So Out, It's In: The '90s Are Back...Big Time (SLIDESHOW)

Usually this column is dedicated to just one item or idea that is so out it's in, but recently I've noticed that the 90s, from fashion to politics, are back in a big way. Bands that we thought were dead in 1993 have resurfaced, the grunge/flannel look is alive again, and a Clinton is back in the White House. Here's a look at trends from the 90s that live on today.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • THEN: Grunge Just when you thought it was safe to take a shower and put on a clean shirt, fashion trends these days are paying homage (maybe too much) to the Seattle grunge era of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Stars like Mary Kate Olsen and Kirsten Dunst prefer an oversized flannel to a tight-fitting dress, and bed-head to up-dos. “All apologies” to those not feeling the flow.

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Comments

[lilkunta]

Come on! bk IS NOT the 1 2 looks 2 for all things.
Music: Is written 4 her, yet she gets credit. BC Jean wrote "IIWAB" !
Fashion: PLEASE! bk never wears her own clothes unless @ a macy's signing! She charges way 2 much 4 her crappy line, while she wears chanel, eli saab, DC, etc.
Hair: Her hair styles r ridiculously expensive weave...will she never wear her hair? & y is she blonde?
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THEN: Michelle Pfeiffer in catsuit
Like any member of Planet Earth, I look up to Beyonce for all-things music, fashion, and hair-dos. So when she came out on the Today show last week in a black cat suit, it was a moving experience of nostalgia and hope. The 90s saw Michelle Pfeiffer and Posh Spice (before she was known as Victoria Beckham) do the catsuit right and a bunch of laywomen do it not so right, but if Beyonce says it’s back, then it’s back. Someone hand me that baby powder—I’m going in.

[vincefango]

Please, oh please can we not go back to the nineties? I blame my generation...first we get all emotional about the 80's and now we're getting nostalgic about the 90's. I say...let's buck the trend and strart dressing like ancient Egyptians...it's very sexy(for the fashion minded), ooozes imperialist power (for the yuppies) and (maybe it's just me) pyramids are the coolest buildings ever! And if we get stuck trying to represent the musical aspect, we can always go to the Bangles and feel safe in our love of the 80's. Just thinking out loud.....

[SOLERSO68]

I hope this means fewer dorky white men shaving their heads. We were starting to look like orwells 1984, or maybe like there was a big bust - out at the state hospital

[AlexFTW]

I think I recall that trend starting around '97 or '98.

[Ljeff79]

I'm a hairstylist.

I knew the 90's were coming when I started seeing all the trends in hair color leaning towards various shades of mahogany, plum and chocolate raspberry.

Purple based shades of hair color are so IT right now....
All you need to complete the look is some brown lipstick!

ugh.

[userw014]

I was just getting used to the idea that the '70s were back. Now it's the '90s? What happened to the '80s?

I was just getting used to the long hair and hippy-dippy clothing from the summer and early fall. That reminded me of the late '70s.

I remember the '70s. Back then, the '50s (Happy Days) and the '30s (The Waltons) were in. And the in-imitable sense of '70s style! Kind of like a sucking chest wound...

'70s style was clear, even if in retrospect it makes you want to claw your eyes out. '80s style is a mystery to me. '90s style was excess - excess "look at me". Maybe it's true - when your a parent, matters of style become opaque.

Actually, grunge sounds good to me. I can start slapping patches on my kids clothes and tell them that their in.

[ohioan73]

There's quite a few 90s trends from the 'hood that have been adopted by Hollywood and the rest of America but they don't know it. They think its new stuff:

1. Hair extensions of un-be-weave-able lengths
2. Designer baby clothes
3. Strange made-up baby names
4. Flashy hip hop that brags about material wealth (see Puff Daddy circa 1995-1999)
5. Puff Daddy, period. (see Diddy upgrade)

As usual, we gotta invent new things in the 'hood now so the rest of the world can catch up in ten years. That's why it seems like the 90s are back, IMO. Except I had more money back then. Good times, the Clinton years were.

[spartanmom]

Strange Baby Names a '90s thing?

Tell that to Moon Unit and Dweezil Zappa!

[Z2221344]

Looking at how much everyone has aged is quite depressing.

[isis]

I love grunge and it's cheap too! Break out the lithium!

[AlexFTW]

I know. Nothing like some thrift store divin'!

[spartanmom]

I've dressed that way since the '70s

[BartLA]

Can we please have a 90's economy back???!!!

[vincefango]

Best post yet...

[lilkunta]

AMEN!

[Tatiana]

In the 90's, I had a very short cropped hairstyle, it was awful!
Don't wanta go back there again!

[AxelDC]

Most of these trends never faded. As for the people, are we supposed to curl up and die when our designated decade comes to an end?

[AlexFTW]

I think most of us just curled up and sobbed. Especially in November 2000.

[lilkunta]

Exactly ! Im still sobbing. Even on Jan 20 though I may smile, Il continue crying. The wrecks Bush made of the economy wont be fixed by BO overnight.
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AlexFTW
I think most of us just curled up and sobbed. Especially in November 2000.

[klondiker]

The Clintons are back? Please... they never left.

[clsmithj]

You have showed a image of 90s TV, full of family shows and sitcoms to 2000s TV where there's nothing but reality game shows.

or the jump in food prices

[trixtah]

Um, DMs were originally flavour of the month in the mid-80s. Actually, probably in the late-70s as well, in punk fashions.

[QueenCeleste]

Mary Kate Olsen---now there's an illustrious soul to emulate.

Isn't it more apt to predict the return of the '30s: bread lines, soup kitchens, mass unemployment, brother can you spare a dime, and all that?

[AlexFTW]

Oooh, and Jazz. How about a return to some cool, soulful Jazz? And those black and white cartoons with the dancing flowers!

[lilkunta]

You're correct.
Unemployment is the highest in 10yrs right?
Althought Jan2 cant come soon enought, BO wont fix the economy US & WORLD econmy that BUsh ruined overnight.
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QueenCeleste
Mary Kate Olsen---now there's an illustrious soul to emulate.

Isn't it more apt to predict the return of the '30s: bread lines, soup kitchens, mass unemployment, brother can you spare a dime, and all that?