To miss the simplicity of the 90s/early 2000s

[Wazza89]

I was discussing with a friend yesterday how much simpler life was was in the 90s/early 2000s. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely enjoy the perks of Netflix, Messenger, etc. But things were just more laid back.

When my younger sister turned eighteen, her and her friends got their lips done. They all looked almost identical. 😂 I remember when any form of cosmetic surgery was only reserved for celebrities. Not that it was right, just that there was less pressure and money in regards to our appearance.

My aunt told me how her daughter-in-law spends over £200 on her children’s birthday parties - the cake, the balloon arrangements, and the costumes. I don’t live in an affluent area at all (it was actually one of the poorest areas in the UK a few years ago) and the school DS goes to has a lot of funding for disadvantaged kids. Yet most the parents I see (and their kids) wear Nike or The North Face. Loads of mums get their hair and nails done regularly and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that (I’m a bit jealous, to be honest 😂), but I’m worried about the insane amount of
pressure young girls are under to keep up appearances.

One of the mums was talking about the cake she had specially made for her DS and the lavish birthday party he was going to have. I actually felt guilty that my DS had a Colin the Caterpillar cake complete with balloons and a banner from Poundland. It was acceptable when I was a child but now it seems increasingly uncommon.

Sometimes I wander whether I’m stuck in the past and I’m worried DS will be left out by his peers. Anyone else?

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, violent crime peaked in 1995 and has fallen by over two-thirds since then. In recent years, those falls have largely flattened out.

Nearly five in every 100 adults aged 16 and over were estimated to have been victims of violent crime in 1995. In 2016/17, fewer than two in 100 adults were.

Data from other sources backs up the Crime Survey. Figures from hospitals in England also show a falling trend since 2006/07. Back then, just under 46,000 admissions were recorded where the reason was believed to have been an assault (excluding sexual assault). By 2017/18, just over 28,000 such admissions were recorded.

fullfact.org/crime/violent-crime-not-record-levels/

Yes there was more of an issue I think with football violence/general yobbery.

The ‘chav’ culture of the early 2000s seems to have died down a bit… or maybe it’s morphed into something else. There seems to be more shame now in not working & relying on the state.

Eight that's a crime link though

I meant just people taking drugs to get aggressive and start aggro in bars etc which is what we were chatting about at the bus stop.

@EmmaH2022

Eight that's a crime link though

I meant just people taking drugs to get aggressive and start aggro in bars etc which is what we were chatting about at the bus stop.

But if I'm not mistaken this type of violence was much more common. I used to see a lot more scraps in my youth. The market town near me used to have a police van outside Chicago Rock on weekend nights whereas now you hardly see them about.

The ‘chav’ culture of the early 2000s seems to have died down a bit… or maybe it’s morphed into something else.

Drill music/roadmen/knife crime

@AncientofMuMu Yes! This is the issue it's all centred around the styles of music or maybe the styles the artists are wearing. Like you say the prev decades there were very set groups of music and types of styles that followed that but now it does seem like all you here on the radio is the same sort of style of music it's good I appreciate it all but it's got a generic style, the style now is like 90s flares, platform pumps and brights but the hair and makeup is much more serious due to sm widening the view of the outside world and the amount of information now at our fingers tips. It's just another era, another decade and it is what it is I suppose but it won't stay the same it always changes! I predict a wave of environmentalist earth considerate clans coming about, a strong and unique bunch not afraid to say what they think and be differnt, like the goths were in the 90s. Not all youth will want to be like everyone like is happening now, when in years to come they realise it's rinsed their savings and the live fast lifestyle doesn't last forever with a lot of years of work ahead and time ahead to reflect on some of the crazy cosmetic mishaps happening today they may coach a better mindset to the children of the future due to be born in the next 10 or so years. Interesting thread and I did love the 90s for so many reasons mostly the wacky fashions and styles everyone rocked and the music! But there was some terrible pressure on parents to buy brands for their kids which must have been awful for some parents and the kids who couldn't have the in thing! It's always been like that wirh one thing or another back then it was kickers and nike air max today it's nike Air Force 1s and even worse i phones!!

Always has to be some craze surrounded by the youth to keep the economy moving, the youth are probably the biggest spenders due to their pressure on parents for stuff and huge influencers too. Let's hope the youth sort themselves soon as everyone's going to look like Kim K & Kylie 😳 by the end of this decade!!

Ls love Colin the caterpillar we did one LY for our 2yo she abs loved it! She wouldn't know the difference between that and a £200 fake it's the sodding candles and colours is all they care about - makes me wonder who they're really buying the cake for! Their child or their sm followers!! Very sad really they're really missing the point in life and wasting a lot of case in the meantime - that's my 90s straihht taking tell it like it is stance - no doubt that will offend someone though it is after all the 2020s the era where everyone is offended by something!! Even non issues 👀🙄

People have been saying life was simpler twenty years ago since forever. It’s really not true.

Each time has pros and cons- I was a teenager at the turn of the century, and I remember lots of my friends being materialistic and mass culture being at a pretty low point! And the music was crap...

It’s just nonsense to speculate about all parents and things being flash now. It’s DS’s 3rd birthday in the spring and we’re planning a traditional small do for other pre-schoolers at our house with old fashioned party games and a birthday tea.

Don’t believe all the hype you see on Instagram- most people don’t live like that.

