{"id":614636,"date":"2026-06-01T03:31:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T03:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/614636\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T03:31:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T03:31:22","slug":"dirty-girls-the-cult-90s-documentary-that-made-being-dirty-feel-radical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/614636\/","title":{"rendered":"Dirty Girls: The cult 90s documentary that made being dirty feel radical"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been 30 years since Michael Lucid, then a senior at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, filmed a group of his 13-year-old schoolmates known as the \u201cdirty girls\u201d on VHS. The grainy footage, which captures a group of friends \u201cnotorious for their crass behaviour and allegedly bad hygiene,\u201d is a time capsule of 1990s riot grrrl culture<\/a>, the underground feminist movement rooted in punk rock, DIY zines and feminist activism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Filmed in 1996, the footage was released in 2000 as an 18-minute documentary and later went viral in 2013 when Lucid uploaded it to YouTube<\/a>, where it now has 5.7 million views and over 19,000 comments. Shot halfway through the decade that saw the birth of Photoshop, the dirty girls\u2019 rebellion is a rejection of plastic surgery, body shaming and the monetisation of physical insecurities under capitalism. They rail against the typical 90s beauty standard of extreme thinness and supermodel minimalism epitomised by figures like Kate Moss and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. \u00a0\u201cA real dirty girl,\u201d they explain, \u201cis someone who doesn\u2019t care what\u2019s, like, the \u2018in\u2019 style for people and stuff. They\u2019ll just go about what they really feel.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the time, their fellow students at Crossroads (a private school known for celebrity alumni including Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson and Liv Tyler) mocked and sneered at them. \u201cIt\u2019s just unacceptable. They look like trash, they\u2019re wearing garbage,\u201d says one classmate. \u201cI just don\u2019t understand why that\u2019s something they strive for. You\u2019re filthy;\u00a0you\u2019re filthy!\u201d But the documentary resonated with a large audience when it hit the internet\u00a0and it has remained influential ever since.\u00a0Vice created a Dirty Girls-inspired photoshoot, clips spread through Tumblr like wildfire (\u201cthat\u2019s the girl who hasn\u2019t taken a shower since Kurt Cobain died!\u201d was a particularly popular one), and last year excerpts were featured in the Barbican\u2019s Dirty Looks: Desire and Decay in Fashion<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amber Willat \u2013 the de facto dirty girls ringleader, along with her sister Harper, who features heavily in the documentary \u2013 was initially shocked at how many people felt an affinity with the film. She credits its enduring relevance to the authenticity of both its portrayal and dissemination. \u201cRiot grrrls didn\u2019t want to be interviewed by the media. People were like, \u2018don\u2019t you want to get the message out?\u2019 The message will get out by word of mouth. Those that need to hear it will find it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

And find it they have. 25-year-old Tilda discovered the documentary this year and was inspired by its rejection of perfection. \u201cI\u2019m so violently opposed to the clean girl aesthetic. It\u2019s so artificial. It was really inspiring to see they were so comfortable with being labelled gross. I would love to channel a bit more of that.\u201d On her first watch six years ago, 28-year-old Eleri also resonated with Dirty Girls because of the non-normative beauty standards embodied by its subjects. Her preference for a lived-in look has survived the clean girl era. \u201cI hate it. I think it\u2019s just boring and too complicated. I\u2019ve got a busy life; I want to go out. I don\u2019t want to do a 12-step skincare routine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even those who encountered the film in the early 2010s still consider it just as relevant today. 36-year-old Whitney remembers being a part of a dirty girl community in 2013, when the documentary\u00a0was first uploaded to YouTube. She references her friend Maya Fuhr\u2019s photo series Garbage Girls<\/a>, which depicted the rubbish-laden bedrooms of unbothered women. She still resonates with the film, which she feels represents a central question she has navigated her entire life: \u201cWhat\u2019s feminist rebellion, what\u2019s white privilege and how do I present myself in a way that articulates my values and is true to myself?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising that the message of Dirty Girls has found such lasting power. 30 years on, the girls\u2019 rejection of trends and determination to appear purposefully unappealing feels more vital than ever. In an age of clean girls, trad wives, slicked-back buns and \u2018no-make-up make-up\u2019<\/a> intended to give the impression of natural perfection, being dirty is a direct reaction and rebellion to mainstream body image pressures. If the dirty girls were 13-year-olds today, many of their classmates would have already been using multi-step routines for years. \u2018Sephora kids<\/a>\u2019 spend an average of \u00a3124 on the products which make up these routines, despite research claiming they offer little to no benefit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In reaction to this, we\u2019ve begun to see dirt making appearances in high fashion circles, on the runway and in beauty trends<\/a>. See \u2013 Balenciaga\u2019s SS23 peat bog runway, Elena Velez\u2019s SS24 mud pit and the greasy hair of Miu Miu\u2019s SS24. For SS26, models at Dilara Findikoglu<\/a> and Di Petsa<\/a> walked with mud-smeared faces and chests, while at Lueder, models dragged clumps of soil across a dining table in upturned, spiked shoes. Recent beauty releases from Blend Bunny and Huda Beauty resemble mould spores and petri dishes, while grotesque manicures<\/a> and fragrances that smell like the end of the world, blood and gasoline<\/a>, have brought dirt and grossness into the worlds of nail art and perfumery.<\/p>\n

The idea that a dirty, messy or unkempt image is evidence of a more intensely lived life has become a trend in itself, particularly with Charli xcx\u2019s fusion of Y2K club culture and indie sleaze into the Brat era\u2019s \u201cI slept in my make-up\u201d look. Many female musicians, among them Kim Petras and\u00a0Sophia Isella, have adopted even grottier grunge-adjacent visuals. But 30 years\u2019 on from the riot grrrls of the 90s, there is an awareness that even this seemingly transgressive aesthetic is now an attempt to sell an image \u2013 one that is perhaps just as curated as the clean girls hawking perfection and wellness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow most famous people are very curated,\u201d says 26-year-old Comet, who discovered Dirty Girls in high school. A musician, she brings part of the \u201cweird, counter-cultural person I was back then\u201d into her musical persona today. She finds the broader industry is doing the opposite. \u201cNothing is genuine. When Charli xcx says \u2018I\u2019m dirty, I\u2019m a party girl\u2019, there\u2019s something she\u2019s aiming to get. The dirty girls weren\u2019t getting anything out of it.\u201d Tilda agrees: \u201cIt\u2019s still falling into the same trap of aestheticising yourself in some way. They would probably still be very nervous of being perceived as gross.\u201d<\/p>\n

With its fierce rejection of trends, challenge to social expectations, and refusal to perform femininity, Dirty Girls\u00a0continues to inspire generations of outcasts and rebels. It offers an alternative beauty standard to today\u2019s carefully curated social media landscape, and a strong message of maintaining scepticism towards mainstream culture. \u201cI have a clear awareness of marketing. It\u2019s all there to control the masses,\u201d says Willat.<\/p>\n

Now in her 40s and living in New Mexico, she is at her most content when connecting with her horses and the natural world around her. She tries to instill the same critical thinking into her daughter. \u201cI\u2019m definitely wary for the next generation. Whenever we watch TV with my daughter, I\u2019m just like, \u2018Have fun, enjoy it. But remember they\u2019re telling you what to like and how to look.\u2019\u201d It\u2019s a mindset and message she\u2019s stuck with for three decades now. As she said at the age of 13:\u00a0\u201cI can be whoever I want to be. I don\u2019t have to dress for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n