what was it like being a teen in the early 2000’s?

[neroforte]

as a teen myself in 2021, i love early 2000’s emo/sceneish fashion, music etc. i’d love to know what it was actually being a teen in this time? (bonus if you were emo/punk/goth etc!)

I was a "mosher" and thought my sister who was very emo was ridiculous.....pikachu backpacks and little bows in her hair. I probably looked equally as awful with my smudged eye make-up and studded belts . I smoked at the time and you could still smoke in pubs which seems bizarre now.

Music was good, social media was just coming in so wasn't such a big think which I think is a blessing looking back, same with smartphones.... they just didn't exist and I remember being amazed when I got a colour mobile phone in about 2004 . Honestly I do feel sorry for teenagers growing up now with 24/7 access to social media.

Being a size 0 was everything!

God, this thread makes me feel so old. I was 16 when the 2000s started. I feel like my life was very similar to how it is now to be honest! But the smoking thing is true. I remember going to parties and clubs when I was 17/18 and the dance floor was just a sea of cigarettes.

@CarolinaWeeper

I was a "mosher" and thought my sister who was very emo was ridiculous.....pikachu backpacks and little bows in her hair. I probably looked equally as awful with my smudged eye make-up and studded belts . I smoked at the time and you could still smoke in pubs which seems bizarre now.

Music was good, social media was just coming in so wasn't such a big think which I think is a blessing looking back, same with smartphones.... they just didn't exist and I remember being amazed when I got a colour mobile phone in about 2004 . Honestly I do feel sorry for teenagers growing up now with 24/7 access to social media.

lmao i think my style is a mix of yours and your sisters! i remember in about 2010 i got my first phone and it was a pink flip phone and i was in love with it!

@countdowntonap

Being a size 0 was everything!

it still is to lots of the ‘surviving’ emo/scene kids now i think from what i’ve seen lol

What's with all the apparent 'teens' posting on MN today ?

Don't you have TikTok ?

I was 16 in 2000 so leaving school. Lots of Nirvana listening, also skunk anansie, echobelly etc
Could smoke inside, MSN messenger was the main thing I used, and I had a mobile phone from 13 so.. 1997 ish
Pic of a phone I had!

This was a nightclub I would go to in early 2000s, it used to be drink all you want on Boxing Day for about £10 and I would send my dad to get me a ticket
https://fb.watch/v/3ncu_zKEI/

@WaltzingBetty

What's with all the apparent 'teens' posting on MN today ?

Don't you have TikTok ?

i’ve been on here for a while now. yes i do have tiktok lol

I loved 2000s. In my late teens-early 20s.

I was emo/girlie/pauls boutique meets rock chips style.
Clubs were great, a mix of meeting randoms safely from MySpace and running around nightclubs like children.
Alot of love and fun, never felt under any pressure.
Big hair, hairspray, night-busess and great friends.
Going to random pubs where it was either full of love or a full on brawl, young men looked after women and would walk you home at stupid o clock.. or catch night busses back at 6am.
Obviously not everyone's experience but mine was amazing.
Blick 182 and pop rock was at the peek.
So much fun.

Jeez Betty, who pissed on your cornflakes this morning?

I was about to answer till I did the maths. Apparently I was 23. Ignore me. I’m clearly too old

@Yellowcrockpot

I loved 2000s. In my late teens-early 20s. I was emo/girlie/pauls boutique meets rock chips style. Clubs were great, a mix of meeting randoms safely from MySpace and running around nightclubs like children. Alot of love and fun, never felt under any pressure. Big hair, hairspray, night-busess and great friends. Going to random pubs where it was either full of love or a full on brawl, young men looked after women and would walk you home at stupid o clock.. or catch night busses back at 6am. Obviously not everyone's experience but mine was amazing. Blick 182 and pop rock was at the peek. So much fun.

this stuff is what makes me wish i was my age then, but unfortunately i wasn’t even born for some of it!! i probably romanticise it too much i know eating disorders etc were rly bad in most emo kind of ‘communities’ but the overall atmosphere seems so much better!

MSN
MySpace
Green Day
Good Charlotte
Emo

@Chanel05

MSN MySpace Green Day Good Charlotte Emo

everything good in life : p

I was right at the end of my teens then. I remember wearing dark bootcut jeans/ bootcut corduroys. Some girls wore flared corduroys that covered their trainers - often they were so long, the hems dragged on the pavement. These were often combined with homemade chokers, made from a black cord and often, a few plastic or wooden beads. I think some of these girls were goths/emos - they dyed their hair dark colours and wore lots of black eye make-up.

