1990’s Pop Stars Costume Ideas

The grunge look was big in the early 1990s, but this street uniformity was due to be hit by the emergence of Britpop. This was where groups such as Oasis and Blur battled it out for the top spot and grunge became a thing of the past. In the mid-nineties ‘The Spice Girls’ hit the charts and brought ‘Girl Power’ into the mainstream. This inspired a whole new generation of girl groups and singers.

There were many stars of the decade that had no definitive look. However, some band names could be used as a play on words such as the Black Crowes, Red Hot Chili Peppers (novelty costume available), Smashing Pumpkins (Halloween pumpkin costume), etc..

Here are a few costume suggestions for 1990s Pop Stars.

Bjork – One of the more eccentric performers of the 1990s was Icelandic singer Bjork, formerly with The Sugarcubes. Her look and fashions were often quirky, although she saved her best efforts until 2001, with the Swan dress she wore at the Oscars ceremony that year.

Britney Spears – Iconic Schoolgirl outfit (grey cardigan, blouse tied to make a crop-top), short skirt, pigtails (or braids) for ‘Hit me Baby one more time’.

Bryan Adams – Everything I Do, I Do It For You – Robin Hood outfits

Cher – A star in the 60s, having left her partner Sonny, Cher spent some time making movies (like Bjork livening up the Oscars red carpet with a black showgirl-style outfit in 1986). In 89 she made a successful pop comeback with ‘Turn Back Time’ and spanned charts over the next decade finishing with the ‘Believe’ album in 1998. Despite leather outfits and torn jeans, her distinctive look is the long, straight hair in varying colours!

Courtney Love – Grunge dress and disheveled hair/make-up look.

Gabrielle – Her ‘look’ featured a black eyepatch which she had originally worn for medical reasons but kept!

Goth-style (Clash or Siouxsie Sioux) – Black or purple colour-scheme, with heavy use of black liner and lipstick.

Gwen Stefani – Lead singer of group No Doubt in the 1990s. Now a solo performer and something of a style icon, influenced by the harajuka (schoolgirl/Lolita) japanese style.

Janet Jackson – Sister to Michael, with whom she dueted. Noted for an ‘accidental’ wardrobe malfunction at an awards ceremony.

KISS – The stadium rock group of the 80s/90s noted for their distinctive make-up disguises (Demon, Space-man, Star-Child and Cat-man). They did try some gigs without the makeup, but it seems the fans preferred the original look topped off with black rock star hair.

Kurt Cobain (Grunge) – Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana who apparently took his own life in 1994, is another classic grunge fashion icon.

Kylie Minogue – After breaking away from Stock, Aitken & Waterman in 1992, Kylie experimented with a number of music-styles and looks for promo videos. These included a Barbarella-style space-princess (Put Yourself in My Place) and, rarely seen now, a white-haired geisha creation (German Bold Italic).

M C Hammer – Key to the look are baggy parachute trousers. Off-the-peg outfits have these in gold or metallic.

Madonna - After her success in the 1980s, the 1990s saw Madonna enter her Vogue period and we saw her infamous Gaultier gold basque of the ‘Blond Ambition’ tour. She was also involved in a number of movies from Dick Tracy (1990) to Evita (1996) and released her albums Bedtime Stories, Erotica and Ray of Light.

Pink – The name has nothing to do with haircolour (that’s more Lil Kim) but was her childhood nickname. Looks have tended to be dictated by song/video content.

Prodigy – Firestarter – Keith Flint’s look of American t-shirt, chains and wild make-up.

Shania Twain – Country music girl who crossed to the mainstream, helped by some distinctive videos such as ‘Man, I Feel Like a Woman’ (Top hat, tailcoat and fishnet tights) and ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ (Leopard print dress or coat and hat).

Spice Girls - Created in 1994, their first single was ‘Wannabe and showcased Baby (Emma Bunton), Ginger (Geri Halliwell), Posh (Victoria Adams now Beckham), Scary (Mel B Melanie Brown) & Sporty (Mel C Melanie Chisholm). Each had their own unique look, but the most popular has been the Geri (Ginger) Spice Union Jack Dress. Several variations available. We have some lovely Union Jack dresses for Ginger Spice.

The Three Tenors – Not exactly popstars in the true sense, but Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras & Luciano Pavorotti brought their voices to the masses as the Three Tenors and popularised the tailcoat and evening dress once again.