"Unzipped", "Pret-a-porter", "Fashion Television" and "Supermodels; what was your favorite part of The Fashion World of he 90's?

The drama.

The black and white ads everywhere. Edward Furlong still looking like this:

Naomi throwing her mobile phone at a succession of hapless assistants. Kate throwing her vagina at a succession of hapless rock stars.

Linda was everything!

R4 I was!

R3 Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil...

This:

Too funky.

R8 ...and this:

This:

Style With Elsa Klensch

Introduction of spandex blend boxer briefs:

Who is that, R10?

R13 Sasha Mitchell.

For the Brits:

When every male model had to look like Jon Kortajarena.

When Helena Christenson did video with Chris Issac:

The "French" look:

Everything about this AND the movie it represents. Are there enough fashion personalities that it could be made today? Even supermodels feel... gone.

R19 Yes! Distinciton! Personality! Now everything is so...homogeneous. A 1983 Sears catalog had more spirit and personality than The Fashion World and by extension, Hollywood, does now.

More Calvin Klein ads:

Animal prints everywhere:

Garamond glasses (Jason Lewis in Guess ad):

This:

Floppy hair and fringe on men:

MTV House of Style, when guests on it looked like adults:

Tyson Beckford selling underwear for Ralph Lauren:

Champagne supernova:

Back when she owned the newsstand, in red:

Colorful Versace and bouffant-ful French twists:

More 90's Jason Lewis with Garamond sunglasses:

Linda in pink:

I loved House of Style as a flyover teen, but mostly for Todd Oldham. Never could stand Cindy Crawford.

Alternative models like Eve and Jenny Shimizu seemed so cool to me. Are there any models like that now, with big old tattoos on their head? I also liked Shalom Harlow, Kate Moss, and Milla Jovovich. And who didn't like Marcus Schenkenberg? The mainstream supermodels bored me.

LOVED this CK ad campaign and all the pearl-clutching that ensued.

I find this a most fascinating thread.

Gianni Versace

Naomi!

R33 With all the talk about glamazon supermodels, the 90's was really when the "regular" model was born. By regular, I obviously mean quirkily stunning, with a less classically mannequin-esque build. It seemed like Calvin Klein started his first pearl-clutching worthy ad campaign in the early 90's and never stopped, straight through the decade. The 90's Calvin Klein ads changed the entire ad environment and created an entirely new primer for the industry.

I AM this thread, darlings!

R38 I think it's fantastic.

Boxer briefs, everywhere:

Brooke Shields...nuff said!

Try again...

They're such close pals! 1990's male models, romping. The surfer hair was such a hot trend, in my opinion:

I think I might need to start a Jason Lewis thread. This man.

One more:

Cindy C! And everything that Herb Ritts felt like doing.

More black and white. i didn't realize how ubiquitous it was, then.

Soda can curlers on women. Diet soda, obviously.

It seems like after 9/11, The Fashion World -- American, in particular -- sort of lost its identity and didn't know what role it played in society, where it belonged. The early - mid 2000's were like a listless haze for fashion. Interesting, when you think of how much power this industry has to shift Public mood and create the illusion of an era.

Yes, I know Jarvis Cocker is a character and infamous tab skipper but this image is iconic '90's fashion in a nutshell:

Then, of course, there was the whole "70's by way of the 90's" fashion trend. That public habit of curating hasn't really abated. It seems to be a permanent cultural change that came with the internet and the plethora of choices and access to obscure things, that wasn't really possible before the WWW.

Think of it this way; what did it take to find a vintage band t-shirt or out of print record in 1980 vs. today?

FashionTelevision in the 1980s and early 1990s with Jeanne Beker was fucking awesome!

Jeanne Beker became well known world wide and it was great to see this little fashion show out of Toronto on CityTV become popular all over the world.

Seeing Jeanne Beker get Monika Schnarre to admit most fashion was "shit" was incredible.

The work that Helmut Newton did with Nadja Auermann.

I loved the whole "Bongo" jeans aesthetic. Lots of ad campaigns in Arizona desert or grassy back yards.

The urban cowboy fixation in 70% of the jean ads:

South Beach when I lived there from 92-94 represented that whole era to me. SoBe was it on the planet. The rent for a studio directly off Lincoln Road was $250... Eating at WPA and then going to Paragon...even when I moved in 94, they were advertising condos starting at $35,000!

Fashionistas, if you have time, could you look at the video at R19 and tell me who is the fashion designer at 1:37 in the patchwork jacket (that I want to find somehow, ha). It's not an actor, it's a designer on the runway and I found a small list on wiki but figured someone here was the expert who had the answer. Thanks!

R57 Lacroix, Sweetie. Autumn/Winter '94.

R58 Well, he wore it for that, anyway.

Thanks! Almost looked refined and muted color pallette for LaCroix in that fashion show-- or maybe they always had a wear his stuff all wrong, ha. I want that retro patchwork jacket, damnit, but at least now I know they were maybe mass produced so better luck...

What I don't miss was how all the gay designers were closet cases. Male models are still closeted but designers seem to have finally come out.

R60 Build your own! Get a basic pattern, pick your fabrics and make it at home. You can get a sewing machine that would've been designer quality in '94, for $60-$100 now. You can even find the machine and material at a local thrift shop for pennies on the dollar; cut pieces from clothing in good shape from the period. If it's an investment, get a tailor to re-fit it. I don't mean an expensive onea, one who tailors weddings gowns, suits, etc.

