The Best Decades Day Outfit Ideas For Spirit Week (Girls And Guys) (2024)

Is your school doing Decades Day for spirit week this year? Here are some outfit ideas for every decade that will give you some inspiration for what to wear.

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How Does Decades Day Work?

Decades Day is a spirit day theme where students dress up in clothes from a past decade. This could be clothing from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, etc.

Different schools will do Decades Day a bit differently. Some schools may allow students to dress from any decade they like, while others will assign different decades to different grade levels.

For example, this is how it may look at a school that assigns decades for each grade:

• Freshmen wear clothing from the 1950s
• Sophomores dress up in clothes from the 1960s
• Juniors are assigned to the 1970s
• Seniors wear clothes from the 1980s

Of course, this is just an example and your school may do this differently. Don’t worry though – we’re going to give you examples of outfits from every decade since the 1950s. You’ll have outfit inspiration no matter what decade you’re assigned to.

Spirit Day Outfit Ideas For Each Decade

Looking for some outfit inspiration for each decade?

We’ve gone through each decade and picked out some of the most popular fashion trends from that time. You’ll have everything you need to create the perfect outfit for decades day at school.

50s Decades Day Outfit Ideas

The 1950s is known for mid-century clothing styles. You probably think of circle skirts, ponytails, blue jeans, and slicked-back hair. These were the most popular looks for teens during the 50s.

One of the most recognizable outfits for girls from the 50s is the poodle skirt. It was a colorful, long, swishy skirt with a hemline just below the knees.

Some of these skirts had actual poodles embroidered onto them, while others were left plain. Here’s inspiration for a girl’s outfit for 50s Decade Day:

Recreate this poodle skirt outfit:

For guys, the most iconic look is the greaser style. Think of the movie Grease, which took place in the late 1950s.

The boys in this movie wore jeans, leather jackets, white t-shirts, and slicked back hair.

Here are some pieces that will help you recreate the 50s greaser style for decades day:

60s Decades Spirit Day Outfit Ideas

The 1960s was one of the most exciting decades for fashion. Known as the “swinging sixties”, this era was a time of self-expression and creativity.

Hippie fashion was huge in the 60s. This style contains lots of bold colors, fun prints, and interesting textures.

Girls in the 1960s wore a lot of flare pants, round sunglasses, bright colors, flower headbands, fringe jackets, and suede boots.

Here is a fun girl’s Decades Day outfit idea for the 1960s:

Recreate this 60s Decades Day Hippie outfit:

For guys, the hippie fashion was pretty similar. Bold colors, tie-dye prints, beaded jewelry, and fringe jackets were really popular.

Here’s a great guys outfit idea for 60s Decade Day at school:

Recreate this 60s Decade Day outfit for guys:

70s Decades Day Outfit Ideas

Fashion in the early 70s was pretty similar to the 60s – hippie style with bold colors, fun prints, and lots of texture. In the later years of the 70s, disco fashion started to be more prevalent.

Flared jeans, shiny clothing, go go dresses, and mismatching colors was the popular style among the disco crowd.

The 70s was also the time when women started showing a bit more skin with crop tops and hot pants (super short shorts).

The easiest way to dress like a 70s girl for Decades Day is to wear a go go dress with tall white boots. Here is some inspiration for a 70s disco go go outfit for girls:

Recreate this cute 70s outfit for girls:

For guys, the style became a bit more subdued than it was in the 60s.

Men wore a lot of neutral colors, boot cut pants, large belts, and oversized sunglasses. Leisure suits were also pretty popular with guys in the 1970s.

Here is a good example of a guy’s outfit for 70s Decade Day at school:

Recreate this guys Decades Day outfit for the 70s:

80s Decades Spirit Day Outfit Ideas

Fashion in the 1980s consisted of lots of neon colors, bold makeup looks, and teased hair.

Accessories were also really huge in the 80s – think scrunchies, leg warmers, chunky jewelry, fingerless gloves, and fanny packs.

For girls, the easiest way to dress up for 80s Decade Day is by wearing a 1980s workout outfit. Throw on a pair of neon leggings, a scrunchie, and some leg warmers.

Here is a good example of an outfit that girls can wear on Decades Day for the 80s:

Recreate this 80s Decades Day outfit:

In the 80s, guy wore a lot of dad jeans and jackets. They also wore loose-fitting shirts and T-shirts.

To be honest, the 80s weren’t a super interesting time in mens fashion.

Here’s a good example of an 80s-inspired outfit idea for guys:

Recreate this guys 80s outfit idea for Decades Day:

90s Decades Day Outfit Ideas

Dressing up for the 90s should be really easy because a lot of 90s fashion is trendy right now!

The 90s were all about grunge, oversized clothing, denim, scrunchies, overalls, etc.

Girls in the 90s wore lots of blue jeans, biker shorts, oversized tops, and scrunchies. Here is one cute outfit idea for a 90s Decade Day outfit:

Recreate this 90s Decades Day outfit:

Another trendy 90s outfit idea that is having a comeback is biker shorts with an oversized crewneck sweatshirt.

This look was made popular by Princess Diana in the 90s and has been seen on many celebrities in recent years.

Here is a great example of this look in the 90s on Princess Diana, as well as today as seen on Hailey Bieber:

Recreate this 90s-inspired outfit for spirit week:

For guys, the baggy grunge look was really popular in the 1990s. Baggy jeans, oversized sweatshirts, and chain necklaces were really trendy.

Here is a good example of a 90s outfit idea for a guy:

Recreate this 90s Decade Day outfit for guys:

2000s Decades Spirit Day Outfit Ideas

Most teens today are familiar with the ‘Y2K’ trend in clothing.

Micro miniskirts, scarf tops, tube dresses, funky prints, and low-rise jeans were all staples in the trendy 2000s girl’s closet.

For girls, it’s pretty easy to dress for the early 2000s for Decades Day. One super cute Y2K outfit idea is a mini skirt with a baby tee:

Recreate this early 2000s outfit idea for Decade Day:

Low rise pants with a tight top are another cute trend from the Y2K era. Here is a good example of this outfit idea:

Recreate this 00s Decades Day costume:

For guys, the 00s was the decade of the skater boy clothing. Sagging jeans were super trendy during this era. It was also popular to wear everything denim in early 2000s.

A good outfit idea for guys would be a pair of baggy jeans (make sure they sag a bit), a hoodie, beanie, and maybe a denim jacket over the top.

Here is some inspiration for your 00s outfit for guys:

Recreate this early 2000s outfit for Decades Day:

The Easiest Decade Day Outfits

The easiest outfits for Decades Day are the ones that incorporate clothing items that are currently trendy. This is because you’re more likely to already have some pieces in your closet.

Right now, clothing trends from the 90s and early 2000s are coming back in style. This means that these two decades are the easiest to put together outfits for.

Check your closet for clothing that is 90s or 2000s inspired. If you’re not sure, ask someone who was a teen during those decades.

This post was all about the best Decades Day outfit ideas that you can recreate during Spirit Week.

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