What Friends taught me about fashion

I was a ‘90s child and 2000’s teen. In my formative years, my mother had a penchant for dressing me and my sister in matching outfits despite the three-year age gap between us (and yes, I’m the older one.) Yet, I soon grew determined to forge my own fashion path.

Each month, I’d save my pocket money and buy Vogue. Or, I’d just hide in the back of the newsagent and read it for free. I fell in love with fashion quickly and it’s been one of the most consistent love affairs of my life.

Today we’re bombarded with images of trendy outfits worn by influencers (who are often being paid to wear them by companies) and celebrities even have stylists for their ‘off-duty’ looks.

Once upon a time, we didn’t have Instagram influencers and celebrities actually dressed themselves for red carpet events. These events had the power to skyrocket the celebrity into style icon status … or be a colossal mistake that would haunt them for years to come.

My fashion mistakes, of which there were many, thankfully are not available for public consumption. But I don’t regret them because mistakes are all part of the process.

Although I didn’t have social media influencers for fashion advice, I still had plenty of help as to what was on-trend, thanks to TV shows, celebrities and style icons.

Here are a few of my style icons who not only set trends but reflected a moment in time.

Whenever I was sick and stayed home from school, my parents allowed me to watch Spice World on repeat. The Spice Girls were the only thing that helped me survive a bout of food poisoning I got from a kid’s homemade birthday cake.

With their sparkling mini dresses, platform shoes and pink fluffy hair ties wrapped around ponytails, the Spice Girls introduced me to a world of glitz and glamour and taught me all about girl power! And don’t get me started on the makeup! The girls all had very different styles but each one was fun, fabulous and ever so 90s.

Like every ‘90s kid, my friends and I formed a tribute band. My favourite was Ginger Spice. I adored Ginger’s outfits, her striking red hair with blonde streaks, her glamorous make-up, and her attitude.

I vividly recall the day I discovered Ginger Spice had left the band. We were visiting the UK and my mother showed me the front page of a local newspaper. It featured Geri Halliwell as herself. Pale strawberry blonde hair, regular clothes, and no make-up. Despite how gorgeous she looked, I didn’t like seeing Ginger Spice as a regular person because I wanted her to continue being the character I loved forever. Then it dawned on me that the band as I knew it, was over, and I experienced for the first time, what the end of an era felt like.

There were many characters from animated TV series and films that gave me outfit envy. Hello, Jessica Rabbit’s iconic sparkling red dress?

But when I was younger, nothing beat the outfits worn by the characters in the popular cartoon, Daria. Granted, they wore the same outfit every day but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? I was obsessed with Daria Morgendorffer’s pleated black skirt, combat boots, and glasses. Daria was sarcastic, intelligent, cynical, and witty. Her outfits, which were grungy, a little goth, and minimalist, reflected her personality perfectly.

Jane Lane’s signature black bob, silver ear cuffs, and red jacket also deserve an honourable mention as does Quinn Morgendorffer’s pink T-shirt with a yellow smiling face (which looked identical to an emoji so she was clearly ahead of her time) and denim jeans.

But Jodie Abigail Landon was always, for me, the underrated style icon of this show. Her pink shirt and slip skirt combination was *chef’s kiss.

Trends in the ‘90s were multi-faceted and dependent on one’s mood (that’s coming from someone who dresses like a different Daria character every day!) Fashion is a form of expression, so dress how you feel. I believe Quinn said it best when she said, "Cute is not a look, it's an attitude, it's a way of being.”

I coveted every outfit worn by the Friends cast. I remember forcing my parents to take me shopping so I could recreate the iconic Rachel Green outfit of a tartan pleated mini skirt, high socks, and white turtleneck sweater. Although I was only five when the episode she wore this outfit aired (The One Where the Monkey Gets Away, Season 1, Episode 19,) by the time I was old enough to watch Friends, Rachel’s outfits hadn’t gone out of style. Most of them I’d still wear today!

She was known for denim overalls, little black dresses and mini-skirts over thick black tights. Monica wore mom jeans paired with grandma sweaters and Phoebe nailed the effortless, boho look. All outfits had one thing in common, they were quintessentially ‘90s.

Any fan of Friends can relate to wistfully watching the show dreaming that they too spent their days chilling in a New York coffee shop with their five best friends. Seriously though, the characters rarely seemed to work.

So, while everyone else was obsessing over Rachel Green’s haircut, I was busy raiding thrift stores for dupes of her clothes!

Fast forward a few years and we arrive in the early 2000s and welcome what was coined back then as, ‘boho-chic’.

Boho-chic, known colloquially as ‘homeless chic’, was made famous by the Olsen twins. Think floppy hats, long flowing skirts with a thick belt slung over them, piled-on accessories, long scarves, and ideally a bag bigger than you. This trend was about rolling out of bed and throwing on whatever you have in your closet, quite literally.

Nowadays when celebrities step out for coffee they’ve been through several rounds of full glam and the ‘candid’ images of them have usually gone through several rounds of photoshop as the paparazzi work for them. The boho-chic look was the opposite of this.

Unwashed hair tied into messy top knot buns, makeup free faces, and as many layers as you can fit onto your body. It was almost anti-fashion to dress like this … but very much fashionable at the time. I’m aware some people still won’t quite get it, and that’s okay! Fifteen-year-old me, however, was completely sold. The Olsen twins were multi-millionaires yet I could afford to emulate their style. Kind of anti-bourgeois, right?

I’m not saying we didn’t face unrealistic beauty and image standards that were impossible to uphold, because we did and we’ve made progress when it comes to the stick-thin figures that at the time seemed to be a prerequisite to wearing the outfits. And thank goodness for that! However, I still appreciate how authentic and accessible this trend was.

I remember living in a small beach town in Australia and wanting desperately to feel like the main character pounding the New York City pavement with a large Starbucks in hand, ducking in and out of Barney’s in my boho-chic fit. I did end up going to New York many years later and ended up being too cold to wear anything other than a giant North Face jacket, but I did get a large Starbucks coffee and for a moment, pretended that I too, was a very busy and important celebrity living my best life.

I vouch we bring this trend back because I have the disheveled look nailed.

I am happy for any ‘90s or early 2000s trends to make a comeback (some of them already have!) but there are a few prerequisites. Firstly, we have to leave the following in the past:

1. Low-rise jeans
2. Ed Hardy
3. Von Dutch hats
4. Ugg boots worn outside
5. The visible G-string above jeans (yes, this was actually a thing. Google it … or don’t.)

These trends are proof that living in the past isn’t always for the best, but we can still seek inspiration from it.

And here are a few of the trends I welcome back with open arms:

Oh, and a cheap and sustainable piece of advice is to dive back into your teenage closet (or raid your parents' one) as you never know what treasure troves you’ll find.

After all, when you nail the perfect outfit, you have a main character moment. And everyone deserves that once in a while.