Linda Evangelista, George Michael's 'Freedom' video, 1990
The 90's are back! Chokers, black skivvies (turtle-necks), bandeaus under suits, floral dresses, crop tops, satin slip dresses, square necklines, faded denim, suede jackets, t.shirts under strappy dresses, biker jackets, plaid shirts, Doc Martens - it's all coming back to haunt me. If only my beloved crop tops hadn't taken so long to come back into fashion. Now over 40 and having had 2 kids, my tum is no longer suitable for public consumption. I actually really loved a lot of 90's fashion.
Rosei Huntington Whiteley, Sienna Miller, and Carole Radziwill
Brown lips on Dakota Johnson, Chrissy Teigen and Gigi Hadid
I couldn't believe seeing these shoes flicking through Australian Vogue today - I had almost identical shoes by local brand Andrea Biani in 1991! Except they had one strap over the toes and were nubuck. The chunky block heels of the 90's are definitely back in.
Coach Fall 2016
I also saw Kylie Jenner in a white t.shirt with spaghetti strap slip dress over the top at Coachella, another fave look of mine circa 1992. Kendall and Kim have also been seen in this look. Infact the Jenner/Kardashian clan and their cohorts have all been faithfully working 90's staples such as chokers, crop tops and bandeaus for the last year or so.
Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Pia Mia and Gigi Hadid 90's looks
Make-up wise, the 90's was all about matte faces, brown, berry and brick lipstick, matte lip-liner and immaculate arched brows. Kylie Jenner is making a mint with her lipstick range and I see many 90's inspired brown & terracotta matte shades here.
One of my biggest influences for the 90's was George Michael's Freedom video and the supermodels he enlisted. It kind of heralded the zeitgeist. Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Tatjana Patitz—to mime the lyrics. Feeling very jaded about the industry and his Sony contract making him feel like a commodity, Michael didn't want to front music videos anymore. He saw Peter Lindbergh's portrait of the five women for the January 1990 cover of British Vogue. "I knew that George wanted everybody that was on that cover, and it had to be all the girls," Cindy said. The video was directed by newcomer David Fincher - who went on to direct Fight Club, The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo & Gone Girl. Hairstylist Guido did the hair, it was his first video. Now he's huge. Linda's platinum hair was a surprise - she had been up until 3am the night before bleaching it from brown to blonde. "25 years later, this video—and not my magazine covers—is what people mention the most when they approach me on the street. It's pretty incredible." Linda Evangelista, Harper's Bazaar
Stylist Camille Nickerson was responsible for most of the clothes and her 'undone beauty' epitomised this 90's trend which followed. With a meagre fashion budget, Fincher wanted a luxury sheet to swathe Christy in, "It had to be incredibly long and made of Irish linen, so that the thread count was light enough for the light to come through. And that used up the budget. So then everyone else’s clothes had to come from my wardrobe. So you have Naomi [Campbell] wearing my boyfriend’s boots and Linda [Evangelista] pulling my sweater over her head." Linda pulling the sweater up was a candid moment that Fincher liked to he recorded. The whole thing was recorded on film which contributes its gauzey, ethereal look as opposed to the crystal clear digital of today. "Through the end of the eighties, Linda, Naomi, Christy—they were all playing roles. They were film stars; they were celebrities; they were super-glamorous; they were, you know, creating dreams. And then suddenly there was this new mood, which was about reality. It was okay just to be you, and it was okay to borrow your boyfriend’s clothes, have chipped fingernails, tell it as it is. And that there’s a dream in that as well, and a beauty. That was very exciting. And important, because at the time, you know, you were also starting to have Kurt Cobain and grunge." Vogue.com
I remember being desperate for the translucent indigo eyeshadow Christy wore. Years later I read that it was grey, and the iconic palette was simply created by the cool blue lighting that gave her that dreamy hue. I wanted Cindy C's arched brows and lustrous chesnut locks, and Linda Evangelista's cheekbones. Linda used MAC's Spice lipliner which was a 90's staple, a brilliant light mocha shade that was a must-have. She wanted to do her own lips for the video. To this day it is still a favourite video.
Cindy is still doing music vids at 50! And looking ah-mazing, as she does as 'The Headmistress' in Taylor Swift's Bad Blood.
