How to Relive the 1990s

Co-authored by Susan Kim

Last Updated: December 24, 2022 References

The 1990s were known for the beginning of modern consumer technology. The 1990s marked the end of the decades-long Cold War, and the Soviet Union dissolved into multiple Slavic countries like Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, and Belarus. The 90s were also known for increasing multiculturalism since people of all different races, religions, and genders were beginning to be widely accepted. Many subcultures were also popular during this decade, like alternative rock and grunge. The 1990s is considered to be a very nostalgic decade, especially for millennials. You will learn how to relive the 90s in this article. So, take a chill pill if you get too excited, and let's start!

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Dressing Like Someone from the 1990s

1
Look for 1990s celebrities. 1990s celebrities wear 1990s fashion, so looking for them on the web will make your 1990s look more accurate.
- Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were young in the 1990s, but they still wore 1990s fashion.
- Diana, Princess of Wales had many fashionable looks in the 1990s.
- Spice Girls is a band that targets young females. They had many iconic looks in the 90s.
- The Backstreet Boys is an American vocal group. They debuted in the 1990s and wore 90s fashion.
2
Wear a T-shirt. T-shirts became popular in the 90s because they were comfortable and casual. Bright, neon statement T-shirts were popular in the 1990s. ^{[1]
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- You could also put on a graphic T-shirt. Bright-colored shirts were a trend in the 1990s. Light blue, green, red, and yellow shirts were brighter and less conservative than shirts from decades before.
- Put on some baggy jeans. These pair well with T-shirts, especially tight-fitting ones.
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3
Wear a baseball jersey. These were decorated with baseball caps and other athletic accessories. Wear a jersey that says, "BULLS", "MARLINS", "BAD BOY", or "YANKEES" on it.
- Wear shorts or jeans with this jersey.
4
Wear an Aloha shirt. These were popular during the mid-1990s when the mod culture was revived from the 60s. Many people wore these shirts, regardless of gender.
- Wear shorts along with an Aloha shirt.
- You could also wear ripped jeans with this shirt.
5
Wear a spaghetti strap dress. These simple, yet cool dresses were worn by celebrities like Kate Moss in the 90s. This article will show you how to add accessories to a strapless dress.
- You can wear it without clothing underneath, or you could wear a regular shirt under the strap dress.
6
Put on striped sweaters during cold weather. Multiple celebrities wore this. During the autumn and winter months, people in the 1990s wore striped sweaters. They had stripes of varying colors and widths.
- Wear jeans along with striped sweaters.
7
Put on a tank top or a crop top. You can wear these along with jeans, cargo pants, or bike shorts. Crop tops were worn when people were more daring. They showed more of their skin. Tank tops were considered casual clothing that people wore not only when exercising. ^{[2]
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- Wear cargo pants with a crop top. People loved cargo pants made by brands like Balenciaga. Baggy cargo pants were a trend of the 1990s and 2000s. Learn how to style cargo pants here.
- Wear overalls. Overalls were popular in the 1990s when clothing became simple and casual. This article will show you how to style overalls.
- Wear ripped jeans. These were popular with young teens and tweens in the last decade of the 20th century. You can learn how to style jeans here. If you don't have ripped jeans check out this article to make your own ripped jeans!
- Put on bike shorts. Bike shorts were worn during exercise and casual events. Many females wore babydoll dresses along with bike shorts to look cute. Babydoll dresses are small, loose, flowing dresses.
- Wear sweatpants. These are comfortable pants worn during exercise and casual events.
- Matching sets of clothes are always a great throwback to the 90s.
8
Wear shoes that were popularly worn in the 1990s. The 1990s was a decade of casual wear, and multiple types of shoes were worn during the decade. ^{[3]
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- Put on Converse sneakers. These were part of the casual look.
- Wear athletic sneakers. People in the 90s wore sneakers made by brands such as Adidas and Nike.
- Wear boat shoes.
- Wear Doc Martens or Timberland boots.
- Wear flats. These were part of the cute schoolgirl look, where females put their hair up in a ponytail, wore a crop top, wore a miniskirt (or a plaid skirt), wore knee-high socks, and put on flats.
- Put on jelly shoes. These were popular with a lot of people in the 90s.
9
Pair 1990s accessories with 1990s clothing. ^{[4]
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Research source} The 1990s was the start of leisure clothing. People wore clothing for comfort and fashion, so they didn't wear conservative, restricting clothing like during the 1930s or 40s.
- Put scrunchies in your hair. These are commonly associated with the VSCO subculture nowadays, but in the 1990s, many females wore them while going to the gym or going on errands.
- Put on a baseball cap. These were popular with young folk in the 90s. Wear the baseball cap backward like Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!
- Wear charm bracelets. Kids in the 1990s loved charm bracelets. They spelled out their friends' names, displayed important dates, and decorated 1990s clothing.
- Slap on some slap bracelets! Kids in the 90s loved slapping on slap bracelets, even though they hurt a bit. They were (and still are) of all different patterns and colors.
- Put on mood rings. These cool rings could change color, from cool to warm or vice versa based on your mood!
10
Wear clothing inspired by youth subcultures in the 1990s. There were many youth subcultures in the 1990s that had their own unique clothing. Alternative rock, grunge, and hip-hop were some of the popular subcultures during the last decade of the 20th century. ^{[5]
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- Be inspired by the punk subculture.
- Be inspired by the hip-hop subculture.
- Be inspired by the preppy subculture. This style originated in Northeastern private colleges.
- Be inspired by the grunge subculture.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Viewing Media from the 1990s

