July 16, 2010

Inexplicable, Egregious Fads from my Childhood

I happened upon a gallery of my generation's most egregious (and inexplicable) fashion fads. Step into your time machine as we remember....

Jellies: Who didn't own a rainbow of these gems? Sparkly little plastic sandals that left you with basket-weave imprints after a day of play - plus sweaty feet.

Slap bracelets: Not sure what genius thought of these lovely accessories, but I am certain they've retired in the islands by now. A cheap, animal print or eye-gougingly bright neon bracelet that makes an obnoxious sound throughout the school day? Our school banned them because (allegedly) the metal inside could poke through the delightfully patterned exterior and slit your wrists.

Scrunchies: My preferred scrunchie-buying spot was the Limited Too. I made sure the patterns I purchased coordinated with my red and teal denim shorts and classic LTD TOO t-shirts. It was essential to wear a scrunchie on your wrist at all times, just in case of a hair emergency. Woe to those who left their scrunchies at home, though! Can't imagine what the disaster that could have led to.

Charm necklaces: I don't recall ever wearing one, but I do recognize many of the charms on this picture. Love the tiny plastic harmonica and bright purple miniature tennis racket. Did you collect or trade these with friends? I tended to stick to the next item on our list.

Friendship Bracelets: The ultimate token of friendship! We all spent many hours perfecting our personal pattern (mine was more of a multi-colored V-shaped stripe) and buying spools of thread galore. Weeks later, our expressions of undyling love were knotted and tatty - but surely the sentiment remained. Juicy Couture makes a grown-up, higher-end version if you're into paying $40 for what we traded for free in the '90s.


T-Shirt and Banana Clips: Though my hair was too long to rock a banana clip, I did sport t-shirt clips in many shapes - heart, star, circle, sparkly square. Thankfully I had the pre-adolescent hips to go with it. These days, we pay to have our shirts longer; who would ever clip it up? Think long and lean, ladies...
Jelly/Gummy Bracelets: I believe these came after we stopped wearing jellies on our feet. I had an armful in bright, neon colors to coordinate with the slouchy socks I stacked two-high on each skinny little ankle. A girl in the gym nursery today was wearing 27(!) similar bracelets; I'm now old enough to see a trend come back into fashion!! Apparently they're now called Silly Bandz. Again, Juicy Couture makes a version of this for the fashionable pre-kindergartener.

Others:
The gallery mentions a few other trends: stick-on earrings, Debbie Gibson hats (never wore these but did have the Electric Youth perfume), Hypercolor shirts, Clueless-style baby backpacks, Zinka colored sunblock and chokers. I wore chokers right up until the Y-necklaces came into fashion. I'm I thought I looked lovely!

Also big in South Carolina were Umbros, Swatch watches, Keds, leather bomber jackets (with the silk map lining!) and Duck Head shorts and shirts. (I had one that had "Duck Head" on the front and "Duck Tail" on the back. Loved wearing it with my teal Duck Head shorts! Must have had a thing for that color.)

What were your favorite 90s trends? Are you cringing right along with me as you remember these?

10 comments:

Beth Messervy said...

So I definitely had ALL of these. The plastic charm necklaces were my favorite. I remember the lipstick charm that was a pen. Awesome. You can still buy these on eBay. I'm thinking of bringing them back.

Alex said...

I remember making the oh so special trips to Clemson to go the Duck Head store. That was so exciting, especially once the shorts and tee were paired with a fine new pair of leather Sebagos. The outfit was not complete without a tube of Dr. Pepper Bonnie Bell around your neck.

Brooke Turner said...

wow this really took me back! I had almost all of these, including a pair of duck head shorts in EVERY color! (purchased at Clothing world!) :)
also the braided brown belt that you had to buy a couple sizes too big so you'd have the extra to hang down

Perfectly Imperfect said...

I was just trying to explain the LTD TOO shirts to someone the other day! Remember the shorts?!? All the different kinds that had the matching color shirt? And I forgot about the scrunchie but now I remember. I had so many it was ridiculous!!

Beth Messervy said...

My family moved back to Summerville when I started the 5th grade. I was completely unaware that I was not cool unless I had Duck Head shorts. When I was invited to a 7th grader's birthday party, I knew that I had to wear DH shorts...or fear being the outcast (never mind my Coke-bottle glasses with navy blue rims or padded bra that I so adored). I asked my mom to buy a pair of Duck Head shorts for me, and she so graciously bought an entire outfit to match the Duck Head shorts....the ORANGE Duck Head shorts. And what matches best with orange Duck Head shorts? A Hawaiian print Benetton shirt and orange Sam & Libbys (yes, the ones with the bow). The fact that I still remember this so vividly should tell you how I felt during the entire birthday party.

Anne said...

Yes! Sam and Libby's! How could I forget those? I had them in purple and teal...

Anonymous said...

I did the Jelly Shoes, Slap bracelets, T-Shirt Clips, and I was big into the stick-on earrings. I had wanted Umbros too but my parents always reasoned that since I didn't play soccer then I didn't need soccer shorts. The 90's was my big Limited Too time though... I was obsessed... Loved this post, Way to take me back!

Jessica said...

Does is make me awful if I was BEYOND excited to see Gap bring Jellies back for "grownup" girls this summer? Or shall I just be thankful I'm 21 so I only look mildly ridiculous in them? (Since I HAD to buy them in every color they made!)

Just Add Walter said...

I loved my charm bracelets!! gosh, those things were the best!

Didi said...

i still wear scrunchies. i have them in just about every colour of the rainbow. XD
what i find amusing is that they are recycling a lot of our childhood. the silly bands to me are nothing more than glorified jelly bracelets. i even saw kids wearing the jams shoes! avon has the lipstick on a string thing going on... as a cellphone charm. XD

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