Moesha & Girlfriends:

Starting off with the OG IT girls Moesha and the Girlfriends. From the microbraids to the low waist flares, Moesha provided us with endless outfit inspo – constantly serving 90s teen chic. One thing I loved about Moesha is that it helped many black girls to celebrate protective styles, their flexibility and the way they are in fact fashionable mainstream media.

Girlfriends embodied a certain sophisticated and trendy, alluring, boho and street but feminine way of dressing. I love that each personality amongst the group had differing styles, reinforcing a way of styling that is outside the box and gave black women the realisation that we aren’t in fact conformed to one style and that it’s actually beneficial to trial and error aesthetics.

I’m sure you’ll agree both these shows were more than just mere sitcoms but blueprints for black girls and women on the journey to find themselves and their personal style. 

Sex and the city:

Now for a personal fave, Sex and the City! I’m lowkey feeling like Carrie sat by her window writing her articles as I write this one…

For me, SATC encouraged me to explore an unconventional way of dressing as well as being influenced the bad spending habits aired on the show. The ladies popularised the idea of not only having a signature statement piece whether that was bold accessories, shoes or a handbag but also the idea of having a statement outfit no matter how big or small the occasion. The world is your oyster AND runway.

My Top 3 Carrie Bradshaw outfits:

• Fur coat, Pjs and boots. I personally love the idea of being outside in my PJs and my favourite fur coat, along with a boot of choice. However, I did love the time she styled this fur coat with a slip dress.
• Green varsity shirt and ¾ capri cargos with the iconic
• The Hamptons look, it speaks for itself.

Like Girlfriends, I’ll always enjoy this theme of having women that dress nothing alike parade around in outfits that are specific to them without feeling any sort of self-consciousness. When the girls are looking for y2k inspired outfits, we owe it all to them.

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Now let’s get into reality TV.

Keeping up with the Kardashians:

Keeping up with the Kardashians, and I’m talking Kim specifically. I could sit all day and talk about how Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian gave us endless looks during their iconic run as a duo, but I’ll save that for another day.

This one is all about Yeezy influence. It’s clear to see that when Kanye came around Kim swapped her bold colours and wild style for one that was more reserved, minimalistic and had a cleaner colour palette. Many memorable paparazzi pictures captured Kim as walking Yeezy women’s promo, trading her heels for Yeezys and pink lipsticks for nudes. Even the beach blonde ombre hair, she had everyone walking around with. Me personally, I was not bleaching my hair, but I loved it on the girlies who did.

Real Housewives of Atlanta:

Real Housewives of Atlanta is iconic enough with the memes, right now I’m thinking of the heel marathon and if you know, you know. Along with many other hall of fame moments RHOA graced us with, however I want to get into the footwear – heels. Nene’s heels.  

Nene blessed us with an endless supply of bold and luxury pieces of footwear through the show. She set a standard of what it means to be a ‘housewife’ in terms of fashion, aesthetics and the way one carries themselves. It’s all about dressing a simple outfit up with a statement piece that relays a message as soon as you walk into the room. This is a perfect example of the outside reflecting inside. Heels, even in times where it isn’t deemed practical, symbolise a woman who walks with intention and purpose. Let’s not forget the level of commitment it takes to rock a pair daily. The thought of it is giving me flashbacks…

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She isn’t a sitcom or reality TV girl, but she deserves an honourable mention,

Aaliyah.

I’m sure by just the mention of her name you’ve though back to her iconic Tommy Hilfiger outfit.

It’s pretty safe to say we’ve all either used Aaliyah as inspo at least once for a 90s/200s themed party or know someone who has. When I think, Aaliyah I think baggy pants and small tee combo with a side part or updo, paired with a soft or no makeup look that we’ve seen artists like Rihanna adopt, along with Tyla paying homage to Aaliyah and Cavalli at the EMAs. 

Fashion today wouldn’t be what it is without the OG TV influences, it’s nice to see the evolution of style and how we’ve begun to implement bits of media we’ve watched growing up into our everyday styles.

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I thought I’d try something new and write about more things that are fun yet interest me personally.

Thanks for reading,

Until next time,

Megankamangawrites.