1
Listen to songs from the early 1990s. Rock was popular in the 80s as well as the 90s. Rave and techno music started to become trendy in the early 1990s. Young folks in the 1990s are likely to have heard many of these 1990s songs. ^{[6]
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- Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinéad O'Connor) - January 1990
- Summertime (DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince) - May 1991
- Emotions (Mariah Carey) - August 1991
- Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) - September 1991
- Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers) - March 1992
- Baby Got Back (Sir Mix-A-Lot) - May 1992
- That's the Way Love Goes (Janet Jackson) - April 1993
- I Swear (John Michael Montgomery) - November 1993
- C.R.E.A.M. (Wu-Tang Clan) - January 1994
- Longview (Green Day) - February 1994
2
Listen to songs from the late 1990s. A mix of music was popular in the late 1990s. Rap and reggae were popular in the 90s, and music genres blended together. For example, hip-hop soul, neo-soul, f-punk, and new jack swing became trendy in the 1990s. ^{[7]
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- Poison (Prodigy) - March 1995
- Da Funk (Daft Punk) - 1995
- Wannabe (Spice Girls) - July 1996
- Midnight in a Perfect World (DJ Shadow) - September 1996
- Say You’ll Be There (The Spice Girls) - October 1996
- Barbie Girl (Aqua) - April 1997
- My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion) - May 1997
- Are You That Somebody (Aaliyah) - May 1998
- Livin' La Vida Loca (Ricky Martin) - March 1999
- I Want It That Way (Backstreet Boys) - April 1999
3
Watch some nostalgic 1990s kid's cartoons. If you are a member of the millennial generation, you probably watched these 1990s cartoons. Specifically, older millennial members (1981-1990) are more likely to have watched many of these cartoons. You can watch these childhood cartoons to experience your 1990s childhood again. Younger millennial members have likely watched 2000s cartoons more than 1990s cartoons (unless they were rebooted).
- Thomas & Friends (1984-2021)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
- Trapp Family Story (Jan 1991-Dec 1991)
- Doug (1991-1999)
- Rugrats (1991-2004)
- Crayon Shin-chan (1992-present)
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993-1995)
- Rocko's Modern Life (1993-1996)
- The original Animaniacs series (1993-1998)
- Theodore Tugboat (1993-2001)
- The original The Magic School Bus series (1994-1997)
- Atashin'chi (1994-2014)
- Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist (1996-1997)
- Dexter's Laboratory (1996-2003)
- Hey Arnold! (1996-2004)
- Arthur (1996-2022)
- Detective Conan (1996-present)
- Recess (1997-2001)
- The Powerpuff Girls (1998-2005)
- Oggy and the Cockroaches (1998-2019)
- Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999-2002)
4
View some 1990s kids' movies. 1990s kids' movies were the start of new animation. Since computers were available in the 1990s, animators started using computer animation instead of traditional animation (drawing out individual frames onto cells). Computer animation took less time, and the animation could not be easily destroyed or ruined. Some of these movies include: ^{[8]
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- Home Alone (1990)
- Kiki's Delivery Service (1990)
- Beauty and the Beast (1991)
- The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
- Hocus Pocus (1993)
- The Lion King (1994)
- Thumbelina (1994)
- A Goofy Movie (1995)
- Toy Story (1995)
- Matilda (1996)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
- Anastasia (1997)
- A Bug's Life (1998)
- Mulan (1998)
- The Prince of Egypt (1998)
5
Take out your 1990s toys. Many iconic toys symbolized the 90s decade. Younger millennials probably remember the toys they used to play with 3 decades ago. Kids from the 90s had many of these popular toys. ^{[9]
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- 1990s Lego sets (first released in 1932)
- Skip-It (released in the 1980s)
- Polly Pocket playsets (released 1989)
- Gelly Roll gel pens (released in 1989 in the U.S.)
- Super Soaker (released 1989)
- Totally/Ultra Hair Barbie (released 1992)
- Beanie Babies (released 1993)
- Talkboys, which were made after the Home Alone movie prop (released 1993)
- Sky Dancers, which were pretty dangerous when they accidentally hit someone (released 1994)
- Bop It (released 1996)
- Tickle Me Elmo (released 1996)
- Tamagotchi (released 1996 in Japan, released 1997 in the U.S. and Europe)
- The original Furbies (released 1998)
- HitClips, a way to listen to 60-second snippets of famous songs (released 1999)
6
Play video games from the 1990s. Arcade games were more popular in the 1980s than in the 1990s because home consoles began to be sold. Kids could play video games at home instead of going to an arcade. The fourth and fifth generation of consoles began to be developed in the late 80s and 90s.
- Super Mario World (released 1990)
- Street Fighter II (released 1991)
- Mortal Kombat II (released 1993)
- Virtua Fighter (released 1993)
- Donkey Kong Country (released 1994)
- Final Fantasy VI (released 1994)
- Mario Kart 64 (released 1996)
- Resident Evil (released 1996)
- Fallout 2 (released 1998)
- Super Smash Bros (released 1999)
7
Use 1990s video game consoles. Since modern desktop and laptop computers were not widespread yet, video games were played on game consoles. There were no PC games or mobile games in the 90s yet. ^{[11]
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- Nintendo Gameboy (released 1989)
- SNK Neo Geo (released 1990)
- PlayStation (released 1994)
- Sega Saturn (released in 1994 in Japan, released in 1995 in the U.S. and Europe)
- Nintendo 64 (released 1996)
- Dreamcast (released 1998 in Japan, released 1999 in North America and Europe)
8
Get your hands on 1990s technology. The 1990s were a time of developing consumer technology. Cell phones and large desktop computers were in use in offices and businesses. These served as the foundation for modern technologies today. ^{[12]
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- Check if you have an old pager or beeper. These were the predecessors of cell phones and smartphones. Gen Z'ers likely don't know anything about these old pieces of technology. These devices were small and rectangular-shaped. They would beep when someone sent a message to you. These were first released in 1949 (more than half a century ago!) but came into use in the 80s and 90s. ^{[13]
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- Find a Sony Discman in your home. These were portable CD players. Nowadays, people download music or use apps like Spotify for music. CDs and DVDs were used in the 1990s until the early 2010s when music-streaming services and videos online took their place. These debuted in 1984.
- Find an old 1990s phone. These were chunky and large compared to the flat, smooth smartphones we have now. In the 1990s, phones looked large and had buttons on them to dial someone. Motorola and Nokia made many of these old phones.
- Check if you have a Sony MiniDisc. These were optical data storage devices. They were first released in 1992.
- Find a Palm Pilot. These were the predecessors of tablets. This was a mini-computer. It could keep track of dates, notes, to-do lists, and other details. You could write on it with a stylus. ^{[14]
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- See if you still have an old iMac. These were the predecessor to the 2000s Mac OS X computers. These were large and clunky. They also had a neon color to them (red, yellow, green, blue, or purple). These were first released in 1998.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Acting Like Someone from the 1990s

