When I put on today’s outfit, my sister was in absolute horror. “What?! Are you trying to bring back the 90s?” she exclaimed as I put on my boots. Well… maybe not bring it back, but I can’t deny I’ve been inspired by it. Too many episodes of My Mad Fat Diary and my super duper love for so many UK bloggers (where it seems 90s and grunge inspired looks are most worn) led me to this slip dress and eventually this outfit.
Now, my experience of the 90s was anything but fashionable. The 90s spanned years 2-12 of my life. I went about my life in baggy t-shirts, and I didn’t brush my hair.
I mean, I really didn’t brush my hair. I was in absolute love with the Spice Girls, even dressing up as Baby Spice for Halloween one year.
Because of this, I don’t have a big influence of the 90s on my fashion, as I really wasn’t aware of it when it was going on. That’s probably why My Mad Fat Diary is being so inspirational at the moment. (P.S. MMFD has Danny Two Hats, but Danny, my brother, is Danny Six Hats).
Originally I envisioned it worn with a full leather jacket, but North Carolina went from snowing to warm in the matter of a day! Leather vest to the rescue :).
Something I often struggle with as I get dressed is the way fashion is worn in my area/culture. It’s easy to say wear what you want, but it’s harder in practice when wearing what you want would bring so much attention (I’m okay with “being seen” but don’t want every outfit to be a “big deal” — does this make sense?). I live in a small town in a place where jeans and tees are the standard look and preppy/conservative and country styles are most seen. One thing that I loved when I went to NYC for FFFWeek was that you saw so much diversity in style on the streets. Maybe if I spent more time in Charlotte I would see that diversity, but out in the towns surrounding Charlotte there’s just not much of it.
Dots vest, ASOS Alice and You dress, Evans boots
So this outfit is one of those that will probably pull strong reactions — love or hate. Me? I err on the side of love, but maybe I’ll keep my looks to taking a little of the 90s, and I’ll leave some stuff behind for good.
Are you sartorially inspired by the 90s or any other decade? Do you draw your inspiration from shows/celebs of the time, your own experiences, or something else?
Yeah, I agree with your sister about the boots. Not for the same reason though. IMO, the boots cut you off at the bottom and mess up the proportions. . Not that I always dress by proportions or rules. Not feeling it. Now the dress with the vest is fine. If you scroll up and only look at the picture sans boots, it looks good.
Remember this is being posted by a woman that is sitting on her couch in smiley face flannel pajama pants and a tank top. Have been ALL day!
BTW, love the “flashback” and your comment about not brushing your hair….
Funny, I just bought that same fabric at a store to make myself a tunic top. I wasn’t thinking of the ’90s just fashion. Seeing it on your as a dress looks great! I probably will go back and buy more fabric. I need a summer day dress and I that’s cute.
You know, I never gave that dress a 2nd look on the ASOS site, and now I really want it! I’m on the LOVE side of the fence, I do love the 90s grunge look that does seem to be in fashion, and I too have been feeling inspired by MMFD. I was very much the same in the 90s, except being 2 years older then you. I think my main fashion back then were bike shorts and HUGE tshirts. I always dressed as baby spice, but wanted to be ginger 😛
Showing my age here, but love the 70’s still 🙂
I can definitely relate to your sentiments about dressing a bit left-of-centre in a small town. I live in a country town in Australia, and most people here spend their days in shorts, tee shirts or jeans. I have noticed that my personal style has settled down a lot since i moved here from Melbourne. In the city, I was much more daring with what I would wear, but here I’m more inclined to tone things down. Which makes me sad really, because I loved my crazy city outfits!
I love that you already knew it was going to be a love/hate situation. I think the dress is a smidge too long and if you were really going to go 90s badass – it needed combat boots or Doc Martens. I definitely loooove those booties though and can’t wait to see what else yiu wear them with!
I know what you mean about dressing in ways that others see as a “big deal.” I often get asked in public where I’m going in my outfit, and my answer is never anything as fancy or special as the asker expects. When I lived in Savannah, downtown had a lot of diverse styles, especially because of the hip SCAD students walking the streets. In Nashville, women seem to be excited about fashion, but the downtown districts are so populated with tourists in jeans and tees that I feel a bit silly in my outfits. But that’s just my style, I guess. Live and let live!
I can totally feel the 90’s vibe of your outfit. It would fit perfectly in the closet of “Clarissa Explains it All.” I remember loving her quirky, layered looks when I was younger. I think the current street styles are definitely inspired by the 90’s, even though teens likely have no idea who Clarissa or Cher from Clueless are. But we remember!
