Tweens, Teens, and Fashionable Zeal: 90’s Edition

There I was, it was a typical night, I was lying in bed watching episodes of Full House on Youtube, when the thought struck me — how do I dress with as much style as Stephanie Tanner? Answer: You don’t.  But this got me thinking; if we’re going to bring the 90’s back, which, I think we’ve all accepted in this new decade to do,  where do we draw our nostalgic influence from? Answer: 90’s tween/teen stars.  Follow me!

Stephanie Tanner

The middle Tanner child on Full House, also the most stylish.  Sure, the Olsen twins would grow up to give birth to BoHo Chic/Looking Like a Homeless Baglady in the Ohties, but in the 90’s, it was alllll Stephanie.  And that side ponytail.

Saved by the Bell Girls

The year was 1992, and let’s face it, there were no more fashionable girls on Saturday morning tv than Jessie Spanno, Kelly Kapowski, and Lisa Turtle.  They were hot, and they knew it.  Entering beauty pagents, starring as swim suit calendar pin-ups, and even forming their own girl group, Jessie, Kelly, and Lisa participated in so many extracurricular activities, they probably needed their own yearbook.

The best thing about the Bayside babes? A fashion icon for every style. Jessie, with her acid wash jeans, clunky boots, and blazers, favored the Boyfriend Look.  Kelly, a fan of high waisted skirts, babydoll dresses, and body suits was the ultimate Girl Next Door; and Lisa, the fashion risk taker of the bunch, wasn’t afraid to experiment with berets, bedazzled denim, and leggings as pants.  Zack Morris, eat your heart out.

Six from Blossom

Blossom may have gotten the show title, but Six, her fast-talking best friend, got all the good clothes.  While Blossom was wearing fisherman’s caps with flowers on them (we get it, your name’s Blossom, Blossom…) Six was rocking rompers, cut-off shorts, and ombre prints before we even knew what ombre prints were.  She also had an affinity for chokers, which is a 90’s trend I’d be okay with not coming back…

Angela Chase

This one was so obvious, I almost didn’t include it, because it seemed too easy.  But, I liked the use of layering in this picture, so I thought I’d give Angela a shout-out.  Plus, for better or for worse, My S0-Called Life is entirely responsible for that whole using Kool-Aid as hair dye trend.  Again, let’s uh, hope that’s a trend that stays firmly in the decade from whence it sprung…

Moesha

Admit it, if you were a girl in the 90’s, at some point you experimented with baggy pants and babydoll t-shirts/bare mid-drift shirts.  You can thank Moesha for that.  Our girl Mo also loved bold prints, sassy one-liners, and bold hair accessories.  But perhaps the thing that truly elevates Moesha to 90’s fashion icon, is the fact that she didn’t have traditionally classic good looks, but she had a great attitude, great duds, and she knew how to work it!

Kate Moss

Kate was a teenager in the early 90’s, so she’s still eligible for this list.  And why shouldn’t she be on it? Didn’t you have a pair of Calvin Klein jeans in the early-mid 90’s? What about a CK Jeans t-shirt.  Yeah, I thought so.

Teen Hearthrobs

Devon Sawa, Andrew Keegan, Ryder Strong, JTT — believe me, I could go on — back in the 90’s their pretty little mugs were everywhere.  These dreamloafs pretty much dominated the narrative of who you were crushing on in 4th grade.  As such, the perfect 90’s guy wore plaid flannel button downs, some type of workboot/combat boot, shiny hair enshrouded his head like a halo, while his floppy bangs always landed in such a way that you could never really see his eyes — all the better to never know exactly what he was thinking.  We loved emotionally unavailable guys in the 90’s.

The beginning half of the 90s saw charming boy-next door types like JTT and Devon Sawa.  Boys who just wanted to hold your hand and maybe give you a peck on the cheek.  But as the 90’s progressed, so did our curiosity, and heart throbs became edgier, like Boy Meets World playboy Ryder Strong, the often shirtless  (and, let’s face it today’s child porn sting operation bait) Andrew Keegan, and the emotionally unavailable, terminally brooding Jared Leto.  Hubba, Hubba!

Cher Horowitz

Well, I mean, I almost don’t have to explain this entry on the list.  But, in addition to sending the hems of skirts far above the length my school’s dress code deemed appropriate, Cher introduced us to Contempo Casual, Coolio, and slang that’s still ubiquitous today.  And hello? She got to make out with Paul Rudd before any of us even knew we wanted to.  Trendsetter.