1
Use 1990s slang. Each decade has its special phrases and slang. The 1990s were no different. There were many phrases that people across the internet used. Some of these include: ^{[15]
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- Aiight - abbreviation of "all right"; "cool kids" said this in the 90s
- All that and a bag of chips - the best
- As if - short for "as if that would happen"; used in sarcasm
- Booyah - used to express joy and happiness
- Da bomb - really amazing
- Let's bounce - another way of saying "Let's leave"
- Oh snap - used to react to something unbelievable
- My bad - used to express apology after making a mistake (still used today)
- No duh - to express that something is very obvious
- Take a chill pill - used to express that someone needs to calm down
2
Do 1990s trends. Each modern decade has its many trends. Some of these are interesting, whereas some of these are weird or even dangerous. Try to attempt some safe 1990s trends.
- Get all of your Beanie Babies out. These were one of the most popular fads in the 1990s. People were rushing to buy and collect as many Beanie Babies as possible.
- Get out your Furbies. These were popular with Beanie Babies in the 1990s.
- Wear Christmas sweaters. These were trendy in the 1990s.
- Learn how to inline skate. This sport was popular in the 90s.
- Listen to pop and grunge songs.
- Find your old Where's Wally/Waldo? puzzle books. These books had pictures on every page that let you find the hidden person (named Wally in Europe and Waldo in North America) in the complicated frame.
- Play the iconic game pogs.
- Do the running man. This was an iconic dance move in the 90s.
- Get 'The Rachel' hairstyle. This hairstyle was worn by Jennifer Aniston when she played Rachel in the iconic Friends series. ^{[17]
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- Believe in girl power. Girl power was (and still is) a movement that encourages female independence and strength.
- Listen to iconic 1990s songs. Some of these include Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991), Macarena (1993), and Barbie Girl (1997).

Warnings

Do not attempt dangerous challenges. Don't overdose on club drugs. Even though these were popular during parties in the 1980s-2000s, people have overdosed on them and died because of them.

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