What were you doing in 1994?

[NW3Lady]

I was 11/12. I don’t think the concept of a ‘tween’ existed yet, or at least if it did I wasn’t aware of it? I got Just 17 magazine most weeks which felt very grown-up. I especially loved the problem page, although I wasn’t much of a Take That fan and found all the Mark Owen pull-outs a bit tiresome.

We got Sky for the first time and I watched an awful lot of the old MTV Europe which actually showed music videos most of the time back then, rather than just the rubbishy reality shows it deteriorated into later. The Simpsons was only on once a week at 6pm on a Sunday, which was somewhat problematic as it clashed with the Top 40.

I was super excited when Wet Wet Wet stayed at number 1 the entire summer. Although I was too young to go and see the associated movie ‘Four Weddings’ and had to make do with ‘Free Willy’ and ‘The Flintstones’ instead.

How about you?

I graduated then started my DPhil at Oxford. Happy days.

I was an egg, laid waiting to be fertilized.

June 1994 I was 13, not far off 14. I was convinced I was going to be a ballerina, and training like a maniac to make it happen. I'm now a product manager in fintech. I don't think 1994 me would be very impressed :(

I was 17. Enjoying some sex, lots of drugs and some rock n roll (and dance). Time of my life. Partying. Festivals. Every second out of the house with friends.

I hope my daughter gets teenage years like mine but I doubt it

I was trying and failing to get into Glastonbury to watch Orbital. Succeeded the following year!

21 and pregnant (and terrified) I made a lot of big decisions -
it was the year I grew up.

Looking after 3 boys aged 7 4 and 1 😬

I was 5 so would have been up to the usual 1990’s kid stuff

Listening to Dog Man Star on my Walkman. Working in Staks and dating an arse.

In 94 I was pregnant with our second child. I was loving life. Fit, well and looking forward to completing our little family.

I was 17 and had fallen out with my mum so on a whim dropped out of my a levels and got on a bus to Heathrow area where my very young childhood friend (later pen pal) lived. She was going away on holiday and let me stay in her flat near the airport cat sitting. By the time she was back a week later, I had got myself a live in job at one of the big airport hotels and met a local lad who I went into have a relationship with for three years.
bless him he was lovely / I thought about him earlier today funnily enough and then this post lol!!

I was 20. Living in a doss house in London. Working as a silver service waitress to save money for travelling.

That year I ran the Bulls in Pamplona, toured Scotland, spent 3 months backpacking around the middle east and spent five weeks in Thailand. It was glorious.

I was OBSESSED with Oasis.

I was 3, turning 4 in August.
Spent my time going to dancing and nursery, and annoying my big bro. 😁

It was an odd year for me, but very happy. I was "living between" London and Rio de Janeiro. Loved my life in both places. Having majorly fucked up my divorce, I was homeless and broke. Not a problem in Rio, where I could claim limited accommodation expenses. In London, lots of my friends were in negative equity and getting married so, rather than sell their flats at a loss, they rented them to me. This went on for a few years: I was always moving house, had no permanent possessions, my social life was fantastic. Good times.

Playing hopscotch, skipping, and that thing where you have to step on/get over a giant elastic band
Rewinding the tapes on ‘The Secret Garden’, ‘Cool Runnings, and ‘Thumbelina’ for yet another watch
Collecting stickers in my sticker book, its cover was a vibrant and tacky photo-collage of wild animals in a lush green rainforest
Reading Archie comics, old handmedown Nancy Drews and Sweet Valley Twins, the Ramona Quimby books
On a balanced diet of MTV, Captain Planet, Sesame Street, and ER
Wearing an oversized ‘Save the Planet’ T-shirt with some day-glo coloured cycling shorts, and a pair of white trainers with dangerously long glittery purple shoelaces that trailed everywhere
Crying over Mustafa in the cinema
Wanting everything in The Body Shop
Trying to get my mum to buy American fruit roll ups for my packed lunch, and sipping on capri suns
Eating a Flintstones multivitamin with my breakfast
Spending my pocket money on an Incense body spray

Mix tapes! We were already buying CDs but the technology to record to disc was specialist only, so we still recorded mix tapes to give to friends and to play in the car.

I was doing my GCSEs. I didn't go anywhere much, beyond orchestra practice, but desperately wished I had a gang of friends to go out with (to pubs and nightclubs, under-aged, which was what everyone else seemed to be doing...). I also REALLY wished I had a boyfriend and was certain that I was extremely odd as I was 16 and I had never been kissed.
My dad was an extremely violent alcoholic and I was afraid of what he would do whenever he came home.
I was slim and beautiful but didn't know it. I weighed only about 8 and a half stone but was convinced I was really fat and had the most outsized knees and upper arms. Therefore, I never wore trousers, jeans, or shorts, and concealed my arms no matter the weather. I also wore platform shoes, no matter how impractical, to elongate said hideous knees, tumbling all over the place. I even wore them hiking!!! I was bulimic and would steal food from the pantry then vomit it up. I exercised for hours in my room to exercise videos, particularly the Cher exercise video. I now look at photographs of myself from that time and see that I was really lovely and feel rather sad that I was so lost and lonely. And even sadder that no-one noticed.

Just moved to London after my degree. Lived centrally but shared a 1 bed flat with my best mate. Temp job being a general dogsbody at a famous sports venue. £2.75 an hour. Never had a penny but had the time of my life living off overdrafts and ‘bouncy cheques’ when you could guarantee them to £50 with the cheque guarantee card!
Im now a partner in a law firm. How I long for those days. They seemed so fun and carefree.

Other than being 12 I have no recollection of anything happening! My memory is shocking and I genuinely can’t remember any significant events from before I was about 22/22!

I was in the final year of my a levels, had lots of very good friends, went out all the time, the music was brilliant. We had such a laugh.

I was going out with the first love of my life. I had some extreme highs that year!

I was a ladette 😁and read Minx and danced to all the Brit pop bands. Drinks in our local club cost 50p on student night!

Was at university 2nd/3rd year. Hated it, had grown up in a very rural area and was struggling with the change to life in a big UK city. Taught horse riding in the States with BUNAC in the summer, possibly best summer of my life.

My boyfriend and some close friends went to the last Stonehenge festival en route to moving to Plymouth from our small village. Stonehenge was amazing, Plymouth not so much😀 We all moved back within a year!

I was living in a bedsit in Balham with my boyfriend (now husband). I was on a graduate trainee programme studying accountancy, wages were great and our rent was low (50 quid a week!). The following year we moved to a much nicer garden flat which was a bit pricier, think it was 140 a week!). We went out at least four nights a week, pubs and wine bars during the week and clubbing at the weekend, we used to go to the Whirligig from 8pm until midnight, get the tube home and have a cup of tea and a spliff, then go to Club UK at 3am as it was half price. Also went to Strawberry Sundays, Escape from Samsara, Return to the Source and lots of dodgy trance nights😀 It was a great year, in fact the whole decade was fantastic fun and I have many happy memories!

Working for the Civil Service. Living at home during the week.

Living it up at the weekend.