Bare Midriff

One of the first women to introduce us to this fashion trend in the early 90’s was actress Julia Roberts in one of her most famous movies “Pretty Women”.  The poster of this movie landed everywhere as she wore a hot pink and black tummy cut out dress.   As soon as this movie and its posters were released, hip-hop and R&B videos also became very popular.  Their backup dancers also wore short shirts as well as shorter pants.  These belly shirts were not only popular in movies and music as well as fashion magazines, model Cindy Crawford posed as our formal leader George Washington in a half shirt on a magazine cover.  Our founder of the bare midriff came back in 1997, with the movie “My Best Friend’s Wedding”.  Julia Roberts was back, where she sported the 90’s midriff, grunge look and flannel.  Along with hip-hop and R&B, Brittany Spears released her hit single “Hit Me Baby One More Time” in 1998.  In her video she posed as a school girl with braids and a white button up tied to see her stomach.   As soon as the 90’s came to a close the midriff did as well.  This may have been a blessing for some who did not have the perfect bodies like Julia Roberts and Brittany Spears.   With the 21^st century introduced as well as a conservative President the 90’s look was no longer an option and the midriff was no longer to be seen as a fashionable trend.

Zubaz Pants

This brand of shorts and pants became popular in the early 1990’s and were created by two bodybuilders.  The concept of these pants and shorts were for them to be comfortable and easy to wear for weightlifting.  These soon became popular very quickly and made over $1 million in 1991.  The pants are tapered at the ankle and have an elastic waistband for easier movement and flexibility.  The original pattern was first zebra and then once popular they came out with many more designs.  Major sports teams such as the Green Bay Packers wore these zubaz pants, which made it an even bigger fashion statement for men.  These pants were not just popular for those who liked to weight lift in the gym.  Once popular, men wore them out in public as a fashion statement.  There were many designs such as the US flag for the fourth of July and other crazy colors.  When I look at these pants I just think of flashy sweatpants.  I’m sure many men look back at old pictures and wonder what they were thinking when they thought they were hip and cool, when really they looked like a big parachute.  Zubaz went bankrupt in 1996 but eventually made a comeback in 2007 and has a website to this day.  Not only do they sell their signature pants and shorts but also hats and t-shirts as well.  Not a lot of guys want to go back into the day and buy these pants as much anymore, they would probably just embarrass their wife and teenage daughter.       

Scrunchies

All of us girls will always remember our stash of scrunchies that we had in our drawers when we were young and our moms might have kept one or two for memories.  I know I had almost every color of the rainbow and it had to match the outfit that I was wearing at that certain time.  I went to a Catholic school when I was younger and they even had a scrunchie to match our uniform.  If the scrunchie was not in our hair then it would be around our wrist.  Not only did we wear them to match the outfit that we were wearing that day we also had to buy ones to match the holidays.  For example for Christmas there would be a green and red plaid scrunchie and for Halloween there would be a black and orange scrunchie.  Sometimes when girls were younger they use to trade scrunchies with their friends and also try to make their own to feel creative and it was something fun to do a sleepover.   The scrunchie faze eventually faded, I guess we decided that they were very bulky and a distraction, and now the only time we see scrunchies are on gymnasts and different types of dancers.  They also appear if your high school or sorority has a throwback day to the 90’s.  Others that use scrunchies are either stuck in the 90’s and don’t want to leave their younger years or simply do not like the rubber bands because they rip out their hair.       

Fanny Packs

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you see this picture above?  Is it manbag, bum bag, or tourist tracker?  Well, in the 1990’s this was a fanny pack and was also a very trendy thing to have especially when travelling.   I remember when I went to an amusement park or somewhere big with lots of people everyone had them on to store their camera, money, and everything else imaginable.  I believe I had a little colorful one once in my younger days as well, along with all of my friends.  Now that we all look back and think about how not fashionable they really are I’m sure we all cringe and wonder what we were thinking and why we didn’t just carry a backpack or purse when we went to these big places.  Now every time we see one, we know in an instant that that person is a tourist and the main thing that is inside of that fanny pack is a camera along with other little accessories.  A lot of us are ashamed that the fanny pack is thought to be “American”; I guess we will never know what was going through our minds when we decided to buckle this pack around our waist and go out into the real world.  These fanny packs were not just for women and children, men loved to carry them around as well, and today when I go to bid tourist places men are the ones that I still see wearing them.

Umbro Shorts

Umbros were not the most fashionable pieces in the world, but in the 90s it was definitely in our wardrobe.  You did not need to be on the soccer team or for that matter any team at all to wear them.  They were most popular for college girls to wear around campus, and guys wore them as well and it eventually trickled down to the younger kids.  The typical look was a t-shirt with your fraternity or sorority, umbros, white socks (not like the ones today where they are hidden, the high scrunched ones), and nike tennis shoes.   This is still very similar to what we wear today, same shirt but not the umbro shorts now, the shorts are a little shorter and are usually nike running shorts and depending on the occasion you are dressing for, such as class you would wear flip flops (instead of the high socks).  In the 90s there were many different styles and colors of umbros.  Some had bright neon colors with a different color stripe on the bottom and others were just a simple color with a white stripe.  This look made it seem like everyone was working out and trying to get into shape but that wasn’t always the case, people were just looking like they were doing all of these things.  Many people were simply getting something to eat with friends but they looked like they were all going to the gym.  They were comfortable to throw on and go do some errands or just hang out.  We still do the same thing but without the neon umbros.   

Overalls

When is the last time you’ve seen someone in overalls? Well that might have been back in the 1990’s when they came back as “hip” and “cool”.  Overalls were no longer just for farmers, they were for everyone, all ages and even gender.  I know you all had at least one pair that your mom bought you when you were young, and everyone else was wearing them so you felt like you were in fashion and really cool.  And I bet there are also many pictures with you and your friends with them on as well.  I’m sure you thought, “What was my mom thinking when she bought these for me and why did I agree to wear them?”.  I remember I use to put a bright colored t-shirt underneath mine they were very comfortable, and that was a plus as well.  Men also enjoyed wearing overalls; it was one big overall party in the 90’s!  There were a couple of hip ways to wear your overalls, one was to wear a belt and let the front flaps and back straps hang down.  Another way was to hook one strap and not the other.   The popular colors of overalls were stone- washed and light blue but you cannot forget the different color corduroy.  Unfortunately this fashion statement did not last very long, I think people soon came to realize that this was doing nothing for their bodies and were soon called “coveralls”.  If you were skinny, you just got swallowed in them and if you were on the heavier side, it just wasn’t the style for you.