2000s Shopping Guide: Fashion, Home And Tech

Low-rise and velour, airport paperbacks, indie 7 inch singles, a flip phone and an iPod.

Below: what to buy for a 2000s theme, a 2000s birthday or someone who grew up then - clothes, books, records and gadgets, with what to check before you pay.

Straight answer first: we don't sell clothing, books, records or technology. We draw and print cards, art prints, pin badges and stickers in the UK, and we stock party decorations. Everything else here is advice on where the genuine items come from.

Years covered in the 2000s

• 2000 - The Millennium Dome, the fuel protests and Big Brother arriving from nowhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2000
• 2001 - Foot-and-mouth, 11 September and the first iPod. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2001
• 2002 - The Golden Jubilee, the death of the Queen Mother and Pop Idol fever. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2002
• 2003 - Iraq, a record-breaking heatwave and England winning the Rugby World Cup. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2003
• 2004 - Strictly and The X Factor both started, and the year ended with the tsunami. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2004
• 2005 - The Olympic bid, the 7 July bombings and the Ashes coming home. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2005
• 2006 - Arctic Monkeys, the Wii and another World Cup penalty shoot-out. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2006
• 2007 - The iPhone, the smoking ban, the floods and the run on Northern Rock. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2007
• 2008 - The banking crash, a brilliant Olympics and Lewis Hamilton on the last corner. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2008
• 2009 - Recession, MPs' expenses and a Christmas number one campaign that worked. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2009
• That is every 2000s year we have written up so far: 2000 to 2009.

2000s clothing and accessories

• Low-rise jeans, velour tracksuits, bootcut denim and a studded belt.
• Trucker caps, Von Dutch style branding, oversized sunglasses and chunky highlights.
• Indie sleaze from 2005: skinny jeans, blazers, plimsolls and a side fringe.
• Accessories: a Motorola Razr as a prop, a canvas tote, a shell necklace.
• Twenty-odd years on, this is now priced as vintage in some shops - charity shops are still sensible.

2000s books worth buying

• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003).
• Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004).
• The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003) - the airport paperback of the decade.
• Harry Potter books four to seven, all published in this decade.
• Twilight, Stephenie Meyer (2005) for anyone who was a teenager then.

2000s music and records

• Indie 7 inch singles from 2004 to 2008 are cheap and very of their time: Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, the Libertines.
• Pop: Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Amy Winehouse, Gnarls Barkley.
• Vinyl was near its low point, so check the pressing year - many 2000s albums were only pressed later.
• A burned CD in a paper wallet is the truly authentic object, even though you cannot buy one.

2000s home and interiors

• Feature walls, wooden blinds and chocolate brown with cream.
• Flat screen televisions replacing the deep box, and a DVD tower.
• Wet rooms, laminate floors everywhere and a Belfast sink in the kitchen.
• Nespresso and Tassimo machines, a smoothie maker and a wok.
• Habitat, Ikea and Argos catalogue living, with scatter cushions and canvas prints.
• The Bluetooth speaker dock and an iPod plugged into it.

2000s tech and gadgets

• iPod Classic and iPod Mini - still the decade's defining gadget, and batteries are replaceable.
• Flip phones and the Motorola Razr, the Nokia 3310 hangover, and the first iPhone in 2007.
• Nintendo DS, PSP, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and the Wii from 2006.
• Digital cameras and camcorders - buy one with the original charger or you will hunt for months.

Where to buy and what to check

• Proprietary chargers and cables are the problem with all 2000s tech; check they are included.
• iPod batteries and PS2 laser drives are the two common failures; both are fixable.
• Depop and Vinted price 2000s clothing higher than charity shops for the same items.

How to shop a decade without overspending

• Set the budget before you start; period shopping is where budgets quietly double.
• Reproduction for clothing, genuine for the small objects - it looks the same in photographs and costs a fraction.
• One real item plus three cheap nostalgic bits beats one expensive present every time.
• Check the year, not the decade. Plenty of what people file under one era actually arrived in the next.
• Music last: a single from their year plus the 2000s playlist covers the whole evening.

Shop prints and posters

Milestone birthday cards

Blank inside, kraft envelope, printed in the UK.

Decorations for a decade party

Banners, balloons, cake toppers and confetti, plain enough to take any era theme.

How to write it so it lands

• Buy for the year they turned eighteen, not the year they were born - that is the era they actually remember.
• Photograph the label or the pressing before you buy online; reissues and reproductions are rarely described as such.
• Leave the clothing to last. The objects are harder to find and the outfit can be sorted in an afternoon.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 2000
• Look back to 2001
• Look back to 2002
• Look back to 2003
• Look back to 2004
• Look back to 2005
• Look back to 2006
• Look back to 2007
• Look back to 2008
• Look back to 2009
• 2000s history: events, politics and culture
• 2000s calendar: year by year
• 2000s music: songs, genres and trends
• 2000s films and directors
• 2000s books, films and TV
• 2000s books: novels and authors
• 2000s art: artists and styles
• 2000s fashion: styles, designers and trends
• 2000s food: dishes, restaurants and trends
• 2000s travel: destinations and holidays
• 2000s technology: gadgets and computers
• 2000s games: board, card and video
• 2000s trivia: fun facts
• 2000s quiz: questions and answers
• 2000s party playlist
• The 2000s: the whole decade
• Retro gift guide: the 2000s
• The decade before: the 1990s
• The decade after: the 2010s
• All decade guides in one place
• Card messages by occasion: every guide in one place
• Card hub: cards, badges and messages by occasion
• Decade history by era
• Decade calendars: every year from 1920
• Decade music: songs, genres and trends
• Decade films: best movies and directors
• Decade books: novels, authors and reading trends
• Decade art: artists, styles and trends
• Decade fashion: styles, designers and trends
• Decade food: dishes, restaurants and eating trends
• Decade travel: destinations and holidays
• Decade technology: gadgets and computers
• Decade shopping guides
• Decade games: board, card and video games by era
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade quizzes: questions and answers by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Decade quiz: test your memory
• Shop art prints and posters
• Shop greetings cards
• Shop birthday cards
• Shop funny cards
• Milestone birthday cards
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• 00s quiz questions
• Dial-up, MSN and MySpace
• Adverts we can still recite
• Decade music round questions
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What 2000s homeware is worth buying?

Feature walls, wooden blinds and chocolate brown with cream. The home and interiors section above lists the rest, from furniture to kitchen kit.

What should I wear for a 2000s theme?

Low-rise jeans, velour tracksuits, bootcut denim and a studded belt. The clothing section above covers the rest, including accessories and where to buy.

What are the best 2000s books to buy as a gift?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003). Every book listed was published in the decade, so the date on the title page does half the work.

What 2000s records are worth buying?

Indie 7 inch singles from 2004 to 2008 are cheap and very of their time: Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, the Libertines. A single or album from the year they turned eighteen is the most personal option and usually the cheapest.

Do you sell 2000s clothing, books or gadgets?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints, pin badges and stickers, and we stock party decorations. For the rest, charity shops, car boots, eBay and independent record shops are the honest answer.