R62 Thrift shops are actually goldmines for "retro" if you have the time to sift through and find things. Some things were sitting in someone's closet, you pay $20 for a designer piece and get it dry cleaned for another $20 and presto, you have something valuable to add to your wardrobe.

Marc's grunge collection for Perry Ellis.

Christie looking beautiful in the Jacobs grunge show

Kate in the grunge show, she would have been about 17 here

Big, faux gemstones and Byzantine styled crosses:

Corinne Day's early 90's heroin chic editorials in The Face

Rosemary Ferguson by Corinne Day in UK Vogue, early 90s.

Yasmeen Ghuauri

Big, button earrings.

Kate and Rosemary in The Face

Lady Miss Kier

Stretch everything, in red, black and white and jewel tones:

He kind of disappeared, but Rifat Ozbek was huge in the nineties, he popularised the slip dress

SJP in an Ozbek jacket

Is it just color that's missing in today's fashion? This (fabulous) thread seems to make that point. I flipped through a VOGUE Met issue the other day in a grocery store and even the ads were dull dull dull. Did it turn oddly conservative when the rest of the country/world went more free or something?

Karen Mulder for Versace.

Poor Karen claimed on French TV that Prince Albert of Monaco raped her. Her Dutch parents put her in a psychiatric institution afterwards saying she had gone mad.

Karen for Guess

Karen and her best pal Carla Bruni backstage at a 90's Versace show

R77 I don't know what's gone wrong but there's an energy missing in the industry. The 90's had lots of black and white, too (NYC was dressed in all black, top to bottom) but there's a kind of hushed exuberance no longer there. There's also this new puritanism masquerading as radical, that erases the humor from everything. Big, social battles -- even serious ones -- were fought with a sense of humor. That's why I think we've come so far, now because of the dedication to genuinely being inclusive to even difficult and/or Conservative people, in the arts industries.

What's interesting, is that if you look at the fashion World, then, the hodge-podgeness of distinct personalities was not a front, it wasn't topical. The most Tony, old money dames hung around with young party monsters. There wasn't this cliquishness and "do you know the secret word?" self-righteousness going on. Yet, there was tons of radical activism and challenging of old ways and the old guard. I think there's an inherent optimism and joyfulness now missing.

More risque Calvin Klein:

R81, you are an idiot with no taste.

Just kidding, wanted to see how it felt to be one of those assholes who respond that way on every thread. :)

You are dead on in your post. Who would have guessed "fun" would go out of fashion somehow?

R82 "Who would have guessed 'fun' would go out of fashion somehow?"

Right? People are too nervous about obeying these elaborate speech and presentation codes, now. They can't just figuratively let their hair down and run free. Fashion needs that space.

Ha! I love those little, diva assholes who go around the threads dismissing everyone. So cute. Maybe they should go into fashion, start a bunch of cat fights, where everyone is trying to out-success each other and some good work will emerge from it?

I wonder if social media and its instant repercussions have been a contributing factor? Used to be bad dress, a magazine or two. Now you're global. Make a nasty statement like Kors, it's quoted everywhere. Social Media is making me a little nuts in general so this might be one more thing it has influenced -- badly.

R84 Social media has taught me that most people now think the worst of each other, even those they've worked alongside with on shared social goals, for years. I don't know if this is some kind of post 9/11, lingering paranoia malaise that we never shook off? People say stupid things, sometimes. People can be grumpy or unpleasant on occasion. But the sociopathic swiftness which with so, many people are willing to dump others into the societal garbage disposal, is disturbing. I don't understand why people can't just debate, anymore. Have a spat, cool off and get some coffee.

Now, someone looks at the queen bees of activism circles wrong and it's a worldwide witch hunt to take them down. It's chilling.

R81) I feel as though we lack people like Isabella Blow. She championed stylists, had great flair and a passion for the artistry of it all. She was an original and not a botoxed Barbie.

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy Fall 1997

The world is so different now. Little sub-cultures, the likes of which produced inspirational fashion figures such as Leigh Bowery and Lady Miss Kier, and Cobain and the Riot Grrls of the 90s, have no time to develop now, anything new is pounced upon by the companies employed by the big brands to 'cool spot'. There is no underground any more for new, fresh, fun ideas to spring from.

There is also social media, which has led to an obsessional plundering of past eras as people curate their fave fashion looks on their Tumblr. A handful of key people are hugely popular and are featured endlessly in the magazines and on the fashion blogs as 'style icons'. Jane Birkin in denim hot pants. Bardot in ballet flats. Hepburn in the leggings and turtle neck. The continuous worship of these people's looks kills originality.

Then you have the overcrowded market. there are too many clothes being proceed, too many collections each year. Ebay and the 'pre-loved' sites are stuffed with cheap designer items, Most women wear a new item seven times before donating it or selling it on. So there is intense competition for the middle and mass markets. That too leads to a lack of risk, the safe bet , the approach which shifts units, is that taken by Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent. He does;t bother trying anything new. He knows that's now what fashion is about anymore. He just makes luxe versions of Topshop collections, which themselves are simply copies of looks worn by Cobain, Hepburn, Bardot. And they sell like hotcakes.

Fashion has eaten itself, in the digital age.

