2000-2009 Cheesy Pop and Reality Tv

In the early 2000s cheesy pop was still going strong but with new additions like Mcfly and Busted.

 These two bands were a blend of rock and pop and they had some pretty big hits between them like Five Colours in Her Hair,Obviously, What I go to school for and Year 3000.

 Mcfly's style was skater with mid length trousers with converse and oversized tees.

Busted's was more preppy with punk influences. Mcfly is still going but Busted split up.

While "McBusted were skater boys, Avril Lavigne  was a proper "sk8er" girl and her fashion showed this with fitted t shirts, loose trousers and glovelets. A punky- type fashion as it elements from the punk era in the 70s and added modern twists like the high top trainers and bleached hair.

On the other side of music there were stars like Justin Timberlake  who was a classy hip hop singer much improved from his NSYNC 90s heyday. 

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There were girl bands too like Destiny's Child (I'm a Survivor)  who were sassy and street over in the US. Over here was Atomic Kitten (Whole Again) who were preppy and the average girls next door,

unlike the Sugababes who dressed edgily and streetwise but their songs came across as pop.

There was also Amy Winehouse who with her gritty voice, sixties bouffant and her high heels she was an inspiration to many young girls.

Three big names came into view during the noughties and they were Katy Perry, Lady GaGa and Rihanna.

Katy Perry was very kitche with cake decorations on her dresses and tiny playsuits with sweets everywhere. Remember California Girls? that was her.

Lady Gaga was quite literally gaga her outfits were avant garde to say the least and you definitly would not miss her in a crowd.

Rihanna was very sassy and street wise with hip hop edge in the early year though she toned that down later.



 Now for some tears, this decade was known for famous deaths. In 2009 the king of pop Michael Jackson tragically passed away, the amount of his mourners topped the amount for Princess Diana in 1997. 
There was also Steve Irwin who was the legendary crocodile hunter. Marlon Brando of The Godfather fame in 2004 and Patrick Swayze who hopefully "had the time of his life" before his death in 2009.

On the 9th of September 2001 the entire world was shaken as terrorists hijacked 4 passenger planes and crashed them into the World Trade Centre (Twin Towers) in New York City, almost 3000 people lost their lives. Its now a renowned memorial day throughout the US and surrounding nations.

In 2008 Barack Obama ran for President of the USA and won.

He was the first black president of the 52 states. His First Lady Michelle like so many first ladies before her remains to be a solid fashion icon everywhere.

The noughties is widely known as the beginning of reality television.

First they started off with singing and talent shows like the X factor and the less popular Popstars the rivals (in which Girls Aloud was discovered).
This band was the starting point of Cheryl Tweedy/Cole.

There was also Big Brother a show which makes people celebrities for doing nothing and I'm a celebrity get me out of here in which the "celebrities" from Big Brother were forced to eat gross parts of animals on live tv.This of course is nothing to do with fashion just a bit of trivia.

A popular ongoing craze (it continues today) was the UGG boots. These were suede or faux sueade softly lined boots. They were comfy and could be worn with almost anything.

Simular to these...

 

Crocs were although comfy were in no way fashionable and the trend quickly died out and are now if ever worn by gardeners.

 

The development of the internet and the computer meant two new concepts that changed everything. Social networking and Google.

This meant that information on anything can be found quickly and efficiantly.

Disney channel which had been around since the late 80s was rebooted this decade when Hannah Montanna was introduced.

This meant that thousands of pre teens everywhere wanted to be a pop star all of a sudden and wore white and gold skinny jeans and zebra print tops and dresses. A very scary time.

Another fad began when the Twilight books were made into a film franchise teens everywhere were crazy about this supernatural romance. The films success was big although not a big as this...

In 2001 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was made and stormed through the box office leaving a trail of excited fans in its wake.

The Harry Potter journey ended in 2011 but has left a theme park and a warner brothers tour behind not to mention a still thriving pack of "Potterheads".

A few of the big chick flicks from the noughties included Bridget Jones' diary,

 there was also an all star cast in Love Actually a Christmas chick flick.  

In 2006 the Devil Wears Prada was released with a fresh New York take on fashion. There were couture outfits from Chanel, Prada and Valentino among others. this film showed how dramatic and life changing it could be to work in a high end fashion magazine with a terrifying boss.