Another look I remember from c. 2000, is combat trousers, a vest top and a handchief-sized headscarf.

The bands I listened to included Air, Simian and Franz Ferdinand.

Like many others on this thread I was 16 in 2000, and it was awesome. I was very much into the rock scene, and was out in the bars and clubs from 16 - you could do that then so easily. I always felt so safe in any rock night or pub. I think one of the things that stands out for me is that pretty much all teenagers had jobs, I started working part time wiping tables etc at 13 so we had money. The music was great and as someone else said social media was just starting, it was exciting but not all consuming at all. Phones were super basic, and people took a camera out if you wanted photos!

Being a teen in the early 00s was too old to be emo. Our little siblings were emo and we hated that :o

I was probably mostly goth/mosher, although I didn't take the dressing Black or being depressed very seriously. I loved evanescence, the rasmus, Muse and my best friend was in love with the singer from HIM. We went to loads of gigs at the carling academy in Birmingham although I think it's called something else now.

I used to live in black cargo pants with a million tassels and pockets and I'd get really pissed off when people stepped on the tails and ripped them. I also loved stripy tops and band hoodies.

Smoking was 'cool' and mobiles were only used for texts and calls but because they were so expensive to use you only really text or rang if someone was dead or dying. We used disposable cameras on nights out, you took a photo and (shock horror!) didn't all gather around to see what you all looked like because you couldn't. We had digital cameras too but were too scared of losing or damaging them so they stayed at home and only got used for taking photos of your man blowing out her birthday candles.

There wasn't any YouTube tutorials so make up and hair was trial and error (lots of error!).
For me, I was all about indie music - Blur, manic street preachers, Travis, Suede, Pulp etc... all listened to on my CD player and also on my mini disc player (for on the go!).

Nights out involved smoking fags and drinking hooch or archers and lemonade (anything sweet that didn't taste like alcohol basically). It was easier to get into clubs underage because they didn't check ID as much as they do now. So you'd pair up younger looking friends with older random people who were going in the club so they stood a better chance. You'd also ask random older people to buy you fags and booze at the shop and a surprising amount would lay comply!

All the sefies on social media now would have been viewed as 'big headed' back when I was a teen. Being a 'big head' was a cutting put down back then! Along with being so 'full of yourself'.

Gosh I feel old! I was 16 in 2000 and it’s as the above said fashion wise.

One thing that definitely marked it globally was 9/11. I remember working my summer holiday job and hearing about it, we went back to college a couple of days later and it felt like the world had changed, which it did.

Nights out we’re fun, one of our local clubs used to give women 5 free drinks if you went in before 11, so we’d go there, down them and then head to the rock club (I was a mosher lol)

I also went travelling throughout the decade and I’m so glad I got to bum around Asia before the world was so travelled and connected. I went to Cambodia in 2002 and it was still very wild and a bit hairy at times. I was just 18 and used to email my mum maybe once a month. And it was so cheap - I used to work my arse off over summer and spend winter in the sun - £4/5 a night bungalows and 10p meals in Thailand.

Giant oversized trousers that got absolutely soaked when the ground was wet were another must have. My dad used to absolutely despair.

I was too wimpy to get any piercings but I really wanted my lip done at the side. It was also quite androgynous. I had short hair which I dyed red and purple. I didn't wear any make up except for eyeliner, nail varnish and purple or black lipstick if it was a really special occasion like a gig. I was trying to work out whether I liked girls or guys (both) but mainly ended up with boys that liked the androgynous look and were comfortable wearing eyeliner themselves.

Agree with feeling absolutely safe in a rock environment. Everyone seemed to look out for each other. Even though in hindsight I got into loads of risky situations, nothing bad ever happened.

Should have mentioned that I was 17 in the year 2000 so this was late 90's / early 2000's...

@BertieBotts yes to the massive trousers! Worn with a dressy top! 😂

MSN
Ultra low cut jeans
I was into my rnb type music
Also silver/baby blue eye shadow
Lots of bronzer
My space

Oh Betty have a day off babe.

I was more 'scene' with a dash of emo . Me and my partner both were and we always say it was the best time!

Best music, always had a gig to go to (some 5 days a week!). The music scene for our genre was great. So many concerts and gigs. It really was the best time. I miss my big pink fringe and my choppy layers!