1990 flashback: the fashions, fads and fitness crazes of 34 years ago
From Collingwood winning its 14th premiership to Paul Keating’s recession we “had to have” and Step Reebok fitness classes, how well do you remember these highs and lows of 1990?
Victoria
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Craig McLachlan was our most-loved TV star in 1990, Bob Hawke was re-elected for a record fourth term, and Step Reebok classes were the latest fitness craze to stomp into Melbourne.
Official interest rates fell to 12 per cent by December of 1990, which sounds sky-high today, but was a welcome plunge after peaking at 17.5 per cent in January.
And we entered what treasurer Paul Keating called the “recession that Australia had to have”.
Pretty Woman was the year’s biggest film in Australia, while Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U was the most popular song.
In global affairs, Germany was reunited after 45 years of division, Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War and Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years behind bars.
What we were wearing
As the 1990-91 recession took hold, 1980s-style power dressing featuring structured garments with padded shoulders and glitzy jewellery gave way to relaxed, value-for-money styles.
Anoraks became the latest piece of sportswear to make the switch from niche outdoor gear to city fashion statement all year round.
The anorak could be dressed up with a pair of smart shorts, worn over a shift dress, or simply worn alone as a hooded dress.
Florals were a popular look, and printed skirt and shirt sets and printed pants and skirt sets were fashion essentials for corporate women.
Other hot looks were long pleated skirts, patterned silk dresses and blouses, tie neck blouses, cropped jackets, wide-leg culottes, woollen jumpers, vests, strings of pearls and headbands.
For school formals, girls wore glamorous taffeta or velvet frocks with drop waists,
asymmetrical hemlines, puffy sleeves, big bows, rosettes, multi tiers and tulle underskirts.
Songs you couldn’t get out of your head
Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U was the top song of 1990 in Australia.
Other memorable chart toppers included MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This, Madonna’s Vogue, Roxette’s It Must Have Been Love, and Love Shack, by the B-52’s.
TV Week Gold Logie winner
Craig McLachlan – Neighbours
TV shows we were watching
Tonight Live With Steve Vizard
The Comedy Company
E Street
Baywatch
Candid Camera
21 Jump Street
Burke’s Backyard
The Golden Girls
Hey Hey It’s Saturday
The Cosby Show
Murphy Brown
Sale of the Century
Neighbours
Hinch
Full House
Family Feud
Wheel of Fortune
Charles In Charge
Hey Dad!
Hit films
Pretty Woman
Ghost
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Total Recall
Die Hard 2
Days of Thunder
Look Who’s Talking
Stars we loved
Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman, Dannii Minogue, Jason Donovan, Cameron Daddo, Mary-Anne Fahey, Mark Mitchell, Steve Vizard, Georgie Parker, Nicolle Dickson, Rachel Friend, Daryl Somers, Jana Wendt, Ray Martin, John Travolta, Julia Roberts, Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt.
AFL champs
Premiers: Collingwood
Brownlow Medal winner: Tony Liberatore (Footscray)
Norm Smith Medal winner: Tony Shaw (Collingwood)
Other Aussie sporting heroes
Gary Ablett, Stephen Kernahan, Stephen Silvagni, Darren Millane, Nicky Winmar, Garry Lyon, Jason Dunstall, Lisa Curry, Mal Meninga, Wally Lewis, Hayley Lewis, Jane Flemming, Wayne Gardner, Steve Moneghetti, Kathy Watt, Michele Timms, John Fitzgerald, Allan Border.
Villains
John McEnroe: The American tennis brat was kicked out of the Australian Open after intimidating an umpire, breaking a racquet and swearing at the tournament supervisor.
Alan Bond: The beleaguered chairman and director of Bond Corp Holdings resigned, as he edged closer to his eventual conviction for fraud and jail sentence for siphoning $1.2b.
Christopher Skase: After the collapse of his empire the year before, the disgraced businessman fled Australia and re-emerged on the Spanish island of Majorca, while warrants were issued for his arrest.
Mr Cruel: The home invasion rapist who terrorised children across Melbourne from 1987 to 1991 struck in Canterbury in 1990, abducting and molesting a 13-year-old girl.
The Pettingill clan: The feared crime family headed by matriarch Kath Pettingill were the biggest names in Melbourne’s crime world, along with brothers Jason and Mark Moran.
Top nightclubs
The Metro, The Chevron, Checkpoint Charlie, The Underground, The Grainstore Tavern, The Palace, The Ivy, Chasers, Billboard, Transformers.
Politicians
Who was PM? Bob Hawke (ALP)
Victorian premier: John Cain, then Joan Kirner (both ALP)
World leaders: George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, then John Major, Mikhail Gorbachev.
Australian of the Year
Fred Hollows, ophthalmologist and founder of the Fred Hollows Foundation.
Big events
The Herald, an afternoon broadsheet newspaper, merged with its morning sister paper, The Sun News-Pictorial, and the Herald Sun was born.
Kerry Packer bought back the Nine Network for $250m from Alan Bond, who had bought it from him for $1b three years earlier.
Fairfax and Network Ten went into receivership.
Pyramid, Victoria’s biggest building society, collapsed after spooked customers withdrew $2m in a few days, and many people lost their life savings and homes.
The debt-riddled, government-owned State Bank of Victoria collapsed and was taken over by the Commonwealth Bank, after its subsidiary Tricontinental collapsed with losses of $1.5b caused by irresponsible lending.
John Cain resigned after a string of financial scandals and was replaced by Joan Kirner, the first woman to become Victorian premier.
The VFL was renamed the AFL to reflect changes to the league, after West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears joined in 1987.
Nelson Mandela was freed in 1990 after 27 years behind bars, followed by the dismantling of South Africa’s apartheid system and his election as president in 1994.
And Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister of the UK after 11 years.
Technology
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched and began beaming photos back to Earth.
Brashs stores were flooded with customers seeking CDs and Sony CD players and remote control home stereos, while multi-disc car CD changers were growing in popularity.
By the end of 1990, there were more than 200,000 mobile phone users across Australia.
Allan govt holds firm on plan for teen crims in ankle bracelets to attend class
High-risk teenage offenders are set to attend mainstream Victorian schools, secret documents have revealed, with the state government holding firm on the plan despite calls for it to be scrapped.
Star Roos make special visit to Royal Children’s Hospital
North Melbourne players Caleb Daniel and Will Phillips have paid a visit to the Royal Children’s Hospital to launch their Good Friday SuperClash.