Moving on from the fashion of the 80s, this segment will discuss everything 1990s! The decade of the 90s brought around many iconic fashion trends, a lot of which have resurfaced and made their way back into fashion in recent years. Pop culture had a huge influence in the fashion world, notably amongst pop artists such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, along with influence from certain TV shows and movies. Keep reading to find out more!
Transition from the 1980s
As discussed in my previous post, fashion in the 80s was all about colour, patterns, and most importantly, individuality. However, as the 90s came into play, fashion became a lot more casual, being described as "everyday wear". A statement fashion piece that became popular in the 90s was straight leg jeans. Baggy jeans rose to popularity during the times where hip-hop took first place in the music charts, showing that you could be both cool and casual! (Singleton, 2024). Another big part of the "everyday wear" that people gravitated towards was the introduction of cropped/graphic tees. These items played a big part of fashion within this time period, most popular with women. The iconic cropped tee with straight leg jeans outfit was an iconic statement piece that rose to popularity when celebrities and artists, both male and female, wore them on red carpets, concerts, and on TV.
Fashion On The Runway!
The 1990s was a huge decade for how fashion was portrayed on the runway. Many designers used pieces and patterns that were popular during the time, and incorporated them into their designs which were shown on the catwalk. A pattern that was huge in the 90s was plaid; whether it was on a shirt or on a skirt, plaid was everywhere in the 90s! Marc Jacobs brought plaid to the Perry Ellis runway in 1993, when he styled model Helena Christensen in a plaid dress, layered with a cropped cardigan, and finished with a pair of black Dr Martens, (Kessler and Subair, 2021). Tied in with the theme of plaid was "tartan". Whilst tartan wasn't a new trend in the 90s, it was certainly a hit on the runway. Vivienne Westwood showed this by styling model Naomi Campbell in a beautiful tartan outfit during a 1994 runway show, (Salmi, 2022). Another huge trend of the 90s was the wearing of "slip dresses". Once again, designers managed to bring this trend into the runway scene, most famously when Donatella Versace had her "Diamonds Are Forever" runway show in 1999. Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, and Amber Valetta were styled in beautiful silver slip dresses, varying in lengths, (Bazaar, 2017).
The 90s was a huge decade for fashion in music. Two artists who shone bright during this time were Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, or better known as Xtina during the 90s. Starting with Britney, she gave us an iconic look in her music video for the song "Baby One More Time", where she dressed in the infamous 'school girl' outfit with little pigtails in her hair, changing pop culture forever as this outfit is recognised and known worldwide, even over 30 years later, (Hunt, 2018). Another look from Britney which caught people's attention in the 90s was the metallic crop top embellished with crystals with matching trousers and trainers of which she wore whilst performing at the 1999 MTV awards in New York, (Devaney, 2020).
Moving on, another huge star of the 90s fashion was the infamous Christina Aguilera. A memorable outfit of hers was the one she wore in the video for her song "Genie in a Bottle" which consisted of a blue crop top with fringed beading and orange low waist cargo trousers, (Donahue, 2015).
Finally, when talking about pop culture in the 90s, I have to mention Jennifer Aniston in the 1994 TV show "F.R.I.E.N.D.S". Her character "Rachel Green" became a fashion icon during the 90s and early 2000s with the iconic "Rachel" haircut and outfits, my personal favourites being when she wore a cropped white turtleneck with a tartan skirt, knee high socks, and little Mary-Jane shoes, and also another outfit she wore which was when she wore a brown long sleeve under a black slip dress, notably being popular in the 90s, (Chang, 2023).
70s blog - https://stylesanctuaryblog.blogspot.com/2025/02/exploring-fashion-of-70s.html
80s blog - https://stylesanctuaryblog.blogspot.com/2025/02/exploring-fashion-of-80s.html
2000s blog - https://stylesanctuaryblog.blogspot.com/2025/02/exploring-fashion-of-2000s.html
References:
Singleton, S. (2024) The ’90s called. their fashion is back., Strike Magazines. Available at: https://www.strikemagazines.com/blog-2-1/the-90s-called-their-fashion-is-back (Accessed: 16 February 2025).
Subair and Kessler, E. and A. (2021) How many of these iconic ’90s supermodel catwalk moments do you remember?, British Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/gallery/90s-supermodel-catwalk-moments (Accessed: 16 February 2025).
Salmi, N. (2022) Naomi Campbell’s most iconic ’90s catwalk moments - runway versace, L’Officiel Philippines. Available at: https://www.lofficielph.com/fashion/naomi-campbell-most-iconic-90s-catwalk-moments (Accessed: 16 February 2025).
Bazaar, H. (2017) A visual history of the ’90s slip dress, Harper’s Bazaar Singapore. Available at: https://www.harpersbazaar.com.sg/fashion/visual-history-slip-dress-worn-kate-moss-sophia-coppola (Accessed: 16 February 2025).
Hunt, E. (2018) The story of Britney Spears’ ‘...baby one more Time’, NME. Available at: https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/story-britney-spears-baby-one-time-2392821 (Accessed: 16 February 2025).
Devaney, S. (2020) In the ’90s, Britney Spears was the crop top’s biggest advocate, British Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/gallery/britney-spears-fashion-90s (Accessed: 16 February 2025).
Donahue, A.T. (2015) What I learned about style from Christina Aguilera’s ‘Genie in a Bottle’, VICE. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-i-learned-about-style-from-christina-aguileras-genie-in-a-bottle/ (Accessed: 16 February 2025).
Chang, M. (2023) 30 outfits that prove Rachel Green was the ultimate ’90s fashion muse, ELLE. Available at: https://www.elle.com.au/fashion/fashion-news/the-best-of-rachel-green-from-friends-fashion-9862/ (Accessed: 16 February 2025).
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