i think one of the most important things about the 2000s was the shopping culture. so many great clothing brands existed back then- since trends tended to be more long-term, as opposed to the microtrends we have now, people were much more divided- so you have a lot of visibly different subcultures within the decade, if you look at it from a fashion perspective.
i stated in my about page that my favorite subculture is McBling. the glam, the hedonistic ideals, the BRANDS!!! i live for it all. and yes, there is a lot of money-spending involved. yes i am flat broke and still addicted to thrifting new pieces. but we won't get into that, for my sake...
of course this just HAD to be the first brand i mention! Juicy Couture is arguably one of the most iconic brands to come out of the 2000s. their invention story went a little something like this:
Once upon a time in a land far, far away called Pacoima
there were two nice girls who liked stuff
Juicy Couture swept the land & they lived happily ever after
isn't that so cute? the two nice girls are named Pam and Gela; they founded the brand in the late 90s and only sold jeans until a few years later. fun fact: their clothing tags were labeled "Love, P&G" from the early 2000s until 2005, when Proctor & Gamble sued them LMAOOO. they then switched the initials to "Love, G&P" and that stuck until they sold the brand in 2012.
moving on, there's a whole community dedicated to collecting their old pieces. check out r/JuicyCouture! i am part of that community (from a distance, lol). a relative of mine used to work for them, so i was given a tracksuit and various little trinkets like a journal that says "My Juicy Thoughts" on it.
besides those items, i have a pretty sweet collection of vintage Juicy (which has expanded exponentially since i made this page). to prevent this from requiring frequent updates, i'll put it this way - i have an insane amount of vintage Juicy bags and tracksuits.
their old items were so creative- personally, i believe Juicy's out-of-the-box ideas made a huge impact on the clothing industry. i'll definitely be collecting for a long time to come.
i don't actually know too much about this brand, but i have SO. MANY. CLOTHES FROM THEM. Google tells me that Bebe was invented by a guy named Manny Mashouf in 1976. it's named after the Hamlet quote 'to be or not to be', which is kinda funny.
Bebe makes more "sophisticated" clothes, but still falls into the McBling subculture because they mostly designed club wear. the brand was popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s because of that, but i personally love their Bebe Sport line (gorgeous tracksuits galore!).
and i can't forget the iconic rhinestone tee with "bebe" spelled out on the front. all the people i wanted to be like had one. guess the brand lives up to its name in that sense...
A&F and Hollister have to be two of my favorite brands by far, ignoring all the... weird... stuff, lol. watch the White Hot documentary on Netflix (or illegally like i did)- it's very insightful and kind of freaked me out.
Abercrombie & Fitch/A&F was founded in 1892, but became extremely popular in the early 2000s for its "Casual Luxury" tagline and style. my understanding is that, if you didn't own A&F clothes and you were in high school during the 2000s, you were not cool. like Juicy Couture, it walked a line between "cheap enough for a normal person to afford" and "wait what do you mean i have to spend my entire paycheck on one hoodie".
Hollister/HCO is their slightly cheaper/beachier sister, founded in 1922 2001. Laguna Beach (the show, not the place- or maybe both?) made HCO pretty huge. i can definitely recall knocking into a clothing display or two in the stores because it was too dark to see anything, and honestly, that hasn't changed much. not that i mind.
HCO and A&F have made a lot of the cutest, best quality clothes i own. Hollister made really great low-rise jeans that fit me perfectly, and i've got a fur-lined hoodie from Abercrombie that i never want to take off every time i wear it. and remember, kids: if you thrift, you don't have to support big brands financially #yay
just like their store's banner says: life is PINK is life! i had to save the best for last.
PINK was founded in 2003 as a more lively, young spin on the Victoria's Secret brand. it is probably the most well-known "McBling brand" because of their foldover yoga pants. i mentioned i have a collection, which grows and shrinks every so often. i think i've owned around 20 different pairs. besides their yoga pants, i love their old henley tops because of the DEEEEPPP v-neck. pair it with a lace cami (i get mine from Walmart) and you've got an outfit, baby!
modern PINK sucks. they remodeled my local store to the plain-Jane Lululemon-style thing. the brand used to have a very flashy, in-your-face collegiate aesthetic, which i love and miss very much. i don't collect vintage PINK as much as i used to, but i take great care of the pieces i do have, and would still love to get some old store displays... hmm, maybe some more clothing hangers. you could feel the aura from 10 stores away in the mall- PINK was always decked out with furniture, polka-dot mannequins, and bright LED displays. that's probably what made me want to go in there so badly.
when i was young (similar to A&F), if you didn't own at least one bra or shirt or something from PINK, you were not cool. i was never allowed to shop there (not cool) and of course as soon as i have freedom, they change the entire style. ANYWAYYYYS.
their fragrances still hit, at least! Fresh & Clean has gotta be top ten scents ever. i would give anything for PINK to bring back the Light Me Up lotion, because i had a bottle of it years ago and i would give anything to sniff the nostalgia. did that sound weird? probably. i still mean it, though.