It's True—Everyone Is Suddenly Wearing These Classic '90s Trends Again

For those of us old enough to remember ’90s fashion the first time around, we have mixed feelings about the return of some classic ’90s trends. After all, the same decade that made style icons of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and minimalistic style icon Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy also gave us handkerchief hemlines, platform trainers and copious amounts of body glitter.

If you too spent most of the 1990s in denim skirts and plastic chokers, you may be reading this with trepidation. Before you panic, it's not the gaudy wide-leg jeans or cargo maxi skirts that are coming back into fashion. For every fashion faux pas from the period, there are more than enough classic 90s trends that cover past mistakes and surprisingly still look good today—and the style set is already ahead of the curve.

Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy is a perpetual fashion icon, with her streamlined look and decisively minimal sense of style still a source of inspiration for many today.

Case in point: Anouk Yve updating one of her many '90s New York street-style looks with contemporary pieces.

Gen Z's discovery of the very best fashion the late 20th and early 21st Century had to offer has ensured key '90s pieces are garnering our attention once again. Think of styles associated with the office siren trend or old money aesthetic. They might inherently feel more suited to today thanks to labels like Mode Mischief and Peachy Den putting a modern twist on these timeless shapes, but garments like white button-down shirts, sleek pencil skirts and slip dresses are actually '90s fashion staples.

Don't believe us? After scrolling through socials and digging deep into the feeds of trendsetters and tastemakers, I began to spot plenty of trends that grew in popularity nearly 30 years ago, but still look fresh today. (And if you've bought any straight-leg jeans, Adidas trainers, or tank tops in the last 12 months, you can count yourselves among the insiders.)

So, should you be looking for new It-items ahead of a seasonal refresh, looking for easy '90s outfits to replicate or just a sucker for nostalgia, keep scrolling to see the 11 classic ’90s trends that everyone has been wearing again in 2025.

11 Classic 90s Fashion Trends That Will Always Be In Style

1. Minimalist Basics

Style Notes: First to ease you in gently, a nod to the minimalism that defined the early 90s, in the form of versatile basics. The runways showed Calvin Klein and Helmut Lang's take on stripped-back staples, and on the streets, we stocked up on tank tops, fitted tees and maxi skirts (usually accompanied by a denim jacket). Thankfully, this refined approach doesn't age, and the same key pieces form the foundations of our capsule wardrobes in 2025, particularly in the same neutral colour palette of white, black, grey and camel.

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2. Straight Leg Jeans

Style Notes: There have been so many denim trends and jean styles released over the last year that its almost impossible to keep up. Are we wearing low-slung baggy jeans? Have skinny jeans really made a comeback? Are barrel, horseshoe and arch jeans the future or fundamentally unflattering?

Instead of trying to guess the next big thing, we're happy staying to the classic that everyone knows and loves—the straight leg. Not only does it work for every size and shape, but you're unlikely to look back at pictures in 20 years and wonder what you were thinking.

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3. Pedal Pushers

Style Notes: After cargo pants made a comeback in 2023, it was only a matter of time before the other most divisive trouser would be set to return too. Whether you call them capri pants or pedal pushers, the three-quarter crop is suddenly everywhere again. Once it's made its way onto the high street, you know you've got a commercially successful trend on your hands. Could the pedal pusher be the trouser trend of 2025? With endorsements from Bella Hadid, there's a strong possibility.

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4. Biker Boots

Style Notes: Fashion people are so besotted by grunge-inspired biker boots that they wore them through the summer months, too. It was Miu Miu who kickstarted the revival back in A/W 22 with the Sienna boot, and it has steadily garnered popularity ever since. With just a quick stroll on Instagram, you're bound to see biker boots styled with everything from mini skirts to baggy jeans—or given the classic ’90s fashion treatment with a floral slip dress à la Marc Jacobs's grunge S/S 93 collection for Perry Ellis.

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5. Baguette Bags

Style Notes: Ever since Carrie Bradshaw uttered the immortal words "It's not a bag, it's a baguette", fashion insiders have been infatuated with the idea of the dream mini bag that nestles perfectly under the arm when worn on the shoulder. Fendi has certainly made this a reality, but there's so much more to this style than just their lust-worthy iteration. XXL totes and teeny top handle bags may come and go, but a bag the right size to carry your essentials is forever, especially when it carries the logo of the most sought-after names in fashion. Not bad for this small but mighty designer bag.

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6. Slip Dresses

Style Notes: Slip dresses have stood the test of time and solidified themselves as true wardrobe staples for their sheer versatility alone. While the "trendiness" of slip dresses ebbs and flows like the fashion cycle itself, there isn't a more on-trend piece than the elevated basic that is front and centre in the recent collections of Bevza, Celine and Gucci. Looking for new ways to wear this simple dress? Simply browse the street style offerings of slip dress icons like Courtney Love, Kate Moss, and more recently, Olivia Rodrigo.

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7. Mules

Style Notes: Want something dressier than a biker boot? Look no further than a grown-up mule. These slip-on shoes are perfect for transeasonal event wear—not that you have to save them for formal occasions. While 30 years ago we might have been tempted to style these with jeans and a matching denim jacket, right now we're copying this elegant take on everyday dressing. Take notes from this sleek monochromatic colour-blocked look.

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8. Tracksuit Bottoms

Style Notes: The Spice Girls, All Saints, TLC, all the greats wore tracksuit bottoms at one stage, and if you're getting bored of wearing the same jeans on rotation, track pants are just as easy to style up too. Wear with a blazer, or oversized leather jacket, or longline coat—heck, you can even wear them with heeled mules and cami tops if you want to make them evening-appropriate too. It's almost criminal that a trouser this comfy can look so good.

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9. Tights

Style Notes: Be it under the pencil skirts of Cindy Crawford or the flirty minis worn by Kate Moss, tights were universal in the 90s. Irrespective of the subculture you adhered to, tights could be relied on to elevate a simple silhouette with a touch of elegance or edge—depending on your fashion philosophy, of course. For a more alternative take, style them under denim shorts like a young Drew Barrymore, or reach for a bold print like perennial style icon and risk taker Chloë Sevigny did for a film premiere in 1996.

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10. Leopard Print

Style Notes: Wild cat prints strutted into the '90s right at the turn of the decade as the Titan of Tight, Azzedine Alaïa, dedicated his Fall/Winter 1991 runway collection to leopard print silhouettes. Swiftly picked up on the red carpet by Cameron Diaz and by Princess Diana for her vacation wardrobe, 90s and leopard print are synonymous. "I absolutely adore leopard print and truly feel it's a wardrobe neutral, not a trend," says Who What Wear SEO Writer, Ava Gilchrist.

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11. Polka Dots

Style Notes: After Princess Diana popularised polka dots in the '80s, the soft print continued speckling up in the '90s. In 2025, the polka dot trend has dominated the zeitgeist once again, but we'll always associate it with Julia Roberts's iconic wardrobe from 1990's Pretty Woman and Valentino's Spring/Summer 1993 collection.

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