One thing I have found immensely helpful is mumsnet! How my mum survived without this I don't know, it's so helpful even now I'm sitting here being nostalgic and I also ask if someone else is and add mumsnet at the end and I've been lost on this thread for nearly an hour thorouhly enjoying a quiet but lively virtual discussion about the 90s. She'd have found motherhood much less lonely in the 80s with this available and to come on here to ask parenting stuff and get support is gold, everything has its pros and cons it's pos and negs and it really does depend on your own personal situation at the time as to how you'll experience it and view it when you look back in years to come x

Rising interest rates will put a swift stop to all those living lifestyles beyond their means

Pass no heed on them and agree with you it is all for show. Most of those buying all the expensive stuff and going over the top is to post online to boast. I am not on social media as could not be arsed with all that crap and if their lives are soo good why are they constantly having to tell everyone about it, very sad really. Here you also see people going crazy over holy communions/confirmations and all for show. Just do as you like and please yourself and just think you have your own mind and are not swayed to follow the herd.

I feel homesick for that era. I was 21 in 2000 and I wasted so much time and opportunity.

@BashfulClam

I feel homesick for that era. I was 21 in 2000 and I wasted so much time and opportunity.

I'd go back there in a flash if I could.

So would I my son was just born I was 30 and life was so much easier.

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic for the 90's recently, I had some great times and knew some fab people and I think that's why I feel so connected to it.

Also I kinda miss the ease of the grunge look ha ha!

@TheBestofTimesTheWorstofTimes

I miss the humour. The young people I know in their 20s take everything so ruddy seriously. Watching The Office, wow they wouldnt be allowed now to say some of that stuff.

I agree. By the time I retired a couple of years ago the 20 somethings at work were so terribly serious and earnest. Nothing like what I was as a working 20 something in the 80s.

Haven’t read all the posts- but I work in a deprived area and the poorest often go in to debt to have what they perceive to be nice things. It’s about showing their neighbours and friends their children aren’t going without. Madness.

@VestaTilley

People have been saying life was simpler twenty years ago since forever. It’s really not true.

Each time has pros and cons- I was a teenager at the turn of the century, and I remember lots of my friends being materialistic and mass culture being at a pretty low point! And the music was crap...

It’s just nonsense to speculate about all parents and things being flash now. It’s DS’s 3rd birthday in the spring and we’re planning a traditional small do for other pre-schoolers at our house with old fashioned party games and a birthday tea.

Don’t believe all the hype you see on Instagram- most people don’t live like that.

The music was BRILLIANT!

I mean, music us great now, there was great music in the 80s ...I love music, can you tell?

If anyone on this thread hasn't seen the Superbowl half time show, you might get the feelz....it's not JLo and Shakira but it's nostalgic!

100%

I would not look back at it with rose-tinted spectacles. Some things are better e.g. lesbian and gay rights.
But I look back at photos and even the people I thought of as trendy do not look as dressed up as some young people today. I think social media has really fuelled the pressure around appearance.

In 1999 I spent £180 on a really decent pushchair. Shortly after that the cost of pushchairs/prams/travel systems went through the roof.

Wow yes, that takes me back. It definitely felt like we were the last cohort of new parents to have “normal” Maclarens and Mothercare buggies and travel systems. By the time the first two started school the streets were awash with designer buggies. The pod ones and the three wheelers for jogging. Could not get my head round wasting four figures on child transport. Still can’t.

@Monopolyiscrap

I would not look back at it with rose-tinted spectacles. Some things are better e.g. lesbian and gay rights. But I look back at photos and even the people I thought of as trendy do not look as dressed up as some young people today. I think social media has really fuelled the pressure around appearance.

I think that’s how it works. We make societal gains but always an equal number of losses.

It's really not rose coloured glasses though, especially if you were a raver back then

We spent many dawns talking about how this was likely the time of our lives and we had to make the most of it, and I'm so glad we did.

And in my case, it wasn't drugs, I didn't use any in those days. Red Bull and vodka did the job in the 90s! 😂

@VestaTilley

People have been saying life was simpler twenty years ago since forever. It’s really not true.

Each time has pros and cons- I was a teenager at the turn of the century, and I remember lots of my friends being materialistic and mass culture being at a pretty low point! And the music was crap...

It’s just nonsense to speculate about all parents and things being flash now. It’s DS’s 3rd birthday in the spring and we’re planning a traditional small do for other pre-schoolers at our house with old fashioned party games and a birthday tea.

Don’t believe all the hype you see on Instagram- most people don’t live like that.

God, I was thinking this too. I turned 13 in 1999 and was a teenager in the early 00s and we were obsessed with brands, and having the right clothes and makeup and trainers. I remember I desperately wanted a Baby G watch and my parents wouldn't buy me one and I was SO salty about it. Ditto the Nike trainers, and the Eastpak backpack. God the backpack is a real bone of contention still. Then later on it was the right tech - the right phone (Nokia 3330 anyone? Motorola Razr?) then ipods, and nanos and minis.

Also, there was no such thing as body positivity. The thinner was the winner. Teen magazines had diet tips - I vividly remember one article on how to get rid of fate legs/knees/ankles. Those low rise jeans were not forgiving at all and we were all trying to look like Marissa Cooper/the Olson Twins or Sienna Miller. You wanted your sternum showing and your hip bones sticking out.