In general, everyone seems so friggin' cautious. One wrong word and... And I'm sure that carries on down (or up) to no more Isabelle Blows too. Gotta play it safe, sell ads?

Had lunch with some guy who kept advising me to update my social media presence including twitter and daily posts, the only way to stay relevant, and I wanted to strangle him by the end of one hour. Odd how much stake he put in Social Media when I find him literally Socially Retarded.

Just like in the movie biz, fashion needs a new trailblazer.

Kids somewhere need to create a scene for themselves which is not mediated, they need to get some privacy back, to create things for themselves without those things being corporatised in minutes.

Or they need to do something extreme, as extreme as punk was in its day, something that corporations don't even want to be associated with.

The "jeans, gingham and fresh-faced diverse America!" everywhere.

The Fresh Prince prep school jacket, turned inside out:

Take two:

Pastel, metallic lame material:

The talented Kevin Aucoin. He really created a very, particular women's makeup look of the 90's that was part old Hollywood throwback, part 90's pulp revival caricature and I think that aesthetic inspired Thierry Mugler, as well. Think; cat eyes, fake beauty marks, nude lips, like 60's Sophia Loren meets a computer generated, Roy Lichenstein.

R5 Kevin Aucoin makeup, early 90's:

The stupidity that is "cultural appropriation" had not been dreamed up by "I can sense I'm almost obsolete!" activists, yet. America IS cultural appropriation, fools. As is art.

R95) Yes. Very understated and classy, as was the look of Bobbi Brown. In fact, the "nude" look took off. I can't stand the clown look so many people sport today.

R21 Calvin owned the 90's.

Go gold or go home:

Stussy surfer and skater aesthetic:

Loved the Guess ad campaigns. They still keep a similar legacy, today but I always thought the black and white, in particular, showcased the jean material well:

The infamous Mark Wahlberg (when he was "Marky Mark"), junk grab CK ad:

R98 Bobbi Brown, almost single-handedly , shifted women's makeup trends in the 90's and while brick red and brown lipstick is less used, the "fresh-faced, natural look" is still the general default, today.

The shearling barn jacket was a 90's staple:

MOPI shoot, classic 90's; "natural" toned shearling barn coat over graphic printed Tee or 70's button-up:

"Male models make half the day rate as women..."

R107 "Professional babysitter in LA"? Would YOU leave your wife or husband alone in the house with him?

Models love aquariums. I don't know why but they're all over them.

Female fashion commentator sexually harasses male models. 90's Equality, my ass;

The very talented Kevin Aucoin, 1994. Sad he's gone:

R111 What he said at the end is very moving. Something everyone should listen to, today in this era of constant, public bickering.

Loved:

Style with Elsa Klensch

Fashion TV with Jeannie Becker

House of Style

Linda, Christy, Naomi

Amber Valletta on the cover of Time

Supermodels on Vogue covers

Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Rebecca Romijn--the last of the significant SI cover girls

Post-divorce Diana, Princess of Wales

Hated:

Cindy Crawford

The Fashion Cafe

Kate Moss

Claudia Schiffer

Overalls

Prada

The death of Gianni Versace

Loved the Liv Tyler bongo ads of the 90's and the "new flower power for the '90s" vibe they had:

'90s GAP ads and the new casual (James marshall from "A few Good Men"):

I worked 2 years for a fashion video production company in NYC in the early 90s. Just during the shows. In the 80s i was close to the fashion industry and when I was in college worked for Click for 2 years but not much at all. I was a big bust as a model.

I liked the supermodels of course and I liked their successors, too. Kristen McMenamy was a welcome breath of freakiness.

Many of the supposed bitches and vampires at fashion companies and in fashion journalism were in fact perfectly professional and even pleasant to work with.

I supposed I lied that I was tall, rail thin, good looking enough, and had a certain entre to that world when it was all the rage, and that's about it.

The best moments were when everything came together at a show, the models, their walks, the clothes, the music, and an interesting guest list, all being on point.

Technical production companies in fashion shows/video/photography are overwhelmingly hetero and macho, and the misogyny I heard on my headsets throughout the shows was vile.

But the "girls" could sell the goods and themselves and their careers, on the runway, and that was exhilarating.

R116 Thanks for that! I bet you're too humble, too.

Vivienne Westwood's crazy tartan, "Anglomania" period:

This is interesting. The preppie gang, "Lo-Lifes", where membership required the wearing of Ralph Lauren "polo". We had fashion gangs, in the 90's? Does anyone remember this?

I know Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger have gotten heat for their classic, prep look that has a running theme throughout the years but they really invented a very American brand of style, that didn't quite exist before them. American style always borrowed from Paris but by the 90's, a Preppie look that hearkened back to 30's Academe wear, really cemented that typical, American look.

The Preppy Look got big in the late 70's and early 80's, dear. Preppy Handbook, 'member?

R120 Yes and it references classic, English boarding school style but Ralph Lauren and Hilfiger really established it in an American way. Together, they created a very distinctly American aesthetic.

Ralph Lauren hit it in the 80s. All I'm saying is that is not a 90s fashion event.

R122 Yes but what I meant is that the apex and stride of "American Preppie" was established in the 90's. The 80's had their pastel preppies with standards, like the white button-up being introduced but the look was perfected by RL and Hilfiger really established the jean/white shirt/khaki preppy look, with the red, white and blue palette.

If you say so dear, but your fashion history is wrong.

