Let’s flash-back to the past, say, the early 2000’s. Life was simple- no real responsibilities, no perception of reality, some of us probably didn’t even know the days of the week, and yet, fashion was upon us. I’m talking Crocs, Silly Bandz, and Justice graphic tees. The trends didn’t just stop at daily attire- Smencils could be seen in use all across your elementary school campus, and your afternoons consisted of playing mangala and hosting igloo parties on Club Penguin (RIP). However, with the fast-paced and unforgiving nature of today’s fashion industry, it’s easy to lose track of what’s considered “trendy” and what’s not. Adidas Superstars died back in March, but if you blinked twice you would’ve missed the memo. Flash-forward to 2017, and you’ll find teens scrolling through Instagram and walking around sporting pairs of clout goggles or wearing overpriced, ill-fitting mom jeans.
Whether you consider yourself a trend-follower or not, you’re guaranteed to have witnessed a couple of these questionable trends that consumed our childhood years.
First up on my list is Crocs, specifically Croc charms- those little rubber buttons that were meant to be pushed through the holes to add your own flair and a bit of pizzazz to your otherwise dull and uniformly-colored Crocs. Referred to as “jibbitz” by the Crocs company themselves, these playful pins were all the rage back in the day, with designs ranging from simple flowers to Disney characters.
However, when I think of the early 2000s trends, Silly Bandz come to mind. I specifically remember when these highly-prized bangles gained news coverage due to their insane popularity (and the rashes they caused that sent students to the school nurse, but I digress). It had gotten to the point where people were wearing Silly Bandz stacked past their forearms, simply to show off and bask in the pride of their unreasonable quantity of bracelets.
Most of us weren’t hooked on Youtube yet, so we resorted to various online and Nintendo DS games to occupy our surpluses of free time. My favorites were Club Penguin, Bearville, and Poptropica, all of which were played while I racked up hefty phone bills with my six hour long conversations using my house phone, because how else was I supposed to coordinate my best friends and I’s DJ dance-off on Club Penguin? When it came to Nintendo, cult classics included Nintendo Dogs, Cooking Mama, and my personal favorite: Style Savvy. Nowadays, entertainment-based trends never fail to be based off of Netflix’s hottest new series, or Twitter’s latest meme.
Let’s talk about school-wide trends that managed to manipulate and brainwash all of our tiny minds. For example, the ducks- those mini, rubber, yellow ducks that came in a number of varieties. Doctor duck, fairy duck, duck-wearing-a-colorful-spinny-hat duck. You’d collect them all and hide them inside your desk during class. Who remembers the Scholastic Book Fair and Coke or Pepsi books? And it seemed as if everyone went through a period where they were obsessed with “cootie-catchers”, the self-made paper contraptions that were sure to give you an accurate reading regarding your future.
What would constitute “trends” naturally spread like wild-fire in elementary school, with it being such a close-knit environment, limited to less than a thousand students. Though I can definitely find similarities between today’s trends and those of the early 2000s, they are distinctly different in the way that trends nowadays don’t seem to get as overwhelmingly popular and last for longer periods of time. As teenagers in high school, most of us tend to incorporate our own unique style into everything we do, wear, and produce, and this results in a more diffused blend of “trend culture,” making it an interesting comparison to the trends that consumed us as primary school students.
What would constitute “trends” naturally spread like wild-fire in elementary school, with it being such a close-knit environment, limited to less than a thousand students. Though I can definitely find similarities between today’s trends and those of the early 2000s, they are distinctly different in the way that trends nowadays don’t seem to get as overwhelmingly popular and last for longer periods of time. As teenagers in high school, most of us tend to incorporate our own unique style into everything we do, wear, and produce, and this results in a more diffused blend of “trend culture,” making it an interesting comparison to the trends that consumed us as primary school students.