Reader: piratabeata "This is me (piratabeata) and my best friend from high school circa 2003. My sister gave me those pleather pants from Hot Topic when I turned sixteen, and you better believe they were a staple of my early aughts wardrobe, along with the cat collar choker. I wore them so much they cracked. You also probably never saw me without pigtails for the better part of 2000-2004. I kind of wish this was a full length picture so you could see the ridiculous Spice Girl-esque platform shoes that I was rocking, too. I like how my best friend was trying so hard to look like a Catholic schoolgirl. We knew we were awesome."


Reader: cinematheques "Halloween, 2007. Halloween is always a good time to find something terrible (and in this case, classic as well) at a thrift store and build a costume around it. I just put flour and a stream of lipstick under my nose, coupled with some pretty gross fishnets with holes and VOILA ! I am an 80s coke queen. Also, I really, really, really don't condone fake eyelashes. Ouchies. I pretty much look the same, but back to my natural hair color."


Reader: maneki neko "Photo from the fall of 2003. The early 00s fashions could not have possibly been more ill-suited to my body, or anyone's, really. Remember how all the shirts were realllllllllly short, and all the pants were reallllllllllllly low cut? I sure do. For someone with a long torso like me, this was an unbelievably cruel fate, and I ended up looking pretty silly until tunics finally came into fashion. I remember thinking this top was really cute, probably because of the bell sleeves (remember those?), even though looking at this photo now you can see that I'm one sholder movement away from exposing my naval. And I'm pretty sure those are Mudd jeans, flared, naturally. I have absolutely no explanation for my hair, but I can't stop laughing."


Reader: Catie "This is a picture of my sister, Allie, and I from 2004. We are rocking the newsboy cap trend a la Britney. I am wearing a polo shirt and for some reason my sister has long fake orange nails. The pose was meant to be silly. I pretty much laugh every time I see this picture lol The title of it is particularly 00's…it's named after that segment called Sucker Free Sunday that aired on MTV2."


Reader: Raina "My friend and I (I'm on the right) at our Senior Prom... nice hair knots!!"


Reader: Raina "My mom would often snap photos of us on our way out the door on our way to school. This whole outfit kills me, and if you look really close, you can see tiny plastic butterfly clips in my hair!"


Reader: Kate "Me and my best friend at a high school semi-formal dance in 2002. I am the blonde... i.e. the one who thought it was appropriate to wear a faux-suede mini-skirt, matching hat, and hooker boots to a semi-formal. It's all so mortifying."


Reader: Avery "This picture, taken in '05, chronicles me in the height of my new york hipsterdom - I'm wearing pink neon zebra print tights, a neon blue top (that is sparkly?) and huge plastic earrings. The worst part about this is my "I'm hot shit" expression when I am so clearly not."


Reader: Adriana "Me in my college art studio, 2001. please note the janeane garofalo bangs, "ironic" backstreet boys shirt, metallic grey raver skirt and chunky black shoes with white stars on the toes. i think this entire outfit was from Hot Topic."


Reader: Bianca "I was my Law Student then-boyfriend's date for the Barrister's Ball in 2005, and BF's BFF's then-GF showed up wearing the exact same tacky 80's throwback dress as me. It was totally "US Magazine Who Wore It Best." I think I did (I'm the blonde), but I'm clearly biased here."


Reader: Lauren "This was taken in the spring of 2001, in my high school sophomore history class. The jean jacket and the (probably shoplifted) lip gloss and the eye glitter are classic (and you can't even see all the glitter, my eyelids are coated with chunky silver Pixie Dust) but my favorite part of this picture is obviously the nameplate Sagittarius necklace, which i bought from (where else?) Delia*s."


Reader: lenamonster "I'm pretty sure this was taken in 2003 (aka the end of my high school years - I was very fashion-y adventurous then). I'm wearing a bright yellow fake sports-style shirt (with see-through holes so you have to wear another shirt under it), tons of my cheap jelly/plastic bracelets, a necklace that I strung myself, big yellow sunglasses, and a plaid beret."


Reader: JadeJag There was no description with this photo, but I think it sums up many of the trends of the era , don't you?


Reader: A Jolly " Hi there. I'm mostly just a lurker on Jezebel, but I thought I'd send in a submission anyway. On this day in 2001, the gods frowned upon me. A trucker hat that sais "SICK" on it, knee-high socks, "candy" bracelet, bleach blonde and pink pigtails, awkwardly fitting mans shorts...Disaster. I was dj-ing at a party in a park, where I got really drunk and did a lot of beatwrecking. An embarassing day all around. :( Enjoy."