R124 You've misread what I've written: I never said "Preppie" didn't exist before the 90's. I said RL and Hilfiger were the ones that made a very, american version of it. Of course they borrowed from earlier American looks, certainly from the 30's and 50's, as 80's Preppie did. But they made a particular look that became a basic, American standard.

R125 It was my personal opinion not some indisputable fact of fashion history.

Another:

Hated: Tommy Boy, RL, Guess, , Dockers, Gap, collegiate sweatshirts, carrot-leg jeans, looking "fly".

Loved: The "Goth art student" look, variations of 70s Revival - Hippie/Glam Rock/Disco/Grunge/thrift store [all mixed together!]

Male models who looked like men not 12 year old girls.

R129 Thank you! YES.

R129 There's no mistaking David Gandy for a woman:

The incredible, artistic drama of Alexander McQueen. I think Isabella Blow was probably a great, creative influence on him but they fed into each-other's tendency towards melancholy. In the end, it was like they pushed each-other to the edge, without meaning to.

Tom Ford took over the creative directorship of Gucci in 1994 and the look he developed there - slim flares in velvet, silk shirts, sleek glossy centre parted hair, nude lip, heavy kohl eyes, was hugely influential.

Kate in the 1995 show

Madonna wears the look at the 1995 VMAs

Borrowing from Halston for the 1996 Gucci collection. These looks could be worn today and look entirely modern.

Linda walks for Gucci in 1997

R134 I know there is a loyal crew of Madonna haters on DL and I know the criticism of this video is that she ended the underground voguing scene, by touching it with a mainstream hand but this video is very much an ode to '90's Fashion and Fashion photography (obviously, in the way it referenced George Hurrell's photographs of stars):

Carolyn Bessette working a restricted monochrome palette of Ann Demeulemeester, Prada, Hermès and Gap.

Jean-Paul Gaulthier's fabulous costumes for The Fifth Element. I can't believe the film is nearly 2 decades old...where does the time go? But the designs still look completely fresh.

That Alice band become a thing for a while

Alek Wek:

Poster girls for sleek mid 90's minimalism, Christie and Kelly Klein

R141, that's Wek walking in McQueen's first Paris couture show for Givenchy. He slapped Eva Herzigovina backstage for something, she was in tears.

R143 Brilliant but unbalanced.

Coked -up McQueen called Eva Herzigovina a 'fucking bitch'!

'A former design assistant also recalls that McQueen once called Eva Herzigova "you fucking bitch," and manhandled her backstage at a show. Herzigova cried on the runway. '

Fighting back the tears.

He was an artist, more than a fashion designer. An astonishing talent, sorely missed.

The 1998 McQueen show.

No love for us then, bitches?

R147 Every, one of his shows were like elaborate ballets. With all the gossip about his mental health and drug problems, he sincerely was an incredible talent.

R147 All of it, amazing.

R148 The Rachel haircut! Run!!!!

R140 The tortoise shell print band, too:

This, VF 1997:

Fringe haircut on Linda:

...and this:

Sepia Calvin Klein. Sepia tinted ads was a big trend:

Gisele Zelauy, the model from Brazil. She was the "original" Gisele.

Love....Linda, Cindy, Campbell, and Brooke Shields.

Hate...Moss and Gisele. I think Kate Moss's heroin addiction turned me off to her, and Gisele became a stickup bitch when she married Tom Brady.

R158 Kate was one of the lucky ones and I wonder if she knows it. It was just one, very public overdose after another for many famous faces in Fashion and Hollywood, at the time.

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Black mesh:

Happy Independence Day!

More 90's minimalism:

Loved the floppy surfer/skater hair on men (Werner Schreyer):

While the 50's style comeback launched in earnest in the 80's, by the 90's, it had softened into a kind of retro deconstruction and the glossy imitation of the 80's was gone. I also loved the soft, "Elvis" pompadours. More Werner Schreyer and Drew Barrymore for Guess:

This thread is everything.

Jean Paul Gaultier's fun, cheesecake/beefcake ads of the 90's:

Contemporary Art was still fun in the 90's too.

R166 I don 't get out of bed for less than $10,000...and this thread.

No, Brooklyn hipsters, you didn't think of it first:

Marc Jacobs's infamous grunge collection, 1992.

Often mocked but actually pretty trend-setting:

More colorful and graphic Versace:

Not fashion per se but Pierre et Gilles feel very much of the period.

Is Kal Ruttenstein still alive?

What killed Gisele Zelauy's career?

Isabella Blow, "Paradise Feathers" 1993

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Plaid and hounds-tooth, everywhere:

Amazing Christie Vogue cover from 1993. She's superhumanly beautiful, yet likeable and warm too.

The adorable Veronica Webb

Veronica and Naomi backstage at Todd Oldham, 1994

Naomi Campbell and her Mother (!), Valerie on the runway, Thierry Mugler '94:

Mizrahi fits Veronica, 1991

Optimism for The European Union, '94 (Christy Turlington):

She gets overlooked these days, but Nikki Taylor was everywhere in the early nineties and more relatable for fraus than the supers

Patriotic Naomi, '94:

R186 So awful what happened to Krissy, though.

Nikki,Vogue, 1992, in an Ungaro jacket

R185, we need to send that to Greece

R188 Here's more:

Very sad, R188.

Naomi, Carla and Linda. Legs for days in Chanel.

