A Fashion Eclipse: 1999 to 2026
- Charlotte Garbutt
- 5 days ago
- 9 min read
Did you see the solar eclipse last week? I didn't do anything fancy with a colander; I just sat in the garden observing it get a little darker and a little cooler. I have vague memory of the day of the eclipse in 1999, when I was alarmed when a wasp was buzzing round my baby son. When my husband suggested I write an eclipse special, I decided to look back to 1999. The first part recalls three trends from 1999 that are still worth wearing. The second looks at sustainability and the fashion industry and asks what's changed since the last major eclipse 27 years ago.
27 Years of Fashion: Are the Trends of 1999 eclipsed by those of 2026?
Hands up if you're still wearing items you had in 1999, the year we Brits last witnessed a major solar eclipse? Well done if you are! Rewearing (and buying less) is just about top of the list when it comes to fashion sustainability. Fashion comes in cycles, meaning we can have fun with trends without buying new.
27 years ago, I was a young mum and full-time Scandinavian Studies lecturer and often wore a pinstripe trouser suit so I didn't get mistaken for the students I was teaching! This article takes a look back at three styles popular in 1999 that are still wearable in 2026.
Cargo Trousers
Originally designed for practicality, cargo trousers moved from workwear to mainstream and in 1999 were definitely having a fashion moment. Usually khaki and still in a sturdy cotton reminiscent of their workwear origins, they were often worn with fitted tops and chunky footwear. That's me above as a young working mum, wearing mine with a simple vest top and carpenter boots.
Fast forward to 2026 and cargo trousers - particularly in camouflage design - are set to be an Autumn on-trend alternative to jeans. Camouflage was - ironically! - widely seen across the Danish capital in the recent Fashion Week meaning it will be all over stores well into Spring/Summer 2027.
Style it in 2026
Balance proportions: a fitted top with a baggier or wide-leg cargo trousers.
If buying new, try a contemporary silhouette like the popular barrel shape.
Play around with a 'high-low' look: smarter items like a collared shirt and blazer with casual cargo trousers.
Go for a blended masculine / feminine look: 'boyfriend' style cargo trousers and daintier accessories or a more pastel colour palette.
Pair traditional camouflage with pops of brighter colour like red, cobalt or turquoise - all currently on trend.
Sustainable style tip
Before buying a new pair, experiment with what you already own. If you've still got a pair lurking in the back of your wardrobe, don't dismiss them as a relic of the last millennium. Try styling them with a more contemporary top, blazer or footwear to bring them up to date.
Leopard Print
This has to be my favourite! I always give a wry smile when the fashion pages tell me leopard print is back on trend. Has it ever gone away?!
In 1999, animal print was having one of its many fashion moments. Last millennium you might have worn your leopard print as a bodysuit, mini skirt or with some distressed denim. Model Kate Moss in a faux-fur leopard print coat over a little black dress channelled the era's glamorous heroin chic style.
Style it in 2026
Nineties glam has become a 21st century neutral and is the perfect day-to-night print. You don't need to change the print – just change the styling.Today's leopard print is both more relaxed and more eclectic. To bring animal print into 2026, opt for leopard-print jeans with a
chunky or oversized knit or pair a leopard-print skirt with a simple boxy tee and trainers. Some of you will know that I love to keep my animal print to accessories: snake-print boots or my faux-fur leopard-print bag that gets mistaken for my cat!
Sustainable style tip
Shop your wardrobe first: a leopard-print scarf, belt or pair of shoes can give your go-to outfits a different feel without requiring a new head-to-toe look.
Double Denim
If you lived through the nineties you won't be surprised that denim was everywhere in 1999 and that doubling up was a trend. Jeans and a denim jacket were a popular combination, while denim shirts, skirts, dresses and even waistcoats could all find their way into the same outfit. The classic look was often quite coordinated, with similar shades of blue worn together, affectionately dubbed“the Canadian tuxedo”, a term coined back in the fifties when Bing Crosby is alleged to have been denied entry to a Canadian hotel when wearing a denim jacket and jeans.
A staple 1999 double-denim combo might have comprised bootcut jeans, chambray shirt and a fitted denim jacket.
Style it in 2026
Double denim is the perfect gender-neutral style and is still going strong, but the proportions and combinations have changed. Rather than matching everything perfectly, we're more likely to see different shades and weights of denim worn together. Try a dark-wash denim shirt with stone-wash jeans, an oversized jacket with a slimmer pair of trousers, or wide-leg jeans with a cropped denim jacket.
Sustainable style tip
Wear vintage denim with contemporary pieces for a look you won't see in high-street shops.
So, are we still dressing as if it's 1999?
Well, yes – but perhaps not quite as we wore it then. That's the thing about fashion cycles: they rarely disappear altogether; they get reinterpreted, combined with different silhouettes and styled in new ways. Instead of thinking that something is “out of fashion” because we haven't seen it for a while, perhaps we should ask a different question: “How could I wear this now?” If a pair of trousers, a dress, a jacket or a pair of shoes has survived for 27 years, it has already demonstrated something far more valuable than being fashionable for one season. It has staying power, and that's a fashion trend worth following.
25 Years of Sustainable Fashion: How much has really changed?
In 1999, the last time a major solar eclipse was visible from the UK, "sustainable fashion" wasn't in our fashion vocabulary.