Reader: Michaela "The first group picture was taken in 2002, at a 15th birthday party (held at an all-you-can-eat buffet). Stripey turtle-necks, jean jackets and converse sneakers were pretty hot in my group."


Reader: Michaela "The 2nd is from 2007...and yes, it was my MySpace profile pic for a long time. Emo-chic 4 lyfe, yo."


Reader: Jess "I'm pretty sure almost every teenage girl had a photo like this in the early 2000s. This photo was taken some time between 2002 and 2003. I really wanted to be "punk" in those days, so I saved up and bought myself a "Squire" electric and taught myself one song. I soon realized I looked absolutely stupid and didn't like electric guitar. Come to think of it, I was also obsessed with really ill-fitting fleece sweaters in those days. Wish I had a photo of that! Oh, I totally forgot to mention that my concept of "punk" at the time was (clearly) drawn entirely from Avril Lavigne. Everyone pretended they didn't want to be her and secretly spent every night listening to "complicated" on repeat. [Ed. This is totally true, you guys.]


Reader: Sarah "Year Taken: 2000 Description: My friend Jeanette (left) and me rocking one of the trends: the Asian character tee. We both wore the same type of shirt completely coincidentally; this shows how pervasive this particular trend was. I should point out that another friend's Chinese parents were pretty amused by all these shirts. Do we know what the hell they say? No. But it 'looks cool.'"


Reader: Gweedle "This was when I was 16 I believe, so around 2002-2003. My neon blue Le Tigre shirt, furry leopard print skirt, vintage pink jacket, paisley knee high stockings with maryjanes - one of many outfits where I tried to mesh a million styles together and failed miserably but thought I looked really cool."


Reader: Penny_Esq "Okay, so this was my 19th birthday, August 2000. This photo features chunky shoes, some kind of Eastern-religion-themed tee shirt, fake Chloe aviators, and an "edgy" twisty updo. As a bonus, my friend on the left is wearing a pink velour leopard print tank top and a feather boa. Also note that all three of us are sporting pleather pants, although that would be the one and only time I wore mine. We went to an underage club to dance, and as I commenced dropping it like it was hot, those pants split from zipper to ass crack AND down the insides of the legs, leaving my lady bits flapping in the breeze for all to admire. I had to shuffle out of the club sandwiched front-to-back between my two friends and still at least three guys tried to tip me. I never returned to that club, and I have never, EVER tried to drop it like it's hot again."

We all made some mistakes over the past decade; I spent much of the year 2000 with my face coated in roll-on glitter, and, over the course of the next ten years, watched many of my friends work their way through faux-vinyl pants, trucker hats, velour tracksuits, and other horrible trends of the era before realizing they looked, well, pretty stupid. Am I proud of my days walking around looking like a human disco ball? No. But when I see the pictures, I have to laugh. That's the best part of terrible fashion missteps: at some point, the evidence moves from being humiliating to being hilarious. Ready to laugh at your own fashion disasters? Then send pics of your best (or worst) fashion faux pas of the 00s to me at commenters@jezebel.com with "Past Fashion" in the subject line. Be sure to include a brief description of the outfit and the year the photo was taken. The last day for submissions is next Sunday, December 19, so dig out that old photo album and hit the scanner!

The Short-Lived Trends of the Decade [NYMag]

The blog posts pictures of users' mothers looking stylish. And they come with amazing anecdotes attached: this mom, with her perfect sunglasses and hangers in the back seat, was on her honeymoon in Cape Cod.

My Mom, Style Icon inspired me to look through some of our Past Fashion posts again. Of this photo, the contributor notes, "That thumb in the picture is my Dad's. They just celebrated 49 years, and he's still putting his thumb in pictures."

Here's another stylish lady on her honeymoon, in 1959. They're still married.

Wow. Just wow. A disco suit for homecoming!

This mom was a dancer on Dean Martin's show in the 60s. She went on to play Patty Simcox in Grease.

If you want to submit content — and I totally will be, when I go home for the holidays and can get my mitts on some family albums, 'cause my mom has mad style (and a freakish ability to navigate to a previously unknown thrift store in any town on the continent, including LaCrosse, Wisconsin; she should build an iPhone app for that and make millions) — e-mail pictures to momstyleicons@gmail.com.

