“What is Love?!” – 1990’s Fashion Retrospective

Deelite had a song by the same name in the early 90’s, back when I was in the shoe biz. I was Assistant Manager of a shoes store right in the heart of downtown Vancouver on Robson Street. Needless to say, I had LOTS OF SHOES!

Every week we had a shipment of new ones coming in. Most of our shoes were Cougar, a Canadian brand that was founded in 1948 in Burlington, Ontario by Walter Sedlbauer. What started out as a Canadian shoe company has become distributed all over the world.

The store was called City Shoes, our neighbours were Benny’s Bagels, the two Starbucks kitty corner from each other. And they were both busy … But I didn’t like Starbucks coffee back then. It was too bitter… There was also a great fish & chips joint just around the corner from us on Thurlow but I can’t remember what it was called. Do any of you remember?!

The fashion in 1990, 1991 was all about platform sandals, wide legged pants that somewhat resembled bell bottoms BUT more stylish. They were using stretchy fabrics so the pants were snug fitting until below the knee. Girls were pushing their hair back with headbands and tying it up with scrunchies. Tall thigh high boots were hot. I had a pair of black suede Cougars that went up past my knees and tied in the back with ribbons. I wore those with my Bebe Mickey Mouse jeans (I still have them), black cropped crochet top & black bustier that I got from Contempo in Honolulu, Hawaii. My Dad used to live there and I would visit him during my summer breaks from school. I weighed a mere 115 – 120 lbs with long hair down to my waist. I was a hot little thing but didn’t know it! Hahahaha… I wish I had a photo of my ensemble to post.

My girlfriends and I would go to Reggae Wednesdays at Graceland, a club that was across the street from Luv Affair and another one on Beatty called Warehouse where they had metal detectors at the doorway! Those were the days of my … dare I say my age?! Nahhhh…. let’s keep you guessing.