The ‘90s Called
story by Megan Foster, design by Madilyn Larsen, and photos by Yohanes Goodell and Andy Rios
“Ring, ring,” yells the phone. “Ring,” it screeches once more. “Hello?” answers the secretary before the sound trails off into the distance. I hear a knock at the door before it swings wide open. “Ma’am?” she asks. “The ‘90s called and they want their clothes back.”
It’s 2024, but the vibes are screaming ‘90s. While the current trends have become a mosh pit of different eras, the ‘90s have crawled their way back into the limelight. Cargo pants, baggy denim, crop tops and corsets have all found their way back to the mainstream fashion game.
The inevitable “I told you it’d be popular again,” echoes from our elders because the ‘90s are back.
Gerardo Castillo is a junior studying apparel, textiles and marketing at CWU. Castillo says that the ‘90s style has come back in a more practical fashion. “We’re going through a grunge era right now, and I feel like a lot of it, especially cargos, started back then,” Castillo says. While some styles from the ‘90s have come back, Castillo suggests they may be coming back in a way that is more modern. “[There’s] a lot less vivid colors, I would say… More muted tones.”
Castillo grew up in California and would describe his personal style as modern. Castillo says he likes to shop at Nordstrom Rack, “usually the rack gets things that aren’t up to season, but you kind of have the opportunity to put everything together yourself based on your individual style.” He also shops at TJ Maxx. “I love deals,” Castillo says.
Castillo is wearing baggy, straight leg, light wash jeans from Topman. His shoes are the Nike Air Max 95s which, “you guessed it, they were released in 1995,” Castillo says. On top he sports a Vintage Nike zip-up that was given to him by an old tennis coach. “He gave it to me my freshman year because I made it on to the varsity team,” Castillo explains. “It’s from the early 2000s, so it’s as close to the 90s as you can get.”
Kasani Stanback is a sophomore double majoring in psychology and aviation management at CWU. “[The] first thing that came to mind was jeans, jeans were really big, like very oversized,” Stanback says in reference to ‘90s fashion trends. “Snapbacks, really funky makeup, eccentric makeup, all those colors and stuff like that.”
In reference to her own personal style, Stanback says she is quite versatile. “I feel like it's literally all over the place,” she explains. “I think I was wearing something preppy yesterday and now I'm in streetwear. Like, what? Or sometimes I'll be like, ‘I want to put on a dress, I want to dress up today.’ Or some days. I'm like, ‘I don't want to dress up today. I want to wear sweats and sweatpants.’”
Stanback says she has seen the revival of straight leg denim and “match-y match-y” outfits. “Monochromatic,” Stanback says. “You know, to [the] shoes, to the belt, to the accessories.” She used this style as inspiration in her own outfit. Stanback is sporting a Nike graphic tee with Nike Dunks pictured on the back, “And those shoes match the shoes that I have on,” she says. Stanback also chose a pair of light wash, straight leg jeans, “and they’re thrifted so even better,” she adds.
JJ Kroger is a senior studying aviation management at CWU. “[A]round 2010 to maybe 2016 it was more of a tighter fit, a tighter look,” Kroger recalls. “Skinny jeans, things like that, and then it eventually shifted to a more relaxed fit… and I think that’s where the 90s thing came back.”
When Kroger thinks of ‘90s fashion, he has specific trends in mind. “I think of more of a jock type of fashion,” Kroger says. “So basically, cropped shirts that are right at the waist for guys, blue jeans [and] we got Jordans for shoes.”
When describing his own brand, Kroger was unable to pinpoint a specific style. “My own personal style is very broad,” he says. “It's very vast. I bring in inspiration from many different time periods and just from personal inspirations like people I looked up to or people I thought had cool fashion back then.”
Kroger is wearing a colorful button up shirt from Pacsun and thrifted straight leg blue jeans. Kroger decorates his fit with thrifted black shoes and a brown bandana. He gathered outfit inspiration using influences from his youth. “So, growing up I was a fan of Will Smith, the actor, he acted in one of my favorite shows ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air,’” Kroger says. “And that's what inspired my fit [today], basically… he used to wear colorful shirts with blue jeans.”
Denim had its moment in the ‘90s (not that it isn't a staple in nearly every era), but it made itself known. Throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s, denim was not only one of the hottest trends, but also worn on red carpets and runways. What was that denim trend from the ‘90s? The better question is, what wasn’t the denim trend in the ‘90s?
While the hands down, number one, denim-on-denim outfit was created in the early 2000s —by Brittany Spears and Justin Timberlake at their famous appearance at the 2001 American Music Awards — the denim-on-denim trend was actually picked back up in the ‘90s after being worn notoriously in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
We polled our models to see what they had to say on the resurgence of this trend in 2024. Gerardo Castillo, junior in apparel, textiles and merchandising had a simple “Yes,” to say about the trend. Kasani Stanback, sophomore in psychology and aviation management, agreed but argued “it has to be worn correctly.” JJ Kroger, senior in aviation management, sided with Castillo in this case, “Yes… I love denim-on-denim,” he says.
While the low waist, baggy and straight leg styles are on the rise now, what should we expect next? Are the formerly beloved skinny jeans going to creep their way back in next?
