Low Cut Jeans

It is 31 December 1999 and I am in a smoky sea of whistling revellers whooping in the new millennium. The fashion uniform is all fat trainers, baggy jeans, short haircuts and skimpy tops; there isn't a pair of leggings, six-inch heels or designer handbag in sight– the only accessory needed is a bottle of mineral water. In hindsight it all seems quite sweet and naïve – I mean, besides the smoking indoors, that is. But really, looking back then, who knew the decade of outrageous excess that was awaiting us. From low-rise hipster jeans and ironed-straight hair to giant shoulder pads and fierce make-up, fashion in the noughties has taken some seriously interesting turns. Here's a whistle stop tour of the top 20 most notable trends of the decade…


1. Boyfriend blazers


If there is one item that's summed up the last year in fashion it would have to be the slouchy androgynous blazer that is being worn by everyone from Alexa Chung (right) to Daisy Lowe right now.


2. Low-rise bootcut jeans


It all started with the low-rise bumpster jean and I blame Britney. At the turn of the year 2000 this fresh-faced, lean torso-ed pop rocket (pre-K-Rod and waaay before slummy mummyhood) was at the height of her powers.


Suddenly everyone wanted out of the baggy jeaned and combatted look epitomised by All Saints in the '90s, and into this popstrel's world of the how-low-can-you-go hipsters. A generation of blonde, fake-tanned, g-string-flashing trendsters was born.


3. Designer jeans


But it wasn't enough to buy your jeans at River Island or Awear just then; suddenly there was a spike in designer jeans awareness, with brands such as Earl, Seven for all Mankind and Blue Cult all coming to the fore. Remember Victoria Beckham's bling-tastic Rock (right) and Republic jeans with their diamond encrusted insignia and their €300 price tag? That just about summed it up.


4. Oversized corsages, nameplate necklaces and designer shoes


Sex and the City has a lot to answer for when it comes to noughties fashion – not only did Jimmy Choo and Manola Blahnik quickly become household names, customising and accessorising outfits became de rigeur as girls struggled to out-do themselves in the general Carrie Bradshaw corsage, vintage look cardi and jewellery wearing stakes. SATC gave licence to everyone to lust after expensive labels and excessive wardrobes.


5. Poker straight hair


GHD straighteners were launched in 2001 and soon became every office girl's best friend as hair was flattened and smoothed to Rachel Bilson-style sleekness.


6. Ugg boots and juicy couture tracksuits


In the early noughties, as we became more and more obsessed with dressing up and looking super-polished in our pointy boots or heels and hipster jeans, a new on-duty off-duty look stepped into the breach where baggy jeans and club gear had once held strong: this was the yummy mummy designer tracksuit and Ugg boot look. Originally favoured by Fergie and J-Lo, then Colleen Rooney, ironically it is now the uniform of choice for 14-year-olds all over the country.


7. Boho chic


Think Glastonbury 2004 and Sienna Miller's festival fashion wardrobe. All peasant tops and tunics, floppy hats and folkloric dresses, this boho-hippy look didn't take long to go mainstream and soon everybody was getting down with their tassled Pocahontas boots, gypsy skirts and jingly jangly bracelets. Summer of love or what?


8. The skinny silhouette


And speaking of the influence of music on fashion, with the rise of indie rock there was a definite move away that Blur-Oasis football terrace look of the '90s for men and into a more streamlined silhouette. Hedi Slimane, creative director at Dior, might have put the sharp-fitting suit and cardigan on the map but skinny jeans, skinny ties and pointy shoes were down to bands such as The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand doing their thing.


9. Smocks and tunics


Meanwhile for women, as clothes became tight-fitting on the bottom, voluminous dresses and tops became the thing to wear on top. Every shape from the tent to the trapeze was embraced with other clownish retro references such as bell sleeves, ruffle necks and giant patterns thrown in for extra impact. A nation of non-pregnant pregnancy-clothes wearers were born.


