Lesson nº 121 30/05/2019

Summary:
Society of the 90s;

Different fashion styles of the 1990s;

Identify witch trends are included in different fashion styles;

Identify fashion trends - group work;

What does fashion means to you? - writing activity.

Objectives:
o learn about the meaning and importance of fashion in our world:
o learn how to identify different fashion styles and trends of the 90s;
o improve the knowledge about what is the fashion in the 90s.

Skills: (speaking, writing)

Situate society in the 90s:

o decade for technological innovations with computers and cell phones growing in popularity
and increased in usage;

o end of the Cold War (amongst other things)

o the rising of boy bands, pop stars, R&B, and girl-power. Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears,
Mariah Carey, and Spice Girls.

o Alongside the music, television and movies were factors of influence. Fresh Prince of Bel Air
and Friends were some of the TV shows.

o And iconic Hollywood movies had a major impact on people’s lives with the celebrity focus
going strong: Clueless, Pulp Fiction, Titanic.

(slide 3)

Question time: What do you know about fashion in the 90s?

Fashion styles of the 1990s:

o The elegant minimalistic fashion was about simplicity with clothes, a colourless palette, and
silky fabrics but also some velvet and leather. Details were rare and if existed, were straight
and geometric. The colours were mainly white, black, beige, grey and some tones of metallic.
The clothes were rather defined and followed the silhouette of the body that should be slim
and toned (the beauty ideal)

o The street style fashion was oversized and sporty, it had some colours and an attitude
above all. The most important material was denim but also leather and fleece. Light pastels
were common, but black, white and denim were even more important. In the centre of the
street style look were t-shirts with prints, oversized sweaters in a bold colour, denim jackets,
bomber jackets, animal prints, boots and also a fair share amount of crop tops. A lot of plaid as
in plaid shirts and oversized sweaters. With the attitude, you got the grunge fashion.

o The schoolgirl style lands somewhere between elegant (but barely) and street style. A 90s
perspective on the 1960s style with short lengths and high socks substituting for the A-line
dress and knee-high boots. In the centre of the street style look was plaid, crop tops, high
waist miniskirts, knee socks, and blazers. We must not forget turtlenecks and also denim
overall if going for the leisure style.

(Slide 4)

Activity 1
Different groups of images about fashion trends of the 1990s will be presented to the class and
students will try to identify in which fashion style or styles they are included.

After their answers, I will correct them and talk about 90s fashion characteristics

(Skills: speaking) (from slide 5 to 7)

Activity 2
Divide the class into groups of five

Each group will present one of the main trends that were included in the 1990s (previously
talked about) chosen randomly. The rest of the class does not know what trend has been
chosen by each group and their mission is to discover it, but the group that is presenting can't
use some specific words, otherwise, it would be too easy.

(Skills: speaking and writing)

Activity 3
Students will come up with a definition of what fashion means to them.

Possible answer:

o Fashion to me is my identity. It’s how I want the world to look at me. It’s putting on
black ripped jeans one day and a shift dress the next because they both represent who
I am. Fashion, like me, has the ability to change.. Fashion is an opportunity for anything
to happen and anything to change. It is timeless and never-ending.
(Skills: speaking and writing) (slide 8)

Conclusion:
Fashion is a means of self-expression that allows people to try on many roles in life. It’s a way
of celebrating the diversity and variety of the world in which we live. Fashion is about change,
which is necessary to keep life interesting. It’s a way of measuring a mood that can be useful in
many aspects, culturally, socially and even psychologically.

Webgraphy:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-does-fashion-mean-you-megan-jones

https://www.look.co.uk/fashion/90s-fashion-the-trends-we-all-rocked-42839

https://twentytwowords.com/90s-fashion-trends-back-in-style/

http://www.thefashionfolks.com/blog/20th-century-fashion-history-1990-2000/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/1999/10/what-is-fashion/

https://www.complex.com/style/the-90-greatest-90s-fashion-trends/turtlenecks

http://www.thefashionfolks.com/blog/20th-century-fashion-history-1990-2000/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7De4CC3qLY