Hip hop and grunge
music was fundamental in the making of the tough 90s trend. Nirvana and
Soundgarden are two bands that were most recognisable at the time. Music
artists such as Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love were inspirational to the younger
generation who wanted to adopt a tougher, more rebellious persona. Cobain’s
style is described as a typical ‘American slacker’ with mismatched, oversized
clothing and scruffy hair. It was seen as ‘anti-fashion’ but was a carefree
‘anything goes’, comfortable look that was easy to style and look on trend with.
Courtney Love adopted
this masculine trend, inspiring many women to go for the grunge look. She is
described as the Queen of grunge and a baby-doll gone bad which shows her
rebellious side. She was extremely influenced by her music and was very
expressive about it ‘I want every girl in the world to pick up a guitar and
start screaming’, her expressiveness definitely stood out in her clothing
choices. Love influenced females to be riskier and dress how they feel
comfortable. 63% from my survey agreed that this was a more masculine trend but
it is now more available and acceptable for them to embrace it. Vintage stores
today such as COW stock the scruffy 90’s trend as well as brands like Vans who
sell a skateboarder style. Dickies is sold in urban Outfitters (a very popular,
edgy shop) and is now worn by people adopting the tough 90’s trend instead of
builders and men who originally wore the brand for
practical reasons.
Puffer jackets and
bucket hats have become very popular within this trend, inspiration has been
taken from places like Seattle and Detroit. The main colour pallets are darker,
autumnal and slightly more neutral tones in comparison to a lot of the brighter
trends in the 90s. Perhaps these colours are a way to show the underlying deep,
dark emotions some of these musicians and young people have.
Marc Jacobs 1992 grunge collection
for Perry Ellis was one of his ‘career defining moments’ but was also very
controversial for the time. However, individuality and expressing our
personality through the way we look is almost celebrated now. This is why Vogue
describes this collection as a ‘collection before its time’. Designers still
take inspiration from the 1990’s grunge trend today.
Double denim,
sportswear, punk and typography are some of the main aspects to this tough 90’s
trend, however, the tartan stands out to me. It reminds me of Vivienne Westwood’s
early designs. Such as her A/W 1993/1994 Anglomania collection. I saw this as a
celebration of the traditional tartan material, shown in a modern way. The
classic print will always have a major role in the tough 90’s trend shown
through old, oversized tartan shirts which are still sold in almost all high
street stores today. Luxury versions of the typical tartan, flannel shirts and
90’s clothing were created by high end designers such as Ralph Lauren, Calvin
Klein and Anna Sui. However,
they soon realised people were not willing to spend lots of money to look like
scruffy adolescents.
AW/16 collections by
Alexander Wang and Vetements have recently recreated this tough 90s trend.
Controversial printed t-shirts, puffer jackets, checkered prints, satin fabrics
and a lot of layering are very popular currently which they show.
Thankyou for reading,
Love from Georgia
xxx
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