R190 Right?!

Why don't women want to, at least, try to look like this anymore? Obviously not everyone is a supermodel but growing up in the 90's, I felt like women tried more, then. And it was a casual decade, too! Even exercise wear was more glam and appropriate for public outings.

Bugle beads dress:

Three piece, no tie, Armani Spring/Summer '93:

This happened?:

Whatever happened to Veronica Webb? She was once everywhere, now she seemed to have disappeared.

Ravishing things like this would just kind of show up in your mailbox. I so miss that time. It's not so much that I feel older, but there seemed more beauty and possibilities out there then (*is* it because I'm older?).

I loved the 1981 Calvin Klein Jean ad with the shirtless blonde curly haired male model. I used to wonder on who the gorgeous model was.

Justin Lazard in "Central Park West" from 1995.

Times have changed. You remember the Supermodels from the 70s and 80s, but I have no idea of the Supermodels of today. I'm assuming because Supermodels have been replaced by celebrities, I dunno.

The fashion bible in the 90s for me was the UK magazine The Face. Not sure how popular it was in the US, but iMO they had the best editorials with the coolest models and celebrities. I still have the one with Alexander McQueen (RIP) on the cover.

That is one scary photo.

R199 No, it's not just because you're older. The 90's really did have a kind of rebellious optimism, that allowed advertisers to created serious, artsy ads but also showcase human beauty with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. In a short time, we've gone from that kind of lust for life exuberance, to a deadly serious celebration of conformity that allows for few risks and few mistakes.

Advertisers and their audience had grown so culturally accustomed to The Great American Advertisement, that both knew what was going on --- someone was trying to sell something -- and the audience suspended belief for the sake of the show, in the way they would a movie. Both knew it was just art, a performance.

Now, words are "literally" rape to the supposed "rebellious" on social media and people can't laugh at themselves anymore. Think of the great personalities of all ages and imperfections, that could laugh at themselves publicly in the 90's; that was the mood, that was the general attitude.

So dab on some CKOne (just dab, please!), put on your black or white t-shirt and cowboy fit jeans and do your part to remind people that none of us are getting out of life alive, so it's time to bring that mentality back.

I'm finding it all maddening and conservative -- in a way nobody expected, like the way "Porno Chic" turned into censorship when feminists weighed in (so much for the new sexual freedom). Odd that the 90s were so colorful and free and fun, certainly aesthetically, while a major disease was still wiping out the creative population (and general population in other countries/continents). Now that AIDS is, let's say, "under control", it's all about marriage and kids and suburbia, nothing we expected then when staying alive was the priority. I sure didn't anyway.

I remember when the Abercrombie catalogue got drummed out of existence and thinking it was a really bad sign of things to come -- and nobody fought it, the company caved quickly, all in the name of "Save the Children". That catalogue was a MAJOR part of the subject of this thread, a cool easy sexuality that I thought was beyond healthy (since the Europeans had embraced it long ago and had less teen pregnancy, disease, etc. Their teen mags even featured nude teens talking about their bodies and it didn't feel remotely tawdry. Doubt that's happening now though). I fear we are being bamboozled into the "norm" whether we want to go there or not.

R206 ...and "the norm" is this foreboding joylessness. It's interesting how there was so much buzz, in particular about the Calvin Klein campaigns, in the 90's about some of these campaigns glamorizing victimization; when looking back, the complete opposite was true. Even the most waifish models still looked like young adults and there was a playfulness and fun in the sexuality on display in most ads not this romanticization of some false innocence or extreme perversion. Even married people with kids were allowed to have fun and have adult humor, outside the politically correct World and PC was a polite choice not a forcefully imposed, puritanism.

Calvin Klein's most provocative ad series and the models still look more adult than the arrested development we see in ads and fashion, today.

R207 Compared to so, many other decades, advertising in the '90's was among the most unapologetic-ally adult; those adults also happened to be unapologetic-ally fun and vital, too.

Bright Chanel:

Dan Cortese for Iceberg, Fall/Winter 1994/95

R207 Some of these models were young and yes, their use was questionable but there's a cynicism that was actually lacking in those ads, when we look back. Fashion ads are more sinister, now.

Adult sexuality, of all kinds is now taboo in any, public sphere to the point of weirdness. The Elephant in The Room has just grown bigger and everyone is contorting to pretend they don't see it. This means there's more possibility for genuine perversion, in a destructive sense, filling that vacuum. It's not for nothing that the most popular novel and film franchise of recent years, was about a virgin-esque, child-woman being beaten and dominated for her pleasure, by a male character that's like some Femme-fantasy version of a Bret Easton Ellis character.

A couple of years ago, Joanna Lumley called it the rapid growth of "child's manners" for adults. Some people waved it off, as if she was insulting our more genteel time but that's not what she meant: Ignore the very adult nature of adulthood and things get weird.

R212 Sorry, I meant "Children's [morals]" not manners.

More CK:

CK, 1995. No one would confuse them for children:

All of this was created pre-internet.

The posters who are saying there is a joyless, even sinister aspect to marketing of pop culture and fashion now are right.

There is an overwhelming jadedness, and a lot of that comes from the fact that the culture is saturated in internet porn and a lot of it comes from a post 9/11, permanent war, endless terrorist atrocities culture.

