The start of the school year is always a big time in a student’s life. While they may not like school all that much, there is something special about when it comes back in the fall. And in the 90s, it seemed as though there was just an incredible number of things that you needed to have to be considered cool when school came back around. We’ve put together a list of things that everyone wanted in the 90s, but especially kids. Sit back, relax, and have some fun scrolling through this list of nostalgia. We’re sure you’ll want to buy some of the things you see!
OG IMac
In the 90s, there was a trend of making things that you could see through. They did it for TVs, radios, Gameboys, and anything you can think of. And one of those things was the iMac computer. They were a huge hit. And if you went to a friend’s house and saw this computer there, all you wanted to do was go and play on it. It was the coolest thing back then.
We can remember these things perfectly. They sold like crazy because there was such a high demand for them. We think that some of this see-through stuff should come back!
Emails
AOL, or America Online, was one of the first internet servers. They used to come on a little disc that you could insert into the computer, and then download. It was a really interesting time for internet users. But one of the best parts was being able to create new email addresses at the drop of a hat. If you didn’t like your old one, then you could just create a new one!
We’re guilty of doing this more than once. If there was a show, movie, or sports team we really liked at the time, then that’s what we changed our name to.
Frappuccino
Starbucks has always been a symbol of what’s cool. So, it should come as no surprise that in the 90s, kids would do all they could to get their hands on a bottle of Starbucks Frappuccino. It came in a glass bottle with a top that made a popping noise when you opened it. It was really good, but it was also a status symbol. The kids who drank these were seen as mature.
There were so many of these at our schools. Kids would get their parents or older siblings to buy them, and then at lunchtime, they would drink them. It was a wild time!
Teen People
Some things don’t change. Even now people look to magazines and websites for style tips. But in the 90s, before the internet was as big as it is now, magazines were all the rage. Kids would pick up tips about clothes, dating, and everything that was in style. We’re not sure how much it helped them, but it was very popular. They’d even go to a friend’s house to read magazines.
Magazines were a huge part of the 90s. Landing on the cover of one was something back then. We’re sure the young people today are still reading them but not nearly as much.
Dashooz
You can’t go anywhere now without seeing kids with chunky shoes today. And as popular as they are now, they were even more popular back in the 90s. We didn’t have a pair of these. We would have fallen trying to walk in them. But we were in the minority because these types of shoes were popular! They must have been comfortable for everyone to want a pair of them.
The girls used to have these on more than anyone. It’s a good way to make yourself a bit taller, but hopefully, you have good balance or else you’re in trouble!
Headbands
Accessories were huge in the 90s. But it seemed like hair accessories were the really big thing that people had to have. Girls had scrunchies, headbands, and all sorts of little things they could put in their hair. Sometimes they’d cover their whole head with these things. It didn’t make sense to us then, but that was the 90s. We’re sure the kids today are doing something similar with their hair.
Putting things in your hair was the hip thing to do if you wanted to stick out at school or the mall. Everyone did it to look different but ended up looking the same.
Seventeen
Hair clips, just like other hair accessories, were huge! People wanted to make their hair as crazy as they possibly could, and these clips were how they did it. They could be purchased just about anywhere, but nowhere sold nearly as many as the store Claire’s. If you asked a woman who was a teen in the 90s how many hair clips she owned back then, we’re sure that her number would be insane.
Fashion trends come and go. And something tells us that it won’t be too long before we see this trend make its way back into the world again. The 90s had some cool trends!
Teen Spirit
Teen Spirit was a type of deodorant that was marketed to kids. Unfortunately, most teenagers at the time didn’t wear enough of it! But this was a marketing idea that worked. It had a cool name, an interesting scent, and bright colors. That’s all you need to pull in teenagers to your product. We’re not sure that it lasted very long as a brand, but it was a hit while it was around.
Nirvana must have been paid for this. They would have been the ones to make this even more popular with their hit song Smells Like Teen Spirit. Do you think they ever wore it?
