The 90s are generally considered a good decade, but there was plenty of laughable from then that don[t get the laughs they deserve.  Baggy pants, tattoos, cheesy dance music, the sunglasses/backwards cap look.  One may say today pretty much still is the 90s but I don't think so, it just doesnt' feel like the 90s.  Everything seems to speak differently today even though there are some similarities on the surface.

I think it's because things changed so gradually from 1997 to 2004 that nobody really notices, whereas say 1987 and 1992 are a universe apart.

That aaid, the 90s do seem a bit dated now, particulary the first 2/3 of the decade.  It just doesn't scream "90s" the way things from the 80s scream "80s".  It just screams, "This looks a bit older".

Because it's only a few decades back..... I for one don't miss parachute pants...  ::)

Everything seems to speak differently today even though there are some similarities on the surface. I think it's because things changed so gradually from 1997 to 2004 that nobody really notices, whereas say 1987 and 1992 are a universe apart.

That aaid, the 90s do seem a bit dated now, particulary the first 2/3 of the decade. It just doesn't scream "90s" the way things from the 80s scream "80s". It just screams, "This looks a bit older".


I agree -- it also seems that someone in 1995 hated the 80's because they were "uncool", whereas someone in 2005 might only dislike something from the 90's because it's older and/or they don't remember it as much - not because of what that thing is itself.

For better or worse, fashion trends have gone alot slower from 1997-2005 than usual. Like I said, the clothes I bought in 1998 still look not at all outdated or uncool now (and I have friends who would probably let me know if they were going the way of backwards hats, LOL!).

I never thought of this even, but I wonder if it's because - like I've said - people are taking longer to seem "old" these days. So in other words, the origins of the 90's generation, in people who were, say 15 in 1992 (b. 1977) aren't yet seen as over the hill or uncool, the way things early 80's teens may've liked were by the 90's.

For instance, hair metal became uncool almost overnight, but other than the changing of trends, it was also partly because the "sex, drugs and rock & roll" lifestyle of the 80's came to a crashing halt when AIDS became an epidemic circa 1991/92 (I was about 10 then, and even though I didn't "get" as much of the s*x discussion and all, as I would a few years later, I understood the significance of it).

Point being, a 1982 teen who was in their late 20's in 1992 simply could not go out and party the way they did 10 years earlier - they had to, in a sense, settle down and start families and be responsible (well, settle down with partying at least!), so "their" stuff was automatically deemed as not cool and a new generation of grunge -- just the opposite -- had to be ushered in.

But there hasn't been anything of that calibur to happen to 90's teens to make it backlash into a 2000's culture, so "their" stuff, as well as themselves are still perceived as cool to a degree, even if in updated form today (i.e. grunge is dead, but the "post grunge" sound is still selling well).

It's late - hope some of that made sense. :)

I agree -- it also seems that someone in 1995 hated the 80's because they were "uncool", whereas someone in 2005 might only dislike something from the 90's because it's older and/or they don't remember it as much - not because of what that thing is itself.

For better or worse, fashion trends have gone alot slower from 1997-2005 than usual. Like I said, the clothes I bought in 1998 still look not at all outdated or uncool now (and I have friends who would probably let me know if they were going the way of backwards hats, LOL!).

I never thought of this even, but I wonder if it's because - like I've said - people are taking longer to seem "old" these days. So in other words, the origins of the 90's generation, in people who were, say 15 in 1992 (b. 1977) aren't yet seen as over the hill or uncool, the way things early 80's teens may've liked were by the 90's.

For instance, hair metal became uncool almost overnight, but other than the changing of trends, it was also partly because the "sex, drugs and rock & roll" lifestyle of the 80's came to a crashing halt when AIDS became an epidemic circa 1991/92 (I was about 10 then, and even though I didn't "get" as much of the s*x discussion and all, as I would a few years later, I understood the significance of it).

