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Movies

Today ‘90s nostalgia is at an all time high and much of this can be linked to the fashion that was going on at that time. In my opinion the 90’s have been the best era for movies and feature some of my favorite movies of all time.  Many style trends were stemmed from iconic movies whether you knew it or not. Stars like Brad Pitt, Johnny Deep, Alicia Silverstone, and Liv Tyler began making a name for themselves during this time and are known to be some of the best dressed actors and actress in the game just to name a few. I will discuss some of my favorite movies of the 90s and how fashion was incorporated into each of them.

Brad Pitt (Fight Club)

The first rule of Fight Club is… Now I may have somewhat of a bias on the topic of movies, because Fight Club is my favorite movie of all time. If we look away from the flawless plot and acting, Fight Club offers Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, who absolutely killed every outfit throughout the movie. Whether it was the iconic red leather jacket or the all over print Hawaiian type shirts, Durden’s style did not follow any rules.  Fight Club proves itself to be one of the 90s most stylish movies and has costume designer Michael Kaplan to thank. The jacket wore in the movie was actually hand made by a team because they needed 12 or so jackets throughout the filming process and the 70s jacket that they drew inspiration from was difficult to source.

Dazed and Confused

Although my blog mainly focuses on 1990’s fashion and influence, I couldn’t pass up the chance to add another one of my favorite movies into the Mix. Dazed and Confused was released in 1993, but is set in 1976 following various groups of teenagers on the last day of school in their Texas town. The film features many young actors who would later become large stars today, like Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, and Joey Lauren Adams. The films iconic stoner fashion is largely based on the times the film was set in and the costume designer’s vision to make everyone appear comfy and relaxed. Many characters simply wore straight leg denim and a graphic t-shirt but a few character’s like Randall, the quarterback turn stoner, wore flared jeans and open shirts. This film remains iconic to this day, whether some people are looking into the fashion or not.

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Televison

Television has been to home to many very influential celebrities who have one way or another probably influenced your fashion sense, as you know it. Whether it my have been Will Smith’s flamboyant style on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Rachel’s minimalistic-chic wardrobe on the hit show Friends, or Saved by the Bell star Zach Morris’s late 80’s looks, it is all hard to ignore when someone is establishing their style. The 90s television is looked at as a revolutionary era for fashion and pop culture mainly due to the emergence of television shows. You would be surprised on some of the pieces wore in 90s shows that have made a reemergence in today’s vast fashion world. I will discuss a few of my favorite characters and what made them shine through television due to simply what they were wearing.

Will Smith

The Fresh prince of Bel-Air was an American sitcom based in Bel-Air, California. The show first aired in 1990 and has since then been known as one of the best shows to come from the 1990’s. Will Smith changed the game with his wild outfit choices usually featuring loud, colorful tops and of course a pair of Jordan basketball sneakers to set it all off. Smith started many trends that are very popular among today’s fashion followers. Some of my favorite Smith outfits from the show usually have him in bright windbreakers or tee and the Jordan V in various color ways. Will Smith is an icon living in my eyes, and I think the fresh prince’s style will have a place in fashion history always.

Seinfeld

Seinfeld was an American television sitcom that first aired in 1989. Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, who was the main character for the show, created the show. The show was set in the Upper West Side of New York and basically was a fictionalized version of Jerry Seinfeld’s life. Although viewers may not have realized during the show’s airing on television, Seinfeld delivered many fashion trends very subtly that have made in into today’ s fashion landscape. Jerry can usually be seen in light washed denim, a button down polo, and usually a fire pair of Nikes to really tell you about the character he was portraying.  Kramer is another character that you may remember having a pretty normal wardrobe , but if you look back at his camp-collar shirts and high wasted trousers are being incorporated into many designer’s fashion shows today.