Lip Balms
Chapstick and lip balms were huge in the 90s. They served a real purpose, but boys, girls, men, and women wore them because of the different flavors available! You could get cherry, watermelon, bubble gum, mint, and so many more. We learned a very important lesson that just because they smelled good, it didn’t mean that they tasted good. There was a disgusting chemical taste whenever you licked your lips.
Some of these still exist today, but they are probably much better. we wouldn’t know. We’re old and use boring Chapstick now. But we remember using flavored stuff back in the 90s.
Street Wear
As a teen, good makeup cost way too much money. So, the next best thing was running to the drugstore to get something similar. You thought that no one would notice, but the thing was, everyone else was doing the same thing. It got the job done and that’s all that mattered. We’re sure that some people probably look back at this time in their life and have a good laugh about it.
Makeup in the 90s was always so exaggerated. Big black circles on the eyes, bright lipstick, and so much more. It’s a trend that never really died. People have the 90s to thank.
Bracelets
Bracelets are obviously still a thing. And they were popular before the 90s. But in the 90s, the cool thing to do was to get as many bracelets as possible, in different colors and textures, and put them on all at once. You would have bracelets running down your forearm, but that’s what was cool. We didn’t have that many bracelets, but we did wear one or two at a time.
There was nothing worse than when your favorite bracelet got snagged on something and snapped. The beads went everywhere, and you just felt so sad watching them bounce all over the place.
The Cool Headphones
Thank God headphones have come a long way. The headphones in the 90s were made by the devil. That’s the only way to explain them. And these headphones were the worst of them all. They hurt your ears to put on, but they looked cool. That’s why everyone wore them. You looked cool at the bus stop, the mall, or wherever you were wearing them. It was something that was a status symbol.
Everyone had a pair of these Sony headphones. They were so painful, but they did have pretty good sound for something so small. We hope we never see a pair of them again.
The Cool Calculator
A regular calculator would have gotten you through middle school, and probably high school as well, but you wanted the graphing calculator in the 90s. It was a cool thing to have because it was huge. It took batteries, and it made you look smart when you used it! some teachers didn’t allow it because you were able to cheat with it, but we loved ours. It helped us so much!
These things were like carrying around an actual brick. They were thick, and heavy, and took up space in your backpack. There are days when we wish we still had them now.
Day Planners
On the school lists that were sent out before the first day of class, there was always a planner listed on there. And the planner you chose meant a lot! You couldn’t carry your backpack through the halls, so your planner was what people saw. You didn’t want a bad one. You wanted one that made you look cool and made people think that you had style. We always put stickers on ours!
We went through a lot of these! They either got dirty, we lost them, or they broke and were unusable. We mostly used ours just to doodle on during class.
Glitters
Glitter was everywhere in the 90s. It was in makeup, lotions, and even on outfits. And a lot of girls in the 90s had so many different types of glitter to match their moods and their outfits! You could walk into a classroom in the 90s and see a glint of glitter on almost every girl. That’s how popular it was. You would’ve been an outcast if you didn’t use glitter in the 90s.
As fun as glitter is, it’s absolute hell to get off your skin. We give it to the girls who wore it. We know they went home and scrubbed like crazy to get it off.
Victoria Secret Me
The hallways of every high school in the 90s were full of scents from Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works. Girls would go nuts over them! And they didn’t know how to just take one spray! They would create clouds around them of the scent. It was a rough time if you were someone with a sensitive nose. We’re sure that these companies made a lot of money in the 90s.
Both companies are still alive today, and both of them are still making scents that people love! We’re sure they have some customers who have been with them since their teens!
Perfume
When it comes to teenagers and perfume, there is something about it that makes you feel like an adult. So, of course, you beg your parents to go and get you the perfume that you see everyone wearing and in the advertisements.
And in the 90s, these two scents were some of the most popular ones around. If you didn’t have these, then you were out of luck. Other scents just couldn’t compete!