Point being, a 1982 teen who was in their late 20's in 1992 simply could not go out and party the way they did 10 years earlier - they had to, in a sense, settle down and start families and be responsible (well, settle down with partying at least!), so "their" stuff was automatically deemed as not cool and a new generation of grunge -- just the opposite -- had to be ushered in.

But there hasn't been anything of that calibur to happen to 90's teens to make it backlash into a 2000's culture, so "their" stuff, as well as themselves are still perceived as cool to a degree, even if in updated form today (i.e. grunge is dead, but the "post grunge" sound is still selling well).

It's late - hope some of that made sense. :)


It did :) As odd as it sounds, I think the 90s (well about fall of '91 to spring of 1997) was pretty anti-sex.  Most people seemed dressed up well then, either in dark or Preppie clothing. The late 80s and really early 90s seemed more sexually open than the 90s core years (1992-96) and of course also 1997-99. 

I don't think the 2000s are so much an update of the 90s as they are of the entire 20th century though.  The 90s are only seen most in today because they're the most recent past decade (although 1992 is 13 years ago!) early-mid 20th influnence is found in Lord of the Rings and Irobot, 60s and 70s infuence in the anti-Bush stuff and the whole "pimp thing", 80s in the neo-wave bands that have been taking rock by storm the past year, and 90s mostly in fashion and some music. 

The early 90's are ultra dated, the mid 90's are slightly dated, and there's almost nothing dated about the late 90's. I think the world has been on cruise control since 1997-1998, and no big changes. I look forward to some big and better changes by 3 years.

For instance, hair metal became uncool almost overnight, but other than the changing of trends, it was also partly because the "sex, drugs and rock & roll" lifestyle of the 80's came to a crashing halt when AIDS became an epidemic circa 1991/92 (I was about 10 then, and even though I didn't "get" as much of the s*x discussion and all, as I would a few years later, I understood the significance of it).




I agree with the '80s Hair Metal fad crashing almost overnight with the advent of Grunge, but you're off by a decade with the "sex, drugs, rock & roll" and AIDS epidemic.  The 1970s was the decade of free sex & drugs.  I'm 43 and remember the AIDS epidemic hitting in the early to mid '80s not 1992 (although it was still a concern).  Even as early as 1980, the country started going conservative with a huge crackdown on drunk driving (drinking age went up to 21...it was 18 in the '70s!) and politics, etc.  Don't be fooled by the old flashy MTV videos or footage from Metal concerts, the REAL '80s was conservative.  Getting down with whoever & getting stoned was OUT, and fear of AIDS or loosing your license or house to drunk driving was IN!  Gone was the loose free-spirited '70s.  And don't let the crack epidemic of the '80s fool you either, that only occured in the inner cities and was as remote to the average suburbanite as Mars.  Trust me, I'm old enough to remember both the '70s AND the '80s very well, those were my teen and young adult years.

The early 90's are ultra dated, the mid 90's are slightly dated, and there's almost nothing dated about the late 90's. I think the world has been on cruise control since 1997-1998, and no big changes. I look forward to some big and better changes by 3 years.


Ditto to that, Todd!  Just take a lot at the fashion and trends of circa 1997-1998 and compare it to now, nothing has changed.  Maybe there might be a little change in 2002-2003,when low-cut pants were in style, and trucker hats were the big thing :D, but no change for me.  2004, everything is going backtract.  Heck, you can wear some that was considered to be "cool","fly", and "ditty" in the late '90s and you still didn't get made fun of. :o :)  By 2009, I just totally wish that things are little bit, well, so called different instead of the same old 1999 stuff.  It is starting to get a little boring, but I can live with it.  ;)

give it a couple more years then you'll see a change i can give u some examples like me and all my friends loved the Spice Girls from 1996 to 1999 then in 2000 we were all like why did we like then and now in 2005 we can go back and say hey it was cool to like them and and something from the 90's i regeat is having a Mushroom cut i had that from 1994 to 1998 after 1998 i started the spiky look from 1998 to 2002 and some people still were the baggy jeans and such i still do i like the way they look on me and the feel much better too