1990-1999 The End of a Millenium

As far as decades go the 90s was a pretty bad one for fashion. An excellent one for music though. It continued the sportswear/ street wear blend from the 80s but added a whole bunch of other stuff.

As an example there was MC Hammer who brought in massively baggy trousers and wore them often.
Cheesy pop was going strong in the 90s like

 B*witched who were well known for river dancing in double denim.

Brit pop was going crazy.The country was divided  as a brit pop battle begun with Blur and Oasis. Blur was headed by Damon Albarn and were an alternative rock band with hits like Parklife and Country House.

 Oasis was another alternative rock band who sang songs like Wonderwall and Don't look back in anger. Both bands were grungey and casual. Which was reflected in their music.In the end Blur won the Brit best single with Country house.

There was also STEPS a Pete Waterman creation, the same guy that was behind Kylie Minougue and Jason Donavan back in the late 80s.


Over in America there was a massive uprising in boybands like Backstreet Boys and NSYNC who wore curtained hair and flannel in all of their videos check these out.

There was also a 16 year old Britney Spears who in her Debut wore pompommed bunches and a tied up school shirt.










The street hip hop style was still going espcially in America they wore baseball caps with oversized t shirts and baggy trousers.( this clip is from popular show The Fresh Prince of Bel Air which showed both the street style and the chic side of american living.)


If America wasn't hip hoppy they were preppy. This meant blazers and suits but with a girl or boy next door edge.
 In fact you could say that Rachel from Friends was quite preppy. Jennifer Aniston who played her also brought in a new hairstyle "the  Rachel" a hairstyle copied by almost every woman.

In 1995 the world was introduced to Clueless.
This fashion orientated film based upon Jane Austen's Emma showcased  tweed suits with knee high socks and creeper trainers and heels. The ultimate high school fashion.

In 1997 the world lost an icon and a friend when Princess Diana died in a car crash with her companion Dodi Al Fayed the world mourned and millions lined the streets to pay tribute to the people's princess.




Black dresses increased in popularity and were especially made famous when the then unknown Liz Hurley wore a risque safety pin Versace dress.

 She stole all the attention from her then partner Hugh Grant at the premiere of his film Four Weddings and a Funeral to his obvious annoyance.
Another reason black dresses rose in popularity was because of Posh Spice. The nineties was the era of Girl Power in the shape of the Spice girls.

Sporty, Scary, Posh, Ginger and Baby each had their own individual style and they were all fashion icon in their own right.

 Mel B (Scary) with her leopard print catsuits, Mel C (Sporty) with her tracksuits and cropped tops, Emma Bunton (Baby) with sweet dresses, Victoria Beckham (Posh) with the stilettos and little black dresses and of course "Ginger" Geri Halliwell with that union jack dress at the Brits.

Technology was advanced as well with dvds and the gameboy with games like Pokemon coming out the couch potato had begun.

Brit pop also continued with Take That these Manchester boys were the ultimate british pin up with their casual pop style.

When Robbie Williams quit the band he went on to have a teriffic solo career with hits like Angels, Let Me Entertain You and of course Millenium in 1998.

The 90s was great for films. There was Pretty Women with Julia Roberts in a tiny safety pin dress and thigh high boots. There was Toy Story the first computer animated feature film,an animated breakthrough.

Ghost was released in 1990 starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze. It made the song unchained Melody (originally from the 60s) popular again.

There was also a big tv show that started... SpongeBob Squarepants which helped launch Nickelodean and many childrens tv shows like PowerPuff Girls and others. Didn't help fashion but it kept the kids quiet.

Women's dresses changed when a new fashion campaign introduced underwear as outerwear. This meant that slip- type dresses were worn often these were often skimpy and had spagetti straps. The slip dresses have evolved into what we now know as body con dresses.

1980-1989 Society welcomes the Brat Pack

Thanks to Maggie Thatcher's election in 1979 power dressing for both men and women zoomed.  The average power dresser wore massive shoulder pads on jackets and coats and pencil skirts (that was just the women).

