My late 90’s were spent finishing college and graduate school. I was never so relieved to see a decade end. Here are some of my recollections about the late 90’s. [Volume 1 covering the early 90's is located here.]
TV- My tv watching decreased dramatically in the late 90’s due to a lack of cable tv, but I remember enjoying a few shows if I touched the antenna with one finger and held the other arm out from my side. The shows I occassionally watched that didn’t last long were Veronica’s Closet, Townies, and Jesse.
Style- I remember chunky shoes, scrunchies and the Rachel Haircut being popular. I secretly still have a scrunchie or two. I know they’re not in style anymore, but they’re very handy for work-outs.
My personal style vault- In 1996, I appear to have had an affinity for dark lipstick, dark purple nail polish, and high-waisted Levi jeans. In 1998, I apparently liked even higher-waisted jeans. In 1999, I owned several pair of horrendous overalls (and a very bad hairstyle).
Music- Once again, I daren’t even try to cover the depth of 90’s music in this post, but some of the artists that waned in popularity after the 90’s include Hootie & the Blowfish (okay, I still like them a lot), Ace of Base and Hanson. Mmmmm Bop.
My personal favorites from the late 90’s were Faith Hill’s Faith, Tim McGraw’s Everywhere, and the Dixie Chicks’ Wide Open Spaces albums. They’re still amongst my favorite albums.
Toys- Beanie Babies and Furbies were the big thing back then. I had a beanie pug…my real pug chewed the heart label off of “Pugsley”. Floam was also popular.
Movies- Some of my favorite 90’s flicks included Sixth Sense, American Beauty and Titanic. I had no clue where Sixth Sense was going, but I had my suspicisions about Titanic.
Talk shows- This was Rosie O’Donnell when she used phrases like “cutey patooty” and “sweetie petitie”, discussed the hair on her chin, and fawned over Tom Cruise. The particular shot below is the episode when she confronted Tom Selleck about gun laws. I stopped watching it then because I have an aversion to conflict. Donny and Marie and Howie Mandel had talk shows too back then, but I couldn’t find any pre-Deal or No Deal shots of Howie.
Misc.- Does anybody remember Susan Powter? I think I remember her saying that you could eat a million baked potatoes and not gain any weight. I have never seen an episode of Ally McBeal, but I remember the dancing babies and the biological clock they represented. Beavis & Butthead- fire, fire.
Current Events- There are two tragic events in my lifetime that I remember exactly where I was when I heard about them- the explosion of the Challenger and Princess Di’s death. Other tragedies from the late 90’s included the Oklahoma City bombing inflicted by Timothy McVeigh and the Columbine School shootings.
I can also vividly remember watching the O.J. car chase at home with my parents while on a college break. Jon Benet Ramsey’s murder also received a lot of media attention, as did the Clinton-Lewinsky situation.
If you find yourself saying, “I need even more 90’s,” please check out Person(Also Known as Mommy)’s recent 90’s post!
I’m willing to take hammer pants confessions, or any other 90’s confessions you may have, at this time.
12 Comments
April 6, 2008 at 7:13 pm
How funny, I was just speaking to Glassowater about tragic events and I, too, can remember exactly where I was when the Challenger exploded and when Princess Di was killed. As for all other tragedies…hmmm, I don’t know where I was or what I was doing.
I was in Beanie Baby Hell in the late 90’s. I was working in retail and when those suckers would arrive on the UPS truck we had hoards of whacko women trying to beat our door down to get their hands on them. Sheesh, we even got on the local news when our Princess Diana beanie baby was stolen from the display case. Egad! Such silliness.
I bet the UPS driver feared for his life!
April 6, 2008 at 9:10 pm
hahaha, I love how your “scrunchies group shot” included the “satin-like” ones, I have (no had) so many of those!
And I love you in your Levi’s high-waisters; 90% of chicks can’t rock that, but you pulled it off!!
PS: good movie choices…I’m a big Notting Hill gal…oh and While You Were Sleeping, haha, I’m lame!
Thank you
I must be lame too, because I loved those movies (”I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy…”).
April 7, 2008 at 12:59 am
Ha ha ha-this was a great post! Those pictures of you were VERY authentic 90s. I am not so brave. Thanks for linking me though
Thank you oh so much for posting 90’s dance demonstration videos!
April 7, 2008 at 8:42 am
Your remark about the Titanic almost got orange yoplait to come out of my nose.
I was dragged by my boyfriend at the time to see the movie (yes, the boyfriend wanted to go and I didn’t) and I will forever remember the two girls behind me crying and saying, “I can’t believe it sunk!” If I wasn’t so busy hiding from the embarrassment of a crying boyfriend, I would have turned around and “REALLY?!”‘d them.
