At the spring/summer 2013 fashion weeks, a handful of top designers looked to the not-so-distant past for inspiration in an attempt to bring back the 1990s.

Grunge style has been bubbling under as a micro-trend for a few seasons now but the fact that brands such as 3.1 Phillip Lim have produced new collections full of 1990s-style grungy layering signals a big comeback.

The 1990s were my formative decade – I entered the decade aged six and came out the other side at 16 – so it is an era that I have a lot of affection for. Having grown up in the 1990s, bleached denim, plaid shirts and bovver boots will forever be stylish in my eyes. I am glad the fashion world has finally caught up.

Style and music were synonymous in the 1990s and the bands Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam were the soundtrack to my youth. It was also a decade which provided impressive female role models in music. Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss and Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon were strong, independent women whom I looked up to – and wanted to dress like.

While it might seem strange that the 1990s, the decade of anti-fashion, would go on to have an enduring influence on the mainstream fashion world, I welcome this chance to re-live my favourite decade. There is an oft-repeated fashion diktat that if you are old enough to have worn something the first time round, then you shouldn't wear it the second time it becomes fashionable.

I never expected to have to revisit the grungy style of my youth before I even hit 30, but I'm going to throw caution to the wind and give grunge another go. Now where did I put my denim cut-offs and checked shirt?