I was born in 1987, which means I experienced the nineties mostly as a child who had absolutely no say in the decade’s more sophisticated fashion choices. I was there, certainly, but I wasn’t exactly walking around in beautifully tailored trousers, loafers and a Ralph Lauren trench coat.
Which is a shame, because apparently that’s exactly how I would now like to dress.
I’ve always loved that particular kind of nineties style. Not necessarily the very polished Chanel-inspired jackets or anything that makes me look as though I’m about to chair a board meeting, but the simpler, understated elegance. Beautiful coats, good knitwear, straight-leg trousers, loafers, a little country-house influence. The sort of outfit that looks effortlessly put together, even though I suspect quite a lot of effort has gone into making it look that way.
Of course, it’s not as though this style ever completely disappeared. Unlike some fashion trends that are so specific to a particular period that you can practically date a photograph by the trousers alone, much of what I love about the nineties is simply a matter of combining fairly timeless pieces in a particular way. You could always dress like this. It’s just that lately I’m seeing those combinations everywhere again, and every time I come across an old photograph from that era, I immediately start mentally recreating entire outfits.
The lovely thing is that so much of it is available in shops again. I can finally dress like the sophisticated adult I apparently wanted to be when I was approximately eight.
Although I should clarify that my version of sophisticated still occasionally involves jeans, sneakers and leaving the house with slightly damp hair. Particularly at weekends, when I’ve already spent five mornings deciding what to wear to work and have very little enthusiasm left for putting together another carefully considered outfit. I would still very much like a personal stylist to appear in my bedroom every morning, select something fabulous from my existing wardrobe and, while they’re there, do my hair as well. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request.
What I particularly enjoy these days is playing around with clothes. I’ve become much more conscious of what I buy, not necessarily in the sense that I buy less, although that would probably be an excellent development, but in how I think about individual pieces. I can stand in a shop holding a pair of trousers and immediately start imagining what I already own that would work with them. A blazer, a knit, different shoes, perhaps a coat. If I can create several outfits in my head, I feel I’ve made a very sensible purchasing decision.
Whether I actually needed another pair of trousers is, of course, an entirely separate question.
I like having a wardrobe that allows me to change things around. One day I might want to look polished and a little chic, the next I’m perfectly happy in skinny jeans and sneakers. I don’t particularly want to commit to one aesthetic for the rest of my natural life, especially when there are so many nice ones available.
Which brings me to the fascinating subject of fashion advice on the internet.
Apparently, skinny jeans are out. They’ve been out for years, according to some people, and anyone still wearing them is practically announcing that they remember life before smartphones.
Except yesterday I saw that skinny jeans are coming back. Excellent because mine never left.
I also own straight-leg jeans, wider jeans and a few other variations, which means I have accidentally created a wardrobe capable of surviving almost any major denim announcement. I like to think of this as long-term investment rather than an inability to get rid of perfectly good clothes.
And perhaps that’s what I enjoy most about getting a little older. I still love discovering new styles and trying things on, but I’m increasingly comfortable deciding for myself whether something looks good on me. I don’t need to throw away a pair of jeans because somebody on the internet has declared the shape unacceptable, nor do I have to buy something simply because everybody else suddenly owns it.
After all, who actually decides when something is officially out of fashion? And more importantly, why should I have to stop wearing something I like simply because somebody I’ve never met has announced that we’ve collectively moved on?
For now, though, I’m thoroughly enjoying this little return to the nineties. Give me a beautiful trench coat, a good pair of loafers and something that looks as though I might spend my weekends at a country house, despite the fact that I live in an apartment and my actual weekend plans probably involve buying groceries.
I finally have the chance to dress like the grown-up women I admired in the nineties.
It only took me nearly forty years.
And the skinny jeans are staying. I’ve owned them through several changes in public opinion, and at this point I see no reason to start taking fashion advice from strangers who can’t even agree with each other.
-Sophie Quinn
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