The Weekly Ten: The Fads We Miss (Or Maybe Not)

June 21, 2010 9:00 am     Posted in ClickedOut, Entertainment, HaHa  Melanie - Northeastern University g+ page

Oh the 1990s/2000s. It feels as if they were just a couple years ago. Well, I guess they were. Still, that doesn’t mean that we can’t reminisce about the things we loved and so desperately wish we were allowed to embrace today. I love my yorkie, but she is definitely no “Puppy Surprise” (sorry Emma!) and my black textured tights are, whatever, but I so very much miss my neon polka dotted stirrup legging pants that matched with… absolutely nothing!


By Melanie

So let’s run through the fads we love or love to hate and have a blast from the past. Did I miss any? Call me out in the comments and post your favorite (or least favorite) fads from your youth!

10. Tamagotchi
Did anyone else have four of these? Plus a couple Giga Pets for good measure? Between my Tamagotchis and Furbies, it was probably for the best we didn’t have a household pet. Something was always beeping or squawking or crying to be fed at any given moment of the day. No wonder they got banned from schools. Not to mention, getting your Tamagotchi confiscated was probably the equivalent to getting your alcohol confiscated by your RA. Or worse! Who was going to feed him? And clean up his poop? Not cool.

9. Body Glitter
Slow jamming to “I Want it That Way” at a middle school dance just wasn’t quite right if you weren’t bedecked in a Gap tank top, white shorts and covered in head to toe body glitter with impeccably crimped hair. Sigh. The glory days.

8. Nokia phones with Snake on them
Alright fine. I love my iPhone. We all know this. It’s all fine and dandy but some days I crave a simpler time. A time when there was no texting. When your phone only had 12 buttons, not an entire keyboard. A time when your phone was brick-like and the best game in the UNIVERSE existed: Snake. A time when all your time was spent trying to get that guy a little longer, make him get a little further… RIP bright yellow Nokia phone. I’ll daydream of you when I’m playing Plants Vs. Zombies on the iPhone. Sigh.

7. Gelly Pens
Who cares if they smeared everywhere when you wrote with them, or produced completely illegible English papers (really, you think your 83-year-old 5th grade English teacher could read neon orange writing?). These were the coolest things to have and buying stock in gelly pens was like buying stock in Google in 1999. Except instead of money, they instantly made you cooler. Come on, you know you loved to hate that girl with the huge plastic boxlike pencil case jammed to the brim with Gelly Pens. Oh wait… that girl was me. Thank you Mom for owning an art supply store during prime gel pen years!

6. Best Friends break apart necklaces
So much simpler than claiming friendships on Facebook. You had one best friend, you wore the necklace and occasionally you matched outfits on purpose as per a phone call the night before school. Pink leggings, lime green dress, pink cardigan, white Keds, pink bow and the best friend necklace!

5. Limited Too
Your source for all things neon, crop top, sparkly, bell bottomed, low cut and sure to make your dad cringe, items!

4. Lip Smackers
If only my YSL lipstick came this low budget and tasting like Dr. Pepper. I mean, really – Is there anything that rockets you right back to your childhood like the taste of Lip Smackers bubble gum? Oh my god, how cool were you with your glorified chapstick with it’s multicolored font and slight shimmer to attract all the cute boys (even though they were way too into their Pokemon to notice)? Totally. Hot.

3. Polly Pockets
First of all, I have this friend who is so tiny and blonde and all her outfits coordinate perfectly and she’s all matchy matchy and everything about her is so effing cute and miniature and pink and she always wear bows and basically she is my life size Polly Pocket. Now for my point: If it were still socially acceptable to carry Polly Pockets around, I would def have one crammed into my Marc Jacobs bag. I also would probably refrain from calling my friend “Polly Pocket” and take all my childhood toy memories out on my actual childhood toy. Where’s Polly in Toy Story 3, huh!?

2. Baby G Watches
Luckily, these now exist for grown ups! Toy Watch and Nixon have all jumped on the Plastoramic train. However, these watches definitely do not have all the sweet functions of the Baby G. Anyone remember the pixelated snowboarder who did tricks?

