Did people look older in the 90s?

[pontipinemum]

Not really AIBU - More so a what do you think

I'm watching a 90s movie right now and I think people that are supposed to be early 30s (my age now) look older than me. When I look at pictures of my family from the 90s they all look older, even though my mum was in her 20s most of the 90s.

Is it the style maybe? Do I associate the clothes with 'older people' because when I saw those clothes IRL I was just a small child. I think a lot of people my age still dress sort of young, trainers/ jeans/ hoodies/ casual. Where as people in their 20s/30s back then dressed more grown up.

YABU - People in the 90s did not look older
YANBU - People in the 90s did look older

There's a great video on this exact subject -

If we all watch it we can end the thread here!

I remember it being common for women to have their hair cut fairly short after having children in the 80s and 90s, so women in their 30s and over were usually aged by their hair. Not that I think shorter hair is particularly ageing now, just that it was a marker of it back then. I also remember most middle aged women in the 90s not following fashion to any degree. I remember seeing a woman of about 40 wearing bootcut jeans and trainers with a tight jumper in around 1998 and thinking how fresh she looked because those weren’t the clothes that other women her age were wearing then. But then I guess the teens and women in their 20s might think the same looking at us - I can’t bring myself to embrace the weird boxy tops and baggy jeans that they’re all wearing at the moment so I probably age myself wearing older styles.

I’m not sure about the 90s, but certainly when I was growing up in the 70s & 80s most people definitely looked both older and much thinner.
Older because almost everyone smoked, and very few people had the sort of cosmetic procedures which are normalised today, eg Botox, fillers, veneers, fake tan, hair transplants etc etc.
Thinner because far fewer people were obese. Why? Food was much more expensive in real terms, fast food & junk food were not as ubiquitous as today, Costabucks didn’t exist, so people weren’t consuming 500 calories worth of latte & pastries every morning, more people did physically demanding jobs instead of sitting on their backsides all day etc etc.

Reminds me of this video. https://www.reddit.com/r/13or30/comments/snjee4/the_80s_were_wild/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I was in my 20’s and 30’s in the 90’s. I wore trainers and jeans. Aka Happy Mondays style.

Hmmm… not sure why it didn’t preview the video. It’s a common one floating around aunt the web

Where on earth was this? It was the height of acid house, rave, madchester, hip hop, goth, and indie. No one under the age of 30 dressed like that in the U.K.!

Make up was not designed to accentuate your best features or distract from your worst. There was zero artistry involved. It was just like your unmade-up face, just a different colour. It was generally unflattering Collection 2000 face powder, white eyeshadow and Heather Shimmer lipstick. Everyone's face looked flat and like at least one feature was inspired by a cup of coffee. Hair was fluffy or flat. Just everything was wrong and ageing.

In 1989 nightclubs usually didn't let you in in trainers- when that changed it changed going out-out clothes a lot!

Your descriptions sound more like the 60s and early 70s, even I didn't wear pencil skirts etc in the 80s.

This thread makes me feel old ,I was a mum in my twenties and wore jeans ,t-shirts ,trainers or boots. I don't feel we looked old before our time .

In the 80's and 90's you couldn't get into a bar or nightclub without dress shoes (you could in pubs but people dressed up
a lot more)

In the mid to late 80's I would go out to nightclubs in a strapless black and silver dress, stockings and high heels - hair and make up done to the max - permed hair, masses of pan stick foundation

Watch Harry Enfield. Kevin's parents. How old are they supposed to be? I'd guess late 30s? I know it's not real but it was aimed at the people of the time.

Depends on the club though. No one wore high heels in the Hacienda!

I’d go out in hot pants and dm’s

Ah - when I went to the hacienda I was already in my alternative phase and wore Docs - early 20's for me by then

Teenager was all high heels and glitter !

I was that age then too, but I had no fashion sense, and did look older! I cringe looking back and can see why I got bullied now. My mum didn't buy clothese for me, so I wore hand-me-downs from her friend who was a woman in her 40's.😩

I would love for this to be true, but unfortunately I definitely looked younger in the 90s than I do now.

Im 52. I think it's the hair and makeup you're noticing. To contemporary eyes, shorter "done" hair and more formal dress is something we associate with older people, but back then nearly all girls/young women had shorter, styled hair. My hair was too stubbornly straight so I just grew it long, and I got lots of snarky comments about it, including one friend who said I looked like I had daddy issues and should get a grown-up hairdo, and another friend who said I looked like I was part of a cult.

Makeup is really different now too. People wanted to look striking and glamorous then, whereas now a dewy, natural look is in style.

I also remember most middle aged women in the 90s not following fashion to any degree.

There was very little choice compared to now, and almost nothing if you were over what was a size 16 back then.

I must have been imagining all those clubs I used to go to wearing adidas, chucks and DMs then. Or clogs during my 80s NMA phase…