1990 - The 'Casual' era!

90's Fashion - The 'casual' era

Tattoos and body piercings were introduced during the 90's and became very popular. The casual chic look started in the 90's and carried on into the 2000's with people wearing jeans, t-shirts, hoodies and trainers which implied a more relaxed approach to fashion.

Naomi Campbell is a British Supermodel who was scouted at the age of 15 in the 80's and continues modelling in this present day. She's walked the catwalk for designers such as Gianni Versace and many more during the 90's.

A continuation from the 80's look was seen during the 90's as many women still wore denim buttoned shirts and neon colours. Sweatshirts, baby doll dresses and trench coats were still a hit at the begining of the 90's, although matching jeans and jackets began to be made in more darker shades than acid wash. The 90's saw many women embracing leggings and stirrup pants with elastic boot straps.

Popular women's accessories included court shoes, cowboy boots, penny loafers and headscarves. The common layed back outfit worn during the 90's for women would be a baby doll dress with black opaque tights with white slouchy socks and white sneakers. It wasn't uncommon to see mothers dressed alongside their daughters in a slouchy t-shirt, leggings and converse's although nowadays daughters may not like that idea!


Men on the other hand during the early 90's were seen wearing the 'grunge' look including, flannel shirts which were a bit hit as they were padded but loose fitting. Unlike the women men still wore acid washed denim jeans, they also wore wool sweaters and black leather jackets.


Over in the music industry one of my all-time favourite girl bands came about during the 90s - The Spice Girls! The group consisted of five members including Victoria Beckham ('Posh Spice'), Geri Halliwell ('Ginger Spice'), Emma Bunton ('Baby Spice'), Melanice Brown ('Scary Spice') and Melanie Chisholm ('Sporty Spice'). The girls had an influence on fashion during the 90's embracing their own styles due to the reason they were given their individual nicknames! They had many great hits including, Stop right now and Who do you think you are!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JD6ejmlpa8

 

In 1997 Stella Mcartney (daughter of Sir Paul Mcartney-former Beatles member) was made the Creative Director of Chloe in Paris following in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld was not impressed that Paris fashion house Chloe were not taking on a big name 'Let's hope she's gifted like her father' he quoted. Despite the initial criticism Stella Mcartneys designs have had critical success. By 2001 Stella Mcartney launched her own fashion house under her name in joint with Gucci group which is still very successful in the fashion industry.

Titanic was one of the film industry's greatest classic successful films during the 90's starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The epic romantic disaster film saw different types of social classes falling in love on the ship during its voyage.

Gianni Versace is an Italian designer who founded his fashion house in 1978, his first boutique also opened in the same year in Milan. He was killed in 1997 so his sister Donatella Versace stepped up as creative designer for Versace. Versace is known for its many different labels selling luxury clothing, accessories and make up. During before Gianni Versace was killed he created the black leather bondage theme dresses which were quite controversial although he inspired many fashion houses and is known for being one of the world's leading international fashion houses.

By the late 90's pastel colours became a hit as many women wore like pink or baby blue tank tops or sweaters revealing crop tops! Also union jack motifs were popular inspired by the cool Britannia movement which continued through to 2000. Alexander Mcqueen inspired many women to wear low-waisted jeans during the late 90's. Although new trends were slowly coming through many fashion trends from the early and mid-90's continued through the decade such as miniskirts, flared trousers and grey sweat pants as well as thong underwear popularising by contemporary R&B! Popular accessories seen were big hoop earrings, fascinators, alice bands and jelly shoes which I wore in the early 2000's as a child!

One of my all-time favourite childhood films came out in 1996 - Matilda! An American fantasy film based on the Roald Dahl novel starring Danny Devito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, Pam Ferris and Mara Wilson (Matilda).

By the late 90's most men's trends also continued through the decade such as 'street wear' as men were still seen wearing tracksuits, bomber jackets and cargo pants! Popular brands such as Nike, Reebok and Adidas were known for changing the leather sole to the rubber sole which most men preferred. An influential person at the time wearing the 'street wear' trend would be Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of  Bel-Air!