1. Uggs
You can tell me “they’re comfy!” all you want, but they were a fad and they are done. Time to be nostalgic about the times you walked around looking like a complete goon with your uggs, miniskirt and/or leggings, big sunglasses and North Face. IT’S OVER.

30 Comments on "The Weekly Ten: The Fads We Miss (Or Maybe Not)"

  1. Alison says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20105:20 am 

    haha in 7th grade I used gel pens as eyeliner and thought I was SO COOL!

  2. Kate says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20106:42 am 

    For my seventh birthday I got those "best friends" heart necklaces…from 3 different friends lol.

    How about those "popcorn tops" that were really tiny when you bought them but stretched out to fit everyone? Or light-up sketchers?

  3. Tricia says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20107:28 am 

    Or pogs?

    I had a whole neighborhood of Polly Pockets. Probably the reason they aren't in Toy Story 3 is because the new ones look stupid. They change clothes and are almost the size of my dollhouse dolls.

    I had a teacher who was obsessed with gel pens in sixth grade, it was hilarious.

    I owned two gigapets, both cats, and they died nearly every other day :)

  4. Lauren - University says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20107:29 am 

    Um… POGS, hello! Was there anything more fun than using a heavy thing to flip over cardboard circles? (Sidenote: my mom wouldn't buy them for me so I had to make them myself out of the cardboard that came back in my dad's shirts from the dry cleaner…. I was so deprived)

  5. Molly says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20108:01 am 

    This was so great! I loved all of the above, I completely forgot about the snowboarder on the Baby-G watch until you said that!! That was the coolest thing about the watch! And I can never think of the ninties without thinking about Pillow People (DJ Tanner had one!) and all of the great ninties shows (ex. Boy Meets World and the gorgeous Ryder Strong)!

  6. Rachel says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20108:06 am 

    Lisa Frank!

    That was mid 1990's, but it was a huge fad during my elementary school years. We used to have multiple sticker books and trade them. Holographic stickers were prime.

  7. Candace says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 201010:56 am 

    I LOVED this post….except for when you came to number one when you hated on the uggs. yes, they are ugly, yes they are unfashionable, but they are fucking awesome when its freezing in Chicago and you have to walk 30 minutes to class. So dont hate, they have a function and I do not care if they are super cute at that moment or not because all i care about is staying warm. And Northface jackets are the perfect in-between coat that is good quality and comfortable and perfect for college and nowhere else!

  8. T says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20101:11 pm 

    Minus Uggs, I totally agree.

    And what about that totally awesome game.. fortune teller or "cootie catcher?" I forget what they were called, but I spent many a years making those.

  9. Hannah says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20101:26 pm 

    I'm with Rachel on the Lisa Frank lol. My friends and I had to have Lisa Frank EVERYTHING… binders, folders, pencil cases, stickers, diaries. It was insane.

    And of course Beany Babies.

  10. Alex- University of says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20102:22 pm 

    OMG Puppy Surprise! I think mine is currently packed in my parents' attic, but I'm tempted to go dig it out. A-mazing.

  11. natty says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20102:56 pm 

    Sanrio!

    my mom would take me and my sister one day a week to pick out a fun item. i know they're still around but they were huge back in the day. everything else just sort of got blown out by hello kitty. i had a pochaco art box, keroppi lunch box, spottie dottie notepad, the list goes on…

    definitely agree with lisa frank and beanie babies. i had a ton of lisa frank folders and still have a huge collection of beanie babies, which of course are stored in the garage.

    does anyone remember those mini lockers? i had like 2 that i would keep on my desk and put "secret" things in them. ha!

  12. Name (required says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20104:10 pm 

    @Alison :HAHAHHAHAHHAHA your comment made my day!!!

  13. Amanda says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20105:09 pm 

    Sadly, I was a part of EVERY ONE of there fads. I miss my gigapet. I cried the first time it died.

