The Department: a podcast about trends. - 2000’s Trends: The Terrible 2000’s - Celebutante Culture, Rash of Reality TV, Juicy Couture, Uggs, Ghastly Gossip

2000’s Trends: The Terrible 2000’s - Celebutante Culture, Rash of Reality TV, Juicy Couture, Uggs, Ghastly Gossip

01/19/21 • 110 min

So the 2000s or Early Aughts was a super defining time period - personal cell phones, texting, the internet - all were blowing up in the early Aughts - Friendster was at the beginning of the decade- Myspace was in the mid part and Facebook at the end - and fashion and trends were even more riveting.

What is interesting to note is that the trends of the early 2000s are coming back for the younger generations and Gen Z is embracing this millennium - as comfort watching of old 2000 shows has been trending the likes of the OC, Gossip Girl, and Hannah Montana and being watched more than ever. Because of that - the kids are crushing on the fashion trends in those shows - That’s right Juicy Couture, Uggs, low rise jeans and even trucker hats are seen trending again as nostalgia continues to influence.

Cult of Celebutantes

2000 saw a huge, I might say, obsession for the Celebutante. The celebutante is essentially a celebrity who is just "famous for being famous" or often a " trust fund baby. ": Young and in their twenties, fashionable, and notorious party girls who are members of "high-class" society due to family fortunes. These females fall into the realm of 'celebrity-for-the-sake-of-celebrity" or "socialite-heiress-turned-celebrity". They are America’s princesses - with massive fortune’s behind them. So we are talking about Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, the Kardashians....then there are some Celebutantes that had some talent and were actresses or pop stars like Lindsay Lohan and Britany most notoriously. And what is most interesting is the amount of power they had to define trends and the American consumer behavior as well as lifestyles because of the sheer amount of press that came out about them. Often not for great things- Paris rose to mass popularity in 2003 after the release of her sex tape. Lohan for her antics. People loved them and loved to hate them. They had lavish lifestyles and partied constantly - the drama, the excitement and then the reality tv shows all fueled the demand.

Rise and Rash of Reality

Now the idea of reality television did not *begin* in the 2000s...we can all remember The Real World and Road Rules from MTV in the 90s...as well as all kinds of other spin offs that were less successful. The televised OJ Simpson trial (and all of the other media around it) could arguably be considered the first time “reality television” was being created for the masses....well not the FIRST.

In the 1970s, PBS sort of launched the idea of ‘Reality Television’ with a show called An American Family.

The show, or more specifically the twelve-hour documentary series, followed the lives of the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California for the span of seven months.
Over the span of this twelve part series “viewers watched dramatic life events unfold, including Pat asking for a separation from her husband Bill, and the bohemian New York lifestyle of their gay son, Lance”
The Loud family quickly captivated the hearts of America because it showed them a version of their own reality.

The Splash of Survivor

So by 2000, television producers saw that there was an appetite for reality shows. After all The Real World was still bringing in viewers, Cops and all the related “crime” shows were very popular, and game shows, when you think about it are also reality shows, and people loved those. And thus Survivor was born.

Survivor was wildly successful. And it sort of legitimized this idea of reality television as mainstream, major network programming. Previously reality programming was reserved for cable (or PBS). But networks saw that millions of people would watch these shows. And they were so much cheaper to make than a regular scripted show! For example, a single episode of Lost (a major hit of the aughts) cost $14 million to make. Reality shows were significantly cheaper.

From here entire cable networks grew based on reality TV: The Learning Channel became TLC, it spun off lots of other channels. VH1 and MTV shifted from you know, music videos, to reality shows all the time!

How Reality Launched Celebrity

Obviously we have to start with the queens of the celebutantes, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie, who became household names and fashion icons with their MTV reality show The Simple Life, which ran for five years.

The BFFs holed up in small-town America, working a series of average-Joe jobs for five seasons. The key “comedy” of the show was watching these two spoiled rich girls doing a variety of extremely un-socialite-like tasks, from milking cows to working drive-thrus—it also birthed their iconic catchphrases “that’s hot” and Loves it.”
Paris Hilton came from an extreme amount of generational wealth (as did Nicole Ritchie) so it’s hard to say what her life would have been like without The Sim...

Cult of Celebutantes

Rise and Rash of Reality

In the 1970s, PBS sort of launched the idea of ‘Reality Television’ with a show called An American Family.

The show, or more specifically the twelve-hour documentary series, followed the lives of the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California for the span of seven months.
Over the span of this twelve part series “viewers watched dramatic life events unfold, including Pat asking for a separation from her husband Bill, and the bohemian New York lifestyle of their gay son, Lance”
The Loud family quickly captivated the hearts of America because it showed them a version of their own reality.

