The mid-2000's: the era of the gauchos, layered camis, rolled sweat pants, track suits, and faux-Birkenstocks. Ladies, if you were between the ages of 11 and 14 during this era, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It was a dark time in all of our wardrobes; most of the pictures taken during this period of my life are now --thankfully-- gone. I'm pretty sure I "Good Will"-ed all of it once 2009 rolled around. Here's to you 2000's, in all of your awkward, ill-fitting, middle-school glory.
1. Gauchos
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Are they pants? Are they a skirt? Nah, man. They're both.
2. Capri Sweat Pants
Remember when these were socially acceptable? Every girl at my middle school wore these not-quite pants, not-quite-capri, rolled-up sweat pants in a rainbow of bizarre colors. If they didn't say "PINK" on the butt, you weren't doing it right.
3. Velour Tracksuits
These were made for those days when you just needed to be in head to toe purple or aqua, fuzzy ridiculousness. If your tracksuit was actually from Juicy and not the junior section at Kohls, you were really cool.
4. Camis, Camis, Camis
I don't know why we were so into layering clothing. Why would you ever need to wear three camis at once? And we needed to show each layer off by pulling them all down as far over our butts as possible. That way, everyone could see that your cami game was on point. (Shout out to my friend, Leah, who let me use this super attractive photo of her!)
5. Faux-Birkenstock Clogs
Stop trying to make clogs happen. Clogs are never going to happen.
6. Flare Jeans
Before skinny jeans were cool, flare jeans were hot stuff, especially when they were low-rise and bedazzled on the butt. So. Many. Rhinestones.
7. Bermuda Shorts
If your middle school dress code made you abide by the "finger-tip length" rule for shorts, then you definitely had these. Just above the knee, and so very risque.
8. Aero Polos
No, polo shirts weren't just for guys or for cashiers. They came in cute colors and looked amazing over --wait for it-- camis.
9. Eyeshadow that matches your outfit
These were the days when eye shadow just had to match your shirt. I specifically recall over-wearing a shade of creme turquoise shimmer shadow that should have never been created. "Maybe just one more layer..."
10. Anything from Bobby Jack
Yep, the clothes with the awkward monkeys. I'm still not sure why this stuck around for so long.
11. Convertible Pants
These were the pants that you could zip off sections of. Ya know, just in case you needed to go from full -ength pants to Bermudas in a flash.
12. Crimped Hair
So much burnt, unnaturally wavy hair. Bangs were still straight, but the rest of your head was so crimped.
13. Mini Denim Skirts
Or worse, knee length denim skirts...
14. Our obsession with Livestrong bracelets
Because yellow does go with everything.
15. Messenger Bags
The cool kids never two-strapped. One strap was the way to go.
16. Chokers
Why should necklaces be comfortable?
17. Ponchos
The best outfit was the one that combined a poncho AND your favorite pair of gauchos.
18. "Vote For Pedro" shirts
Even if you never saw the movie, you definitely saw a plethora of Pedro shirts.
19. Skirts/Dresses Over Pants
We can only blame Disney Channel and, of course, ourselves.
While I look back on my middle school fashion sense with some dread and a little shame, I can't help but remember how much fun it was to wear my fake-Birk's, green gauchos, and blue poncho over my three camis. The clothes of circa 2007 didn't always make sense, but they made for some awesome memories.
