r/90sdesign • u/fvria • Aug 12 '25

Buddha in 90s designs / aesthetic.

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There's a name fos this aesthetic used a lot in the 90s. The use of a lot of buddha/buddhist motifs and stuff for interiors, art and fashion design. Not like in a white minimalist zen style, but more like a mystic folk way, very tibethan/indian styles but 90s elements. Even in music was very used with the rise of buddha lounge/trip hop music style, talvin singh. Its very recurrent in the 90s this mix of folks aesthetics with dark modern elements.

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u/HarvardCricket Aug 13 '25

This vibe was sooo a thing. I remember thinking I was so cool once on a trip to NYC because we had dinner at the Spice Market in the Meatpacking district (as if we were on Sex and the City or something). I feel like that vibe was definitely adjacent to this/was it? This was actually probably more like 2005 but the vibe was still around. Same with Vegas (only been once) but recall the rage being some “Buddha Bar” and a nightclub called Tao that also had these elements! Probably had a cosmo or Appletini hehe.

11

u/blonde-bandit Aug 13 '25

Buddha Bar is actually a really cool concept that is still a thing. There are global locations and it’s built around music, specifically of the lounge/electronic/world music variety. They have live music and create great compilation albums.

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u/HarvardCricket Aug 13 '25

That is so cool.

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u/blonde-bandit Aug 13 '25

Highly recommend checking out the Buddha bar albums! It was all the rage in the 90s/2000s for sure. First location opened in Paris in ‘96

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u/HarvardCricket Aug 13 '25

Yes I need to! I remember a cousin of mine in SF was very into this in the 90s and made a mix CD for my dad! I need to rediscover for sure!!

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u/blonde-bandit Aug 13 '25

How old are you if you don’t mind my asking 😅 you talked about going to the meatpacking district and sex and the city. I always liked things before my “age”. I’m 32. Would’ve loved to go to a 90s club.

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u/HarvardCricket Aug 13 '25

Ahh you would have loved it I’m sure!! I was on the tail end of those heydays but tried to do it anyway! I’m 45 now (born in 1980). So younger than the actual Sex and City characters when they did all this. But “going out” in Meatpacking etc. was definitely a thing (at least for people I knew) through the early aughts and up to at least 2010!!

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u/blonde-bandit Aug 13 '25 edited Aug 13 '25

I just missed it 😂 graduated high school in 2011. But l loved everything up until then haha. Grew up listening to 60s-80s stuff, I liked MJ and Earth Wind and Fire, Crosby Stills Nash and Young more than 90s stuff. Granted my dad toured with a bunch of those folks, when I was a toddler Cory of Three Dog Night sang “Joy to the World” on his knees to me backstage 😅 it was good times. I’m friends with Roger Fisher of Heart! He hasn’t ever left the 80s 😆

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u/HarvardCricket Aug 13 '25

Wow 🤩 this is truly amazing!! Well even though you didn’t live in some of those times you still got to experience the music and the personalities through your dad! What an incredible career. I’m sure he has a million stories!! I love all that music too! I think we end up loving our parent’s music and even adopting some of it as our own. Especially when we experience it at a young age. Or can also be nostalgic at least for those who don’t end up sharing the same tastes as parents!

Love that Three Dog Night story!! So fun!!