Nostalgic Nineties

We’ve all heard the rule before; if you can remember the trend from the first time around you are probably too old to work it now. This is bad news for us here at Semple because we can remember the nineties quite clearly and now they are back in a big way. So do we really need to stay out in the fashion cold or are we okay to get our nineties rave on?

Okay, so fashion moves fast but nineties? Nostalgic? Come on, can we really call the decade retro when Friends is still showing on just about every channel? But like it or not fashion has come over all nostalgic for the nineties. If you are old enough to fondly recall the nineties the first time round then you can probably remember the girl crushes that no doubt influenced your pre-teen wardrobe, such as Blossom’s crushed velvet floppy hats and Kelly Kapowski’s floral cycling shorts. While these questionable trends should probably stay firmly in the past, the growing lust for all things nineties refuses to fade away; even Blossom star Mayim Bialik has staged her own comeback in hit show The Big Bang Theory.

Cycling shorts and misjudged girl crushes aside, the nineties was a good time to be growing up in Britain. Fashion was heavily influenced by the explosion of the independent music scene as Britpop took over the world. Blur, Pulp, Oasis, the Verve; the list of huge bands of the decade is endless and their style defined the time with a laid back grungy style. Gwen Stefani was the poster girl for nineties fashion with her baggy denim, crop tops and tube dresses, inspiring a countless number of teenage copycats.

Rave culture was the antidote to grunge and this style is fast filling up the shelves in our high street stores.Cartoon style prints, neon brights, crop t-shirts and logos are all having a revival and not forgetting dungarees; the notoriously tricky trend that was a nineties staple.  ASOS, Topshop, and many others all have collections influenced by rave style and the eagle-eyed amongst you will even spot some dungarees sneaking their way on to the rails.

You can probably tell that here at Semple we remember the nineties somewhat fondly and it is for this reason that we are refusing to let this trend pass us by. So throw out the rule book and join us in the nineties revival; stock up on bleached denim and crop tops, download some vintage house music to your iPod, channel Gwen Stefani in her No Doubt days, but please leave the cycling shorts at home.

By Samantha Vandersteen