about fashion > 1990’s Fashion - Grunge
1990’s Fashion - Grunge
The 1990s in popular culture is typically referred to as the decade of “anti-fashion”. In reality, anti-fashion was only one of many trends in fashion in the 1990s; however the fashion of the 1990s was characterized by a rejection of the fashion of the 1980s. The fashion of the 1990s was also characterized by many overlapping, often contradictory trends. The most significant event in 1990s fashion was the rise of grunge fashion in 1992. In the late 1990s there was a move away from grunge. Retro clothing inspired by the 1960s and 1970s was popular for much of the 1990s.
Early 1990s
The acid washed denim fad of the late 1980s ended in 1990. This fad started to reappear in 2004 and 2005. Varying shades of stonewashed denim became popular, and remained popular through 1998. Denim jackets continued to be popular; slim fit jeans continued to be worn until 1994, but became less popular. Relaxed fit jeans replaced slim fit jeans as the most popular denim pants. White and black t-shirts were popular with boys and men. Hairstyles also moved away from the 80s. The high, hair spray-heavy styles favoured by girls in the 1980s were replaced by long, straight hair, often with bangs. The bowl cut became popular with teenage and pre-teen boys in 1991. The mullet survived in modified form as a male hairstyle through 1992.
The dominant clothing fad at the beginning of the 1990s was fluorescent clothing. The five fluorescent colours were fluorescent blue, fluorescent green, fluorescent orange, fluorescent pink and fluorescent yellow. Fluorescent clothing was especially popular with teenage and pre-teen girls, although some boys wore fluorescent t-shirts. Fluorescent clothing items included t-shirts, sweatshirts, socks, shoelaces, hair scrunchies, and fluorescent fanny packs. In 1991, fluorescent colours were replaced by colours such as coral, hot pink, and turquoise. The popularity of bright colours declined through 1995. Hoop earrings were also a popular accessory for teenaged girls and women in the first years of the 1990s.
A major fad in 1991 was parachute pants. Parachute pants were relaxed fit, tapered leg pants with a drawstring waist. Parachute pants came in bright colours. Such as, neon pink and green and white. A fad of 1992 was heat-sensitive shirts that changed colour depending on the wearer’s body temperature.
Grunge & retro-hippie
The most important event in 1990s fashion was the rise of the grunge style into the mainstream in 1992. Grunge fashion was influenced by grunge music, which achieved mainstream popularity in 1992. Grunge fashion resulted in a decline in the popularity of bright colours. Grunge fashion was dominated by plaid flannel shirts, stonewashed blue jeans, and dark colours like maroon, forest green, indigo, and brown. White and black were also popular colours in grunge fashion. Grunge fashion popularized Doc Martens style shoes and boots, and high top sneakers in red, indigo, forest green, and black. Grunge fashion emphasized long, straight hair. Most teenaged and pre-teen girls already had long hair; only a small percentage of teenage and pre-teen boys adopted the long haired look. Grunge fashion was a unisex phenomenon. Although the grunge look was considered “anti-fashion”, the fashion industry turned the grunge look into a distinct fashion style. The fashion industry began selling such items as plaid hooded sweatshirts, plaid sweatshirt vests, plaid long sleeved t-shirts, and plaid shorts.
The grunge look coincided with the revival of hippie fashion. Hippie fashion actually began to re-enter the fashion world in 1990, with the return of tie-dye shirts. This was followed in 1991 with the advent of sunglasses shaped like the granny glasses of the late 1960s. The full blown revival of hippie fashion began in 1992, with the return of bell-bottom jeans. Crocheted vests, also considered part of the hippie revival, became popular among teenaged and pre-teen girls in 1993. Most fashion critics considered the grunge and the neo-hippie looks complimentary.
Denim overalls regained popularity in 1992. Denim overalls fit well with the grunge and neo-hippie fashions. Denim overalls remained popular through 2000, being adapted to fit the changing styles. Denim shorts became fashionable in 1992. Denim Shortall were popular from 1991 to 1994. White denim became popular among girls in 1992, and remained popular through 1998.
