90s Influence on Today’s Fashion

As COVID cases rose in 2021, so did the beloved fashion trends of the 90s. 

The iconic look of baggy jeans and baggy shirts have made their way back into today’s fashion. 

The baggy and messy grunge aesthetic rose to fame when bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam began popularizing them in the 90s. These bands displayed a look of messiness while making it still seem cool, attracting the attention of over half the young generation at the time. As these bands grew in fame, so did the look they portrayed. The kids that followed these bands soon took up the 90s style that we now know and love. 

Although grunge was a big part of the 90s culture, there are other fashion trends that have resurfaced in today’s wardrobes. A fashion trend that has gained popularity once again is small shirts and particularly low waisted, baggy jeans. Girl groups at this time, such as TLC, wore this style. This specific style faded it’s way into the early 2000s, where it was seen more as a pop punk look, worn by artists such as Avril Lavigne. If you were to look around your school right now, I’m sure you’d find a lot of people with big pants and a small shirt. 

Another article of clothing that made its way into 2021 are plaid skirts. In the iconic 1995 movie Clueless, we see the plaid skirt and monochrome outfits a lot throughout the film. This movie is seen as a huge inspiration for fashion nowadays, according to one of my friends I interviewed. 

During the interview I asked Pitman High School 9th grader Alley Popplewell, how the movie influenced her fashion and she said, “After watching the movie, I started caring about my fashion more. When building outfits, I take a lot of inspiration from this movie and this style.” So much like music, movies could have a huge impact on fashion as well.

Fashion is a big part of who we are and a way for us to express ourselves. The way fashion recycles and comes back generation after generation is exciting. By living in this new era, and bringing back an old one, we can fuse them together to create something new. From the 90s to 2021, we’ve seen fashion evolve sporadically. I can’t wait to see the individuality new styles bring in the future. So as Nirvana once said, come as you are!… and bring your baggy jeans.