Also all these models, apart from the 'heroin chic' styling of Corrine Day's shoots, look so ALIVE, and healthy and vital. And happy, in many of the shots, beaming away. It made you feel good to look at them.

Compre to this nonsense, current season Saint Laurent, trying oh so desperately to be edgy and shocking. Looks like a corpse in a frock.

R216 So, incredibly correct. Risque is now irrelevant.

R217 Exactly! Whatever criticism you could give to 90's fashion ads and models, they looked vital, engaged -- gasp! -- fun. They looked like they were, either, having fun, in deep "cafe intellectual" discussion or in the throes of vital, lustful passion.

They looked...social.

[quote]There is an overwhelming jadedness, and a lot of that comes from the fact that the culture is saturated in internet porn and a lot of it comes from a post 9/11, permanent war, endless terrorist atrocities culture.

Also so much of journalism today relies on "clickbait," purposely trying to outrage people. Sensationalism has always been around, but it was never so insidious, and people didn't spend all day commenting and arguing over every "problematic" thing someone might have said or did. Imagine how many wanky thoughtpieces you would have to wade through if those CK ads came out today.

R217 Even the infamous CK campaigns, CKOne, showed moody, waifish people...but they're chatting, dancing (well, headbanging), kissing, walking, etc.

R220 Imagine the "Stepford Students" of today weighing in on this:

My favorite pic of Naomi. I don't really like her that much otherwise.

This thread turned out well.

R224 Are you being facetious?!

no, I like it

R226 Very well, then. You may proceed.

I shall, R227, and I shall raise you your Sunflowers with my Demeter 'Dirt'

Oatmeal colored, linen tweed and graphic print, button-up shirts:

R228 Have you tried "Firefly"? It's pure, Summer twilight.

It's sounds both enchanting and intriguing, R230. Like the nineties themselves.

Style.com, bitches! It was my introduction to an online community.

R232 Yes! Yes! Yes!

I dunno I'd say 80's fashion tops 90's fashion.

I dunno I'd say 80's fashion tops 90's fashion.

R235 It was very adventurous but not as lasting.

Was anybody into APC?

R229 In Vogue:

R237 The jeans?

VF interview (Video Fashion) of my new, 90's guy obsession, Jason Lewis. Some footage from "Beverly Hills 90210", too:

Lauren Ezersky

Beverly Peele, perhaps Naomi's closest competition, was a brilliant model during her brief time, here's a picture.

One thing i'm not sure has been mentioned is the post 90s drop in quality of fashion photography. Lack of creativity? The move from film/darkroom to digital? The ads used to be striking works of art... leaping off the page. Now they're sexy high-def pics of celebrities with the same lighting and styling, ugh. I miss models on the covers of magazines.

Roshumba Williams

I'm a really big fan of Issac Mizrahi as a person (he seems like a total sweetheart) though I do love his designs and wish he's been kept on to work Liz Claiborne, longer. I think it was just a matter of timing because he's really accessible and would've done wonders for the J.C. Penny brand if he'd been allowed to expand his influence.

I thought the luxe knits and satin combo trend was an interesting one. It really relied on the quality of materials and one, ingenious cut. In '97, Claire Danes wore the look at The Oscars. In Calvin Klein and the popular powder blue that lingered around, steadily, from '95-'97:

Eat your heart out, Caitlyn Jenner:

The great "Youtube" user, '90's fashion, is to thank for most of these videos. LA street style, 1994:

Boy, do those fabrics pucker, R245. And that's the high end there.

R242 Here's a jeans photoshoot that shows how much, up until very recently, when into these shoots. There still is on-site work being done today but so much of the lighting adjustments and clean-up is being done in an office. We forget that up until recently, if you wanted certain light in a particular place, you had to show up at that place and be ready for a certain time:

Muscled queens and their Doc Martens

R248 True but the bias/satin trend was kind of a secret test of skill. You almost wonder if designers did it to say: "See, I'm so good, I can cut this sheath in only three places and make a cohesive look."

R242 I agree. It's like the same template is being used for every ad from a major fashion house or legacy brand, these days. Is this just the economical thing? The limitation of the training of newbies who are working for a 1/10th the old prices? This is also a very, non PC view but I'm really not for "accessible" models on covers.

fucking bicycle shorts and Downtown Julie Brown

Donna Karen taupe was nice. Her whole luxe, neutral knits hearkened back to Coco Chanel's first collections.

R254 The DKNY sportswear, too. It was hard for gym bunnies to look sloppy in it.

Sportswear International, February '94:

The club kids, whose demented manga cartoon / Leigh Bowery / industrial goth / drag look was massive in the dance / rave scene of the 90s both in NYC and London

Michael Alig, James St James and Bjork in 92

Ritchie Rich and Michael Alig on Jerry Springer in full 90's club regalia

R259 Was that the episode when the cute, military guy stood up in the audience and everyone expected him to give a raving lecture against them but he said they were really creative and fun, instead?

Yes, R260, it was! The guy was a real sweetie.

Chloe Sevigny, mid 90s, in a tee designed by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon for her X Girl range

Kim, Paper cover, 1994

This 1994 Calvin Klein ad. Very St. Sebastian:

You've given me an idea for a thread, R263..

Why Gisele Zelauy's career ended when Gisele Bundchen arrived on the modeling scene in the late 1990's? They were both from Brazil.

