12 Reasons Why Winona Ryder Ruled ’90s Fashion

From ribbon chokers to slip dresses, ’90s fashion trends are everywhere these days, influencing designers on the runway (Alexander Wang, Rosie Assoulin to name a couple) and girls-of-the-moment alike. Kendall Jenner, Hailey Balwin, and Gig Hadid—who were barely toddling around the nursery when Marc Jacobs catapulted grunge into the forefront of fashion and Helmut Lang was purveying some of the best of 90s minimalism— have totally embraced the decade and put their own spins on it.

So as we continue to immerse ourselves in the best of the era’s fashion (we’ll leave the slap bracelets, neon everything, and platform flip-flops in the past where they belong), we look back the canon that is Winona Ryder’s ’90s style.

A photo posted by Winona Ryder (@winonaryderforever) on Jun 18, 2013 at 11:02pm PDT

Ryder is casual cool in Reality Bites

*From her early teenage appearances on the red carpet and hopping around town in casual looks (mind you, in these days stars didn’t have stylists devising their everyday, on-a-coffee-run looks), Ryder always pushed the envelope with fashion and owned it. We watched the actress grow up through fashion, starting off with quirky accessories and cropped trousers for daywear, to sleek minimalist pantsuits from Helmut Lang and Calvin Klein. On the red carpet, she evolved from edgy grunge girl in velvet slip dresses to an Old Hollywood-style screen siren in beaded vintage gowns from the ’30s and ’40s. And it all feels so fresh right now. *

So get inspired by Ryder’s best ’90s looks and see why she ruled the decade—with cameos from Johnny Depp and Claire Danes. (Because, of course.)

Experimenting with grunge in the form of a velvet slippers in deep amethyst in 1993, with then-boyfriend Dave Pirner from Soul Asylum. Note the ribbon choker worn with aplomb.

Wearing trousers and Chucks to our great envy in 1990.

Ryder is giving us Annie Hall 2.0 vibes at the airport in 1990. The socks and oxfords, the dinosaur valise, this outfit is everything.

The It Couple pull off two eternally cool looks in 1990.

Ryder wore vintage to major events before more starlets did—and she did it well. Here she is at the Oscars in 1996.

Squad goals: Ryder in a vintage black gown poses with fellow ’90s icon Claire Danes in Prada.

Channeling Marilyn Monroe in pink satin at the American Film Institute Gala in 1996.

The fit-and-flare lace dress she wore in 1997 would have made Audrey Hepburn proud.

Moving onto the decade’s minimalism movement, Ryder donned a mock turtleneck sweater and leather A-line skirt for a movie premiere.

At the 1997 Oscars in a beaded black vintage dress.

Wearing a sweet blue satin dress by her friend Marc Jacobs.

Modern-meets-classic glam in a beaded boudoir dress.

All this Winona love came full circle, when Marc Jacobs announced Ryder as the face of its new beauty campaign in December.