I miss the 90s

So I started this blog a few months ago, and since life is never just straight forward to me, I simultaneously had the inspiration for a book on the stagnancy of fashion. I'm having a bit of a block  because somewhere along the way I got stuck; well quite honestly, it was the 90s.

It's hard to not get stuck when talking about the 90s, maybe it's just my own personal nostalgia (having been a teenager at the time) but I really do believe that it was the best decade in the last 40 or 50 years. So much happened and so much evolved; it was a time of self expression, self examination and a breath of fresh air with a generous dose of reality.

Fashion was a complete reflection of what was going down in music, in art and in schools; the masses had started their own trends and the fashion industry was doing all that they could to keep up with the 'movement.' People, especially the 20somethings, were angry with how things were going down; So, much like their predecessors from previous decades, they took to music to express their true dissatisfaction with the world, but in a very different way. Not with sugary pop but with a raw angst, determined hope and the melancholy that sets in with realism.

So this along with the lingering memories of the 80s birthed a smorgasbord of creative expression and DIY fashion trends. Where do you go from the epitome of anything goes? Well, welcome to the last 15 years, where the lower and tighter it is, the better it is; And it seems like the 80s was the decade that no one wants to leave, even those that weren't around for it.

If the 20somethings were the leaders in the 90s, it begs the question, who is leading now? Has generation Y dropped the ball or is it that generation X is refusing to cede control?

Real talk: You will find very few pictures of me before grade 8. That is because I didn't want to relive myself in pleated pants, short sleeved turtle necks, lots of spandex and ugly sweaters. Three of those four trends came back with huge popularity, which is something I just can't wrap  my head around; nobody likes pictures of themselves back then and for good reason, so why bring it back?

At the risk of sounding old, kids these days are too well dressed, too self involved and completely status obsessed. What is there to rebel against when your life (at least in North America) is so damn good? Well, I guess that answers the question of why the fashion industry is spinning its wheels.

And just like a good handful of prunes, this realization has loosened my blockage and set me back on course.