In the 1990s, fashion went
casual as it never
had before. From corporations to classrooms, people wore clothes that
were comfortable and expressed their own sense of individuality. The
trend probably began in American corporations with a tradition called
"casual Fridays." On Fridays, rather than wearing standard business
attire, employees at many companies were allowed to dress casually,
with khaki pants and a casual shirt the norm for men. By the time the
dot-com revolution swept the nation, everyday was a casual Friday.
Standard business attire was required only by the most formal companies.A new generation of Americans known as Generation X increasingly set fashion trends. Twenty-something Generation X-ers insisted on their right to display
their individuality through clothes, hairstyles, and body decoration.
Some searched thrift shops for odd clothes that they could match with
items they bought at stores like Old Navy and Gap; others favored the
preppy look offered at popular retailer Abercrombie & Fitch. (All
three of these stores followed the trend of displaying their brand
names prominently on much of the clothing they sold.)
hairstyles varied
widely, with
men preferring very
short hair and women choosing a shifting array of different looks. Body
decoration was one of the most
notable fads of the decade. People of all ages (but
mostly youngsters) got tattoos or had parts of their body—tongues,
eyebrows, nipples—pierced and studded. A notable fashion subculture of
the decade were the Goths, who dressed like characters in a gothic novel with a heavy emphasis on black.
More reviews about the 1990s: Fashion