R265 I don't know but it is odd how that crossover happened. It could be coincidental but I'm surprised Zelauy wouldn't find other work as she got older. Brazilians are usually in high demand because they have such a diverse, ethnic heritage that so many look racially ambiguous and that's a good selling point for a company that wants its product to look relatable and appealing, to the widest audience.

Thanks for the info, r266.

Another great Linda gif:

Shalom Harlow - 1995

R8 For you:

Terry cloth, bowling polos. I liked the micro-terry material everywhere, that had a '70s mood to it (Alex Lundqvist, 1994)

Son of Dorchester, Maaaky Maaak for Calvin Klein:

House of Style

An article about Kim Gordon's X-Girl fashion line, including the pretentious "X-Girl Movie 1995" video with Chloe Sevigny. It's 16 minutes long, but I barely made it to 30 seconds.

Marisa Berenson at the Cannes Festival in 1990.

Bump this thread.

I used to set my VCR to record "Fashion Television" and "The Week in Rock" on MTV every week. Fashion Television was edited very well, and there were a lot of songs I heard for the first time on it, like "Free" by The Martinis. It was better than Cindy Crawford's show, and also Elsa Klench on CNN. Jeanne Beker knew how to host, and wasn't afraid of showing some of the douchebags and bitches she sometimes encountered.

R277 Jeanne Beker is a Canadian icon.

Excitement and drama!

Actual talent and not just tumbler talent:

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R282 I meant that it looked like more fun and I could be idealizing but I'd appreciate anyone who was part of this proving me wrong, if I am.

Although Cindy Crawford was considered to be the biggest model of the era, she had to look at Niki Taylor as a little bit of threat when she came onto the scene. Niki was younger, taller, sexier, nabbed the prestigious Cover Girl campaign, and even had the same mole above her mouth.

Niki Taylor's sister was the one who asthma-ed to death, right?

R285 Yeah, there's something on it upthread.

I heard Richard Martin, the costume curator, speak a few months before he died. He was arguably the best in his entire field. And at the end of his life, he realized his work really meant nothing. I was reminded of Martin recently when Letterman said he "finally" realized his work had been meaningless -- but at least he's still around to do something of value (although it remains to be seen if he will).

Fashion is, at best, a zero sum game.

Grunge was horrid but the early 90's were fabulous. The models looked so healthy and womanly until the heroin chic/grunge trend ruined everything.

R287 I wouldn't say it was meaningless; fashion has such an impact on emotion, on the mood of an era. There'a a great deal of hope in being able to create the idea of a fresh start for human beings, season after season, so they always have the choice to symbolically try something new. There are people who have gotten through the hardest points in their lives, like during The Great Depression or wars, clinging to a beautiful and inspiring image and artwork that comes alive on a living, breathing person.

Like all talents, I think it's really what you use it for and what kind of impact you leave on the world that determines the value of what you've created. Curating costumes is preserving pieces of history that are tied to the hopes, dreams, the feelings of a generation. How can that be meaningless? What matters is if someone performs their talent with a true love for humanity. There's a reason why some people are obsessed with collecting and preserving certain things. The great thing about fashion and those who create is they can always change, they can always decide to not be bleak or to offer a different message to the world and an era, whenever they choose to start anew.

R288 Healthy and manly, too. Though men were allowed to look that way a little longer into the era.

r289, I hear what you are saying. But Martin himself knew he had wasted his life and it was heartbreaking. There was a Columbia physician in the room (Martin's partner worked at Columbia) and this MD had dedicated his life to finding a cure for asthma. He and Martin were the same age and the contrast between the two of them was too much to bear. It's not a question of finding "meaning," it's a questions of work really being meaningful (which is different).

R291 I'm saddened to hear that. Without downplaying the great achievements of anyone, I'm a strong believer in their being no one or two great thing that can be done for mankind. Artists keep people emotionally connected to their humanity and in research fields and medicine, this can be vital to maintaining ethics and not falling into being de-sensitized to the humanity of what you do.

Even if you are not a religious person, differences exist for a reason, even if you are to look at it from an evolutionary perspective, where what was needed to ensure the vitality and endurance of humanity was built over time. If you are a religious person, you see that different people exist to add something needed to the world and what's important is keeping a focus on doing things with the most character and sense of duty to humanity, that you can do them.

If that's creating and curating fashion, you should be creating things that have the kind of impact on the world that you think will educate, intellectually or creatively challenge or make it better humanely. There should be some real soul- searching that goes on when you create something that you know will form or influence a generation, that will shift public mood. While the responsibility of that role is not as tangible as holding a scalpel, needle or beaker, it is still a great responsibility, nonetheless. That is the challenge we all face, everyday, no matter what work we've chosen to pursue.

R292 I'm going to continue my rant because I'm feeling it. Every time a society has disregarded the arts and music, disregarded these things that emotionally connect us to our societies and the people in them, those societies fall into the same traps: Totalitarianism, eugenics, violence.

That doesn't mean scientists and doctors are naturally cruel or inhumane, it's just that there is a simplicity, efficiency and logic to some of the above ideas and without different people, with different talents and gifts checking each other and responding to each other, extremism takes over. Monoculture creates an imbalance in society where people are missing things they need to grow, work and love.

