The ’90s street styles at least in New York City was dominated by two major movements, urban outdoor and clubwear. On one side, there were young men going to clubs looking mountain climbing ready with outdoor jackets, hiker boots and backpacks, while on the other end, folks were looking like they had just spilled out of a clown car in bright outlandish outfits paired with exaggerated platform shoes.
These platform hiker boots (via Etsy seller TheIndustry who appears to specialize in ’90s trends) speak to a coming together of the two movements, which were never entirely separate anyway. The downtown club scene was a big mixing ground and even though popular club venues including Nell’s, Limelight and the Tunnel, as well as roving parties including Giant Step, Cafe Con Leche, Jackie 60 and Soul Kitchen had distinct crowds, there was always mixing. And even if everyone partied separately, come closing time, Save the Robots, a late night spot on Avenue B, was the ultimate United Nations of night life world where party people of all stripes were welcome, and music, fashion and cultures mixed and influenced each other freely.
Fashion forward types have been mining the ’90s for quite some time, especially the more urban aspect of trends (now repackaged and to some degree falling under the umbrella of “normcore”) though there is still room for further examination from the club kids side of fashion. As such, we predict that while more comfortable heel height will remain the norm, there will be some movement to block heels and platforms, albeit not as outlandish as those sported during the height of ’90s club kids fashion.
