Why Sabrina Spellman Was The Ultimate Teen Style Icon

If you're a child of the '90s, you were probably obsessed with one of the following shows: Sister Sister, Moesha, The Amanda Show ('Amanda please!') and, last but definitely not least, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, all imports from America (thanks Nickelodeon!) that made high school life look a lot more interesting than my educational experience at the time (single sex and very much uniformed).

Sabrina the Teenage Witch - I confess, my number one along with Sister Sister - is celebrating its 25th anniversary, news that is enough to send every millennial straight down memory lane to that turreted house where the airing cupboard leads to 'The Other Realm'. I was always jealous of how Sabrina Spellman, played by Melissa Joan Hart, could change her outfits and curl her hair by pointing her finger, particularly as she had an incredible wardrobe, the kind that today’s teenagers could spend a lifetime searching for on Depop.

This, of course, is because the show charts such a celebrated age in fashion - the late ‘90s and early ‘00s - which has become an inspirational goldmine for designers and the high street. Who remembers the leather coats (worn with flared jeans and choker necklaces), the mesh tops, the claw clips and the slip dresses? They’ve all made a comeback over the past few years - Bella Hadid’s hair is always twisted in a plastic clasp; Dua Lipa loves her leather outerwear - because of this nostalgic obsession we seem to have with the year 2003 (more on that phenomenon here).

The only plot point that didn’t ring true was the fact that Libby Chessler, our hero’s arch nemesis who, thanks to her status as head cheerleader, was also the de facto school bully, used to constantly say ‘eww’ around Sabrina. How anyone could have looked at that leather coat and used that word instead of ‘wow’, has always been mystifying to me.