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Skateboarding

Today skateboarding is starting to remerge in the fashion industry due some the culture’s popular trends that started in the 1990s. When you think of skateboarding, in the 90s, usually what comes to mind is graphic t-shirts, baggy jeans and big tongue skate shoes. The iconic trends that skating has brought the world are due to skaters generally being very intelligent, creative and not caring what outsiders thought of them. Skate culture has always had tension between determining skating as a commercial industry, an athletic activity, and a subcultural appealing to outcasts. Today skating’s influence can be seen in many well-known brands like Supreme and even higher class companies like Gucci. There have been many brands that made an impact in the skate community throughout the 90s and have since then faded away. I will discuss some of my favorite brands and parts of skate fashion in the 90s to today.

Blind

Although Blind is still around today, what Mark Gonzales created is something still reference in skate culture today.  Blind was a sub company under the giant at the time World industries Distribution Company.  The company began in 1989 with the formation of the skate team, which included Mark Gonzales, Rudy Johnson, and very well known actor/producer Jason Lee. Blind became one of the most well know skateboarding brands in the world in the early 1990s because of its great board designs and introduction of skating denim. Blind was one of the earliest skateboarding brands that I personally formed a connection with because I received a Blind skateboard for Christmas many years ago.

Element

Element is another skateboarding company that was widely popular throughout the 1990s and still remains striving in today’s world. The popular company, founded in 1992 by skateboarder Johnny Schillereff, based its existence of the goal of bringing more awareness to skateboarding. The brand wanted to focus on its uses in nature and the environment to create a connection in the skateboarding world as a whole.  The company’s tree logo is highly recognizable to anyone involved in the skateboarding community today. This was another company that I had a personal connection with growing up, probably because their merchandise was the easiest to get because the skate shops had so much of it. Today the Element skate team has over 20 professional skateboarders, including skate superstar Nyjah Houston.

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Nautica

David Chu, a Taiwanese immigrant and clothing designer, founded Nautica in 1983. He decided to market the brand exclusively to white people with boats, but would reach an audience much larger than he would ever imagine. Nautica describes itself as “ a leading water-inspired global lifestyle brand.” Best known for its use of large bold graphics and primary/secondary colors, Nautica had taken over as the premier Yacht Club clothing provider. One of my favorite things about the brand is the consistency of big logos and awesome color blocking. David Chu said the brand apart by sticking to its water-centric mission and using real nautical references like actual flags from real yacht races. It was marketed toward the same preppy demographic as Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren Polo, but remained competitive due to Nautica’s vast eccentricity. What’s unique about Nautica was that it didn’t have a big name design to be the face of the brand unlike its competitors like Polo and Tommy Hilfiger. Though the brand was capitalizing on some of their best pieces throughout the early 90’s, they had trouble establishing a strong presence in the urban culture in the United States. In their best years some popular artists like Nas, Lil Kim, and the Wu Tang Clan featured Nautica in lyrics by the mid-90s. I will focus on some of my favorite pieces/collections from Nautica throughout the years.

J-Class

The J-Class series of jackets is widely known as one of Nautica’s best collections to date. These jackets featured strong primary colors like navy blue, red, yellow and green in a variety of different combinations. On one sleeve is “Nautica Challenge” embroidered in the classic Nautica font and the other sleeve has “J-Class” with the dates of the classification for the vessel competing in peak yacht-racing era, which were 1930 to 1937. These dates were the only years that J-Class yachts were manufactured. It’s those little details that made Nautica the brand it is today. Today Nautica J-Class jackets can be seen selling for $50-$150 on average.

Nautica Trunks

Some of my personal favorite pieces from Nautica in the 90s were the endless clean designs of bathing suits. Nautica’s best bathing suits usually featured strong color blocking and large boats. The use of all over prints and quality production helped Nautica become one of the best places to access eccentric swimming trunks. Today Nautica is making an emergence in the urban market by taking inspiration from their archived vintage and also collaborating with large artists like rapper Lil Yachty from Atlanta, Georgia.

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Music

The 1990’s music scene included hundreds of creative artists that were continuing the path of innovation within the industry. Many artists paved the way for fashion in their respected cities or regions for some larger artists. You may not have realized it yet, but we have the 1990’s to thank for some of today’s most popular trends across the globe. From baggy pants to snapback hats, lots of popular movements can be seen day to day on the streets by today’s youth as well as the OGs who have seen trends come and go thru the years. The emergence of promotion t-shirts and bootleg merchandise began to take off in the 90s. I will be discussing some of the major trends/pieces that made an impact on myself and today’s fashion industry as a whole.

