Hiking boots, shirt clips, Duck Head khakis and hammer pants
were hot in the fall of 1990. In the spring of 1991, people were
very much into Vanilla Ice like they were in the fall of '90.
British Knights and Le Coq Sportswear were the sneakers to have and
not ProWings. Zubaz was new to the world, and Skidz were even more
popular amongst the "Teen Beat" crowd. Hermit crab necklaces were
blowing up in certain areas. The most impressive trend in 1991 was
the "Hypercolor" trend. There were Hypercolor shorts and shirts. It
was unisex, but people were still wearing Coca-Cola sportswear. Big
hair was still big in many circles along with mullets. Both young
and old men were wearing Hi-top fades with the carvings or
ponytails in the back. Desert Storm shirts were everywhere you
looked. There were the "Stormin' Norman (Schwarzkopf)" and
Anti-Saddam shirts. Black Bart Simpson shirts could still be
purchased at flea markets and Harlem stops. Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze was an excellent time capsule for
those days. During the summer, young ladies could be found wearing
stick-on earrings and/ or Tiny Toons shirts. "Airbrushed" anything
from the mall was extremely "in" with all crowds. Young men were
wearing cargo acid wash Bugle Boy jeans with those Oakley
frogskins. Of course, teens were wearing tennis visors and neon
shorts. Boy bands such as Hi-Five, Special Generation, and Riff
were around, but ABC (Another Bad Creation) were the group the
young ladies preferred. You could hear loud rap music playing from
boomboxes. Yeah, young men were still walking around with them in
certain areas. Blazers were always popular in the early 90s
(1990-1992 only). White elastic shorts were worn by everyone and
their Mothers. The early 90s were the Tennis era, so Keds were the
shoe of choice for young ladies. The early 90s (1990-1992) were the
dance hall days, and men wore pants they could do "The Running Man"
in. The show "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" really hit its peak in this
year. Every young man was wearing the "Parker Lewis paisley", which
was a rayon shirt with lots of designs on it. Tribal prints were
being sold at every department store from 1989 to 1993. Reebok Pump
sneakers were really cutting edge for this time. You could see
Pumps and references to them on shows like "Wake, Rattle and Roll",
"The Simpsons" and "A Different World".Reebok pumps scream early
90s just like "Dwayne Wayne flip-up glasses. Gotcha shirts were
quite the commodity at any elementary school. Surf shop apparel
(Panama Jack, T& C Surf Shop, and Vuarnet) were the bees knees
all through the 1989 to 1992 period. Guys were making Dan Quayle
jokes, while ladies were into Tommy Puett (Life Goes On show).
White Overalls or Shortalls were what the females wore all summer
long. It was rad (people did not say cool) to wear your overalls
with one strap down from beginning to end in this year. That fad
showed up in the summer of 1990. Mostly young African guys were
sporting the" Kwayme Polka Dot" button-up shirt. Those shirts were
perfect complemented by the leather African or Peace sign
medallions. The fall of '91 was slightly different from the other
seasons of the year. 1992 was starting to happen. The fall of '91
was still its own era regardless of 1992 coming in. "Four-tone
button up shirts" were quite modernistic to us in this time. These
shirts had black sleeves and collars. The front of this button-up
sometimes had two squares on top and a wide rectangle at the
bottom. All shapes were going vertically. There were also shirts
like this which were not button-ups. They had the wide rectangle
going horizontally while the two squares went that way too. Silk
shirts were all of the rage around this time with the same crowd
that wore "four-tone button-ups". Tough guys in 1991 were imitating
the N.W.A. with black anything. They had the Georgetown
sweatshirts, beepers, L.A. Kings sweaters, or Starter gear. In '91,
the men mainly wore dark Starter jackets (look at Grandmaster B on
Married With Children). They were not the only ones wearing black
during the H.W. Bush era. Department stores were carrying black
shirts with neon graphics that were aimed at children. The George
Michael wannabes wore jean jackets that matched their jeans with a
plain white t-shirt. This look was inspired by the music video for
"Baby Baby" by Amy Grant. The look of the tough crowd differed from
that of the Hip-hop crowd. The Hip-hop fans were wearing the big
backwards Kangol Herringbone hats and trenchcoats. They mostly
looked up to rappers like "Kool Moe Dee" over the mainstream
rappers like "LL Cool J". 1991 was the year of parents and older
generations complaining about rap in general. 1991 was a large part
of the "Late 80s Early 90s era", so to see someone wearing a
"Varsity Jacket, Fido Dido, and Button Your Fly shirt" was not out
of the ordinary. Rat tails and tapered jeans were also standard for
those times. Young ladies wore tube and slouch socks that matched
their top. Scrunchies doubled as bracelets in this year too. In the
fall of 1991, a lot of stores such as "Merry Go Round" were
starting to market "Cross Colours" more. "Cross Colours" defined
1992 far more. Pixie haircuts were dominant in different
cities(think of Doogie Howser's Mother around this time). More guys
were starting to wear buzz cuts and under cuts at high schools. It
was quite hip to own a Discman if you were a Senior in high school
in the fall. 1991 was when the early 90s were starting to look more
"New Age" to everybody. Super Soakers went under that name in this
year. Pop Secret "Pop Qwiz popcorn" (colored popcorn) was released
just in time for the fall. Because TGIF on the network ABC was
still new to all crowds, Steve Urkel was a knockout. Children, of
course, had their parents purchase anything with Steve Urkel or
Waldo (of Where's Waldo fame) on it. 1991 changed the game in some
ways. In this year, people in inner-cities were coming out against
Cocaine in greater squads. They wore "Crack Kills" shirts or any
"Keith Harring" apparel (such as painter hats and/or shirts). Keith
Harring used his art to communicate his ideas and thoughts. Keith
Harring was already respected by many in different neighborhoods
before his death. Like most artist, he was acknowledged more after
his death. Batman logo shirts were still being worn by comic book
fans and children awaiting the sequel to the 1989 Tim Burton
classic. There was a lot of blues in the fall of 1991. People
everywhere seemed to take a liking to blue raspberry Blow Pops and
Pepsi. Adidas sportswear was new to the world. Leggings and neon
suspenders were not absent at this time either. In our defense,
people did not know what the Nineties were yet. The clothing
articles we know the Nineties for were not around just yet. Because
1991 was the middle year of the early 90s, it had the best of both
worlds. Country music was really starting to take off. It was
extremely trendy to pull off the Garth Brooks look in the country.
Overall, 1991 was not too different from any year before then. Polo
shirts and gray sweatshirts were being worn by everyone, but there
were different colors this time around. There were lighter pink
polos for men in this year. 1991 was like a more extreme version of
the 80s, but the "90s" 90s (with Bill Clinton) was not too far
behind.