Nostalgia for the '90s remains at an all-time high! Even modern fashionistas like Kylie Jenner and Demi Lovato, each of which was actually born in the '90s, constantly nod and pay homage to the decade of their births with their clothing or their makeup, like flannels or matte lip liner. These 9 items were in every '90s girl's backpack, which could have been a plastic, Power Puff Girls-branded tote or shaped like a plush stuffed animal.
Personally, I yearn for the days of old, when Sassy still printed, when Britney Spears and her crop tops represented the height of fashion, when chunky-heeled platforms were a closet essential, when Delia's catalogs arrived with regularity, and when Manic Panic hair dye could give my locks colors not found in nature all the while irritating my mother.
Reminiscing about the '90s, its chokers, and its nighttime soaps like Melrose Place and Beverly Hills, 90210 makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. It also makes me want to scour eBay or Etsy to stock up on stuff from that period.
If you grew up in the '90s, chances are, you wouldn't leave your hour without any or all of these not-so-obvious items tucked safely in your backpack.
1. An Issue Of Sassy
Sassy was the edgy alternative to the other magazines all the other girls were reading. Therefore, you needed to carry your cool girl bible with you at all times and bust it out to kill time for those moments you didn't feel like writing in your butterfly-festooned journal.
2. The Latest Delia's Catalog
Online shopping apps didn't exist in the '90s, so you had to rely on the Delia's catalog, delivered by carrier pigeons, for fashion inspo. I'm kidding about the whole carrier pigeons thing.
3. A Beeper Or Pager
Before there were cell phones, there were beepers and pagers. If you couldn't get in touch with someone and it was "imperative," you messaged them with "911."
4. Sunflower Accessories
Drew Barrymore loved her some sunflower accessories. So did you. Like this barrette. It was like a garden... for your hair.
5. A Jar Of Manic Panic
Because you wanted oxblood hair to match your Doc Martens.
6. A Newsboy Cap
Brit Brit often donned a newsboy cap. So did you.
7. Victoria’s Secret Vanilla Lace Body Splash
There are many varieties of the VS body splashes. Me and my friends used to spritz our clothes with the cloyingly sweet Vanilla Lace. Here's a secret: I still do that every morning. That's an actual ancient bottle of the stuff that I keep in a weekend travel bag and it still smells fine! I'm not questioning it.
8. Plastic Barrettes
The whole Riot Grrrl aesthetic, which was popular in the '90s and which was lead by Courtney Love, Kathleen Hanna, and others, relied on the mix of sexy and adult vs. rebellious and girlish. The plastic barrettes were an essential.
I hope you enjoyed this waltz down '90s backpack memory lane.
Images: Giphy (4); Sassy (1); Courtesy Brands (2); Amy Sciarretto (1)