However, I will fess up to crying during Romeo & Juliet, despite my intense dislike for Leonardo DiCaprio and knowledge of what was going to happen. Come to think of it, R&J may have been in the early ‘oughts.
I owned many pairs of parachute pants, actually complete matching outfits (patterned pants with a coordinating top), of which my mom and I would borrow from each other; and a bunch of those $10 silk shirts from G&G/Rave.
I owed many pairs of coin earrings and one of those shirts with the Loony Tunes on the front and all their butts on the back.
I do believe that was the shirt that put me into my deep-routed must-not-be-able-to-tell-the-decade-by-hairstyle-or-clothing.
Silk shirts! I had a very horrible red silk shirt. I couldn’t find a good image anywhere of those mass-produced nightmares. I had forgotten completely about the Loony Tunes shirts!
April 7, 2008 at 9:13 am
[...] what my to write as a new story; seeing as writing makes me feel better, not to mention smrt [sic]. One of the pages I subscribe to has a post about what happened in the ’90s… and I’m thinking to myself [...]
April 7, 2008 at 9:36 am
Oh God, Furbies. I had a buddy who was rooming with a professional magician in the late 90’s and this guy had de-furred Furbies all over the house. Scariest thing I ever did see.
Great photos, by the way!
That is freaky beyond what freakishness should be allowed. Thank you!
April 7, 2008 at 9:37 am
I dressed as Monica Lewinsky for Halloween at work one year:
April 7, 2008 at 9:37 am
Crap. Link didn’t work.. How about this:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/85/236092936_6948bf6667_o.jpg
That picture is wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing!!
April 7, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Another awesome list! My son still laughs at me because I love Hootie. That and being stuck in a 90’s wardrobe time warp.
Making fun of Hootie? For that, you should cut your match-making services in half!
April 7, 2008 at 9:44 pm
I still love that Dixie Chick’s CD too, and I was thinking about Susan Powter just the other day.
OMG, those silk shirts. I think I had a dozen of them.
Was hypercolor 90’s?
Yes, hypercolor was the 90’s. I didn’t have any hypercolor clothing, but I had a hypercolor cup from a DQ kids meal….always great fun when filled with ice for the first time, or removed from the dishwasher.
April 8, 2008 at 3:01 pm
For me, the 90’s were Dickensian: they were the best of times, they were the worst of times. I was involved with the wrong man from mid point ‘96 through 2000. Nothing can sully a decent decade faster than being with an asshole and I became one with him.
I liked you photo trip down memory lane. I’m older than you, I was in my 30’s throughout the 90’s, so our particular memories will vary somewhat, but all in all, the 90’s were an educational time. As in, I learned how to destroy COPIOUS amounts of braincells and have a damned good time doing it.
Like your blog.
LK
The late 90’s must have been a bad time for relationships. I have taken a very mature approach to my relationship history by pretending it never existed….kind of like the opposite of having an imaginary friend.
If you are going to destroy some braincells, please let it be fun
Thanks for stopping by…I’m going to give your Y Mas Preguntas a shot…just need a bit to think.
April 9, 2008 at 6:49 am
On the day of the Columbine shooting, I was defending my master’s thesis. I had moved since I stopped taking classes, so I had to travel back for the defense. I defended, passed, had a beer with my advisor and another member of my committee that I was close to, and went back to the hotel with my wife to get ready and go out to celebrate – turned on the TV to check the weather and there it was. Hard to forget.
The first half of Titanic is like a bad Lifetime movie. The writing in particular is HORRIFIC. But everything after they sight the iceberg is actually quite good, I think. And the final scene really gets me all verklempt, too.
Don’t forget the original run of Ren & Stimpy. It was part of my college career. Saturday nights: start drinking around 8pm. Watch end of college football games (if during season). Play music and/or guitar until 9. Ren & Stimpy on at 9, watch until 9:30. Continue playing music or play Tecmo Bowl or F15: Strike Eagle III until SNL comes on. Possibly start game of Risk or Monopoly (played as a drinking game, drink when you lose men/pay money). Finish last drink, go to bed. Good times.
I’ve got the backbone of an 80s music blog written out – I may not be able to get it done during my extended hell-week, but by the end of the month I’ll get it posted. Yup yup. After the 80s music blog, I’ll see about working up a 90s music one.
Ren and Stimpy!
I agree about Titanic…the scene that got me the most is when the people were locked in the bottom of the boat and they showed a mother putting her children to bed calmly knowing they were going to die.
Very interesting to turn Risk into a drinking game. Thanks for sharing your 90’s memories, and I look forward to reading your music blogs.