“LOOK how trendy and glamorous I’m” – that’s how I felt loitering exterior the Co-op, hoping a boy would look my approach, with the remainder of my teenage pals.
It was 2004 and I used to be aged 13. I used to be proudly following within the footsteps of Paris Hilton, Britney and JLo who had made Juicy Couture loungewear extraordinarily fascinating.
Britney Spears procuring in a velour tracksuit in 2003 in HollywoodCredit score: Getty Pictures – Getty
Virtually 20 years later, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton have stepped out in Kim’s new SKIMS velour vary, whereas pop star Dua Lipa, supermodel Irina Shayk and actress Michelle Keegan have showcased the development too. Sofia Richie is modelling for a brand new Juicy Couture x Kappa marketing campaign — in deliciously nostalgic sugary shades.
In the meantime, searches for “velour tracksuits” have risen by 54 per cent since September. There’s no denying it, the velour two-piece is again.
Juicy was based within the early Nineties by two pals in California, and in 1997 “Couture” was added — a cheeky nod to the truth that there was nothing “excessive vogue” about tracksuits.
Juicy Couture was born — the signature diamanté “Juicy” emblem slapped throughout the bum — and in 2001 a two-piece was custom-made for Madonna.
Wayne Rooney’s then girlfriend, now spouse, Coleen forward of the Euro 2004 ChampionshipsCredit score: Rex Options
Fellow WAGs, like Alex Gerrard, had been additionally snapped in velourCredit score: Eamon and James Clarke
The model attracted a legion of well-known followers and immediately grew to become half of popular culture.
Rising up in Essex, nabbing an imitation velour tracksuit from the native market was nearly a ceremony of passage as a youngster.
The soccer WAGs — Coleen Rooney, Alex Gerrard, Helen Flanagan and sure, even Victoria Beckham — had them. We needed them too.
My uncle Dave had a stall that bought them, alongside knock-off Burberry socks and Playboy cellphone circumstances (I bagged these too).
Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian have reunited to advertise SKIMS velourCredit score: BackGrid
Supermodel Irina Shayk out and about in a velour tracksuit this weekCredit score: BackGrid
My mother and father couldn’t perceive why my pals and I needed to click on pornographic, rhinestone bunny circumstances on to our Nokias, however we couldn’t get sufficient of them. The A-list way of life and shiny designer manufacturers, which had beforehand been so removed from attain, had been all of a sudden inside touching distance for the typical girl. Even when we couldn’t afford the £10,000 gown that our favorite starlets donned on the pink carpet, we may no less than imitate them on their days off.
Carrying velour trackies was a standing image, and you can decide up a Juicy tracksuit prime AND bottoms for simply over £100 — not low cost however, then once more, not completely unattainable both.
For nearly a decade, these gentle and cosy tracksuits had been so unbelievably craved — till, fairly all of a sudden — they actually weren’t.
By the point 2010 rolled round, we all of a sudden grew to become embarrassed at our former love of one thing so cheesy. God, what had been we pondering?!
Dua Lipa, 25, can pull off the velour look in addition to the Noughties’ stars
TOWIE star Lauren Goodger reveals off her latest weight reduction in a black tracksuitCredit score: BackGrid
They, together with Ugg boots, had been banished to the again of the wardrobe or donated to charity.
One 2004 pink Juicy tracksuit was left gathering mud in London’s Victoria and Albert museum. We had superior on to spray-on skinny denims and Kate Moss-style indie blazers.
However equally, as additionally demonstrated by the latest reboot of MTV’s Cribs, with the passage of time we begin to hanker after the music, reveals, and certainly, fashions, that we grew up loving.
It’s true after they say absence makes the center develop fonder . . . and we millennials are an unbelievably nostalgic technology.
Juicy Couture’s famed emblem emblazoned throughout trousers
Now lockdown has everybody lounging at residence extra and reminiscing on easier instances, what may very well be a extra apparent image of enjoyable than a pink, snuggly tracksuit? It’s a type of uncommon vogue gadgets that each a five-year-old little one and 25-year-old world celebrity Dua Lipa can pull off with the identical aplomb.
And provided that this yr has been spectacularly tough for all of us, a shot of Juicy Couture is, fairly frankly, a welcome spot of sunshine reduction.
It seems we’re all clutching at our velour consolation blankets collectively.
It’s tongue-in-cheek stylish and as a result of line between work, play and leisure being so blurry proper now, velour trackies are simply what we’d like.
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