10. The galaxy dress


Is this the dress that defined the decade? It certainly heralded the body con and slim-fitting looks that we are favouring now, although when it launched in 2005 we were all still getting used to our smock dresses and cocoon shapes. Just two months before Roland Mouret split from his backers and lost the rights to his label, this super-flattering sheath dress was billed by Vogue as "the dress of the season" and for a brief time it was seen on everybody from Demi Moore to Cameron Diaz and Sienna Miller to, er, Carol Vorderman.


11. Kate Moss


It's hard now to picture a time when we didn't love our skinnies and leggings but at the dawn of this decade it was all about the elongating bootleg cut, remember? As the noughties wore on, though, the skinny-jean brigade soon gained steam, with poster-girl Kate Moss – then girlfriend of Libertines lead singer Pete Doherty – leading the way.


12. The rise and rise of the it bag


Bags stayed on the up as women continued to flex their hard-earned (or hard-borrowed) financial muscle. Every few weeks there seemed to be a new It bag to drool over – think back to the 2001 Balenciaga 'City' Motorcycle bag, the 2002 Mulberry 'Bayswater' and the 2006 Chloe padlock bag. Other big 'names' were the Alexander McQueen 'Novak' (named for Kim Novak) and the Marc Jacobs 'Stam'.


13. Huge shades, huge handbags


And as the spend, spend, spend generation became more and more obsessed with accessories and their wardrobes so too did the size and expense of said accessories increase. (The Chloe Paddington bag weighed several kilos even when empty.) Everything from sunglasses to handbags became oversized, so much so that soon fashion followers were all looking like Rachel Zoe's troupe of LA 'zoe-bots' Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Ritchie and Mischa Barton.


14. Ballet flats, havaianas, converse, gladiators


While SATC-influenced hooker heels were the thing for most of the noughties (and OTT shoes have come back in a big way now), as the decade moved on women started to relax on the feet front, with ballet flats (below) and gladiator sandals becoming more and more the look. Other flat-footed friends followed, with Havaiana flip-flops and Converse trainers rising high in the style stakes.


15. The 'it' scarf


As the noughties wore on and '80s-influenced fashion started to take hold, the forgotten trend for keffiyah scarves was revived and suddenly everyone was wearing one. This trend soon morphed into the later noughties trend for the 'It scarf' – as started by the leopard print, camouflage or bright pink rose versions in classic monogrammed prints by Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton.


16. All about the '80s


But while pop stars did retro '50s and '60s, the real kids on the street were embracing the '80s as neon, ripped denim, bi-level haircuts, leggings and you name it were embraced by whole new legions of fans. Enter Agyness Deyn as the face of nu-rave club culture.


17. Rayban aviators


Original aviators had been around for some time – they were originally launched in 1936 – but most of us associate them with Tom Cruise in his Top Gun days. Which is why they were quite a surprise fashion revival when they became hip again circa 2006, blowing their Chanel bug-eyed competitors out of the water. But it's that '80s thing again.


18. The prom dress


Come 2007 there were a slew of celebrity and high street design collaborations, with Lily Allen's collection of prom dresses for New Look one of the most notable. Both Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse's style compass for vintage girly looks worn with a rock-chicky insouciance came into focus, as did Duffy's old-fashioned figure hugging dresses, high-waisted trousers and 50s sailor tops.


19. Fake chanel and real chanel


Speaking of Chanel, this was another big fashion obsession of the mid to late noughties. Whether you bought into the real thing and went after that original 2.55 bag (seriously expensive, serious fashion kudos) or went the whole highstreet chain bag, black-and-white pumps and pearls route, it's a trend that just couldn't be avoided.


20. Future fashion


A word to describe the mood in fashion on the brink of 2010? It has to be 'fierce'. Having taken the '80s thing to the extreme, it is now all about hard-edged glamour and bold, punky looks. Get ready for a new decade of seriously powerful, seriously power-shouldered up women! Goodbye Wags, hello future!