The 90s were a golden era for pop culture in more ways than one: hip hop music and supermodels were born, sitcoms like Friends and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reigned supreme on TV, and the Game Boy colour was the only piece of tech worth having.
Then there was the 90s fashion, much of which we still have in our wardrobes today: think slip dresses, cargo pants, bomber jackets and scrunchies - to name a few. With that being said, however, there were plenty of embarrassing 90s trends too. In fact, many of us can’t talk about the decade without inviting equal measures of nostalgia and cringe.
Remember when skinny eyebrows were a thing? Or when pedal pushers and blossom hats had their heyday? And we haven't even got on to 90s hair trends. From chunky highlights to porcupine updos, most of us rocked some hairstyles we're happy to lock away in the vaults of time. Here, we take a trip down memory lane at the trends we loved at the time, but might not recreate now...
32 embarrassing 90s trends we all remember
BLOSSOM HATS
Blossom hats (also known as big hats featuring a small floral arrangement) had people in a tight choke hold, in large part thanks to Mayim Bialik from hit 90s sitcom, Blossom. Safe to say it wasn’t our finest fashion moment.
PEDAL PUSHERS
Whoever made pedal pushers a thing has some serious explaining to do because why? The half-leg, half-trouser look was never a good idea but alas, we were obsessed. Some of us even cut up our perfectly fine, full-length jeans to succumb to the style. In our defence, some of the most iconic Sex and the City outfits feature them too.
JELLY SANDALS
Not entirely embarrassing, but if you had a pair of these, you probably remember how deeply uncomfortable they were. These days we prefer a pair of good quality leather sandals instead. Usually without glitter.
PLATFORM TRAINERS
Not only did platform trainers take the comfort out of wearing trainers, but our feet have never looked chunkier. Still, we loved them at the time.
ZIGZAG HEADBANDS
The zigzag headband was *the* hair accessory of the 90s — whether you were 12 or 30, chances are you had one, ripping out your hair every time you took it off. Ouch.
The hairband made a comeback at London Fashion Week 2022 but it's a trend we've swiftly chosen to ignore.
WEARING CLOTHES BACKWARDS
A bit of a niche one but if you know, you know. Kriss Kross made us jump in the '90s (and sometimes still do), but they also made some of us wear clothes backwards. Luckily this trend was short-lived; we think we know why.
TERRY CLOTH HEADBANDS
Fitness chic may have been the thing of the 80s, but in the 90s, we ditched the leggings and kept the terry cloth headbands - and not just in the gym. From the red carpet to the high street, there was no escaping them.
SLAP BRACELETS
The 90s were an era for accessorising and the slap bracelet was a unique recreation. The half toy, half style statement was a true gem. First created in the 80s, they became ultra popular in the 90s and you probably remember them - whether you were a child yourself or your kids had them in their toybox.
CHOKERS
Chokers may still be around but they were front and centre in the 90s. From thin velvet designs to classic zigzag styles, they were never the most flattering accessory but boy, did we love them.
BUTTERFLY CLIPS
Were you even a 90s girl if you didn’t have butterfly clips in your hair? The ultimate ‘girl next door’ look was everything back then. Now we leave them to five-year-olds.
VINYL
Shiny vinyl outfits swarmed the streets in the 90s, and we lapped up the 'high fashion' look, thanks to the likes of Madonna, Spice Girls and Shania Twain whose every move we followed, of course. While those stars pulled this look off with ease, our personal photo albums tell a different story...
SKINNY BROWS
Pencil-thin eyebrows were the single worst beauty trend of the 90s yet somehow, they were everywhere, from the local high street to Hollywood red carpets. We're not against the eyebrow shape per se, just that we didn't think we were making a permanent commitment to them when we plucked away most of our brow hair in the 90s.
THE FOUNTAINHEAD
The fountainhead look was quite something and while Janet Jackson (pictured) looks great with this 'do, it wasn't one that most of us pulled off particularly well.
PORCUPINE UPDOS
Believe it or not, the porcupine updo was the ultimate cool girl hair trend in the 90s. Everyone from Mandy Moore to Alicia Silverstone rocked the bird's nest hairstyle combining spikes, tendrils and those all-important butterfly clips.
BLUE EYESHADOW
There was a lot of blue eyeshadow in the 90s, and we mean a lot. Frosty blue and lilac eyeshadows reigned supreme (even better if they were paired with jet-black kohl pencil). Reese Witherspoon pulled off the look at a red carpet, but us? It was a little harder to master this one at home.
