Smells Like Teen Spirit

Back in the day, I lived for grunge. I was completely head over heels for dirty, disheveled, crunchy combat boots by Doc Martin, baby doll dresses by Anna Sui and flannels by Contempo Casuals. Yes, Contempo Casuals. Hello, I was 13! Sadly though, once I entered high school and the cruel world of adolescent judgement, I traded my oversize shirts and baggy jeans for tight Paris Blues and even tighter baby polo tees. Leaving my inner Courtney Love and Manic Panic hair dye behind, I never thought I’d see either again. Cue a decade later.



This fall, Marc Jacobs will bring back the trend he pioneered some ten years ago for Perry Ellis and make people scream, “He’s gone plaid!” Fashionistas around the globe are already itching to throw down cold cash to look like they came out of a Stone Temple Pilots concert.

But this is not the same grunge as your Nirvana head-banging days- this is grown-up grunge. It’s as if the flannel generation grew up and now wants cashmere instead of polyester, ashrakan instead of fleece. Patchwork knits, thick plaids, canvas burlap dresses – all beautifully made pieces, all hobo chic…Is that PC?



Another modern indicator is volume. Some of the looks are so big, you could potentially turn your LL Bean flannel sleeping bag inside out, wear it as a coat and look fantastically current! That’s Marc Jacbos for you. If he put a garbage bag down the runway, you’d see it on Fifth Avenue a season later.

Bring on the Glady bags, I say.

Final Word: Need inspiration other than from your Junior High Yearbook? Modern day muse Lou Doillon emanates grunge chic, combing teen carelessness with a Parisian je ne sais quoi. (See above.)