As a 90s teenager I was not influenced by the Spice Girls!

[RecruitmentGuru]

In fact I found them throughly frustrating and annoying! I had wide taste in music from Nirvana to Aaliyah! I even went to see Take That!

AIBU?

They were primarily for younger children.

Oddly, I sort of like “them” but their music was, and remains, really very bad.

Wannabe was released in 96 and I was 10 and never got into them. I thought some of their songs were catchy but was just never fussed. My sister at the time was 7 and she was obsessed with them. I'm not surprised you weren't into them as you were older.

What’s 1993 got to do with it?

Their first single was released in 1996.

You were too old for them they were for tweens and you were 16/ 17 when they came out

Any person who wants to copy ANY celebrity are sad. Think that word is too strong but it’s before 6am.

I never followed any celebrities - want their hairstyles, etc.

Be Unique and Yourself! You will feel better being yourself and not being a sheep.

Wannabe wasn't released till late 1996 either.
Just because they still have careers in entertainment/are celebrities doesn't mean all "teenagers" were influenced or obsessed?

I remember watching SG on their first ‘performance’ on TOTP. Saw one member (Victoria) and she did FA. I was thinking “call security” as looked more of an intruder than a member of the band.

Everyone has preferences.

You don’t have to like the Spice Girls - I remember loving them but rational enough to know there are lots of other musicians.

My teen isn’t influenced by Taylor Swift - just because she’s popular it doesn’t mean she is everyone’s taste.

I was primary school age. Musically I look back and cringe. But the "Girl Power" message did habe a positive influence on my life. And with them representing different ways to be a girl... (Posh, baby, sporty, crazy...) it was saying... its ok to be who you are.

I find Victoria interesting. She must be an astute businesswoman. David has the sporting talent... but I think its the combination of their skills that keep them both famous.

I had none of those. I dressed like I was in a grunge band.

I still dress like I'm in a grunge band....

I would say grunge clothes is one kind of stereotypical 90's fashion.

It was a music decade that crammed a lot in.

Guns n roses were my favourite band in in 92. Then the grunge era came and with it androgynous fashion. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soul Asylum along with Soundgarden. Total perfection.

Clueless then came out and suddenly preppy fashion returned with a vengeance and we traded Winona Ryder and Natalie Imbruglia with their short hair and overalls for put together miniature adults who dressed like they had a portfolio and financial advisor.

I loved the 90's. There was no one type of stereotypical fashion look.

You were not the Spice Girls era. I was 5 yo in 1993 and I was a Spice Girls super fan. The mass appeal was to younger girls, not teenagers I think. By the time i was a teenager all the girls my age were listening to Eminem etc.

Similar to my dd loved Little Mix when she was younger but is 14 now and is into "moodier" music.

I think there’s been a lot of ‘Spice Washing’ in as much as they’re now portrayed as a groundbreaking band who broke down barriers and their music was the voice of a generation etc. When in reality Girl Power was pretty much a marketing ploy, they weren’t considered very cool and most of their fans were young girls… and dare i say it (sorry spice girl fans) their music was a bit shit.

But hey, I doubt they’d care an iota about what I think they’re all incredibly rich, look great and seem very happy and some people still seem to love them and their music.

I didn't mind them, I quite liked Viva Forever. My sister was younger and loved them.
I was more into Vibealite.

Personally, I preferred the Monkeys.

Well, I didn't dress like David Essex. Your point is?

Totally different experience here and I'm mid 40s. By age 15 our big, mixed sex, friendship group consisted of people from 4 different schools, 4 different school years and some ended up dating, more not. No one really cared about anyone's clothing choice or what music they were into, we swapped CDs to burn and introduced each other to bands we may not have previously listened to properly.

Same thing again when I went to coIlege and made college friends.

Maybe it was more to do with the area you grew up in rather than it being an age.

I was 6/7 at the height of their fame and adored them. We are their target audience, not you.

I was 16 in 1994 so too old for them. Spice girls songs still played in clubs into the 00s so couldn't avoid them. I was into reading "select" magazine and listened to the evening session. Never dressed like a spice girl.

I think judging by how fast their reunion tours sold out (i was at both of them), they are still loved.

I wasn't going to say anything but no, no they weren't.
The spice girls were the very height of manufactured pop shite. They were a middle aged marketing exec's wet dream made flesh. 'Girl power' was as big a retrograde step for feminism as Katie Price claiming her work was feminist.
Bananarama was a girl group, the similarity ends there.