90s Fashion is Da Bomb, Sike

By Sarah St. Lifer '10

Would you believe me if I said another Clinton is in the White House and influencing the world’s runways?

Last semester I wrote how the trends of the ‘80s were back and brought their baggage with them. As the pendulum swung from ‘84 to ’09, studs and the leather were our armor against the recession, blunting the protean edge of cyclical prosperity. While the trendseekers had just invested in their bandage dresses and studded booties, designers moved on to the 1990’s and left their excesses at the door.

Obama might be the new Clinton, and when President Clinton reigned, Wall Street seemed a lot like Main Street and coquettish unemployment rates flirted with single digits. Salad days need their dressing and Marc Jacobs sent women down the runway at his Perry Ellis show in silk shirts printed to look like grunge flannel ($300). Andy Warhol presaged the ‘90s: “think rich, look poor,” and even in 2010 our mentality still seeks that need. If Obama brings back the prosperity of the Dot Com days maybe he can bring back the Dilbert TV Show high fashion in low places dichotomy.

Last season, trends from the 80s were resurrected, and were followed by the false spirit of a misguided fashion Pentecost: enough extravagance will make me appear well off and maybe even (if there is an accommodating God in heaven) ‘well-to-do.’ But now the 90s trends are coming back: untouched denim, basic plaid and grandpa sweaters. These looks seem to force their wearers into the background, hiding the sumptuary aspects of fashion behind a democratizing cotton curtain.

Balmain’s Slashed Army T-Shirt is missing a few chunks of fabric (think moth-sized holes) but will cost you $1,625. And the days of carrying clear nail polish in the event of a run in your hose are long gone – leggings with varying tears are more acceptable now. Even belly shirts, appearing to be found in the kiddie section, are a fond throw back to even the classiest, Clueless set. Less is more, and less material means more skin. Are we more confident in our sexuality and fiscal earnings?

Instead of opting for those heels or flats, girls are again grabbing their Doc Martens. Worn with a short, floral printed dress, minimalist fashion garners more attention. They’re the Pontiac Trans Am of the fashion world, flair on the cheap. Pontiacs aren’t around anymore though but that’s okay: defunct is the new vintage.