Layering trend from the 90s in high fashion nowadays:
Numerous high fashion brands are the reason that that trend has become popular again. Brands like Miu Miu, Prada, Our Legacy, ERL, and Heaven by Marc Jacobs have been bringing it back to the runway.
\All of those brands have brought it back in a completely different way; Miu Miu’s Spring Ready to Wear collection showcases plenty of plain shirts transformed and elevated by a generous amount of layers.
It has been also brought back by Miuccia Prada in the Miu Miu 2023 AW collection with several leather jackets layered on top of each other paired with a sheer skirt where you can see two pairs of tights and underwear showing through. The layering trend has also been seen at the SS24 show with several coats and shirts over each other making all of the different collars visible. The layering was not only focused on the outfit but was also visible in the accessories. The models bag is overfilled and nearly spilling a shoe out of the bag.
The 20 year trend cycle:
Looking back at fashion and taking inspiration from a certain era or look is very popular nowadays. Many people dismiss modern clothes and prefer something from the past. With the rise of social media and the internet in general different clothes are trending every month or sometimes even week. This has not been like this before.
Before, a trend used to reemerge every 20 years. The different parts of the cycle being: Introduction, Rise, Peak, Decline and Rejection and this specific fashion trend would repeat every 20 years. After more media was introduced like magazines, Tvs and the internet the 20 year cycle became a 5 to 10-year cycle. Currently, something can become extremely trendy very quickly and after a couple of months and sometimes even weeks people declare that the trend has gone to far and falls out of style again.
Because of social media past fashion trends can very easily accessed and turned into a trend again, however, the majority of times the trend in question is in fact a “microtrend”. MICROTREND DEFINITION… On Social Media many microtrends have bery specific names, usually ending with “core”, e.g. cottage core, fairy core, Gorp core, barbie core, coastal granddaughter, or coquette. All of those “cores” show specific characteristics of a fashion trend going from styles and colors to mood and atmosphere. Many of those microtrends gain recognition and fam eon social media due to the fact that they can be very easily accessed and made trendy again. Those trends, especially the microtrends, can not be predicted anymore like big fashion magazines try to do because of the constant and fast change of fashion trends and those prediction then tend to simply just be not accurate.
In addition to that , the trend cycle has been also raptured because of fast fashion, which replicate recent high fashion trends, mass produces them at a low cost production and brings them to retail when the the fashion trend is at its peak. This is much different than high fashion brands do with only a few collections every year.
The layering trend has been shown in menswear at Balenciagas AW18 or the Givenchy AW23 collection and it is completely different. The layers are shown in a nearly comical and obnoxious way, striking a resemblance with Joey Tribiainis over the over-the-top layered outfit. There are hoodies over several shirts paired with layered plaid skirts over pants and every single piece of clothing has a different texture, pattern, and color. Has layered 5 coats jackets and hoodies over each other but paired it surprisingly with plain pants and elegant shoes.
All in all we can say that the layering trend of the 90s shows the enduring influence of pop culture on fashion. From the grunge scene shaped by Kurt Cobain's effortless cool to the polished preppy style of Cher Horowitz in "Clueless," layering clothes over each other became a defining characteristic of the era. This trend not only reflected the attitudes and influences of the time but also continues to inspire contemporary style, with high fashion brands like Miu Miu, Prada, and Balenciaga reinventing and reimagining it on the runway.
Celebrities are often photographed in public and you can see their personal style. One of the most uniquely dressed celebrities is the actress Helena Bonham Carter. She is often photographed wearing a lot of layered clothes including layered skirts with different lengths and colours and sweaters worn over eachother. Not only does she wear this on her own she also wears a lot of layers to red carpets, e.g. layered what seemed to be two bras under a skirt showing the layers or a dress with differently draped fabrics and clours creating the effect of four different layers. Helena Bonham Carter also plays around with many different prints and patterns layered over each other. She is probably one of the celebrities with the most unique style and she has been seen even dressing her daughter similarly.
With the rise of supermodels in the 90s like Kate Moss, she can be seen often layering different kind of shirts over each other or different vest with jackets and fur.
Pop Culture in the 90s
Many people see the 90s and early 2000s as the best era to ever exist- not only in fashion but also in music, movies etc. That is why many people draw inspiration from that time and try to relive it.
One of the fashion staples in the 90s and early 2000s is layering clothes over another, especially a short sleeve shirt over a long sleeved shirt.
The layering trend can be seen in one episode of a very popular TV show called “Friends”, where the character Joey Tribbiani wears all of his friends Chandler's clothes on. Surprisingly, that outfit is the most remembered fashion moment even though it shows the layering trend in a very obnoxious way
While the movie Clueless or its main protagonist shows a “preppy” aesthetic another style icon during that era is Kurt Cobain with his band Nirvana. In the 90s one of the most influential music genres was the grunge scene. Bands like Nirvana, Peral Jam and Soundgarden being their main representatives they popularized the “grunge” aesthetic with a plaid flannel shirt worn over a graphic tee, sometimes even topped off with a denim jacket. Kurt Cobain also wore dresses over plain t-shirts and layered different patterns over each other, like stripes with plaid. The grunge music often sounds raw and angsty and was well represented with oversized flannel shirts making people look a bit alternative and laid back.
Still, until this day some of the most iconic movies with the styling of the characters were made during that period, so, of course, some of those movies are “clueless”. The main protagonist Cher Horowitz has a very distinguished style of clothes. She looks chic and preppy and often even layers colors over each other. Cher can be seen wearing shirts under sweater vests, turtlenecks under dresses, different kinds of cropped cardigans or jackets over shirts, and of course in the famous P.E. scene she has layered a black tank top over a white T-shirt. Cher's outfits remain iconic and timeless, and they influence many people to recreate them, even Bella Hadid has been spotted wearing a very similar outfit with a striking similarity to Cher’s P.E. outfit with even the colors being the same.
Overall, the layering trend of the 90s was deeply intertwined and connected with pop culture, reflecting the attitudes, influences, and aspirations of the time. Whether inspired by music, movies, television, or the runway, the art of layering clothes over each other became a defining characteristic of 90s fashion and continues to influence contemporary style to this day.
