The Era of ‘Heroin Chic’ Is Over. Thank God.
I grew up in the 2000s. Back then, the style and trends of the 90s were still very much in vogue. The charts were still dominated by 1990s artists and the new decade was yet to find its feet in terms of pop culture.
Like most people my age (I’m 25, by the way), we look back at these times with rose-tinted fondness. For one, cartoons were in their golden age. Life was simple, and the world was brand new.
But for every gem the 1990s produced in music, film, TV sitcoms, and literature, there were a few stinkers thrown in there too. Frosted tips. Platform sandals. Need I say more?
Another popular look was the ‘’heroin chic’’ look — something I remember very well from the advertisement billboards and TV adverts of the day.
For those who don’t know, the heroin chic look was characterized by sunken eyes, greasy hair, pale skin, and an undernourished appearance. Kate Moss, who was a major star when I was a kid, was pretty much the epitome of this look.
Heroin was everywhere in the 1990s. Grunge music normalized it, novels described it, and films (such as Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction, and The Basketball Diaries) put it up on the screen.
The ‘ideal’ beauty standard we were fed was one of emication and tiredness, be it a result of the drug’s glamourization or simply a reaction to the ‘fit’ culture of the 1980s.
It was also ‘cool’ for women to shun weightlifting. If you could teleport back to the late 90s or early 2000s and ask a young, trendy woman her opinion on getting strong, you’d probably hear the following sentence:
I don’t want to look bulky!
Fitness was in a precarious situation in the 90s. Bodybuilding had come and gone in a flash and advertisers were hellbent on pushing ultra-skinny looks for both women and men (this was definitely the post-Arnold generation for dudes).
The death of famed fashion photographer Davide Sorrenti, whose photoshoots showcased rake-thin, tired-looking underwear models, brought an end to the look somewhat, but it remained prevalent in pop culture for years after.
Women Are Embracing Being Strong Again
Whilst social media has a lot to answer for, one thing it has done is bring a new fitness culture to the forefront. It’s normalized, and welcomed, strength training to millions of people, and seeing women embracing a healthier, more robust look.
I’m not saying social media is perfect. Of course, it’s not. Like the billboard ads before it, it’s guilty of promoting unsustainable and unrealistic body compositions and impacting millions of impressionable minds. It’s full of snake oil salesmen who claim that their ‘health supplements’ are the missing link between you and your ideal body. Believe me, I’ve seen, and been victim to, the dark side of social media plenty of times.
I think it’s great that women are no longer apprehensive about strength training. What’s even better is that the waifish, emaciated look of the 90s and early 2000s has long gone. Though we still have great strides to make, let’s celebrate the fact that the era of heroin chic is, finally, DOA.
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