 Power Fashion is especially demonstrated in the TV drama Dynasty. Power dressing was made for impact and it definitly made one.

 Because of the introduction of MTV the 80s now had music videos which were the inspiration of many. 

Music introduced New Wave which incorporated  bands like Duran Duran (Hungry like the wolf), Adam Ant(Prince Charming) and Human League (Don't you want me). New wave fashion meant shirts and jackets with skinny ties and tailored trousers.

Music was a big deal in the 80s. Everyone wanted to be either Madonna or Michael Jackson with their groundbreaking music and fashion they were the icons of the time.

Madonna with her lacey punk image and MJ from his red leather jackets to his sharp suits and of course the single silver glove.

His legacy continues into today.

In 1985 Bob Geldof and Midge Ure created what is still one of the most influencial musics event ever LIVE AID.

This was a massive concert in order to help those in poverty. The concert included many of the big names of the decade like Bananarama, Boy George, George Michael and Phil Collins. 

Other big people in music included newcomer Kylie Minogue.

In her debut video Kylie has about a dozen costume changes and all are 80s trends from short dress and big perms to floral tops and skirts.

Another way music changed was the introduction of hip hop music. This was a fast street music style. Hip Hop singers Salt N Pepa influenced fashion as they were the first women rappers.

Their style was a mixture of street and sportswear which was also a major fashion obsession in the 80s.

Aside from worrying whether their perms were big enough the 80s had alot going on in the real world like the final fall of the

Berlin Wall bringing together long separated families and the death of peaceful warrior John Lennon.

There was also a royal wedding in 1982 Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in Westminster Abbey.

Princess Diana was a major fashion icon  her wedding dress was designed by the Emmanuels and included a 50 foot long train.
There was also a minors strike up north in which the minors wanted better pay and the government refused. The film Billy Elliot pays tribute to the minors in this troubled time.

 As well as perms there was also a big statement..MULLETS! The mullet was big at the front and straight at the back a statement that thankfully never returned to society.

Technology blossomed in this particular decade.

Brainboxes everywhere were thinking overtime. There was the computer, the internet.

Which led to video games like pacman. There was also the VHS video, the digital watch, the brick like mobile phones (which no business man or woman would be seen without) and the boombox.

The boombox meant that the street urchins of society could listen to their music on the go and look good doing it. Well at least they thought they looked good.

These people wore shell suits, rayban sunglasses (a new innovation) or leggings with sportswear or acid wash jeans.All of these fads were totally 80s and totally bad.

If you weren't a b-boy or girl then there was always grunge.

Grunge was baggy jeans, untied shirts and doc martens amongst other baggy street wear. It appeared in the late 80s and grew into the 1990s.Grunge bands included Nivanna with the infamous lead singer Kurt Cobain, never heard of Nivanna? you would have heard of Smells Like Teen Spirit the song that made their career.

Speaking of teens they happily took over the big screen. Most were known as the Brat pack an obvious play on the Rat pack.

The Brat pack included many young stars that are still well known like Demi Moore, (star of 90's classic tearjerker Ghost but more on that later).

The most prominent are stars like Emilio Estivez (brother of Charlie Sheen), Molly Ringwald stars of the teen flick The Breakfast Club along with Antony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson.

Each member of the Breakfast Club either the jock,the criminal, the princess, the brain or even the "basket case" had their own style of clothing.

There was also Michael J Fox star of the Back to the future trilogy where he wears fashion typical of the decade jeans,denim shirt, plaid shirt and of course the orange gilet mistakenly called a life preserver by the people in the fifties.

Along with the typical teen high school flicks there was also other teenage films like Footloose starring Kevin Bacon, Bill and Ted's excellent adventure a bodacious film starring a young Keanu Reeves 

 There was also active films like Fame and Flashdance these classics led to legwarmers and trainers being worn everywhere which of course endorsed the sportswear obsession.

 Although set in the early 1960s one of the best film moments was the final dance of Dirty Dancing the film was one of the highest grossing of the decade starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze

From the preppy happiness of these teen movies there came a darkly comic turn.

Tim Burton the legendary film director had arrived and with him he brought Beetlejuice (don't say his name too often!) as well as The first Batman film and many others that run into today.