Rap Tees

There was something about rap music and culture that was appealing to so many people throughout the 1980-90s. For those real fans that had a deep love for a certain artist, they would buy a shirt with their face all over it (usually). Aside from fans, collectors also would set their sights on getting as many tour/ rap tees that they could.  I’ve heard from a couple influential figures who came up along side the age of rap tees, that they we not very popular and often mass produced by various groups in a specific area for instance. Back in the day, someone could simply walk into their local mall to pick up some of these now $800+ t-shirts. The style of rap tee throughout the 90’s that really stood out from normal rap t-shirts you could get at that mall were the bootleg t-shirts. They featured large bold graphics and often 3-4 photos organized into a collage. Flash forward to 2019, where a bootleg Nas recently sold for $2000 on eBay.

Kurt Cobain

Known as being Nirvana’s front man and one of the most influential artists of the 1990s, Kurt Cobain is also known as somewhat of a fashion icon to some. His anti-establishment and free spirited attitudes were things people could connect with and essentially mimic over time.  His style is known as grunge and Cobain started endless trends that the world’s best designs still reference to this day. Some of my favorite trends that Cobain can be thanked for is flannel shirts over graphic t shirts, use of layering, and thrashed clothing. He may have not been the first to do it for every trend, but the effortlessness of Cobain’s style is what makes it so much more appealing to those in the industry.

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Adidas

Since the start of Adidas in 1949 by Adolf Dassler and his brother Rudolph, the sports industry has never been the same.  Adidas, which is headquarted in Herzogenaurach, Germany, has become one of the largest sportswear companies in the world.  A breaking point for the company early on was being able to provide U.S. Olympian Jesse Owens spikes to use during the 1936 Summer Olympics. Owens performance sparked consumer interest right away for Adidas after the games. Moving forward to 1967, Adidas begins to manufacture apparel rather than just athletic shoes. Adidas, coming off a very successful collaboration with hip-hop group Run-D.M.C. in the 1980s, really began to shine throughout the 90s with an innovative mindset and determination to compete. Today Adidas has kept the same energy and remains one of the most creative sportswear brands in history. Collaborations with Pharrell, Kanye West, Jeremy Scott, and countless athletes have driven the company to new heights with no signs of slowing down. I will highlight a few of my favorite pieces/collections that Adidas released during the 1980’s/1990’s.

Olympic Crewnecks

During the 1980’s, Adidas began releasing a variety of Olympic crewneck sweatshirts that featuring the 1908 Olympic Games in London, the 1932 Games in Lake Placid, the 1972 Games in Japan and a few more. The sweaters display large graphics and branding including all over print on a few of the pieces. Everything is stitched on, so the quality of these crewnecks still holds up to this day. These are a statement piece that is going to draw many eyes and compliments when you wear it.Today the market value for one of these sweatshirts is roughly $100 up to $500.

Adidas Equipment

The Adidas equipment line started in 1990 behind an idea that simplicity and function were the most important part of clothing or shoes. Adidas than began to produce footwear and apparel lines for almost every sport in the world behind the Equipment (EQT) line name. The original collection featured shoes, windbreaker, sweaters, shorts, hats, and much more The Equipment line was ahead of it’s time and has laid the foundation for a much needed resurrection of the collection in the past couple years for the sportswear giant. Today, more and more EQT pieces are hitting the retail shelves and remain a strong sell for the Brand. The popularity of certain models have drawn mass attention from consumers, for example a collaboration with hip-hop artist Pusha T.

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Guess

Guess is an American based clothing brand started in 1981 by Georges Marciano in Los Angeles, California. The brand was originally known as MGA, while Marciano and his brother were working on it in France.  His brothers, Paul and Armand Marciano, were instrumental in the rise of Guess in regards to distribution and advertising.  Guess was known for it’s stonewash denim with ankles zippers very early on and after one year in business generated $6 million in sales. Guess was the industry leader in denim throughout the 1980s and began to release staple pieces that are very sought after today during the 1990’s. Although Guess lost a lot of the hype surrounding the brand once 2000 hit, it has begun to make a resurgence in the street wear market today. I will discuss a few of the major Guess pieces/collections that shined during the 1990s.