Here is a summary of the most popular trends:
- The ‘Rachel’ haircut
The ‘do’ that Jennifer Aniston who played Rachel on TV’s Friends wore. Everyone had it - it was the 90’s equivalent of the Farrah look. - Adidas Windpants
Light windpants. Made noises every time you moved. Came in a bunch of colours with a white or black stripe down the side. Also had button down ones. - Attitude Dude Shirts
Shirts with line drawn faces that say one word or phrase beneath like. “I don’t know” - Baby Doll Dresses
Everyone had one. They were the dresses that were adorable and made you look like a baby. - Back-Pack Purses
Exactly what the name describes; a miniature back-pack used as a purse. - Baggy Jeans
Worn by both girls and boys, the baggier the better - Butterfly clips
These became popular in 1998-1999. Little plastic butterfly clips that girls of all ages wore by the gross in their hair. The typical way of wearing them was to part your hair in several different places and to clip each section of hair so that the butterflies would be all in a row on top of your head. - Canvas Shoes
Worn with very tapered pants, and scrunch socks. Best brand is Keds - Caps with the Tag Still On It
In the early 90’s baseball caps that still had the tag on it were in, whether it was the price tag or any type of tag. - Cargo Pants
Somewhat of a wide leg, with large pockets part way down the leg. Usually blue, black, whitish, or beige. - Cole-Haan Loafers
Genuine leather loafers that cost about 90 bucks; were the status symbol of my junior high years, everyone had to have them. - Diaper Pants
They were the pants that had to flaps of material that crossed in the front and buttoned together. - Doc Martens
They were boots and sandals that were very popular. They cost around $100 a pair, but almost every teen had a pair in the late 90’s. - Double Shirt
Kids in the 90’s would wear 2 shirts: one regular long sleeve shirt and one button up shirt. The button up shirt would be un buttoned. - Fanny Packs
Purses that buckle on to the waist. Very popular in the early 1990. Now it’s considered to be a fashion faux pas. - Fishing Hats
Floppy cotton hats like the type that have been popular with fishermen for years. Came in an assortment of colours, kaki, tan, cream…The brim nearly covered the wearer’s eyes. - Flannel shirts
Grungy, flannel shirts from dad’s closet worn over concert T-shirts to complete the whole “grunge” ensemble. - Flare Jeans
Similar to bell bottoms with less of a flare! - Flower Pot Skirt
A skirt over trousers - GX jeans
All the teenage girls wore them, started the flair jeans - Guess
Guess jeans comes in a variable of colours, even bright colours. They also have Guess shirts. - Half-heart
Very popular in the early 90s, partly because of Laura Palmer’s mysterious half-heart necklace on “Twin Peaks”. - Hawaiian Prints
Everything from shoes to necklaces to shirts and shorts, etc that had Hawaiian flowers or sayings on them. - JNCO
Big, Baggy jeans. Popular amongst the teenage crowds. More popular with skaters. - Levi
Levi brand T-shirt that had “Button Your Fly” written in very large letters. These were very popular in the early 90s. - MHENDI
Not quite a tattoo, but more than the stick on machine ones. You can get cool designs or make it yourself. Fun and lasts for a long time. - Mary Janes
Kind of like loafers 90’s way. Everyone had to have them… - Mini ball-chain necklaces
Necklaces with a charm on them, usually a flower or a peace sign or a smiley face, or some didn’t have a charm. Most people at my school wore them two or three at a time. - Nike
The Most Popular sports wear for most of the 90s - Overalls (coveralls)
As I remember, over-alls came back into style. In the early 1990’s (approx. 1990 -1991 - I think) Teens wore their overalls in two ways: They wore their overalls with a belt, and let the ‘front flap’ and ‘back straps’ hang straight down. The other way, was to only hook together one side of the overall straps, and leave the opposite side open. I remember that this was popular when I was in was in the 6th grade. The popular over-all styles were: light blue; or grey stone-washed; overalls, with lots of zippers and metal buttons down the sides. - Piercings
Getting your tongue, belly button, eyebrow, nipple, etc. Just whatever you could get pierced. Everyone has one. It was something cool. - Plastic Rubbery Bracelets
Some glittery, some solid, some clear. Went with everything you wore, dressy or not. - Platforms
Shoes with large thick heels on them very similar to the look of the 60’s and 70’s. Some were made of plastic and some made of cork, even wood. - Polar Fleece
Everything fleece, vests, jackets, pants, socks, toques. Worn by everyone from little kids to senior citizens. - Sam and Libby flats
These were ballerina like flat dress shoes that came in assorted colours with a funky looking little bow. They were very popular in the 91-92 school year. - Spiral Perms
Long, spirally curls ala Mariah Carey, were very popular in the early to mid 90s. - Stapled hems
This quick fix became a common style in the early 90’s. High school students would staple the hems of their dickies so as not to trip on their designer bedroom slippers - Starter Coats
Pull over coats that were big and puffy - Straw Hats w/ Flipped-up Brim
Very pretty straw hats that had a flipped-up brim with flowers on them. Inspired by the TV show “Blossom”. - Tattoos
Formerly the preserve of gang members, jailbirds and other rebels, tatts are now so common that even the Spice Girls have them. You used to get a tattoo to stand out, now you get one to blend in… - Thigh-high Stockings
Basically over-the-knee stockings that girls wore with very short skirts. Introduced around 1995, the two basic colours were black and white. - Tommy
Tommy clothing is very hip and in style with teens in the 90’s - Tube Socks
Calf-high socks that didn’t have a little seam where the heel went. We wore them with our sneakers and shorts usually kind of squished down so they’d wrinkle. - Union Jack dress
Inspired by Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell in the late 90s, this was a very short dress in the design of a British Union Jack flag. - White Hair band
A narrow, elastic white hair band worn near the front of the hair by teenage girls and young women in the late 1990s
Source: www.apparelsearch.com, www.inthe90s.com
