What’s that I hear? Distant birdsong that heralds the arrival of spring 2026? Right now, you may not remember what it’s like to feel the sun on your skin, but soon it will be cute dress season, and more specifically, a return to 90s dresses, which means it’s time to think about exactly which cute dresses you’ll be wearing. And where better to glean inspiration than the ’90s, that most everlasting of decades (I’m starting to wonder whether they put something in the water in the ’90s to hypnotise the fashion people of the future).
Following the garish, boom-boom vibe of the late ’80s, the ’90s ushered in a cooler, sleeker, and sometimes grungier feel. The dresses of the decade reflected this approach, via slips styled with very little else, and spaghetti-strap dresses accessorized with tiny shades. It’s a minimalist lean that still has us looking towards the likes of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy for style inspiration – even those of us born post-2000.
In 2026, ’90s dresses are – surprise! – back on the agenda. From the slip dresses that were all over the Chanel, Acne Studios, and Dolce & Gabbana’s spring/summer 2026 runways (the sheer black slips styled with bulky boots for the latter were a particular highlight), to celebs like Dakota Johnson and Daisy Edgar-Jones opting for column and babydoll dresses, the ’90s influence is clearly still alive and well. With that in mind, here are all the ’90s dresses you’ll be wearing in 2026.
Slip dress
Does it get more ’90s than a slip dress? Probably not. The underwear as outerwear trend once again has us in a chokehold (searches for “slip dress” on Depop have tripled recently). Pair with jeans or boots for a grungier feel, or throw on without a bra if you’re livin’ la vida loca. One good thing about slip dresses is that you can find them at basically any thrift store or resale site on the cheap.
Babydoll dress
Chloé It-girl Daisy Edgar-Jones swears by a ruffly babydoll dress (I often think about that yellow minidress she wore last spring), as does supermodel-slash-actor Kaia Gerber. Even so, I personally think there’s no greater babydoll dress-wearer than Courtney Love – the way she styles it with messy hair and a red lip.
Spaghetti strap dress
Spaghetti-strap dresses will always be a spring and summer classic, and if you need inspiration, you need never look further than a young Kate Moss, who practically lived in them throughout the ’90s (before she discovered skinny jeans). Keep it casual with trainers, and swap out for blocky heels or boots once the sun goes down.
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Velvet dress
I lived in a velvet bodycon dress in the early 2010s (I was emulating the ’90s, choker and all), and now we’re seeing velvet enter the fray once again. Whether you want to go full indie sleaze or long and formal à la Kate Middleton, velvet really can do it all.
Column dress
More of a cut than a style, the column dress – as in, sleek, long, and form-fitting – was a key garment of the ’90s. Jennifer Aniston spent the vast majority of the decade on the red carpet collecting gongs for Friends in various iterations of the column dress, so look her way for inspiration – “Rachel” haircut optional.
This article first appeared on Vogue.co.uk
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