Guess Jeans

As stated before, Guess was known for their denim and the iconic upside down triangle logo on every pair. Marciano originally started making women’s jeans and ventured into men’s clothing 3 years after they had established the brand. Guess is known for being one of the first major brands releasing acid washed jeans. During the 80s, these became very popular among the rock scene communities.

Guess Stripe Tees

The Guess striped tee is personally one of my favorite designs they have ever released since the beginning of Guess in 1981. The iconic striped tee can be see in hundreds of various color ways and was dropped as a long and short sleeve t-shirt.  The tees feature a multitude of different kinds of stripes and the embroidered “Guess Jeans U.S.A.” on the front. The simplicity of these releases have held up to the test of time, with striped tees still being released to this day. Guess has since done a couple of collaborations with the striped tee including an A$AP Rocky and Sean Wotherspoon (owner of Round Two, a vintage based store with many locations across the United States) collaboration. 1990’s stripe t-shirts resale on average for $80-$200 to this day.

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Nike

In 1964 Phil Knight, an avid runner, and Bill Bowerman, who was a University of Portland track coach at the time connected to create what would become one of the world’s most powerful brands ever.  The brand made a name for itself by provided the best shoes, sportswear, and clothing consumers could get their hands on throughout the 80s up to the present. In 1971, a Portland State University graphic design student, Carolyn Davidson, designed the Nike Swoosh logo and the rest is history. The Nike Swoosh is debatably the world’s most well known logo inside and outside of the fashion industry. I am going to dive into a couple of key Nike collections and moments that I think enhanced the brand to be where it is today.

1985

The year is 1984 and Nike has established themselves as a big name in the sportswear and shoe Industry. Nike then elevates it’s basketball department as a whole by the signing a young rookie by the name of Michael Jordan. Jordan was a big target for companies looking to sign a contract but ultimately choose Nike over Adidas because Nike could afford to give him the most money at the time. Nike also offered to create a whole brand based around Jordan and basically set him up financially for life. The first Jordan 1 sneaker that fans and sneaker heads can think of would be the “Banned” color way. They are known as the “Banned” color way because Jordan was supposedly fined $5000 per game for wearing the sneakers due to it breaking a league uniform rule. As the smart company that Nike is, they simply used this to help market the shoe out to consumers and Jordan fans right away. Originally Nike’s retail price for the Air Jordan 1s at $65 and was selling out right away. Today a 1985 pair of Nike Air Jordan’s can be seen reselling for up to $750 and that’s usually with many signs of wear and tear over the years.

Prints and Patterns

Nike is known for releasing consistently clean and creative patterns throughout all of it’s various lines. This is due in part of Nike forming an in-house art department in 1983, which was one of the first of its kind in this business.  Nike wanted to change the game beyond just graphic shirts and decided to make creation of prints/patterns to represent the spirit and motion of individual collections and include all sports. In 1985, a big year for Nike, the all over print designs began rolling out. Designs were made according to cultural trends, sporting events, and the process of synergy with the sneaker design process. My personal favorite designs come from the Nike ACG line, which stands for all conditions gear. This collection featured rock formations, plants, petroglyph art, and much more into many of it’s crazy patterns featured throughout the line.

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Tommy Hilfiger

Tommy Hilfiger has become one of the world’s most recognizable and widely distributed brand names ever. The brand is built on the back of Thomas “Tommy” Hilfiger and started officially in 1985. Tommy had been in the fashion design industry since he was 18 and started a store called the People’s Place shortly after high school that was a very successful denim selling shop before going bankrupt after 7 years in business. Tommy then had an opportunity to begin his own line and thus, Tommy Hilfiger was born. The red, white, and blue flag logo has become a staple in the fashion world and can be linked to the expansive growth of the company worldwide. Hilfiger tapped into hip-hop and street wear to connect with the youth and hasn’t stopped since. This was clear when Snoop Dogg stepped on to the Saturday Night Live stage while wearing a red, white and blue-stripped Tommy Hilfiger Rugby shirt. Tommy Hilfiger was a powerhouse throughout the 1990s for many reasons and I am going to highlight a couple of the iconic moments/collections that changed the game.