<3 Liz
http://www.withwonderandwhimsy.com
I agree that the black chunky boots do cut your legs off. They are not for folks who are not tall. you have to show some leg to lengthen your lines. Hey listen, us chunky girls need all the optical illusions we can get. To me all I remember about the nineties was grunge and those awful colors. I remember going into the store wanting nice bright colors like were in the 80’s and seeing none. That decade flew by me. Oh I do remember long tunic type sweaters and skinny knit or lycra stirrup pants with little boots. I bought several pair of stirrup pants. I really get where you come from about being fashion forward in a small town. Hey, I come from Avery county in the mountains and the less conspicuous the better. That is the place of overalls, tees and jeans. But then again, my mom was so fashion forward that she was known for her “designer” type clothing. She wore lots of second hand things from the Crossnore Sale store and then she went to Morganton and shopped at Lazarus, which was pretty exclusive and the prices were too much, but that was her. She just knew how to dress. I think I get my love of fashion from her, but when she tried to shop with me, I hated all she picked out for me but if she just brought it home for me to try on, I liked it. Go figure. I think we can wear things from all the eras if we know how to put things together to mix and match. Hey, I long sometimes for the regency era empire waist dresses, bonnets and corsets but that is just my Lizzie Bennett coming out.
I was so over pastels. I wanted black, because that’s how I felt on the inside. I didn’t go full-on goth, but I certainly had an abundance of black in my wardrobe.
I’m also pretty sure the stirrup pants were 1985-ish. I just went through some old pictures at my mom’s over Christmas and that was 6th grade, maybe 7th. I did have some in the late 80’s, but those were mostly only busted out for wearing with tall boots or slouch boots.
Looking like a babe! x
You look amazing and I love this outfit. The dress is beautiful and very me. I read your blog long before I became a plus size blogger myself and your style is an inspiration to me. Xx
Hi, I stumbled across your blog today while I was blog-hopping for inspiration for how to wear swimwear. I had a scroll through for quite a while and I just wanted to say that you have inspired me and made me feel a little better about my appearance today, which I needed! I’ve been worrying a little recently as I am larger round my tummy then I used to be after having my baby, and I wanted tips for swimwear for my upcoming holiday to Portugal, where I will be surrounded by my partner’s much slimmer friends! I am a UK 20-22 and to see you at a slightly larger size still looking really great in a variety of clothes just gave me a boost. Though if you do have any tips about swimwear… well I’m all ears!
God I’m old but I graduated high school in 1992. So the 90’s were my college and early work years….my formative years, sartorially speaking, because we’re not going to count that shit my mom made me wear in elementary school and that awful mess my friends in junior high inspired (imagine everything bad you’ve ever seen in any 80’s movie ever and I probably wore it). In college, we took pride in rolling out of bed in sweatpants, a flannel, and a hat and going to class. Flannel flannel so much flannel fake Docs because I couldn’t really afford real ones overalls ugly shorts men’s t-shirts and fake Birkenstocks because I couldn’t afford real ones of those eitehr, and on the weekends, for speech dork activities, a lot of long dresses with button fronts and bad suits with embellishment.
That said, while pictures of myself from that era kind of make me cringe a little (some of them, anyway), a part of me finds it nice that I can dig out an old flannel and some Docs on a weekend and pretend it’s a fashion statement. I also just got this dress because it reminds me so very much of my favorite bar-hopping outfit from back in the day. Now I”m trying to figure out how to style it without looking like I’ve had it in my closet all this time….
For your outfit, you could also pair the dress with some oxfords or chunky Mary Janes, and throw a black t-shirt underneath for a play on the slip-dress-jumper look. Final suggestion: dark lipstick. Like Urban Decay in Apocalypse or OCC Lip Tar in Black Dahlia or Revlon Black Cherry or any deep berry/brown shade, really. Despite the rest of my wardrobe making advances, I refuse to let go of my dark lipstick.
Since it won’t let me edit — I thought the dress was a tank dress because I was looking at the pictures instead of actually reading. Since it’s an honest-to-god slip dress, you could also do the white tee under.
Not liking the boots with the dress, BUT I do love the boots. They look so comfy. Can I borrow them?
Love these photos of you! How cute that you dressed up as Baby Spice. I think your outfit — the blue spotted slip dress with the boots is cool and edgy, yet feminine. I actually like the boots with the dress — again, because it’s kind of edgy. Also the boots look a bit “strappy”, not full on boot, so great transition footwear, since it’s not quite spring yet. You totally rock it, Rebecca!
Loving you in that dress! Total beauty! <3 x
I love looking back over old pictures. As a 90’s child myself this brought back some of the awesome fashions I’d forgotten about. Anyway, looking good if you ask me. ATB x
I love the dress and the baby spice look. Fashion can also be a state of mind, dress in what makes you happy, that’s all that matters x
Love that dress. Great colour. Was so inspired, I went straight on ASOS and bought it (on sale!). It has arrived and I love it. Thank you.
Girl, bye! The outfit is a winner! Do you, boo! Those boots are sooooo cute! I agree that British Bloggers dress the best!
BABES!! I am grunge to the core! Love it! xx
Hey girlie!!! Where ya been? I hope all is well!
Love your throwback pics! You always look so cute!
Love this look (and thanks for the flashback of a young Rebecca, too)!!! I know what u mean – I live right now in a semi-rural, quiet country town … and see diversity in dress when I travel 16 miles up the road to a town of nearly 20k, which has several colleges, but not so much here! Then too of course if I go back to NJ – whoa 😉