90’s Pop Culture in general has made its way back in present times and more people are drawing inspiration from the90’s to implement into their wardrobes today. Some people follow trends because that is what they are but also do not know the history behind it. Why would it matter where it came from? Is it just a trend that will pass by? There have been numerous trends and fashion pieces that have been started by the black community and oftentimes looked down upon but when someone white popularized it, it is praised. Additionally, the people that popularize these trends do not give credit to the community that started it. That is why appreciation is incredibly important and what the “90’s Rule Fashion” Instagram is for.
The Instagram is a collection of 21 posts all detailing appreciation to a certain trend/item that is rooted from 90’s black pop culture. It is targeted in a more educational manner and on the posts where it details times that a trend has been appropriated, it is more focused on appreciation on its origins. The project is centered around educating audiences about 90’s black fashion trends and also about instances of appropriation that are harmful to the community. The beginning of the project highlights that appreciation matters and is followed by 12 posts that mainly focus on a trend and detailing its origins and significance to the time period. The trends that are detailed are: Timberlands, Preppy Style, Bucket Hats, Overalls, Sneaker Culture, Streetwear Brands, Aaliyah and Tommy Hilfiger, Logomania, Prints, Hoop Earrings, Oversized Clothing, and Nails. Although there are even more trends out there, these are fashion trends that have definitely made a long lasting impact in fashion today. A lot of these trends are still being done whether it has been brought back or stayed, it is important to appreciate and get educated about what people are wearing. The next collection of posts details trends or situations now that are appropriating black culture. For these swipes, the “clean girl” aesthetic, cornrows, “the baggy trend,” Gucci, and tracksuits are highlighted and in the next slide for all of these posts, it exposes where it came from in 90’s black culture.
In researching this topic, it was very important to understand the context of fashion in the 90s. Hip Hop was a significant influence in a lot of the fashion that is detailed on the Instagram account. In the 1970s, Hip Hop emerged and it started to give a voice to black and latino youth where they shared similar values and ideals of “surviving in poor neighborhoods” (Johnson, Swagger Like Us). Certain styles started to come out of hip hop culture. For example, baggier/oversized clothing stemmed from underprivileged areas and their hand me downs. A lot of rappers were rapping about their upbringing and also were repping what they wore, it became popularized. Then there was the “gangsta” style from the early to mid 1990s which reflected gangsta rap by rappers like Ice-T and NWA and this style includes Timberlands, baseball caps, weaves, and flat tops. Moreover, the “homebody” trend also included oversized T-shirts, sneakers, tracksuits, clothes with fake logos. These are just a few trends that are also mentioned on the Instagram but it would not have been popularized or created without Hip Hop. White people started wearing and producing “urban” styles and started financially hurting smaller black owned brands. The majority race also started adopting those very “gangsta” and “homeboy” styles and making it go mainstream and was praised unlike the latter where they were met by negative stereotypes and being labeled as “dangerous” (Johnson, Swagger Like Us). This is just one way a majority culture appropriated a minority.
Cultural Appropriation is when an element or elements of a cultural lifestyle is adopted by members of different cultures. Appropriation is recognized nowadays but is sometimes not pointed out. It is incredibly harmful when the white counterpart gets praised for fashion items when the black community has been met with such stigma. It depicts the majority only wanting to profit it off a trend and not recognizing the history and the origins behind certain trends. Although African Americans were starting to get recognized for achievements such as Michael Jordan or LL Cool J, it did not stop the microaggressions or the negative perception that many still had. Additionally, the rhetoric of Rheagan “successfully cemented the strong division within American society” and other news emphasizing stories of failing families and crime did not help with how people saw African Americans (Acham, The Cosby Show Representing Race). That is why appreciation is so important. There are countless celebrities that wear or take items from the 90s’ and do not recognize that black people wearing those same items in the 90s’ were getting belittled or looked down upon. It makes it seem like the only reason they are trending is because it is on somebody white when in reality, it would not have existed without 90s’ black culture.
The research that has accumulated to these findings is a collection of going through pop culture right now and also just countless fashion websites. There are so many aspects of 90s’ black fashion that it is hard to select the few trends that are going to be highlighted. I used journals that centered around research surrounding appropriation such as “Swagger Like Us: Black Millennials’ Perceptions, Knowledge, and Influence of 1980s and 1990s Urban Fashion Brands” by Courtney Johnson, Kelly L. Reddy-Best, and Eulanda A. Sanders which helped with understanding a background and also detailing different ways white people have appropriated different brands and styles. Furthermore, there was another article named “Appreciation Over Appropriation of African American Culture” by Brent Jernigan that helped with understanding the importance of appreciation. There were also other articles that were vital in creating the list of trends and also times that trends have been appropriated. Overall, it all worked together to understand the importance of appreciating fashion, its origins and recognizing appropriation in popular culture.
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