The 1990s early-to-mid 1990s
Crushed Velvet
Stretchy, shimmering velvet with a deliberately crumpled pile - the 1990s revival fabric of slip dresses, chokers and scrunchies, of grunge-goth evenings, and of Tom Ford's 1995 Gucci hipsters.
Velvet has been a luxury fabric for centuries - the Victorian section has its own entry - but the 1990s gave it a very particular personality. The decade's velvet was usually crushed, stretchy, and a little bit grungy, and it turned up everywhere from nightclubs to schoolgirls' hair ties.
Velvet is a woven or knitted fabric with a short, dense pile of cut fibres standing up from the surface, which gives it that soft feel and deep, glowing colour. Crushed velvet is velvet whose pile has been twisted and pressed in different directions, either by twisting the fabric while wet or by pressing it with heat. Instead of an even surface, it has an irregular, crumpled pattern of light and shadow that shimmers as the fabric moves. In the 1990s, it was very often a stretch velvet, knitted with elastane, which made it cling to the body and move easily.
The fabric suited several 1990s moods at once. It had a vintage, slightly faded glamour that appealed to the thrift-store side of grunge, especially in dark colours like burgundy, bottle green, black, and purple, with a gothic, romantic edge. It made perfect slip dresses and simple, body-skimming evening dresses. And it showed up in small, everyday accessories: velvet chokers, hairbands, and the ubiquitous velvet scrunchie.
It also had a luxury moment. Tom Ford's breakthrough autumn/winter 1995 collection for Gucci featured low-slung velvet hipster trousers with satin shirts, a sleek, sexy 1970s-inspired look that made velvet feel glamorous rather than grungy. Velvet blazers, trousers, and dresses appeared at every price level in the mid-1990s.
Crushed velvet had actually had earlier fashion moments, including in the late 1960s and 1970s, and the 1990s version was partly a revival of that bohemian, retro look. I think that's what makes it so typical of the decade: 1990s fashion constantly borrowed from earlier eras and gave them a new, slightly off-kilter twist. Crushed velvet has a lovely texture to work with, too, though it can be tricky to sew because the pile shifts under the machine.