It's somewhat hard to comment on fashion so close in time, normally it is only after many years that a trend can be acknowledged as more than just a passing fad. The 90s did see some major changes in how fashion was promoted though.
The advent of the internet took fashion to a global level in record time at the same time people lost interest in fashion as business rules for dressing relaxed. Working at home became common and dressing casual became the style.
Even though the range of retail 1990s fashion goods was huge, the retail sales were often sluggish. After the conspicuous consuming years of the 1980s less became more in the 1990s. But as always Hollywood played a big part in what was favoured when it came to clothing and hair styles.
Whether it was Jennifer Aniston and her often copied hairdo or the chop cut of Meg Ryan, hairstyles of the red carpet definitely influenced 1990s fashion. And as always, rock and roll had its sway with the younger red carpet crowd in the form of grunge wear and even Chuck Taylor's.
The red carpet 1990s fashion included everything from the classic blazer and trousers for everyone, to lycra, the petticoat dress and even Chinese cheongsam dresses. And lest we forget the return big time of cleavage and the Wonderbra.
The red carpet is a world unto itself with as many ranging emotions on it as there are fashion styles. Pictures of movie stars taken there don't need to look like promotional material any more than they need to embarrass the actors the way paparazzi like to do.
The true story could only be captured by photographers that looked beyond the obvious, beyond the public poses, beyond the red carpet. To raise these pictures of movie stars to true art required a watchful eye, not just a fast shutter finger.
While the 90s was a great decade for fashion, it was the last decade of the film camera. In the new digital age of photography it is easy to lean towards quantity rather than quality. But to truly capture the essence of an actor on the red carpet requires an artists eye and a hunters patience.
These kinds of pictures of movie stars form a book, not a byline in a tabloid. They deserve an honored place in a collectors library. Unlike a posed photo or something snapped in haste by paparazzi, a carefully chosen candid moment in time creates a small map to the stars personality.
1990s fashion is behind us now, but celebrities continue to stroll the red carpet and fans continue to want to see great photos of their stars. As long as there are movie stars there will be people taking their picture. Whether you are a fan of the exploitive nature of paparazzi pics, the static beauty of posed shots or those intimate candids that dig a little deeper into the soul of the artist; celebrity photos will continue to dominate the media. Pictures of movie stars that show us the person behind the star are few, but do exist.
These movie star photos are what a true fan lives for, the ones that show that telling look, that knowing glance or the giveaway expression. Within these pictures of movie stars the star becomes the man or the woman for a brief moment and for that same moment we all become that star.
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