 A few of his well known projects include Edward Scissorhands and the more modern Alice in Wonderland and Nightmare before Christmas. His cult following have a grungy gothic-y feel typical of the 80s.

The rock stars of the eighties also brought in poodle haircuts bands like Bon Jovi and Brian May from Queen recognised the fad and became known as poodle rockers.

The 80s are summed up in this 90s song by EuroPop band Aqua.

1970-1979 Dancing Queens and Saturday Night Fever

1960-1969 Peace Out Dude

The 1960s a decade full of shift dresses, mods, rockers and general pyschedelic madness.

Continuing from the pastel fifties the sixties were brighter by far. Mary Quant a fashion designer introduced the mini skirt whose hem lines would have made Victorians faint.

Quant also brought out the hotpants which having brought the victorians out of their stupor would've instantly clocked them out again. These "thigh" raising shorts were completly original and completly altered the British fashion community.

The sixties also brought in The Beatles if you haven't heard of these people where have you been the last 50 decades!

These 4 Brit boys had a mop top hair cut and had many top ten hits including Hey Jude and Yellow Submarine. In the Beatles there was one young Liverpudlian name of John Lennon, this peace keeper was a massive influence in many peoples lives. 

There was also Paul McCartney whose daughter Stella is a fashion designer who shall be mentioned  later on in the 1990s.

The sixties also brought out the flower power. The hippie movement was massively endorsed in this decade. This meant tie- dyed  everything form t shirts to socks(probably).

The free love (and drugs) are what led to the abstract prints that we always link to this wild era. 

Segregation was pushed to its limit in America it was so much so that black men, women and children had to use separate transportation and school until the Civil rights movement in the  mid 60s.  A well known ambassador for civil rights was Martin Luther King who expressed his views in a moving speech entitled I Have A Dream.

 

In the film Hairspray set in the early sixties there is mash ups of both fifties and sixties teaming geometric prints and gogo boots with poofy skirts.

Teens developed the vamp look from the 20s and turned it into the ultimate big eyed model like their idol Twiggy.

The improved look meant false eyelashes, heavy eye makeup and pale lips as well as the bob haircut.

Introducing the mods and rockers a gang fight that lasted 10 years. The mods rode scooters and wore tailored suits with thin ties teamed with parkas for suit protection.

The mods also prefered to get their clothes from the sixties hang out Carnaby Street in London.

The rockers however wore leather jackets and jeans and rode racing motorcycling. Reminisent of the fifties film Grease.

In 1969 man first landed on the moon this led to many space inspired tv programmes such as Star Trek and Doctor Who. These combined led to amazing dreams of the future.

Movies were changed as well there was infamous director Alfred Hitchcock who did  horror films like Psycho and The Birds. There was also such movies as Breakfast at Tiffanys with Audrey Hepburn with that iconic opening scene. I know it's branded as a 50s era film but it was actually released in 1961 so it has elements of the 50s and 60s combined. 

There was hope for aspiring spies everywhere when 007 came into cinemas everywhere. With his exquistely tailored suits and a "shaken not stirred" martini, not to mention his way with the women James Bond was the man's icon.

The sixties like its predecessor the fifties was a good year for musicals Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Oliver! and West Side Story were renowned all over for their catchy songs (all together now "supercalifragilisticexpealidocious....")

There was also the less well known Hair.

 This brought out the hippie movement and was full to bursting with pyschedelic prints.

The movie business mourned one of their own when in 1962 Marilyn Monroe died of a suspected drug overdose she had a great career of movies and songs and was greatly linked with the husband of this woman,

 Jackie Kennedy was the First Woman of the USA meaning she was married to the President.

She endorsed pill box hats and pastel suits. The President in question was of course John F Kennedy who was a decent ruler although apparently somebody didn't agree, he was killed in 1963.

The music in the sixties evolved from the fifties into a more rockier version of rock n roll.

Bands like The Who, Pink Floyd who played pychedelic rock and others like The Rolling Stones (who just couldn't seem to get any satisfaction) and Beach Boys who were surf rock.

Most of these bands could be seen playing at the Woodstock festival a popular annual hippie gig.  

There were other new musical people as well like Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and  Dolly Parton who made country singing popular.