My Mom, The Style Icon [Official Site]

I was a very avid journal keeper, but don't seem to have many of the early ones. Still: I was prolific. My mom has a few, and in my bookcase I counted 33 journals (from various years). The one above, has, yes, a silver unicorn on it. And here's what I drew on the inside cover:





It was the mid-'80s. I was 12, going on 13. And heavily influenced by Miami Vice, Desperately Seeking Susan and Valley Girl.


Inside? Well, paging through, all these years later, felt really odd. I read lots of gossip about people I can barely remember. So-and-so was being a bitch; whatshername was seen holding some guy's hand; someone snuck out of the house and went to third base. There were parties, movies and homework. There were intricate social structures. Everything the older kids (9th graders!) did seemed so mysterious, and college seemed ages away. It seemed like I had a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm, and a fair amount of sass — plus the strange urge to write it all down.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Send us a page from your old diary. A clear photograph or a scan would work best, and please make sure the image is no smaller than 500 pixels wide. Much like our Past Fashion galleries, we'll collect them all and display them. The post will go up next month, so send images to photos@jezebel.com by Friday, August 21. Please include your name (or commenter name), the year the diary was written, and how old you were when you wrote your salacious gossip.

The Amy Diary [Shameless]
The Amy Diary

[Lead image via The Amy Diary]

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In fact, the course of a few months last year, readers sent in photos for galleries on everything from "retro" black hairstyles, to Easter outfits, childhood pets, bridal fashions, prom dresses, summer swimsuits, sports uniforms, school portraits, and Halloween costumes. Now, not only are we bringing the feature back, but we're making it decade-specific: the 1980s. And as you can see from the image above left, I'm going first. (School year 1986-87. Grade: 8th. Location: Northern California. Top: Esprit. Curl Activator: Care Free Curl©. Lipstick: Revlon. Eyeliner: Electric blue. Psyche: Tortured. )

Here's what to do: Send in scans of your best or worst 80s-era photos to photos@jezebel.com by Friday, May 15. Please include the year, location, your first name or commenter name, and - this is important - a brief description of your memories of the photo and the era. We'll be putting up the gallery in late May, while also announcing the theme for June's edition. Oh, and while you're at it, check out the galleries from last year, below; some of your favorite commenters may be featured.

Earlier: The Way We Were: Retro Black Hairstyles
•Holy Jesus, You All Looked Cute In Those Horrid Easter Ensembles!
•When Animals Attract: Your Cuddly Childhood Creatures
•It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times: A Gallery Of Not So Gorgeous Bridal Fashions
•Oh What A Night: The Pastel, Poufy, & Gothic Prom Gowns Of Generations Of Jezebels
•Endless Summer: The Technicolor Kiddie Swimsuit Extravaganza
•Retro Sports Style: The Haircuts & Smiles Were As Uneven As A Gym Apparatus
•Goofy Glasses, Pretty Pigtails & Snaggletooth Smiles: September Is For School Portraits
•Halloween Costumes So Cute They're Scary

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Gallery continues here, here and here!

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Click here, here and here to see all thumbnails!

Earlier: Endless Summer: The Technicolor Kiddie Swimsuit Extravaganza
Oh What A Night: The Pastel, Poufy, & Gothic Prom Gowns Of Generations Of Jezebels
It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times: A Gallery Of Not So Gorgeous Bridal Fashions
When Animals Attract: Your Cuddly Childhood Creatures
Holy Jesus, You All Looked Cute In Those Horrid Easter Ensembles!
The Way We Were: Retro Black Hairstyles

• More Olympian ovations! This week we crushed on Shelly-Ann Fraser's gleaming braces and Shawn Johnson's balance beam dominance.
• You sent in your retro sports photos, which won the adorable Olympics.
• We audibly squeeeeeee-d when we discovered that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams were back together. Squeee!
• We did not squee over P.U.M.A.s, Will Bower, or any other mouth-breathing, politically destructive a-holes.
• International Male from the early mid-80s. Fringe and short shorts and spandex oh my!

• We pondered fast fashion.
• We no longer want to ponder the status of Jennifer Aniston's vagina, ring finger.
• It's the weekend, y'all! So eat some questionable sushi, read some delightful YA novels about brother fucking and relax!

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