Nineties Bollywood doesn’t exactly evoke eyerolls. Unlike the Dark Eighties, heroines did not deck up in Bharatnatyam costumes to energetically hobnob with fruits in lush green meadows, mostly. Heroes did not wear eyesore wigs and suits as they went about saving the world.
Styles went cooler, “sanity” (and vanity, in the shape of brands), replaced OTT in post-liberalisation India. Some of the fashion endured. So 90s crop tops, dungarees and lesiurewear from Dil Toh Pagal Hai and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai are still mainstream. The Manish Malhotra lehenga is going strong.
But some Bollywood lookbooks, including some that aren’t top-of-the-mind recall, can very well make a rousing comeback. Glamour picks these beauties:
Red lace dress: Ankle-length, full sleeves with frills and a sweetheart neck, but packs in a lot of sass. Remember Madhuri's iconic red lace dress in Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!’s ‘Yeh mausam ka jaadoo hai mitwa’? The feminine overload of translucent lacy sleeves is nicely balanced by a broad belt. Forget the fact that Madhuri wore it to (briefly) dance in a sea of sunflowers, waving, of all things, carrots.
Semi-formals: Shah Rukh and Karisma may have stolen the show in Dil Toh Pagal Hai, and Madhuri’s sheer pastel salwar kameezes with plunging necklines continued to sizzle, but Akshay Kumar, who sportingly played fourth wheel in this rom-com, looked fabulous in the title track, teaming up a pistachio green shirt with a slightly darker tee and classic blue jeans. In Darr, Sunny Deol’s shirts with three-quarter sleeves were yummy enough to (momentarily) distract one from SRK’s brooding eyes.
Animal prints: Remember the stunning Sonali Bendre during the opening strains of ‘Sambhala hai maine’ (Naaraaz)? She sports a salwar kameez with a tiger print dupatta, loosely knotting her hair with it and letting the two long ends hang. In the iconic ‘Churake dil mera’ (Main Khiladi Tu Anadi), Shilpa owns the leopard print short skirt and crop top like she’s boss.
RED HAT: Urmila in Rangeela The Telegraph
Street cred: Rangeela will be 26 in a couple of months but Urmila’s look in the film is still so now. Her short printed skater dress, boots and berets scream carpe diem. Somebody go bring those berets back!
Solid colours: Kajol’s green lehenga in ‘Mehndi laga ke rakhna’ (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge), Madhuri’s purple sari in ‘Didi tera dewar deewana’ (HAHK) and Raveena’s yellow sari in ‘Tip tip barsa pani’ (Mohra). Three iconic looks in solid colours that just refuse to fade away.
Banjara/Koli/folksy look: Short bustier, flouncy long skirt with ethnic motifs or mirror work, lehariya dupatta, and you are done. Go overboard with silver bangles, neckpieces, anklets, kajal and gloss. Sridevi (Lamhe), Madhuri (Beta) and Divya Bharti (Rang) aced the look. And Madhuri, again, in Sailab, in the Koli-style emerald sari with a yellow choli. Fire.
Parent wear: An overlooked but precious gift of the 90s. Bolly parents, uncles and aunts honestly started looking good in this decade. Think Anupam Kher as a dapper dad in a cravat and a beret in DDLJ and Reema Lagoo in designer saris in Hum Saath-Saath Hain.
Add-ons: Accessories like flowing dupattas and scarves, broad hairbands, oversized studs and hoops, chokers, thick eyeliner on eyelids and glossy mouth can all be tried. Maybe go easy on the gloss in these masked-up times.
