We all lived through the nineties (if you haven’t then… wow you’re young), and we got to experience the unique music that came out of that era, from the Spice Girls to Destiney’s Child, to my personal favorite, Christina Aguilera. More importantly, the stars at that time, our idols, introduced us to unique takes on hair styles and fashion.
All of a sudden we thought over plucked eyebrows and Bantu knots were a good idea, that they made us look edgy. Looking back, however, we may have re-evaluated our pervious perspectives on such fads. The important point here is that our young impressionable selves were privy to these fashion statements, and today, we are going to look back on those glorious days to laugh, reminisce and cringe.
Whether they seem ridiculous or very bold, there’s one thing we can’t deny, 90s fashion trends are definitely unique.
Spice Girls
I remember being a tiny kid obsessed with Spice Girls. Baby Spice was my ultimate favorite. I loved Scary Spices’ hair and Posh Spices’…poshness. They hit the world by storm and promoted girl power, what’s not to love. The best song of all time was Wannabe, mind you I had no idea what I was singing, but who cares, it’s catchy as hell.
The Spice Girls were not only great singers, but also fashionistas. Although I do have a thing against Bantu knots, Scary Spices’ rendition made the hairdo look enviable… at least to my five year old self (don’t judge me). She also rocked that classic 90s silver eye shadow.
Baby Spice made sparkly leather pants a thing, she was also a promoter of platform shoes, you know the ones that turn you into a skyscraper. Sporty Spice made comfort a fashion statement, who can argue with walking around in your tracksuit while still being totally stylish. It’s a shame we can’t get away with that now.
Ginger Spice was a jumpsuit fan, she made the one piece look like a good idea, and although it’s not my thing, the jumpsuit has been making an appearance as of late. Posh Spice was a big fan of boob tubes and tight dresses, easily dressing them up with some nice accessories and classy heels.
Then there was the mid riff, it’s fair to say that all the Spice girls totally owned the mid riff. They made a relatively conservative time, that viewed the mid riff as trashy, to see it as classy. Especially when the mid riff was paired with a nice white suit.
Britney Spears
Britney Spears owned the 90s, and much like Posh and Scary Spice, she still has a lot of influence, but unlike the Spice Girls, she is still an active pop star. Now, we can argue about how much we love or hate her music (hate is such a strong word for someone you don’t know), but it’s safe to say that when we lived in the 90s, we lived with Britney.
She managed to combine mid riffs with sport ware and somehow made it look good. Not only that, but she also popularized the plaid skirt which is my all-time favorite thing to wear…I’m retro like that.
The tank top was also really popular back in her day, it still makes an occasional reappearance, and it was easily paired with some faded and ripped jeans. The classic 90s slip dress was also pioneered by Britney and her ilk; it was a simple look that you could wear to anything if you accessorized it the right way.
Now on to her hair, how can we forget the pig tails, I remember being 12 and sporting the look much to the dissatisfaction of my mum, apparently 12 is too old for pig tails. She also favored a sweet fringe, who remembers wearing one of those to primary school?
Layered hair was really in during the 90s and Britney was a clear fan, which really went with the classic 90s shiny eye shadow. Nothing like glittery eyelids to make your eyes pop or get an infection… all I’m saying is that all that glitter has to go somewhere. She also wore the smoky eye makeup really well; this look has been popping in and out for a couple years now.
Destiny’s Child
These ladies also rocked the girl power vibe, so naturally, I’m a fan. The song that made the most impact on me was I’m a Survivor; it just makes you want to fist pump the air with pride. Their R-E-S-P-E-C-T campaign was also great. These women, like many others, used their influence for good.
Fashion wise they preferred camouflage and animal prints…who doesn’t. They also loved wearing bedazzled bodices, which also happened to be coordinated. They too gravitated towards mid riffs. Did I mention that during the 90’s mid riffs were huge… no…then I shall continue. There were many ways to wear mid riff: leather, animal print, bedazzled, no-dazzled, do I have to go on? Basically they wore them all.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed already, leather was also a fashion statement made back then. I do have to say, regardless of whether you’re a leather fan, they really knew how to pull it off, they also knew how to throw a hella cool power pose.
Those leather outfits were also accented with some fur (hopefully fake) trim. I’m personally not a fur fan, but on this outfit I have to say it doesn’t look half bad.
Maybe they’re just capable of pulling off anything. Another 90s hair style was curling only the bottom of your hair; on long hair it was elegant while on short hair it was fierce. Two very nice choices! I know you’ll know this next hair style, because crimped hair was all the rage back in the good old 90s, and Beyoncé pulled it off perfectly.