The Splash of Survivor

How Reality Launched Celebrity

The BFFs holed up in small-town America, working a series of average-Joe jobs for five seasons. The key “comedy” of the show was watching these two spoiled rich girls doing a variety of extremely un-socialite-like tasks, from milking cows to working drive-thrus—it also birthed their iconic catchphrases “that’s hot” and Loves it.”
Paris Hilton came from an extreme amount of generational wealth (as did Nicole Ritchie) so it’s hard to say what her life would have been like without The Sim...

Previous Episode

Color Trends (pt 2): The Passion of Millennial Pink, Gen Z Color Trends, Kindercore + Wonderful Wiggly Design

Amanda and Kim take a deeper look into some more color trends that define us this episode!

As previously mentioned in 2016 Pantone, for the first time ever, chose TWO Colors of the Year: Rose Quartz (aka millennial pink) and Serenity (a lavender blue). Last episode we mentioned that Pantone wasn’t the forerunner anymore on trend - as Millennial Pink had been pervasive for a few years now.

Pantone credits the blurring of gender for the choice - not mentioning the obvious obsession with the color: According to Pantone.”In many parts of the world we are experiencing a gender blur as it relates to fashion, which has in turn impacted color trends throughout all other areas of design."

Amanda points out that these colors weren’t necessarily groundbreaking. These colors were also used together frequently in the early age of the internet, found in both the Prodigy guidebook and the America Online welcome page.

Rose Quartz (aka millennial pink) became the color of a generation, with Serenity as its sort of second runner up.

Millennial Pink, also known as “Tumblr Pink” and “Scandi Pink” is not the same as Barbie pink, which was the pink shade of the aughts. This was a softer, less aggressive shade....some considered it a modern take on the color.

New York magazine did an exhaustive, almost too dry article>> on the history of millennial pink citing here in a lot of her research. The New York Mag fashion editor Amy Larocca said, “often when Pantone declares Marsala Red or Radiant Orchid to be the next color to watch, we shrug knowingly, fully expecting to see that shade on shelves but not expecting it to invade our consciousness.”

But millennial pink was different...it really did invade every aspect of clothing, graphic design, interior design, product design....it became a signature of the “blanding” aesthetic (refer to our episode on Blanding for MORE!)

In November of 2014, the Color Marketing Group, a worldwide nonprofit color-forecasting group of which Pantone is a member, picked Shim, a deep pink-beige, as the 2016 emerging color (the group works two years in advance). It’s an early version of Millennial Pink. The Asia-Pacific members of the group are the first to notice the color and say that it represents a change in gender roles; the name Shim is a play on she and him. Mark Woodman, the former president of CMG, calls the color a “moment of quietude” and explains that “there’s so much stress that people think, What can I do in color and texture that I can take with me that gives me a moment to calm down?

That same year, #palepink is the top used pink-related hashtag on Tumblr...a place that virtually birthed the pastel aesthetic! And I would say that the kids of Tumblr really lead the this paste revolution with all of the pastel aesthetic blogs, pastel goth.

Every brand--whether it’s clothing, kitchen goods, furniture, you name it...has gotten into the millennial pink game at some point. ...but strangely none of the big car companies have? WHAT A MISS. Probably why Millennials aren’t buying cars! (please refer to our episode on Millennials Killing things ;).

Traditionally considered a color of our youth -or femme girl icons like Paris Hilton, Leagally Blonde or House Bunny - it became popular beyond age, gender or taste. Fuelled by nostalgia and trend the color took over in a massive way.

But millennial pink had a different, androgynous vibe. It was considered the “genderless mascot” of a generation. It’s also flattering and easy on the eyes, which doesn’t hurt!

A few years ago Amanda read an amazing interview with one of her favorite bands, a Japanese girl band called Chai, who uses pink very heavily in its imagery and outfits! This quote from member Yuki really stuck with her: “In Japan, most girls like pink when they’re little. There is this cultural understanding that when you’re a young girl, you can wear pink, but as you grow older, pink is not the color for you. What we are trying to say is that pink is for everybody at every age. We wanted people to know it’s a cool color and it shows woman power. Our pink outfits show we’re not just cute: This is what cool women wear.”

People would ask...why pink? A traditionally polarizing color!

In 1918, the trade publication Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department published an article saying, “The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls.”
While this shade of pink is not new, it’s invasion of our consciousness and our surroundings began in earnest in 2013...so Amanda wanted to call out some iconic millennial pink moments:

Glossier! It’s packaging, it’s products, the jumpsuits that its employees wear in th...

