker, and the Olsen Twins. The best part about it was its "secret" compartment that was the perfect size to hold all your most illicit early-2000s substances.
These days, the bag starts at around $395 (£280) for a mini and $645 (£460) for an original, increasing in price with the materials used; for instance, a mink Spy will set you back over £1,000. (The “FF” monogram used on the bag was actually originally designed by Karl Lagerfeld.) Despite being a sign of style and wealth in the mid-2000s, the Fendi Spy has all but disappeared from celebrity culture and the public eye.
Dior Glossy Sunglasses
If you had a mumsy-mum in the mid-2000s, you probably heard her tell you that your sunglasses made you look like a fly. Back in 2005, Dior released its Glossy sunglasses, and they appeared eclipsing the tiny faces of Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Victoria Beckham, Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé, and just about any other female celebrity the paparazzi snapped outside a Beverly Hills Starbucks during that era.
The Dior Glossy was designed by John Galliano, and was supposed to mimic Jackie O-style glamour. Somehow, the glasses managed to completely bypass elegance and instead came to represent excess and “rich-girl” decadence. When ostentatious style fell out of favour for more austerity (and classic, more flattering sunglasses, like Ray Bans, came into fashion), so too did the Dior Glossy. You can still grab a pair for £144, though, if you’re feeling nostalgic.
Chanel CC Earrings
Chanel never goes out of style, but the Chanel “CC” earrings favoured by Paris and LiLo in the early-to-mid '00s, definitely did. The more sparkle the better, which was a departure from the brand's more classic elegance.
When '00s celebrities picked up the style, it was part of an ‘80s revival that was trendy at the time (don’t pretend you didn’t buy a pair of bright-yellow pumps or huge, pink triangle earrings, either). If you happened to spend your life savings on a pair of Chanel “CC” earrings in the aughts, luckily, the design is pretty timeless. Chanel still sells the earrings in different iterations, and the double-C logo is ubiquitous across all its jewellery. In other words, there’s not much that can bring Chanel down — not even a decade of Paris Hilton.
Moschino Belt
Will you ever forget seeing all those women in line for The Misshapes rocking a Moschino logo plaque belt? Will you always remember how many hours you spent trawling eBay for one you could afford and always being outbid at the last second? Moschino launched in 1983, and the logo plaque belt was the ultimate ‘80s accessory, blending the excess of the era with the ‘00s desire for name-brand recognition. The belt is always available for around £260, and while you may not wear it around a tube skirt and tank top in 2016, with it slung across a pair of ripped jeans with a slouchy white T-shirt, you can recall '00s glamour without resorting to “basic-ness.”
Balenciaga Motorcycle Bag
Costing £850 and up, the Balenciaga Motorcycle bag was a revolution, and like the Fendi Spy, inspired a lot of knockoffs for mere mortals. The bag of choice for the 2000s “boho” trendy, the purse was famously worn by Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, Gisele Bundchen, and Nicky Hilton (and just about everybody else).
The bag was designed and released by Nicolas Ghesquiere in 2001, although it almost never happened. It was essentially antithetical to the styles of the ‘00s. It had no logo, and rather than being structured and rigid, was soft and malleable. It looked vintage, like something you might find at a secondhand store. It was nearly nixed by Balenciaga, but after models like Kate Moss expressed interest in the bag, Ghesquiere convinced the label to allow him to make 25 to be distributed among fashion elite. From there, it quickly became one of the most covetable, and now iconic status items of the 2000s. Its influence can still be seen in lines like Rebecca Minkoff, whose own iconic Mac bag harkens back to the Balenciaga Motorcycle style.
Ralph Lauren Polo
Brightly coloured, baby-sized Ralph Lauren polo shirts, especially the midriff-bearing variety, were popularised by Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Paired with a ra-ra skirt, the polo was big in pop culture, making its way onto shows like The O.C. It’s no surprise the top wound up being a sign of wealth — that was its intended purpose.
When Ralph Lauren created his Polo brand in 1972, he named it after the sport of the Royals in order to convey wealth and prestige. The Polo shirt became an American icon in the '80s and '90s, but by the time the '00s rolled around, it was co-opted by celebrity socialites and hyper-sexualised. While the Polo shirt isn’t exactly considered a fashion item today (though it has been getting a modern-day makeover of late), it’s definitely found its rightful place: on the backs of finance guys and women who casually play tennis on the weekends.
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