Delia’s
I’m not sure there are too many young women of the 90s that didn’t know about Delia’s. it was the go-to store for anything you needed back then. And if you were looking to make an impression on your first day of school, or any day, then you were going to be making a call to Delia’s and placing your order. They helped a lot of people get the look they wanted!
Delia’s is still around today. It’s not nearly as well-known as it once was, but there are probably still young girls and women getting the things they need to complete their looks!
Girlfriends LA
Gen Z won’t believe this, but there was a time when you didn’t order things from the internet, but out of magazines. And one of the most popular magazines for teenage girls was Girlfriends magazine. You could order makeup, chunky shoes, tee shirts, pillows, and even pants. It was a big deal if you were able to get something from the magazine. Your friends were going to be jealous of you!
What a time to be alive. We should all be much happier now that we can use the internet. It makes things so much easier when it comes to ordering the things that you need.
Goodwill
A trend that will never die is that of going to Goodwill to shop for clothes. People still do it now. What’s cool about it is that not only does shopping at Goodwill allow you to find clothes for cheap, but you are also helping people when you shop there. That’s the best part! But it was a huge thing to go to the Goodwill in the 90s and find something unique and wacky.
Everyone today shops at Goodwill. There is no shame about it. it’s the cool thing to do for the most part. And you really can find some good things at the store if you’re patient.
Shopping
Back-to-school shopping was always a big deal. You wanted the coolest clothes, the coolest accessories, and the coolest shoes. But sometimes you had to make two separate trips. You made one with your friends to get the things you wanted, and then you made one with your parents to get the things they wanted for you. Those two things were very different! You had to be careful of getting caught by your parents.
You have a much different vision of yourself when it comes to clothes to wear to school. Your parents want something nice and classy; you want to branch out a bit and have some fun!
Hair Mascaras
The 90s had a lot of interesting ideas, and one of the most interesting things had to be hair mascara. This was a product that could give a person highlights whenever they wanted them. we’re not sure how effective it was, but we do know that a lot of people bought it. We weren’t part of that group. Something tells us that this one is never coming back. Maybe that’s for the best!
You run a huge risk by putting things in your hair. People are adventurous now, but nothing like they were in the 90s. This one is going to stay right where it belongs.
The Body Shop
Stoners are everywhere now. Everyone knows a few and it's not a big deal. But in the 90s, anything that had to do with pot was seen as taboo for the most part. So, if you went to the store and bought something that had hemp in it, then you were essentially a rebel. And if people knew that it had hemp in it, then it could score you a few cool points.
Everything has hemp in it now. We know that it’s a plant and not the part that gets you high. But it’s funny to think about kids in the 90s thinking this made them cool.
Pagers
Before cell phones, there were pagers. They weren’t all that cool, but they were very useful. And if you were a teen back in the 90s, you felt like you needed one. If anyone had one of these today, we’re sure that plenty of people would just stare at them and wonder what they were doing. But they could be used as a fashion statement in the 90s. They made you look sophisticated.
The only people we knew with pagers were our parents. Not too many kids our age had these. And while they could add some style points, it would have been so easy to lose them.
Tictac
Tic Tacs have been around for ages. And what’s funny about them is that they serve an actual purpose. But when it came to the orange-flavored Tic Tacs, kids, adults, and everyone in between just treated them as if they were candy. They were so good and so easy to eat. It was probably best if you bought two packs of them because there was no way you were going to save any.
These are some of the tastiest things ever. We’re not sure what’s in them, and we’re not sure we want to know, but we know that they always seemed to hit the spot!
Binaca
Binaca hurt like crazy when you used it. That’s what we remember the most about this product. And every boy in middle school and high school had it. You could find it next to the register in every grocery store. It was used in the morning, after lunch, and before talking to someone you had a crush on. We’re not sure how effective it was, but it was handy to have on you.
This one brings back a lot of memories. Sometimes you would get bored and spray this in your mouth just because. We can remember going through a few bottles of this each school year.
