Nostaligic Sitcom Fashion- Are You Tuned In Yet
This week Netflix announced it acquired the rights to stream 7 classic black sitcoms. For the months of August thru October, Netflix will be rolling out some of our favorite sitcoms: Girlfriends, Moesha, The Game, Sister Sister, The Parkers, Half & Half, and One on One. The lineup brings us back to a very specific time where these shows not only changed the face of television but also allowed for black people across the nation to see themselves on the small screen in ways that were rightfully authentic. For me these sitcoms remind me of my younger years, tunning into Girlfriends, Moesha, and The Parkers and falling in love with fashion, these shows sparked my imagination for style.
Girlfriends
I already know that rewatching Girlfriends is going to be so refreshing to my fashion eye, this show captured everything we loved about the early 2000s fashion beautifully. For example, the outfits in the show’s intro, those looks were on point. The draping, the soft pastels, the knotted fabric! We all had a personal fave mine was Joans, I honestly need that two-piece to this day. Considering the show in its entirety Joan and Toni were my faves style-wise. Joan had pieces and when she was dressed she was dressing. My favorite look is the forest green dress with that deep v back… man. Toni is the bougie friend who dressed the part, she’s also the friends closet I would be dipping in the most. All her pieces looked expensive, the 2000’s definition of drip or drown. May we all be reminded of Toni’s cropped buttoned baby blue cardi and matching choker, god bless.
Moesha
Peak 90’s fashion Moesha truly set the tone as a black girl on the small screen who was about her fashion! The fashion in Moesha was something major; everyone had their own distinct style from Nicey and Kim to Q and Hakeem. Stylist Yolanda Braddy captured the 90s black aesthetic perfectly, styling the cast in black-owned brands like FUBU, Karl Kani, and Iceberg. Moesha gave us a typical cool girl, Niecy gave us theatrics with her hairstyles and ever-changing looks, but now Kim- she was the undisputed fashion queen. Seeing school-aged girls being so stylish and trendy gave the audience something to be excited about outside of the storyline. For this show, the fashion took on a narrative of its own, a narrative that is referenced to this day.
The Parkers
You can not ignore the fashion on The Parkers, a spin-off of Moesha centering around the ever-stylish Kim Parker. Kim was a fashion icon, the aspiring designer flexed this by often saying she was going to “the fashion school of Leimert”. Her style spoke for itself and matched her larger than life personality. Please believe Kim was not the only one serving us on The Parkers, Nikki gave us looks as well. Can you name a flyer mother-daughter duo other than Nikki and Kim, we’ll wait. They had print motifs, feather embellishments, and cashmere sweaters all on deck, they embodied what it meant to be ghetto fabulous. Kim had the fashion game shook, showing a plus size black girl dripped in fashions was the type of content we needed and deserved!
