A '90s flashback - YouLookFab Forum

I loved the thread that Kim started a couple weeks ago with pictures from our best and worst '90s fashion. I grew up during that decade and was definitely not a fashion-forward kid, so the idea of revisiting many aspects of '90s fashion is enough to make me cringe.

However, I've come to like plaid, and I liked Angie's post on adding feminine touches to plaid tops. Llast week I spotted a woven Abercrombie & Fitch plaid shirt that is literally a relic from my '90s wardrobe. It must have been incredibly enormous on me when I was a young teen because it still buttons down without any problems, and it's huge in the waist. (Probably the only item from that decade that still does fit, actually.) I tried it under my Esprit LBD last week.
I actually thought I'd donated this shirt a long time ago, and was shocked to be able to give it new life again. I'm considering whether I should take the shirt into a tailor to see whether darts could give me a better fit in the waist. Do you think it would be worth it? I don't think I wore it much when I was young, so it's in great condition. (Edited to add: it's not a flannel tunic, just a standard cotton button-down top.)

Also, I did finally have time to scan in some photos of me from the '90s. I'm terrified of seeing some of these trends appear again...

16 years ago

marianna

Veteran

I was really hesitant about plaid at first too, but I've come to like it as well. And you wear it SO well. I love how you've styled it. Very feminine.

Your childhood pictures are so precious! Makes me want to dig mine up too. I don't remember how I dressed in the 90s but I'm sure it was horrible.

marianne

Active Member

Kari, I like the look with the LBD, feels very current! Your teen pictures are adorable. I remember wearing something similar to your 6th grade picture, and I am at least 10 years older than you, hmm...
I really like that plaid dress on you, good to see it again!

Maya

I LOVED seeing your childhood pictures! Since we were about the same age I could totally relate. You looked so pretty in the high school dance one!

I was extremely camera shy as a kid and teen, so I don't have many pictures. But I still have my dress from the 8th grade dance, and it *still* fits. It isn't flattering at all, but I wear it to bed in the summer sometimes (yeah I'm not a very sentimental person I guess). I got it at Hot Topic of all places. And I can distinctly remember trying to decide what to wear on the first day of school in 6th grade and settling on a pair of OVERALLS. Ahhh!

You and I are on the same wavelength with that dress. I also wore it with my plaid shirt!

Lena

Hee, Kari, I remember flowered leggings/pants well. I still shudder thinking about them. And speaking of denim overalls, my Mom tried to get me into a pair, and I refused flat out.

I really like your plaid dress outfit. The colors are amazing and the shape is terrific on you.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

You were so cute, Kari! It's fun to give a nostalgic item new life. I'd probably keep it as is.

I wore denim dungarees with a tight tank top, bandanna and Docs as a 1992 fashion design student. Can you believe it.

shana

Kari, OMG, love those flashback pictures! How adorable were you??? I remember the floral dress over the white tee trend vividly!

I really like the colors and pattern of your plaid shirt. It's not one of those obnoxious plaids that you sometimes see. I like how you've put it under your LBD. Is it too billowy to pair with skinny denim, boots and a cardigan?

You were smarter than me, Lena! I chose them myself. There is actually more to that story:

I had a friend come over, who was a grade ahead of me. She was trying to explain to me what was cool and what was out in the middle school so I didn't show up looking like a dork on my first day. Anyway, I showed her what I planned to wear and she made this "OMG loser" kind of face, and proceeded to undo one of the straps on my overalls. That, was apparently, the cool thing to do. I don't think I wore them that way though. But I wonder now: Maybe if I did what she told me to, I wouldn't have been such a dork in middle school. Maybe it all comes down to that one decision!

Count me in as someone who did the oversized denim overalls! I had a pair of CK ones that I adored. They were really baggy and I wore them all the time with tank tops, especially cropped ones. Definitely a Dexy's Midnight Runners look. Fun times! Really though, I don't look back at old pictures with horror - more with amusement and nostalgia. I wore what was in fashion at the time and yes, those looks look sort of wacky now but there were totally current and hip way back when, right?

Oh, I had completely forgotten that I wore overalls too. I remember I got mine at Old Navy, but sadly all the regular sizes were too small on me, so I had to buy men's overalls... and I remember the crotch was SOOO droopy... and I didn't care, because I *had* to have a pair. What was I thinking?!

Kari

Hehe, thanks for the comments on the old pictures. I can see now that I was a cute kid even though I felt so incredibly awkward at the time. I really hope we don't have to relive many of those fashion moments, though.

My gosh, how could I have forgot to add overalls to the list? I think I spent most of 4th and 5th grade in overalls, sometimes with a floral bodysuit underneath, and often with Tweety Bird high-top sneakers. Oh, wow. (None of my pants were PPL either.)
I also remember my grandpa teasing me for wearing overalls - he kept saying that I needed to stick a hammer in my pocket if I was going to wear them.

Thanks for sharing what the rest of you wore back in the day, too - it's so funny to think of how drastically trends and silhouettes changed.

Maya, that's amazing that you can still wear your 8th grade dress. I'm about 3 or 4 dress sizes up from my 13-year-old body.

Shana, I'm not sure whether the shirt would work with skinny jeans or not. Because it's just a standard-length shirt, not a tunic, I have a feeling that I'd look pretty blocky without a structuring layer on top (like a waistcoat.) I'll play around to see what works.

Tricia

Look how cute you were!

I graduated from high school in 1994, so I definitely have some bad 90s fashion pics. I thought I was sort of edgy back then, and wore a lot of denim cutoffs with black tights, T-shirts from punk concerts, and flannel shirts. And Docs. Also hideously baggy overalls with bodysuits underneath, and combat boots with long flowered dresses.

Oh, here we go...someone from high school posted this on Facebook. I'm the one in the middle. That's my stepbrother's camo jacket - he was in the Marines and I thought I was SO COOL when he gave me his old jacket.

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/p.....9_1932.jpg

Also note the denim jacket over jeans! What was I thinking!

I had reached my adult height by the time I was 13 and I maintained the same weight until I turned 21. When I was in middle school, people used to marvel over how tall I was. High school put an end to that.

lol @ grandpa! One of my exes confessed to me that he had a thing for girls in overalls! This was in 2002 or 2003...well past the overalls craze. I did not give in to his uh, fantasies, though. Maybe that is why we broke up?

LOVE that picture Tricia! I also stole my brother's jacket when I was going through my punk phase. It was torn and distressed denim and I thought it was the COOLEST THING EVER. I wish I had a picture of me in my silver pleather pants for you guys...

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