Did anyone here go to university in the era of 'grunge' fashion?

[BranchingOut]

I am 35 and when I was in my late teens early twenties the big fashion news was 'grunge'.

www.90s411.com/grunge-fashion.html

Can't seem to find a link, but there was lots of emphasis on wearing large, loose clothes. So a female student at my university would probably be wearing slightly baggy jeans or a long loose skirt, maybe a vest top but always with a large cardigan or probably a plaid or check shirt over the top - never with spaghetti straps exposed, leather bracelets, long loose hair and fairly minimal make up. Oh, DM boots or shoes.
There was a definite sense that wearing tight, sexually exposing clothing was not 'cool'. Rightly or wrongly, I think that levels of respect for female students from male students were probably better than today.

Does anyone else remember this?

I'm another wannabe...went off to Uni (in 2003), armed with my green DMs and very comfy granny-ish baggy, black, crocheted sweater only to find the beginnings of the Primarni culture. Quite sad it was too.

I graduated in 88 and we dressed like this
I certainly don't remember anyone on campus in shoulder pads and stilettos

great thread idea and link btw, enjoying the moment

Butterpie ---- Major swooning here, I love that the Shampoo girls are in the video too!

My DP is an old Manics fan too - turns out we were three people away from eachother at the front row at a MSP gig two or three years before we met. So far DS hasn't turned into a minor glitter explosion, but we're keeping an eye out just in case.

That video is... 1991/92? So I think James would be about 23. Omnomnomnomnom.

MoreCrackThanHarlem - a fellow Bikini Kill fan! Yay!

I went too art college too, during 1st yr I was always in a long raggy black cardigan full of holes. And jeans full of holes. And doc martins. And a knackered pair of pixie boots which were leathal on frost, ice or pavements in any weather really but I loved them!

Yeah, jeans were loose, rolled up at the ankles. Also wore mini skirts which I made,suede/leather jackets (second hand). I always used to change stuff I bought with a bit of cutting and sowing. I remember a jacket I really liked, which I chopped the neck off, I sowed an cloth rose near the button holes, decades before roses showed up on Sex in the City worn the same way. People used to stare at me wearing it though, think they though it was odd, nobody would bother about it these days.

I would agree BranchingOut, levels of respect were better then all round, suppose that means female students probably respected themselves better then?

I'm so glad I wasn't a student in the time of Primark, life would have been so boring!

Did anyone else have the GIANT posters (about 5ft by 3ft) that you could buy at uni poster sales? The cover of "Violator" gave my room a lovely purple and black glow!

So JDB is younger than I am now in that video? God, I feel old! :)

DP reckons that students used to be more political as less people went to uni, so the people who did were already quite bookish to start with.

CatPower I see that you are up north- it is quite possible that me or DP have seen you at a gig. I love it on the way to gigs, when you can play "spot the manics fan" and accost random people in eyeliner. We were always right, too :)

I still have my green, steel toe capped DMs, and unearthed a jumper of my dad's that I used to wear the other day

DH had the classic hairdo too - long on top (sort of scraggly bob) and shaved at back and sides + Pop Will Eat Itself Tshirt surgically attached

I can also remember going clubbing in scruffy demin shorts and a waistcoat. Which I cannot believe was a good look...

It's testament to how great the music was back then that if you go to an "Indie club" in London (and everywhere else I'm sure), most of the music is from the late eighties and early nineties (recent Divine Comedy song was so on the money^!), even though there is some really good stuff around today too.

I agree OP! I remember vividly a female student walking (late) into our packed English lecture. She was wearing a tight white top saying 'Boy Toy', spray on jeans and high heels. You could see every other woman in the room looking at her and thinking 'WTF?'

There was also a lot less pressure to have cellulite free arses and willowly limbs, as you couldn't see them anyway!

Happy days swaying slowly to the Smiths in the student union.....

Has anybody mentioned the Body Shop Dewberry body spray that we all used to wear at the time?

My DMs were knee high. I was so proud!! (took me half an hour to get the bloody things on though!!!!)

Yes to Dewberry spray. My sister had more expensive tastes and wore Christian Dior's Poison.

and yes to giant posters. I had Gone with the Wind and Betty Blue.

I loved my DMs.

Oh yes. Graduated in 94. So was wearing DMs, german paraboots, overdyed army surplus combats, black leggings, mad coloured tights, denim/patchwork/suede short skirt, baggy band tees, overdyed mens vests, summer dresses, cardies, parker, grandpas old DJ, suede jacket/waist coat, ripped jeans, patchwork jeans. Everything usually splattered in paint as i was an art student dontcha know. Used to love it when you could still get bargains from charity shops as no 'normal' person would be seen dead in one, also when Birmingham rag market was cheap (and still existed)

I still wear most of that apart from the suede stuff, the footwear and combats.

Not everyone dressed like this though, we were still seen as fairly fringe and there were just as many 'straight' rugby boys and teen queen types who thought we were "weird"

I don't know if we were more well respected as women, but I just wouldn't have taken any shit (perhaps looked a bit more intimidating) and also chose my friends fairly carefully. Plus I don't think there was as much Heat magazine materialism / celebrity idolatry back then which influences girls to dress the way they do now (god, I sound so old)

I remember thinking Body Shop White Musk body spray was the height of elegance... also Impulse O2 will always remind me of getting changed after PE, that and CK One!

Yes. Went to university in '92. Had leggings with long loose shirts, man's waistcoast, DM's, big wooly jumpers and check shirts.

The other type of female student was known in our University as 'Benetton Babe' - pastel colour polo shirts with the collar up, nice jeans, deck shoes, loads of orange make up and what I think were sailing type jackets and bags.

It was more post-punk than grunge when I was at uni. But clothes were definitely looser rather than clingy. In a lot of ways it is good that girls are more comfortable with their bodies now - when I was a teenager we all wanted to be flat-chested!

I wore a lot of black & grey. Didn't have DMs - Victorian style ankle boots were more popular. Big overcoats a la Joy Division. The current teen fashion for black tights or leggings under short patterned skirts with a black top is very reminiscent of stuff I wore. Flat shoes - heels were deemed a bit naff...

I never went to uni, but always wore grunge/punky/hippy type clothes. I still do in fact, and today am wearing my beloved docs, ripped jeans (not designer ripped jeans, just old and knackered well worn holes in the knee type jeans), a flowery dress and a big floral tassled scarf. I'm only 45 though so I think I can get away with it :D