10 iconic ’90s winter moments that will inspire you to hate the cold less
We’ve reached the end of January which means a lot of you feel very sad. And I get it: It’s cold out. Sunlight is a lie, and accompanies only freezing temperatures and snow-induced blindness. Nighttime begins at 3 p.m., and anything other than Netflix and snacks seems cruel and unkind. Winter is tough, and unless you’re a freak like me (who hates the summer and considers moving to where it’s permanently cold and cloudy every May), you’re not alone.
That’s because it’s easy to hate winter. For what feels like eight hundred days, we force ourselves into the easiest jacket there is to zip up and we set out into the abyss, wondering how we ended up here and where it all went wrong. Everything is grey, our boots are salt-stained, and we’ve all worn every sweater 14 times and have completely given up on attempting another. It’s familiar, and it’s bleak.
But we can stop this, thanks to certain nineties pop culture staples.
And of course I’d cite nineties pop culture. (When have I not? Riddle me that.) The nineties, in all their oversize, fluorescent, cozy-looking winter gear made me believe winter could be less about screaming into the night and more about basking in the days that give us an excuse not to leave the house and how dare you ask. The nineties were practical, outlandish, weird, roomy, and seasonally appropriate. So if you think that just because you’ve lived through them once, this isn’t for you, you’re about to be converted.
“All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey (1994)
I know, I know: Christmas is over, so by law we’re not supposed to listen to this song until after Halloween (and/or American Thanksgiving). But let’s be real: while basking in her winter wonderland, Mariah Carey looks peak sensible. First, her ensemble is red (so she stands out in the snow and won’t get lost). Second, it’s practical (as it is a literal snowsuit). But most importantly, it isn’t glamorous. This is because winter wear doesn’t need to be glamorous — it needs to be warm. Which is why not a single one of us cared what we wore when we built snow forts in elementary school, provided our outfits allowed for very quick trips to the bathroom.
The Cutting Edge (1992)
It’s true: I’d be unhinged to ask any of you to begin sporting winter white skating gear while triumphing over the failure of your highly underskilled athletic partner considering the aforementioned is a plot from an extremely OTT movie. (Although if you do so on your own accord, we’re all here for it.) But before we salute The Cutting Edge for its strange and beautiful homage to the Olympic games, let’s take a hot second to appreciate Moira Kelly’s winter whites and ability to make an oversize turtleneck sweater (and matching hair tie) look chic. (Plus D.B. Sweeney’s winter white/black paint splattered blouse). Never let you anybody tell you winter whites aren’t for you.
Twin Peaks (1990-91)
They say the alternate title for Twin Peaks was “The Sweater Show,” and while that is a bold-faced lie, you believed it for a second because the true star of the series was the wardrobe of Audrey Horne. Consisting entirely of sweaters and skirts, she embraced the forties and fifties revival of the 1980s, and proved there were more to the era’s sweater selection than the oversize styles seen on The Golden Girls. Evidently, fitted, vintage (or vintage-inspired) sweaters are quick to help us feel put-together during the months that are not — especially if you take advantage of any unseasonal lack of snow by pairing your sweaters with oxfords.
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
There hasn’t been a season in eons where menswear hasn’t crept in and helped us all justify buying oversize jackets and/or oxfords, and for that we can thank Sandra Bullock who, in While You Were Sleeping, epitomizes the comfort and ease of the mid-nineties aesthetic. From the practical scarf to her slouchy outerwear (to that casual updo — let’s not discount what truly matters), she gives us all permission to trudge through the winter with the purpose of a woman who lied about being engaged to Peter Gallagher and who wins the heart of Bill Pullman. Winter ahoy.
Cam’ron, in all his pink glory (2002)
Admittedly, yes, this is from 2002. But honestly if you think anybody here is going to let a technicality stand in the way of us and synthetic pink fur, you have obviously never met us or read something I’ve written or heard how high-pitched my voice gets when I say, “synthetic pink fur.” (Spoiler: very high.) So warm. So plush. So easy to spot in a crowd. Happy January to us all.
Sleepless In Seattle (1993)
For the record, Tom Hanks’ above reaction is in response to Meg Ryan’s trench and scarf combination, and none of us can blame him. And while the true style star of the second-best Hanks/Ryan film (the best movie obviously being You’ve Got Mail) is a young Gaby Hoffmann with the warmest-looking red sweater, Meg’s ability to coordinate her outerwear with season-appropriate sweater sets is a gift we can only — and will — aspire to. 2016: the winter we all dress like our moms, and meet atop the Empire State to discuss normcore 2.0, the reckoning.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
There comes a time every winter where we must all dress up and pretend it’s not killing us to do so. And it’s on occasions like these where we must look to Winona Ryder in her off-the-shoulder, fifties-centric white dress and remind ourselves that it’s possible to feel anything but so cold so very, very cold. Remember: coats exist for a reason. And just because the time spent between leaving your home and arriving to your destination is, by definition, the worst, the same cannot be said for how you’ll feel upon getting there (while impressing everybody you know with your Ryder-inspired A-line dress that you quickly realize you can’t spill anything on, oh lord what have you done). Just stay away from anyone whose hands are made out of scissors. They’re just Johnny Depp in disguise, who’ll try and give you one of his scarves.
Stepmom (1998)
If you didn’t yearn to grow up and be Julia Roberts in Stepmom, who are you and tell me why. From her lucrative job as a fashion photographer to her loft apartment in downtown Manhattan, the character-also-known-as Isabel was the epitome of “cool adult we all wanted to be” — especially in terms of her winter wardrobe. I mean, yes: she walked the same line as Sandra and Meg in terms of menswear-inspired autumn coats, but it was her black jacket, hat, and snow pants (worn when she quit her career to be a better stepmom #spoiler) that sent the message that dressing appropriately can still look cool. Less cool? Jena Malone’s toque that truly undermines the majesty of her 1998-appropriate orange parka. (Though still cooler than the faux boyfriend with a ponytail.)
Isaac Mizrahi Fall 1994 (As featured in Unzipped, 1995)
The nineties had many tiers. We’ve seen Meg and Sandra in their oversize, neutral menswear. We watched Stepmom in its entirety because you can’t just talk about Stepmom, you have to feel it. But how dare we sing the praises of nineties winter wear without the bright and shiny offerings of Isaac Mizrahi, who proved (in 1994) that formal and/or going out-wear can call less for practicality and more for sensationalism. No, these coats do not do up, but like the formal coats of the 1950s and 1960s, the fur and excess of fabric can still create a warm, blanket-like feeling—which is saying something for jackets that look like they’re also made of plastic.
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
And lest we forget Connie. Was Connie a teenager? Yes, but she her on-ice presence told us she was tough, and her varsity coat/earmuffs combination told us she wasn’t kidding around about preventing frostbite. However, it was her off-the-ice look that proves winter wear needn’t resemble anything we saw in The Revenant. Bright colours, oversize sleeves, prints, and waterproof fabric offer an alternative to the safe and formal-ish trends of the decade, and make wearing a coat seem less like the most boring process in the history of time and space. You go, Connie, best friend we all wish we had.
