73 Posts That Prove The ’90s Really Were A Completely Different World (New Pics)

And perhaps this helps explain our own love story with the ’90s. It’s less about the actual decade and its objects (however intriguing) than what they represent—and the feelings they evoke. After all, you don’t even have to have been alive in the ’90s to feel the pull. As Daisy Dunn wrote in 2025 for The Spectator, “Members of Gen Z who have known only the colourless, anodyne first years of the new millennium speak of the Nineties in mystical tones.”

That’s because nostalgia isn’t necessarily about wanting to return to the past. A 2020 review published in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that reminiscing about meaningful times can enhance feelings of social connectedness, optimism and well-being. In other words, looking back can actually help us feel better in the present and even give us a more positive outlook on the future.

And maybe that’s why we keep coming back to the ’90s. We might not genuinely miss dial-up, corded phones or even our beloved Tamagotchis. But they can transport us to a particular time, remind us of who we were, or evoke a version of everyday life that feels comforting in hindsight. For some, that means remembering the decade firsthand. For others, it means imagining it through the music, fashion, movies and memes that came from it.