Kate Finnigan. Photography by Daniyel Lowden. Styling by Benjamin Canares. Model, Chloe Paredes at NextPublishedJuly 2 2026Jump to comments sectionStay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Fashion myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.During a dramatic and ill-fated interrailing trip in the mid-90s (robbed blind; split up with boyfriend; didn’t meet Ethan Hawke), there was a rare moment of sophistication when my friend and I swanned into a Kookaï store in Paris and bought almost-matching floral silk slip dresses. I say silk, but they were definitely polyester. Mine was cherry red with a white flower ditsy print, a sweetheart neckline and spaghetti straps. I wore it over tiny white T-shirts with big black Caterpillar construction boots because these were the days before anyone in Britain would think of exposing a foot, even while holidaying in Europe. And that was the look then: ethereal on top, clumpy on the bottom. Louis Vuitton cotton/jersey crop top, £1,120, silk embroidered T-shirt, POA, and cotton denim trousers, £1,380. Prada leather boots, £1,430. Labour and Wait leather gloves, £28 © Daniyel LowdenMoncler Grenoble nylon jacket, £1,440, and matching shorts, £405. Ulla Johnson silk chiffon Sylvie top, £425. Miu Miu leather boots, £1,610 © Daniyel LowdenLevi’s cotton vest, £27. Loro Piana silk Summer Lotus scarf (worn around waist), £450, silk Sven trousers, £1,210, and straw Georgia hat (in hand), £765. Labour and Wait leather gloves, £28 © Daniyel Lowden“Why would you spoil a lovely dress with those big boots?” my great-auntie Lily once wailed at me. Because fashion, Auntie Lily. The contrast was the point. Generation X spoke fluent irony and the femininity of a ditsy print dress could only possibly be stomached if it was mucked up by holey cardigans and the stink of fags. Otherwise you’d have been back in the 1950s, wouldn’t you? Polo Ralph Lauren cotton dress, £645, and cotton shirt (worn around waist), £175 © Daniyel LowdenErdem jacquard cotton jacket, £1,795. Guess polyester dress, £95 © Daniyel LowdenFendi wool jumpsuit, £3,200. Loro Piana silk Valerie shirt, £1,570 © Daniyel LowdenDon’t let Love Story fool you, most young women in the ’90s weren’t an icy column of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The reality – and the ideal, come to think of it – was altogether grungier and messier. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love were the alt-prom king and queen; Marc Jacobs was fired from Perry Ellis for his unkempt SS93 show (that made his name and has never lost its appeal). These were the last years of rock bands being the dominant influence on what the kids were wearing and being a Riot Grrrl was a viable career option. And it was before laddism, that retrograde belch of an era, and all those feisty young feminists booby-trapped into wearing push-up bras and thongs. Miu Miu cotton poplin dress, £1,580, cotton piqué polo vest, £660, and cotton poplin bikini top, £360 © Daniyel LowdenCeline silk dress, £4,400, selfridges.com © Daniyel LowdenPrada silk dress £3,400, and leather boots, £1,430 © Daniyel LowdenIt’s back to that fin-de-siècle analogue age that fashion is attempting to go again with an altogether more pristine take on the ’90s floral. I walked behind a 20-something woman on her way to work recently who was wearing something like my Kookaï dress and felt a happy blast of nostalgia. I’m glad to see that look again. And while it doesn’t seem as messy now and smells of mango-scented vapes rather than Marlboro Lights, the summer is still young. Trains can yet be missed; witless fools can still leave their backpacks untethered while they sleep. Grab your ditsy print: a more authentic ’90s summer could be within grasp.Model, Chloe Paredes at Next. Casting, Piergiorgio Del Moro and Helena Balladino at DM Casting. Hair, Masayoshi Fujita at Agency Of Substance using GHD and Oribe. Make-up, Claire Urquhart at Julian Watson. Set design, Molly Marot. Photographer’s assistant, Ryan Ashley James. Stylist’s assistant, Giovanna Piergallini. Production, Town Productions