Next Episode

undefined - 2000’s Trends: The Terrible 2000’s - Reign of Raunch, Tacky, Trashy & Tattooed, Blue Collar Irony, Relentless Rhinestone, + Von Dutch, Ed Hardy, Affliction, Swarovski & Rock of Love

2000’s Trends: The Terrible 2000’s - Reign of Raunch, Tacky, Trashy & Tattooed, Blue Collar Irony, Relentless Rhinestone, + Von Dutch, Ed Hardy, Affliction, Swarovski & Rock of Love

We are going back in time to the 2000s again this week as the second episode in the series featuring what we like to consider The Terrible 2000’s. Last week we reminisced about the Celebutantes, rise of Reality TV and gross gossip blogs and the trends around Juicy Couture and Uggs. This week we are going to uncover some slightly different but vaguely overlapping territory and discuss Blue Collar to Bling and Raunch Culture.

Blue Collar to Bling Culture

Christian Audigier was a legend. He is essentially the man behind two of the trendiest, tackiest brands of the Aughts - Von Dutch and Ed Hardy. He figured out early on how to play the game with celebrities and knew that the American consumer at this time liked it maximal and ironic.

So Audigier was a french-born designer and mega marketer. His first hit was Von Dutch which he was hired to join a few years into the brand..... I assume you all remember Von Dutch - it was adorned by all the glitterati back in the early aughts - it really ignited in 2003 and hit max velocity over 10 months and flamed out in 2004. Which goes to show how quickly trends were moving then - all through these gossip and celebrity magazines, reality tv and online blogs.

Von Dutch’s Von Dominance

So a bit of back story on Von Dutch for some context - Kenneth Hughes is considered the father of the 1960’s Kustom Kar craze and set up his first pinstriping studio in 1951 - he developed this technique called pinstriping which is the freehand painting of fine lines in symmetrical motifs. Hughes painted flames that became the signature of the uniquely Southern California car subculture. These “pinstripes” were a distinctive decorative feature of 1950s bodywork in the USA, and over time have become a traditional ingredient of Kustom Kulture. Tall, blond and headstrong, he gave himself the moniker “Von Dutch” in reference to the expression “stubborn as a Dutchman”.

He met with immediate success. Von Dutch became the go-to guy for customizing motorbikes and automobiles. Some clients even shipped vehicles from New York City to be Kustomised. It is to be noted that Hughes is a known racist and neo-nazi. He was apparently a real piece of work.

After his death in the 1990’s his daughters sold the "Von Dutch" name to two LA entrepreneurs hoping to open a business for hot rod enthusiasts. Von Dutch embraced this Kustom Kulture rockabilly trend and in 1999 launched with greaser style jeans, tees and motorcycle jackets as well as the infamous “Trucker Hat” that was inspired by the car and auto shops. In 2000 they opened their first store on Melrose - but it wasn’t until 2002 when they hired designer Christian Audigier - who had a background working at Diesel and American Eagle - did the brand take off. Audegier is quoted in 2008 saying "I met Britney Spears in the street, she wore the first (Von Dutch) baseball cap. Three days later, I met Justin Timberlake in a nightclub and gave him a cap to wear too," Audigier recalls.

"Three weeks later they split up and were featured on the cover of People magazine wearing those two hats." They were essentially walking billboards getting chased by paparazzi and the brand blew up quiet immediately after that.

In 2003 Justin Timberlake wore the Von Dutch Trucker to Grammy night parties. Fred Durst, Ashton Kutcher and other Hollywood types followed suit, and pretty soon the trucker hat had become a kind of anti-status status symbol. Or, at prices that go from $42 to $125, maybe a faux anti-status symbol. By 2014 and after being paraded around on all the celebrities in paparazzi shots and on Paris in the Simple life the brand hit the mainstream. It took roughly 10 months for that to happen - with archaic cell phones, glossy mags and Friendster.

The LA Times reported back in 2004: Each design is limited to a run of 1,000, which helps fuel demand (the Beanie Baby factor). On EBay last year (aka 2003), more than 20 Von Dutch hats sold for $900-plus.

LA Times reported that - Although the truckers’ hats are the most visible of Von Dutch’s products, the company does more sales volume in jeans, which cost $145 to $320. The company’s sales have risen from $1 million in 2001 to roughly $33 million in 2003.

I think it essentially was derived from the 1990’s insane swing dance craze that evolved into a rockabilly and then the massive embracement of blue-collar iconography and essentially Class Appropriation like PBR (I am going to get into PBR in the next episode) - The white tank top or “wife-beater”, Tattoos, and the Trucker Hat.

Now the trucker hat was pulled from rural and mechanic shops - They were originally given away at truck s...