The Best and Worst of the 90s

Anna Starnes
Alpha Chi Omega

I love remembering the things I miss from the '90s. There were also some crazy fads that I’m glad stayed in that decade. Here is a short list of the best and worst things from the '90s. Happy reminiscing!

The Worst of the '90s

Choker necklaces and slap bracelets: There was nothing pretty about chokers. Who wants to wear a tight piece of rope wrapped around their neck? I did have a nice collection of slap bracelets courtesy of gumball machines. They always came in the most atrocious prints like snakeskin and sparkly zebra. Can you imagine the merchandise at Claire’s in the '90s? Chokers and slap bracelets probably covered the walls.

Furbys: I will be the first to tell you I loved my Furby, but they really were the creepiest toy ever invented. I remember my Furby would randomly turn on even when I wasn’t playing with it. I was traumatized when my sister accidently reset my Furby. It completely changed its personality and only spoke in made-up words!

Overalls: This unfortunate trend flattered no one.  The wearer of overalls looks perpetually 12 and has the figure of a square. Overalls now serve only one purpose: to be paired with camouflage and worn ironically to themed cocktails.

Weird board games: There were a lot of strange games for kids in this decade. Remember Mystery Date? The premise of the game was to figure out which boy was your date by calling different boys on a plastic cell phone. The boys rocked every unfortunate '90s hairstyle and had names like Shane. Between this game, Pretty Pretty Princess and Mall Madness, '90s games taught girls to be obsessed with boys, jewelry and shopping. They were not the most educational to say the least

Best of the '90s

Boy Bands: Long before the argument of Team Edward and Team Jacob, there was Team Backstreet Boys and Team *NSYNC. Everyone chose their boy band carefully because this was the kind of thing that broke up friendships. I was a Backstreet Boys girl myself, although I did have a thing for Justin Timberlake. I must confess that you can still find me listening to their music on occasion because I apparently have very poor taste in music. I am not sure why parents let their 7-year-olds listen to Backstreet Boy songs with titles like "If You Want it to be Good Girl (Get Yourself a Bad Boy)," but all of my friends were obsessed.

Power Rangers: Even as a girly girl, I loved the Power Rangers. I remember playing Power Rangers in preschool with my friends. As long as I could be the pink one I was happy. I do not know why the Power Rangers were so appealing, but a new version is still captivating kids on television.

Lisa Frank: Every little girl was obsessed with Lisa Frank. Her colorful designs of pandas, dolphins, dogs and unicorns covered everyone’s notebook and book bag. Sparkles and rainbows were splattered all over every surface; basically a little girl’s dream. Lisa Frank was the Lilly Pulitzer for the '90s kid.

Boy Meets World: This was the quintessential '90s television show. Nothing ever really happened on this show, but everyone wanted to have a relationship like Cory and Topanga.  Mr. Feeny was also the coolest teacher ever. It was funny how we never questioned that Feeny worked at every school they attended and that Topanga was actually someone’s name. Also, there was some great '90s grunge fashion in those episodes.