AT THE SPRING 2023 RUNWAY SHOWS, models’ faces were a minimalist blur of velvety taupe, beige, and brown—spiked with smudgy eyeliner—that conjured the Supers (Christy, Kate, Cindy, Linda, Naomi) and made it official: The ’90s are back.
As a young Gen Xer who came of age during that decade, I’m conflicted. When did my past become vintage? Vintage is a poodle skirt, hippie fringe, disco dazzle. Our ’90s-era aesthetic was raw and real, a modernist eff-you to ’80s excess. We were too cool to become nostalgia fodder. However, as someone who also persuaded my high school pom squad to swap our red lip color for nut brown, who smelled like teen spirit, yes, but also CK One and the vanilla-scented M.A.C lipsticks I ordered from an 800 number—and who, by…
