This is not a particularly important thing to worry about, but does it seem to anyone else that retro trends are a bit confused?

I got this email today promoting "90s nostalgia" with crop tops, acid wash denim, body suits, and tight midi-length dresses in vaguely ethnic prints featuring prominently. To me, though, these scream mid-80s. By the time I started high school in 1988 you would have been laughed out the door if you showed up in acid wash jeans (especially if they had tapered legs) or neon.

Obviously different regions have their own local trends, but when I think of the 90s I think of three main looks: riot grrrl or grunge, hippie outdoors, and rave. The hallmark of the first was baby doll dresses and little-girl hair accessories with black tights and combat boots or thick-soled shoes, plus standard-issue grunge items like plaid shirts.

The hippie types wore a lot of Birkenstocks, Teva hiking sandals, Timberland hiking boots, hippie skirts, peasant tops, toe rings, tie-dye Grateful Dead t-shirts, and Old Navy fleece jackets. I suppose it might be in part that am from Colorado, a state that attracts a lot of outdoorsy types, and I started college at the hippie private school, which probably explains the prevalence of comfortable shoes.

The ravers wore huge wide-legged baggy carpenter jeans, sometimes with legs so wide they were practically two skirts, with skateboarding shoes, hooded sweatshirts, and the ubiquitous backpack. This group often took a lot of ecstasy, which makes you thirsty, so they were often seen with lollipops and children's pacifiers. They were the only ones who wore much neon, since it would glow in the blacklights at raves.

And everybody wore khakis.

What do you think of as 90s fashion?