We need different people, different strengths at different times. Sometimes we need to be accepted and nurtured. Sometimes we need to be taunted and challenged. Humans need all of these things, we need each other. We need what we can offer each other. And to pretend only one kind of person and gift is necessary, when art or science starts to be subservient to the other, ignores all the things human beings need to have a good, just society and World that DESERVES to persevere and a species that DESERVES to live on, if there is any justice or meaning in this existence or even in a moment.

Fini.

What did I loathe about the 1990's fashion world?

All of the American designers.

'90s minimalism gave them a free ride. None created original looks. None created lasting luxury brands (I'm not included Ralph Lauren here because he pre-dates the 90s).

And they knew nothing about accessories.

Donna Karan was probably the only one who had promise but she fizzled out. They all launched down market lines...which is fine ...but they all eventually became too associated with down market stuff.

Isaac Mizrahi was the biggest, no talent joke. You can't create a fashion brand AND be the center square on the Hollywood Squares. It's just not going to work.

R294 But Mizrahi had a fizzy joyfulness that seeped into his collections and that's seriously lacking in today's fashion world. If they all were like that, it would have been overload but he offered a fashion release valve that was needed at the time. And he seems like a genuinely sweet guy. There was a lot of diversity in 90's designer perspectives.

R295 The operatic rebelliousness of McQueen and Westwood was suited to the doses they were delivered in. American 90's prep style even had a role as a sort of palette cleanser for the more intense stuff. Back to the idea of monoculture: Fashion monoculture is today's Fashion world. In the 90's, it was an abundance of fashion diversity that was symbiotic, yet still combined to create the overall mood of an era.

Isaac paved the way for fashion designer "personalities" like Marc Jacobs.

The problem with today's fashion world is that there's too much dispersion of everything, like a wave trying to reach equilibrium. It's not fashion chaos as a statement, it's just the homogeneity of fashion: Everything is urban, slouchy, eclectic, etc. All the mess has sort of reached it's own state of non-descript equilibrium; it is all eclectic and "different" in the exact same way.

Designers have to take risks on collections again, liek they are the launch of an entirely new product and offer something distinct that can't be reproduced in every, other collection. At the same time, designers have to think like investors and advertisers as well and try fashion divining, to predict trends by listening to the people and what their souls need. What they need right now, in this time. that's where the talent really comes in.

I know this may be a bit off topic, but when did all these "celebrity so-and-so has his/her own clothing line" start? All I can remember from the late 80s/90s in that regard was Brooke Shields' jeans line. I swear I woke up one day and all I could see where celebrities hawking their clothes and accessory lines (which is basically license agreements where fashion houses and manufacturers use a celebrity's name to sell the line).

[quote]I swear I woke up one day and all I could see where celebrities hawking their clothes ...

my apologies, I meant were.

Richard Martin realized fashion isn't art in any real sense of the term. And that's part of what got to him at the end. Of course art and music are important. Fashion? No. You can put it in the Met but that doesn't make it art.

R301 Fashion is the identifier of an era and the one creative endeavor that completely shift a society's mood -- rather than specifically an individual's, a collective of them -- in a moment. Yes, of course that's art.

There are smells that are the identifier of an era -- and fashion is far from the one creative endeavor that completely shift a society's mood -- rather than specifically an individual's, a collective of them . It's not art -- except to people who don't understand art. And, in any case, it's nothing to devote one's life to.

R303 Is that so? What makes you so sure I don't understand art?

r303, a person who equates fashion with art doesn't understand art.

R305 Well then, that settles that, doesn't it?

R305 You think fragrance isn't art? Really? Purely functional?

Fashion is art, because it can be one's way to express him/herself. And that's what art is about: Epressing oneself and inspiring others to react to it.

Sorry, meant Expressing oneself and inspiring others to react to it.

Behind The Velvet Ropes with Lauren Ezersky

Art is about asking, and answering, questions. This confusion about something so basic is symptomatic of the general dumbing-down of the population and of rampant egocentricism that would confuse "self" expression with art.

I always thought Elle Macpherson, Rachel Hunter and Gisele were hot catalog swimsuit models, but their faces nowhere near supermodel quality as Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Helena Christensen.

Fashion may not be considered art in the USA...but in France and Italy it certainly is.

Agree with R312.

Someone on the Linda Evangelista thread said that Shana Zadrick was low-rent and trailer-park, but I thought she was HOT. She's got that sexy Linda face with big tits, and an expression as if she's seeing a penis for the first time.

R132 Let's face it, Giselle is Steffi Graff with a smokin' hot body.

I liked Kelly Emberg's cool, low-key persona. She, along with Renee Simonsen and Kim Alexis, had faces that defined the early 80s model.

Drew 'flower-childs" it up!

SHALOM HARLOW CATWALK VERSACE SPRING SUMMER(MILAN) 1995-1998.

R311 You'd be surprised to know that most artists create an "answer" only to struggle in finding the question. Those who experience the art can explore it and decide that for themselves. Of course fashion fits into your definition of art.

Bump

Bump for stories. I know some of you have stories.

A designer these days couldn't do a "Nanook of the North" story (Mizrahi) or "Hasidic" story (Gaultier) without SJWs screaming "CULTURAL APPROPRIATION!!". Meh.

Fucking Thierry Mugler y'all. Glamazons indeed.

Gap's Fall 1993 Fashion Show, of course!

Starring DL Perennial Fave, the Heterosexual Shemar Moore!

R324 Shemar is adorable!

Friendship

STOP THE BUMP INSANITY