The Best & BIGGEST of The Decade: Fashion

STREETWEAR
T-shirts, faded jeans, and rare kicks ruled the decade. The whole baggy clothing thing died. Nike Air Force 1’s, lame. Labels like The Hundreds, Crooks & Castles, A Bathing Ape, and 10.Deep became extremely popular while the sneaker culture exploded. It wasn’t uncommon to see hundreds of people lined up outside clothing boutiques awaiting the release of the next big thing. Sites like Hypebeast, Highsnobiety, and Karmaloop became the talk of the town as kids hit the Internet for the latest on their favorite brands. Expect the trend to continue, especially with PFOP clothing around the corner (just sayin’).

UGGS
The iPod of the fashion world. What girl doesn’t have a pair of these hideous boots? Originally designed for pilots in World War I who wanted to remain warm in unpressurized planes, the UGG boot became a major fashion trend in the United States throughout the decade. Ugly but comfortable, these awful excuses for footwear (I’m kidding but come on) are available in just about any color including pink for those of you who love rockin’ dirty shoes.

ACCESSORIES
Sunglasses, hats, jewelry, belts, bags, coin pouches, scarves, leggings, and even bow ties made major comebacks this past decade. I remember dangling my LV coin pouch from my jeans a few times. I’m pretty accessories will continue to be fashion staples in 2010 and beyond.

ACTIVISM
One of the great things fashion can do is unite people and bring attention to major world issues. Remember those yellow Livestrong bracelets? Everyone had one. While I’m sure some of you just wore them for the look, they were intended to raise money for cancer research, raise cancer awareness, and encourage people to live life to the fullest. Along with the Livestrong campaign, RED clothing as well as Darfur and Che Guevara t-shirts were hot ticket items. Celebrities like Bono and Bill Gates often got involved in sponsoring these products, increasing awareness on a monumental scale.

KNOCK-OFFS
Just take a stroll through Chinatown in New York and you’ll see exactly why this makes my top five. From fake Louis Vuitton, Gucci, BBC, Bape, and Polo, you can get it all for a fraction of the price. Both companies and customers have a love-hate relationship with the whole illegal practice as it undervalues yet spreads the brand image. As more and more legal action is being taken to combat knock-offs, don’t expect to see fake products too much longer.