Tommy Big Flag

The classic red, white, and blue Tommy Hilfiger flag has been cemented into the fashion industry and flaunted by some of the biggest celebrities throughout the 90s.Tommy Hilfiger was as dominate with his marketing process as he was for his designing. Tommy was creating an idealization of the American style with first his collection, which featured preppy classics that included his big flag logo on almost every piece, somewhere. The large logo pieces became immensely popular after being worn by 90s icons like Britney Spears, TLC, Destiny’s Child, Bugs Bunny, NYSNC, and many more. Unlike Hilfiger’s larger very successful competitors like Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger related more with the younger market at more affordable prices.

Tommy Hilfiger Spell Out Windbreaker

The spell out windbreaker jacket features a packable hood and a clean script “Tommy Hilfiger” down the left sleeve with an embroidered Tommy Flag on the right sleeve. I’ve included this piece because it is one of my personal favorite items that Tommy Hilfiger has ever released. This was an iconic jacket that has been the inspiration of many designs Tommy Hilfiger is putting out today. The jackets came in a variety of colors and often use color-blocking designs. Tommy Hilfiger used the windbreaker jacket in many other 90s collections like TH Sailing Gear, Tommy Jeans, and Team Lotus collections.

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Ralph Lauren Polo

Ralph Lauren began making neckties in 1967 and since then has established Polo into an international empire. The brand comprises of luxury clothing, household furnishings, and much more. Polo was influential in men and women’s fashion. I will highlight into a couple of iconic Ralph Lauren Polo Collections and pieces that made the 1990s.

Snow Beach

Ralph Lauren Polo was built into a fashion powerhouse known for establishing numerous staples like unique suits, polo shirts and also ties, but in 1992, Ralph Lauren launched its Polo Sport line. Polo Sport changed the game with heavily branded products that have become iconic in Polo’s history looking back. In 1993, Snow Beach, which is one of the most sought after Polo Sport collections, was released to the Public.

The collection consisted of hats, hoodies and the very rare, pullover parka. The parka came in red, navy, and yellow and was a limited release along with the other Snow Beach products. This Snow Beach collection was inspired by early 1990’s snowboarding culture. The Snow Beach parka became more famous when Raekwon, of hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, suited it up to wear during the group’s “ Can it Be All So Simple” music video.

Today the value of the Ralph Lauren Polo’s Snow Beach collection has sky rocketed since the 1993 release. Original pieces from the collection have a market value of $1000-$2500 for the parka and $300-$800 for the other items. In January 2018, Ralph Lauren brought back the Snow Beach line after 25 years. The re-release included the classic pieces and color ways from the 1993, but also added a touch of modern updates to the collection. The value remains very strong for the newly released collection, but will never be as iconic as the true release in 1993. Polo collectors or “Lo heads” as they are known will be chasing these pieces for a very long time.

The Polo Bear

Many people may not know that Ralph Lauren’s Polo bear actually started out as an inside joke within the Ralph Lauren organization. After Ralph was gifted a bear dressed as himself for his birthday in 1990 from his employees, a dynasty was born. The Polo Bear can be found on t-shirts, dress shirts, denim jackets and ties wearing a number of different looks from various Ralph Lauren collections. Ultimately, the Polo Bear sweater would take off as potentially the most popular piece that showcased the bear on the front.

During the 1990’s the iconic Polo Bear could be seen rocking anything from a classic Ralph Lauren tuxedo holding a martini to a bear in USA hockey jersey with a stick. Ralph Lauren was very aware of the popularity of the bear and expanded it to nearly all the lines Ralph Lauren held. Unlike many of the more limited RL collections, the Polo Bear pieces were easier to obtain for the average shopper.

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