I can’t imagine Beyoncé pulling off pig tails now, but back then, she made them look “cool” and not sweet. Having obviously streaked hair was also considered all the rage. The hair style could be paired with gold eyelids, especially with some gold lining on the bottom of your lower lid, it really worked well with the streaked hair.
Gwen Stefani
Gwen brought that edgy look to the 90s, she was very daring. To me she’ll always be remembered as a blond bombshell with bright red lipstick… I love me some red lipstick. She often wore brightly colored mesh shirts with a contrasting bra on top (if you wanted to know she also wore one underneath, for that added protection)…Did I also mention that crop tops were in?
Then there was always her thing for sheer slips, paired with a nice boob tube. Now I know I’m going to sound like an absolute grandma for saying this, but I love floral prints, and apparently, so does Gwen. Although I don’t actually like her outfit here, I do like the print itself.
Another look that I like is the use of global prints, especially in the casual way that she is wearing them. Although you don’t have to wear the prints in a sarong fashion, it does look good that way. I would also avoid using the bindi as it isn’t politically correct. Back in the olden days, the trend of over plucking your eyebrows was really the way to go; such a look was commonly sported by Gwen.
She was also frequently spotted wearing red or dark lipstick, embracing the stark look. It was, in a way, linked to the grunge look which dominated the other side of the 90s, which we will talk about later.
Hair style wise Gwen was really into those Bantu knots, she was also into the pigtail movement. Just like Kelly Rowland, Gwen was also an advocate of obviously streaked hair, although her take on the style was a little starker.
Christina Aguilera
Christina had a similar fashion sense as Gwen, although naturally, Christina added her own twist to popular fashion statements at the time. She chose to wear longer mesh shirts rather than the classic mid riff version, while wearing a color blocking crop top underneath.
She also wore mid riffs with a fringe, a style that was trending at the time (something I will never understand). Christina embraced the animal print fad, which was popular around the 90s; her favorite was the cheetah print. Although, on occasion, she did wear a zebra print.
She took body confidence to the next level, she not only embraced the mid riff, but also a high thigh slit that pretty much turned a simple outfit into something very risqué and new. She was a total fashion icon and trend setter. What I like about Christina is that she was fashion free, in the sense that she wore whatever made her feel comfortable.
She also wasn’t afraid to experiment and try new things. She went ahead and tried braids, then she tried black streaks in long blond hair, when short hair was all the rage. But that’s nothing compared to this outfit and hair style she’s rocking.
I also really like her revival of 50s hair styles, the hairdo looks great on her… I might try it actually. I’d pair it with some of that red lipstick that’s floating around. As you can see, the 90s preferred that smoky eye look with a generous dash of silver.
Another 90s move was the application of lip liner; it was really up to you if you preferred a liner that matched your lipstick or if you wanted to use a darker color as a stylistic choice.
Nirvana
Nirvana helped popularize a completely different look to the almost preppy look that you see in the beginning of the article. They were one of the founders of the grunge look. The grunge look was comprised of plaid oversized shirts paired with high-waisted, faded out jeans.
The jeans were always worn in and torn at the knees. I remember my mum thinking that it was a sign that people couldn’t afford decent clothes. She couldn’t understand how ripped up clothes were a fashion statement. The colors of choice were deep earth tones, like burgundy, mustard yellow, black, and dark green; bright colors were shunned.
Nothing was fitted, clothes were baggy and riddled with holes, the worn in look was key. Because the look was typically masculine, women would feminize it by pairing baggy oversized over shirts with short tank tops that would show off a hint of their stomachs. The flannel shirts could be worn with mid riff, but the most common look preferred a subtler style.
The grunge look refused to bow down to the shiny lipped and thin eye browed dictatorship of the 90s. Does anybody remember the song “Skater Boy” by Avril Lavigne? Well, that song was pretty much about this fashion divide and all of its implications. This was also the time that brightly dyed hair in an array of unnatural colors like blue and green became popular, something we still see today.
Make up wise, the look favored pale skin with dark eye liner and eye shadow paired with either light brown lipstick or deeper colors, like red. For men, much like in the 80s, a messy application of eyeliner was often worn with the grunge look, where the eyeliner was applied just under the eyelid, giving it that smudged look. Naturally, men also wore their eyeliner with some nice stubble.
So I’m not a complete fan of the 90s era, I may not completely understand the fashion, but I can appreciate the fact that they liked it. I also have to admit that I really do like some of their stylistic choices, like floral and global prints, the grunge look, and the red lipstick.
So, did you enjoy this nostalgic jog down memory lane or do you believe that the 90s were a fashion nightmare? Comment below and let me know what your favorite or most hated 90s trend was. Which 90s fashion pieces do you think are making a return?
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