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Original poster

To think the UK was really cool and exciting in the nineties and early noughties?

95 replies

Fuckthecostofliving · 22/04/2023 19:17

Just thinking of all the music, films and general whole vibe. It was amazing! I visited London in 1997 as a teen for the first time and loved everything about it immediately.

I know part of this is to do with nostalgia for being young, but honestly there seemed to be such an exciting mixture of brilliant cultural stuff going on. And way less internet, no iphones, it was just a whole different atmosphere.

Anyone else nostalgic for the 90's?

OP posts:
ThreeB · 22/04/2023 19:19

Me! 1994-1997 were the happiest years of my life and I miss them

SashaPearce · 22/04/2023 19:20

I really, really, really don’t miss the homophobia

Starhead69 · 22/04/2023 19:21

Yes. Certain songs and smells take me back and I get an ache of wanting it to be like that again.

IglesiasPiggl · 22/04/2023 19:22

It was the era of Cool Britannia. Britpop, 1997 election, Young British Artists and all that.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 22/04/2023 19:22

Not on my salary of six grand a year, no in work benefits and the lad/ladette culture.

Fine if you had a secure job with progression, not if you didn't.

Original poster
Fuckthecostofliving · 22/04/2023 19:22

IglesiasPiggl · 22/04/2023 19:22

It was the era of Cool Britannia. Britpop, 1997 election, Young British Artists and all that.

Yes all of this!

OP posts:
teezletangler · 22/04/2023 19:23

I think that era is called Cool Britannia? As a teenager in Canada in the 90s I absolutely loved it. Spice Girls, Britpop etc. It was a real moment, sort of a revival of the swinging 60s.

PrettyMaybug · 22/04/2023 19:24

YANBU to think this, if it's how YOU feel.

I disagree.

For me it was the 1980s that were cool and exciting. The 1990s were OK. Noughties were a bit 'bleh...'

Sorryyoufeelthatway · 22/04/2023 19:26

Its all relative. Everything is exciting, new and hopeful when you are too.

Yes i was young and had carefree great times.
I thought the world was changing for the better as a young brown feminist. I was wrong. I was ignorant… it was bliss!

Original poster
Fuckthecostofliving · 22/04/2023 19:26

@PrettyMaybug I love a lot of 80's music so can well believe that was a great time too! I just don't remember any of the 80's myself though Grin

As people have mentioned I seem to be thinking of the Cool Britannia time, all the arts and culture from then.

OP posts:
IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 22/04/2023 19:26

I loved the 90s and early 2000s, but I sober mist of the 90s as a student on a full grant (undergrad) or postgrad studevtdhup. I was young, free and largely single. I worked hard and partied hard. There was lots of great music, and very little internet (even as a PhD student at a major university there were about a dozen terminals for www access that you had to book in advance, and finding information was clunky and limited). I would probably have had a great time at that age anyway, but I do think that the internet has changed how we live.

Lostinalibrary · 22/04/2023 19:26

Yes and no. There was a huge era of growth coming. Yet, no compulsory education until 18. Many dropped out of education and it’s now showing. Also, there were no real social services as such. You could kick your child out of the house and they really wouldn’t do anything. A school age child could disappear off the radar - literally. Safeguarding was poor. The wages were poor for people who weren’t skilled. I remember a famous shoe shop offering less than £1 per hour for a job.

I have fond memories and I don’t. If my children were in the 90s now - they’d be fine as they have parents who have done well for themselves. If they weren’t - they’d struggle

Loria · 22/04/2023 19:27

Yeah Blair got the economy ticking along nicely. He was good domestically. It's all gone to shit these past 15 years though.

PollyCreo · 22/04/2023 19:28

The 90s were amazing, I was just starting out. The music, the football. And I was so skinny!

YukoandHiro · 22/04/2023 19:29

Yes.

Xrays · 22/04/2023 19:29

I was too young to really understand all the long term social implications others here are talking about - I was 18/19 and having the time of my life, working in a pub, doing my A levels and rolling home drunk every night after partying till 4am. It was amazing. I miss those days.

Andanotherone01 · 22/04/2023 19:34

I was doing my A Levels 1996-1998 and can, without a shadow of a doubt, say they were the best years of my life.

Anxietyrules247 · 22/04/2023 19:36

I was a young, single first time mum.
I remember feeling completely isolated, which I wouldn't have been if it had been now with everything online. Obviously no social media, or support groups to join.
I struggled with toddler groups due to my shyness/ anxiety.

waterlego · 22/04/2023 19:42

The 90s were my golden years. All of my teen years were in that decade and I had a bloody good time. Life was good, music was brilliant, the economy was stable, the future seemed exciting. I had nothing to worry about, and no stress. Very happy times. Been pretty miserable since about 2012 though 😂

CouchToOuch · 22/04/2023 19:44

I think it's glaringly obvious why the 80's and 90's were great and felt like we had a 'Britain'. Now we're a cess pit with no hope of ever going back. I treasure my 80's and 90's memories 🇬🇧

4plusthehound · 22/04/2023 19:48

SashaPearce · 22/04/2023 19:20

I really, really, really don’t miss the homophobia

I was running around in the 90s and I must have missed that.

The older generation yes but by and large it was not a feature.

For context - my brother is gay as is my best friend. We were together all the time, in London.

FlutterShite · 22/04/2023 19:48

CouchToOuch · 22/04/2023 19:44

I think it's glaringly obvious why the 80's and 90's were great and felt like we had a 'Britain'. Now we're a cess pit with no hope of ever going back. I treasure my 80's and 90's memories 🇬🇧

Could you elaborate, please? It's not obvious to me.

Cheshiresun · 22/04/2023 19:50

Yep. I miss the 90's.

Phones, although they have made so much easier, have also ruined so much. I was watching a 'Holiday' YouTube the other day, it was on DisneyWorld and the difference, not one person was gawking at a phone. It was 1997.

Working in the health service, waiting lists started to improve dramatically. It felt like a turning point that would be good for everyone.

People actually went out to visit and see people more. Going out was a 'thing'. Yes we had home phones but saw friends and family in person way more than now.

4plusthehound · 22/04/2023 19:50

Lostinalibrary · 22/04/2023 19:26

Yes and no. There was a huge era of growth coming. Yet, no compulsory education until 18. Many dropped out of education and it’s now showing. Also, there were no real social services as such. You could kick your child out of the house and they really wouldn’t do anything. A school age child could disappear off the radar - literally. Safeguarding was poor. The wages were poor for people who weren’t skilled. I remember a famous shoe shop offering less than £1 per hour for a job.

I have fond memories and I don’t. If my children were in the 90s now - they’d be fine as they have parents who have done well for themselves. If they weren’t - they’d struggle

Bloody hell.

I had no idea of any of that.

Wow.

illiterato · 22/04/2023 19:51

Yeah, the 1990-3 recession and the Asia crisis were amazing Grin

It's nostalgia, my friend.

UK economy in early noughties had little to do with UK per se and a lot to do with the rising tide (Asian tiger economies, esp China), lifting all boats. I had the best time working in the city pre financial crisis but it was all just one big bubble really.