  14. Kenzie says:
    Mon, 21st Jun 20106:11 pm 

    I loved POGS and everything else on the post and maybe I would just add a little Clarissa Explains it All, Slime Time Live and Are You Afraid of the Dark.

  15. Nicole says:
    Tue, 22nd Jun 20108:16 am 

    I completely agree with Candace on the Uggs/North Face – I went to school in Iowa, and then moved to Indiana. When it's cold and you have to go anywhere, Uggs are perfect for keeping your feet warm, while still looking somewhat cute. (At least they're better than what my mom wears out in the snow… glorified rainboots? No thank you.)

    And the rest of the post? Spot on! I almost want to go to the art supply store and buy some gel pens, in neon orange and hot pink of course!

  16. Elle says:
    Tue, 22nd Jun 201010:02 am 

    Ah, the good old days.

  17. Serena says:
    Wed, 30th Jun 20104:55 am 

    How can anybody forget collecting spice girl stickers from the blow pop lollipops… that was the good old days,

  18. Gurrrace says:
    Mon, 5th Jul 20104:12 am 

    Those were the days! I remember my q to nick parts “don't wanna here you” while singing with my sisters and cousins Lol I don't know how many times I forgot to feed my Tamagotchi and everybody had a Gel Pens! I remember how we use to write on each other’s hand and Polly Pocket omg she was like the coolest with her rubber clothes! Lip Smackers I had my share of flavors me and my friends sharing our smackers. BFF necklaces who would take the (best) and who would take the (friends) and felt all special LOL and it was actually wroth waking up on Saturday to watch cartoons on NIck and Disney those where the best! being in the 90's fads were fun and shows were good and you had a good time I'm so happy to be born in that era because I don't see that with my little cousins, if they only knew…

  19. katie says:
    Mon, 5th Jul 20102:59 pm 

    Uggs are still around, sorry.

  20. Alycia says:
    Thu, 8th Jul 20103:35 pm 

    I totally agree with the Beanie Babies thing!! Definitely should have been on this list instead of Uggs!… In my area we also had an "elephant pants" fad; all the girls wore these jeans with HUGE legs (not flares, although that was another one), they fit at the waist, but beyond that, they looked like we borrowed them from a very large person, and they were long enough to skim the ground so we couldn't see our feet!…. There was also the GAP sweater, Pogs, Scented markers….. and we used to paint our fingernails with white out (Moms wouldn't let us use nail polish, white out is NOT nail polish) and then COLOUR the white out nails with our Gel Pens!… Call it an "Office Depot Manicure".

  21. Amy says:
    Thu, 22nd Jul 20105:59 am 

    I agree with everything except the uggs/northface..they are still in and around. even if they weren't they are comfy and they keep you warm. screw the hollywood fashion that the world wants us to conform to and follow. If i like something then i stick with it until i, personally, think it's over.

  22. Daisy Jackson says:
    Mon, 4th Oct 201010:27 pm 

    Plants and Zombies, the best game of the year,":

  23. Alex says:
    Tue, 5th Oct 201010:13 pm 

    Man, this brings back memories, including the comments.

    I LOVED light-up shoes. Like, seriously, they blew my mind.

    How 'bout slap bracelets? Anyone?

    And I always ask people this but they rarely know what I'm talking about:

    Anyone remember Legends of the Hidden Temple?!

    I WANTED TO BE ON THAT SHOW SO BAD. haha

    Uggs are still around, and they didn't really get too popular til later, so I don't think they should make the list.

    Also, I went to see the Backstreet Boys when I was 8. I just about passed out, I was so excited. And my parents said they'd never heard a louder concert than that one… an entire arena full of screaming little girls. I can only imagine how bad that was. :P

    Did anyone else get the super-cool black paper to write on with your gel pens? Cause I did. And I thought it was the coolest stuff ever.

    Also, PASSWORD JOURNALS. Those were so difficult; I would never say the password in the right tone of voice so I could never open it… as a kid that was HORRIBLY frustrating.

    I need to stop and go to bed, I'm getting too nostalgic over here.

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