Nineties Nostalgia

The past year, I've come along many 'back to the nineties' signals. So-called 90s Kids are showing their affection for their birth decade by wearing 90s fashion, throwing 90s themed parties and quoting 90s shows like Friends. They keep on talking about their favourites from the 90s and are not afraid to show their affection on websites like Tumblr.Also there's a huge amount of websites who did a nineties nostalgia post, talking about how amazing the 90s were and what they are missing most about the nineties, including the music, fashion, television shows, toys and candy from this decade. Take a random look at Buzzfeed and you'll find a list about 90s events, like this post. Also websites like the Dutch Upcoming website and Popsugar like making lists about the perks of the nineties. 

(Left photo by Tokyofashion.com, right image by Shopjeen.com)

Beside all these websites making lists containing basically everything 90s inspired, I've come along several other signals. Last summer 90s fashion had its revival. Teenage girls were wearing denim, jelly sandals, crop tops, tattoo chokers, tie dye shirts and stonewashed jeans. Youtube is filled with 90s hair style tutorials, along with DIY tattoo chokers and 90s fashion lookbooks. On webshops like Shopjeen.com you can shops 90s inspired clothing and accessoires, for example tattoo chokers with Pokémon charms or cheeky rinestones necklaces.

(Still from the game "Aladdin")

In early January 2015, more than 2400 MS-DOS games that we used to play on oldschools Nintendo consoles and personal computers, were made availabale to play online via the Internet Archive. The internet exploded! People who used to play these games when growing up, were the happiest persons alive and absolutely loved the fact that they could play those beloved games again. The games, all with low pixel quality, were embraced again.

Last Thursday afternoon, a trending hashtag on Twitter was #ExplainThe90sIn4Words, where people (obviously) posted their 90s memories in just four words, mostly with pictures added like the one below. People from all around the world explained their 90s memory in 4 words, which lead to hilarious Tweets.

I NEED MORE BATTERIES #ExplainThe90sIn4Words pic.twitter.com/6YoE3eQfVu
— Slugger D. Maxman (@SluggerMaxman) 21 januari 2015

The '90s: The Last Great Decade? is a short series about events that shaped the 90s the way we look at it today. In several episodes, it revisits the decade and shows us the ups and downs of these ten years. How does generation X looks back at this decade? And what do these years mean to the young generation Y, the youngsters that were born and raised in the 90s? A very interesting and complete overview. You should check out the website as well, since other very interesting articles can be found there (For example: 12 Famous Firsts From the 1990s)

Okay okay, we get it: nineties nostalgia is a thing. I could go on and add hundreds of signals more. People love the 90s and everything that happened in that decade. But why? I believe there are several reasons. First, it was the decade of opportunity. The welfare of the people was stable and it was the World Wide Web opened its doors for society. Suddenly, everyone was able to look everything up and share their opinion on the web. Software development for computers and computer related devices (such as game consoles) offered a way to escape everyday life. Young people were told that the sky was the limit; they could become everything and everyone they wanted to. It was a decade where everything was possible. Children would get spoiled with Christmas gifts and learned about the world as a happy place. Ofcourse, tragedies occured in this decade as well, but it's the positive atmosphere that sticks in one's memory.

Second, it feels like everything in the 90s was of excellent quality. Not only products like telephones (remember Nokia?) and dish washers, but also food and toys. Everything was designed to last. If you bought a vacuum cleaner, you believed it was a purchase for life; that vacuum cleaner would never leave your side again and would work until you'd die. 

I believe that people nowadays miss these awesome 90s qualities. They compare their wonderful 90s life with nowadays and it makes them happy to relive their memories. That's why they keep on reminding themselfes and everyone else on how amazing the 90s were. Let's get back to that magical world filled with opportunities and quality!