Selena Lomeli cherishes a ’90s maxi jean dress with gold details that her mother has passed down to her.
“When I think of ’90s, I think of my mom,” said Lomeli, a third-year cognitive science student.
Lomeli is one of many students on campus reverting back to plastic chokers, denim jeans and crop tops. Students said they choose to wear ’90s-style clothing today because it is casual, edgy and representative of their childhood.
Wearing a floral velvet crop top with high-waisted black pants and clunky heels, Lomeli said ’90s clothes never made a comeback simply because they were never out of style. She said her closet is a collection of retro items she picks out from places like American Apparel and a dance clothing store she discovered on Westwood Boulevard.
Fashion is cyclical, with trends constantly going in and out of style, said Kathleen Knight, a second-year environmental science student. Knight, the executive model director for UCLA’s Fashion And Student Trends group, said ripped jeans and plastic chokers are what are currently in style.
The grunge aspect of the ’90s fashion has made a comeback on campus as a reaction to the minimal style of the 2000s. In the early 2000s, sleek pants and monogram tops were the epitome of fashion, she said. The strict style gave rise to an opposing, more liberal style that resembles the grunge look of the ’90s. Thus a gradual cycle in fashion was created, Knight said.
The comeback of ’90s fashion, Knight said, was largely aided by social media. Today’s youth is the first generation to be raised in a world of social media that continuously shapes young people’s identities, she said.
Lomeli believes the trend’s origin lies in people imitating what they see. She said when celebrities like Gwen Stefani post selfies with crop tops and high-rise jeans, everyone follows them and ’90s fashion becomes a trend again.
Ciarra Davison, a second-year undeclared-humanities student, said she loves to borrow the chokers, bold lips and clunky shoes of the ’90s. The ’90s was a rebellious decade, she said, so its trends are bold statements of freedom.
Davison said she used to dress preppy in high school with khaki pants and Sperry shoes. This style was constricting, she said, and now she seeks more liberating trends found in ’90s clothes. For Davison, ’90s fashion is about individuality.
“It’s never a conscious effort of channeling my ’90s fashion,” Davison said.
Davison tames her wild, brown hair with a headband, pairing yoga pants with a grungy flannel shirt to give her outfit an edge, she said. The winged liner is her ultimate outfit sealer; she said she will go for darker colors in makeup but might choose an adventurous pop of color.
’90s clothing favors comfort and individuality over conformity, she said, and it is the liberal character of the ’90s that still attracts so many college students today.
Megan Nazareno, a third-year civil engineering student, owns many denim jackets, high-waisted jeans and crop tops, but said she is not a follower of fashion trends. She wears ’90s clothes because they are comfortable.
She said she prefers retro trends to more recent ones, often pairing her outfits with hoop earrings.
“I just think it looks nice,” Nazareno said. “It’s a nice accent to a rather bland outfit.”
Nazareno is currently employed by American Apparel, which she said inspires many of her ’90s outfits. She said its clothing combines the boyish with the feminine, like baggy denim jackets with tight crop tops.
“When I think ’90s, I think tight, white tank top with high-waisted jeans,” Nazareno said. “’90s is really California to me.”
Nazareno said college students return to these ’90s trends because it was the era they grew up in, so it’s simultaneously familiar to and different from the mainstream.
Knight noticed the demand for ’90s apparel is prevalent among some college students, as they dress up in ’90s style for every Throwback Thursday event. For Knight, the popularity of the ’90s aesthetic is natural because current college students consider themselves ’90s kids.
“The choice to dress in ’90s apparel is something that comes from a sense of nostalgia, a sense of emulating what our childhood was,” Knight said.