27 years later and sustainability is part of the fashion conversation. We have recycled and regenerated fibres, resale platforms, repair services, clothing rental, circular fashion, supply-chain transparency and legislation designed to make fashion businesses take greater responsibility for what they produce. But are things any better? This article questions how far we've come. Throughout the article, I'll be illustrating with eclipse-inspired fashion.
1999: sustainability in the shadows
What was happening
When the UK watched a near-total solar eclipse in August 1999, the internet was relatively new, social media didn't exist and fast fashion was gaining momentum. The fashion industry had become increasingly globalised and the speed of getting catwalk-inspired styles into shops was accelerating. The idea of inexpensive, frequently-changing fashion was becoming the norm for consumers.
The sustainable shift
That's not to say sustainable fashion didn't exist. Charity shops, for example, were a common feature of the high street. When I got married in 1992, I bought a pre-worn ex-hire dress. But the motivation, for me as for others, was to save money or donate to worthy causes.
Where an interest in sustainability was seen, this was often around ethics and workers' rights, rather than the much broader environmental agenda we have today. Campaigns around sweatshops and the conditions of garment workers were putting pressure on major brands.
2000s: Millennial Moment
What was happening
The early years of the new millennium saw the emergence and growth of cheaper and faster fashion, not least through high-street brands such as Primark. Trends were accelerating and clothing was becoming increasingly disposable.
But something else was happening too. Consumers were beginning to ask more questions about where their clothes came from and what impact their production had.
The sustainable shift
One visible sign that sustainability was moving into the mainstream came in 2007, when Marks & Spencer launched Plan A – a five-year programme containing 100 ethical and environmental commitments. M&S wasn't the only retailer thinking about sustainability, but the scale of Plan A was significant. This wasn't a small ethical fashion label talking to a niche audience; it was one of Britain's biggest high-street retailers making sustainability part of its mainstream business strategy.
The same year, M&S began selling schoolwear made from recycled plastic bottles and was experimenting with organic cotton, wool and linen in its clothing.
Meanwhile, the UK Government's Sustainable Clothing Roadmap, developed in 2007 with retailers, manufacturers, academics and NGOs, was looking at the environmental and social impacts of clothing across its lifecycle.
Sustainability was beginning to move from something discussed mainly by campaigners into something that retailers, governments and consumers all needed to think about.
2010s: the human cost
What was happening
In the early 2000s, questions were clearly being asked but these became increasingly harder to ignore by the fashion industry. The collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh which killed more than 1,100 garment workers, became a defining moment for the fashion industry. The disaster exposed the human cost hidden behind cheap clothing and prompted renewed scrutiny of fashion brands' supply chains.
The sustainable shift
The idea of a circular economy began to challenge the traditional fashion model of make → use → dispose. Organisations such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation helped put circularity on the fashion agenda, encouraging a circular model which would look more like: design → make → wear → repair → reuse → resell → recycle.
The 2019 report, Fixing Fashion, was critical of the industry's make-and-dispose model and made a series of recommendations including stronger producer responsibility and measures to encourage longer-lasting clothing.
2020 to 2021: the pandemic pause
What was happening
2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic hit: shops closed; fashion weeks were cancelled or moved online; factories closed and supply chains were disrupted. Brands cancelled orders, leaving garment workers and manufacturers facing a period of uncertainty.
The sustainable shift
Lockdowns also refuelled interest in second-hand shopping, repairing and making do with what we already owned. Platforms such as Vinted helped make second-hand buying feel mainstream rather than something reserved for charity shops or vintage enthusiasts. With a reluctance even when shops opened to return to the high street, I recall buying preloved clothing online, much of which I'm still wearing.
Meanwhile, governments were looking at ways to tackle textile waste.
2022 to 2024: sustainability in legislation
What was happening
In March 2022, the European Commission published its EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. Its vision was that by 2030 textile products placed on the EU market should be durable, repairable and recyclable, with a much greater use of recycled fibres and greater respect for social and environmental standards.
The same day, the Commission proposed the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which would create a framework for setting sustainability requirements for products sold in the EU. It included plans for Digital Product Passports, giving consumers access to information about products and their materials.
In 2023, the Commission proposed measures including mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles across EU member states, meaning producers increasingly have financial responsibility for what happens to their products at the end of their lives. It also proposed a Green Claims Directive aimed at tackling misleading environmental claims.
The sustainable shift
By the early 2020s, we've moved a long way from simply asking whether a brand is “ethical”. We're talking about circularity, durability, repairability, recyclability, waste, transparency and greenwashing – and increasingly, governments are talking about them too.
And the direction of travel was becoming clear: instead of relying entirely on brands voluntarily making better choices, regulation could start making some of those choices compulsory.
2026: we know more — but is it having an impact?
We now have more sustainable alternatives than ever: organic and recycled fibres, regenerated fibres, deadstock, recycled textiles, resale, rental, repair, upcycling, take-back schemes and improved supply-chain traceability.
But we also have ultra-fast fashion, social-media-driven microtrends and cheap clothing flooding an already over-saturated market.The bottom line: fashion is becoming more sustainable in its ideas and technology, while remaining fundamentally unsustainable in the volume of clothing it produces and we consume.
That denim jacket, leopard-print scarf and cargo trousers you wore to view the solar eclipse in 1999? Keeping and rewearing them is more important than ever. So let's be part of that conversation and as consumers play our part to ensure sustainable fashion doesn't get eclipsed by fast fashion.
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