The idea of romanticizing the past is nothing new. Pretty much every generation has done it. “Back in my day, a chocolate bar cost only a nickel!” Or, “Kids used to actually hang out with one another, not just stare at screens!” But the way that the world changed between the 1990s and 2000s was so incredibly drastic that many of us can’t help but look back on the “good old days.”
When it comes to what made the ’90s in particular so special, many people say that it had the perfect amount of technology in our lives. You could access the internet, play video games, and use a cell phone if you wanted to. But these devices didn’t rule our lives. We weren’t expected to be connected at all times; we had the freedom to decide when we wanted to be online and when we didn’t.
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There’s also no question that the media in the 1990s was top-tier. If you were a child during that decade, you had the chance to see classics like Toy Story, The Lion King, and Home Alone in theatres. If you were an adult, you could have seen Titanic, Forrest Gump, or The Matrix on a date. There are plenty of movies from this decade that are still extremely popular today, and they’ll probably never be forgotten.
Meanwhile, we all know that the music from this decade was iconic too. If you were an angsty teen, you probably couldn’t get enough of Nirvana, no matter how many times your parents yelled at you to turn the music down. And if you were into pop, you had the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, and Mariah Carey to jam out to. No matter what you were into, there was room for all genres in the ’90s.
The fashion from the 1990s was pretty spectacular too. Much like the music scene, there were plenty of different styles that were popular. One group of people that influenced fashion trends was supermodels. During this decade, these women were no longer just models, but celebrities as well. It was not just about what they wore on runways anymore, but fans were also interested in what they wore in real life. Their t-shirts, jeans, sandals, etc., inspired audiences to go seek out the same looks.
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On the other end of the spectrum was the grunge aesthetic. Flannel shirts tied around the waist, vintage tees, Dr. Martens boots, and baggy jeans were extremely popular in the 1990s as well. This look wasn’t simply an aesthetic; it often came with a specific attitude and outlook on life. And it resonated with fans, particularly teenage fans, of bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam.
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The women of the hip-hop scene also had a huge hand in shaping the fashion of the 1990s. TLC and Destiny’s Child always showed up to public events looking their absolute best, and the fans took notice. Aaliyah had an iconic ad campaign with Tommy Hilfiger, popularizing their jeans alongside tube tops. And in 1997, Kimora Lee Simmons launched her apparel brand Baby Phat, which allowed fans to embrace the lifestyle they admired.
As far as why people are so obsessed with the 1990s right now, Ashley Fike at Vice says it’s because so many people miss what the decade represents: “a world that felt slower, more analog, less digital.”
“The 90s now sit in people’s minds as one of the last eras that felt private, physical, and not yet fully swallowed by the internet,” Fike writes. While people feel frustrated with the current state of the world and anxious about the future, it can be comforting to look back on the past and bond with others about how wonderful it was (even if it wasn’t that great at the time).
