This single clothing item was a dead giveaway that you were really into music, say Millennials
'It meant you wanted people to know you liked music and your tastes were the best...'
Back in the 2000s, people could tell if you were into music or not just by your appearance. Yes, that's right! Apparently, if you wore a long-sleeved t-shirt under a regular t-shirt, it meant you loved music. A person (u/pornstachejaucques on Reddit) posted a picture of Josh Hartnett, the "Fight or Flight" actor, wearing a similar style on January 4. Surprisingly, most Millennials in the comments agreed to the notion, affirming that it was indeed true.
People in the late 90s and 2000s opted for a similar fashion statement throughout their college years to express their musical interests. This look, to many, signaled a very specific taste. For example, u/atheneschmidt wrote, "This was true my entire high school career, and I graduated in 2004. In the late 90s, it meant you liked music, too, but I feel like it meant you liked very specific music. Grunge, punk, and certain types of rap. It got more open as to genre as the years went by." Similarly, u/fromdathomir wrote, "I mean... Almost everyone likes music. But it meant you wanted people to know you liked music and your tastes were the best." u/raus-pazazu shared, "As someone who wore a flannel shirt tied around their waist, I can confirm that this person likes music but also has bad taste in music."
The fashion trend of wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt under a normal t-shirt began in the 2000s, thanks to movies like "Lords of Dogtown." Apparently, the style gained popularity post its association with the "skateboarding culture." Wearing a stylish long-sleeved shirt underneath a regular tee also became increasingly common in the Tony Hawks Pro Skater video games. Skateboarders believed that this particular style of clothing provided them with extra protection during falls, even though it didn't actually prevent any injuries, according to NSS magazine.
Some looked back upon their own school or college days, bringing up other items of nostalgia. u/trapezoidoid confessed, "I can’t speak to the many comments saying this happened earlier too, but I did do this in 2007, and I did like music. Meme confirmed." u/sassysugarbush said, "I have a picture of me in 2001/2002 (my junior year) playing my cello and rocking this look… along with my massive wide-leg jeans and big bubble-esque black, white, and yellow Etnies. I bought thermals solely for this purpose." The intended purchase points to how big a deal this 'look' was.
According to a YouGov study from 2024, 45.5% Gen Z admit to keeping up with fashion trends, while 40.8% of Millennials also claim the same. Even today, 'design' and 'fashion' rule our clothing choices, with Gen Z and Millennials giving most importance to these two metrics (alongside 'value for money') while making a purchase. While certain styles shine today, their origin was in the last century. The 'cyclical' nature of fashion means that the 90s bell-bottoms are now coming back as 'flared jeans,' or the baggy shirts of yesteryear are now showing up as oversized 'drip' among cool kids. In one way or another, nostalgia trickles in and shapes our future.
Returning to the unforgettable 'music' aesthetic, there was also a 'broke' version of the same layered t-shirt style. u/tacticoolpeter commented, "Not long-sleeve t-shirts for us, but thermal long john shirts. We were broke, living in a drafty old farmhouse. We did play a lot of music, though." However, while a majority did agree to this 'wild' perception of the 2000s, a few called it baseless; for instance, u/pondribertion said, "Back then, I had a t-shirt that gave the appearance of being short-sleeved on top of long-sleeved; it was just a style. I also happen to like music, but it's extremely common to like music (it's almost a fundamental part of being human), so I'm not sure it's logical to come to that conclusion." u/crayshack explained, "It wasn't really a 'liked music' thing, but really a specific subculture that liked a particular style of music and got a bit obnoxious about pretending like other music-oriented subcultures didn't exist." Once an iconic part of the cool 'lookbook,' the trend gradually fell out of favor as people associated it with something only kids or teenagers wear.
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