Facial Masks
The world is still obsessed with skincare, but in the 90s, it was the time of the masque. You could see people in shows and movies with green goop on their faces sitting on their couches. So of course, normal people did it as well. It actually helped your skin, but so many people did it because they saw it on television. We’re sure that many people are still using this same product today.
This company must have made a fortune in the 90s. Everyone we knew was using a bottle of this. If it got the job done, then we can’t see the problem with using it!
Swiss Formula
Another skincare product that was used often. It wasn’t nearly as fun as the masque, but it was very popular. This stuff felt like you were rubbing little pebbles across your face. It got the dirt off, but it felt like it was going to make you bleed. This one was something that was supposed to be once a week, but a lot of people used it much more often than that.
This brand is still around, but you won’t find us getting this product from the store. We have way too many nightmares from it. We’re good with the things we are using now.
Facial Products
You want to make a good first impression on the first day back to school, and one way to do that is to have flawless skin. These two products could help you get to that point. And during the 90s, there were hardly any products that were more used than these two. Neutrogena is still around today and is very popular. There are probably some people who have been using their products for decades.
The first day back to school is a big day and you want to look your best. Can you blame people for using these products? They worked so well for a lot of people.
Holographics
When you think about it, the 90s were kind of a psychedelic time. People were obsessed with shiny and glittery things. They were also obsessed with iridescent pencils, notebooks, backpacks, and so much more. Girls mostly had these things, but it wasn’t rare to see a boy with an iridescent pencil. We’re not sure why they were so popular, but we can remember how happy we were to use our favorite shiny pen!
It's hard to describe just how many people had iridescent things in the 90s. You couldn’t go to any school without seeing these shiny and bright pencils and bags everywhere.
Lisa Frank
Lisa Frank’s weird art made her popular in the 90s. Everything was bright, cute, and well barely functional. That’s what we remember the most about Lisa Franks’ erasers. They were supposed to work, but all they did was mess up your paper. And a lot of people didn’t even use them. they just kept them as little collectibles in their backpacks. We had a few, but some people had dozens!
It wasn’t a real 90s classroom if it wasn’t full of kids using Lisa Franks’ pens and pencils. You knew it was Lisa Franks as soon as you saw it. There was no mistaking it!
Sharpies
A big thing in the 90s was taking things that had an actual purpose, and then just using them for whatever you wanted to. One of those things was Sharpies. They were meant to draw permanently on something, but they almost became a novelty product. There were so many colors! People would use them to do their nails, color on tables, on notebooks, and just about anything else they could think of.
Our parents didn’t allow us to have Sharpies and that’s probably for the best. We can only imagine the type of mess that we would have made had we been given them!
Gelly Roll
You can’t even begin to talk about the 90s without bringing up gel pens. These were used for writing, coloring, making fake tattoos, makeup, and just about any other purpose you could think of. People were obsessed with these, and they had pencil cases full of them! They looked so cool when you wrote on paper, but a lot of teachers were strict about letting their students use them in class.
We don’t know if they still sell these, but if they do, we may have to go back and get some to have at home. These are just too good to pass up.
Clear Slip-Front Binder
Binders were a big part of the 90s. Some were used for school, but others were used for personal things. You could buy sheets to insert into them and collect baseball cards, tickets to movies and concerts, stickers, or anything else you wanted to collect. It wasn’t odd to see kids walking around with big white binders and trading things at school or the park. They were a huge part of the 90s.
Baseball cards are what a lot of kids kept in their binders, but then when Pokémon came around, that was the cool thing to have in your binder. This one brings back memories.
Customized Backpacks
The 90s were all about being your own person and being proud of who you were. If you were a weirdo, that was cool. If you were a jock, then that was cool. And one way that people showed their individuality was by decorating their backpacks with stickers and patches. On the first day of school, it wasn’t odd to see kids with backpacks with marker drawings all over them.
We're sure that parents weren’t too happy about this, but it was the cool thing to do at the time. We did it, our siblings did it, and just about everyone we knew did it!