EXPOSED THONG
It was uncomfortable, it was (with the exception of the ever-glam Halle Barry) tacky, and it looked awful. But for some reason, we kept returning to it. The fashion statement has had something of a revival in 2023 / 2024, but we've chosen to ignore it this time around.
CRIMPED HAIR
A late 90s, early noughties classic, crimped hair is a look that instantly takes us back to simpler times. Our crimpers are long-retired now, replaced by curling wands.
TERRY CLOTH WRISTBANDS
Worn with a matching headband, the terry cloth wristband was the arm candy of the 90s hip-hop and skater scene, but it also made its way to the mainstream Now, it’s a memory we’d like to keep in the past - unless we're playing tennis maybe...
MINI BUNS
One bun simply wasn’t enough in the 90s - why have one when you can have five?! We loved intricate mini-bun hairstyles and while Gwen Stefani (pictured) managed to make the style look edgy, we looked more like children.
CHUNKY HIGHLIGHTS
Before the days of ombre and balayage, chunky highlights were in - and no, not just on bad hair days. The chunkier and brighter, the better. If you could master a zig-zag part like Kelly Clarkson (pictured), all the better. Word on the street is that this style is back for 2024.
PINSTRIPE SUITS
Men in the 90s were all about their pinstripe suits, and of course, the bigger the jacket the better - even if it looked like they were swimming in it. It might have looked like the sharpest thing back then but we prefer smarter tailoring now.
LOW RISE JEANS
The low-rise jeans phenomenon first came to be in the 70s, before it was revived in the late 90s and early 2000s. Since then, it has tried to creep its way back into fashion every two decades or so, but we're firmly refusing to pick them back up again. Sure, they looked great on Keira Knightly (pictured) but anyone who had a pair (or ten) will remember how uncomfortable they were. Not to mention, rather unflattering for most of us...
LONG CARDIGANS
Long cardigans weren’t just reserved for teachers or slobbing around the house back in the 90s; Hollywood stars were wearing them to film premieres and other glamorous industry nights. Yep, our favourite it girls couldn’t get enough of them - just look at Kate Hudson at the 1998 Velvet Goldmine premiere (pictured). Not exactly an embarrassing trend, but one we perhaps overdid.
TIGHT HOT PANTS
From the Spice Girls to Kate Moss, ultra-tight and extra-short-shorts were the cool girl pants of the 90s, no matter how uncomfortable and unflattering they might be. Geri Halliwell (pictured) rocked them here on stage in 1998, but it was a harder look to pull off at home.
CHAIN BELTS
Chain belts may have gotten a modern revamp that we can get on board with, but the 90s take on the trend went a little overboard. Much like many things in the 90s, the more you had the better. And if they didn't match each other or your outfit? Even better again.
LEATHER VESTS
We couldn’t just stick to leather jackets - we had to have the vests too. And trousers, and skirts. But we digress. While some people pulled off the leather vest look, it's not the easiest item to style, meaning that some of us got the look *very* wrong.
BUM BAG
Spot the tourist! The infamous bum bag was the ultimate travel accessory back in the 90s. Not the sexiest accessory, but it was a pleasingly practical one, and one we still turn to when we're travelling or hitting a festival.
VELVET, EVERYTHING
When you think of velvet today, festive dressing or accent pieces may come to mind. Not in the 90s. Back then, any occasion would call for a head-to-toe velvet look. And while Whitney looked great in her white velvet get-up, it shouldn't have given us free rein to wear velvet co-ords to every social event. But it did.
SHIRTS TIED AROUND THE WAIST
We’re all for layering and practicality, but this trend from the 90s was a little needless, as plaid shirts often doubled up as an accessory, slung around our waists. We'd probably recreate this if we need to peel off a layer and don't have a bag at hand, but it's not a look that we'd actively put together.
FEATHERS
Yes, feathers had a moment in the 90s too. Feather dresses, tops, skirts and accessories were commonly spotted on celebrities and naturally, the rest of us followed suit and let’s just say, we have major regrets. Brooke Shields looks as glamorous as ever here, but even looking at this picture makes us itchy.
SHORT SLEEVED T-SHIRTS OVER LONG SLEEVED ONES
We’ve all done it (and some of us still do it) but wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt over a long-sleeved one isn’t as cool as we thought it was in the 90s. There was just too much fabric around our biceps.
BANDANAS
On our heads, round our wrists, even fashioned as tops, bandanas were everywhere in the 90s. Just look at the Anna Sui Spring Summer 1999 collection. While this silky paisley pattern number looks sleek and boho on the catwalk, our interpretation of the look was far less sophisticated.
