Things now, that 90's kid would have mocked?

[H202too]

This is light hearted. Working in a school it is interesting to see how trends change. Sure some of this is regional, but what things do kids do now that just wasn't the done thing in the nineties?
I have noticed

1. Double strappers. This was so uncool at the time. I am sure I still get shoulder pain now from carrying mountains of books on one shoulder. Single strap now is a bad thing. ( Good!)

2. The star spot patches. Some kids wear about 6. Not seen any adults do this yet.

3. Boys with massive brushes in their pockets which they whip out and swish their fringe. They even borrow each others and swish each others fringe. It is actually quite cute. My mind chuckles when I think of the 90s boys spiking their hair with pointy hair gel. But absolutely no to carrying a brush about.

4. Water bottles. I once got in trouble for taking a drink from my water in 1998 in a lecture. In 1991 it just wouldn't have been a thing to have a watsr bottle.

I am sure there is more. AIBU to think most new trends are probably better but to miss the 90s nostalgia.

Kids of today would rip us for backing our books in wrapping paper.

Eh?? You can’t disregard what i’m saying if you are saying all boys and men, so you are saying 100% presumably? What an odd thought

Slider type shoes were what foreign students wore.

I do think we are getting more 'European' and relaxed in our dressing now. Wearing hiking and outdoor wear used to be very geeky in the 90s, but seems more acceptable now.

Ha - fair enough. Most of the people I knew moved out of the parents' place in their late teens and often to different cities. It was very much a DIY scene. You are probably right that is why no one was ever long term successful!

That does bring another 90s difference to mind though - back then signing on was very easy so artists, musicians and all sorts of ground roots counter cultural and creative activities were being funded by the dole. That is very different now, and I'm not sure it's actually better for the country. The part time course I took in the year or so I signed on indirectly lead to a career that lets me pay more than the cost of that year on the dole back in tax every year (and I don't begrudge it for that reason).

Haha, yes this is brilliant! Seeing these blokes in their 20s with a proper 80s/90s 'tache takes me straight back to P.E. and looking at Mr B in his rugby shirt and big glasses 😁

Socks and sliders
socks over leggings
neutral make up .. blue eyeshadow all the way !
Not taking photos at every opportunity cos you dhave a camera handy .. cameras only came out on special occasions!
having to people watch when in a waiting room instead of scrolling
having to buy the whole album rather than download the one song that you like
listening to the top 40 to find out the Xmas number one
only being able to watch what was on the tv and not download any programme or film that you wanted
spending ages in blockbuster !

Tucking clothes in! No one on their right mind would tuck anything in in the 90’s and I see kids walking around with T-shirts tucked in all the time.
Love the 2 bag strap observation, I wear my bag on 2 straps and almost want to bully myself.

Also, your bag had to be as flat as possible as if empty. My daughters is big and cube shaped, she was adamant she wanted it but I kept thinking she would regret it. So far so good.
Wearing your bag high on your back with 2 straps in the 90’s = German exchange student

Oh goodness yes
If you bought anything from primark ( long long long before the bag levy came in ) you would put it in another bag as soon as you got out of there

It sounds lovely but I'm not sure it's true in general for todays teenagers. Pressure on teenagers to look good seems far higher now than in the 90s and statistics on how concerned teenagers are about their looks suggest it's a major concern.

Sorry I had Google these star spot patches. Good grief! It looks like you had a three year old playing with stickers

What did you call your friends parents then? We all just used their names. A couple of them we’d see in pubs and they’d usually buy us a drink. One of my closest friends just lived with her dad (and her brother) and we all liked staying there because in the morning he’d make us all a nice breakfast!

Going to concerts for Taylor Swift, Gaga and other mainstream pop stars. My 90s friends were only into indie bands that only about 5 people had heard of, and once 6 people had heard of your band it was time to move on and declare they'd sold out. The only allowed exception was Nirvana.

Wearing clothes that have some colour in them the youth of today always seem to wear neutral beiges

I didn’t call them anything to their face, just a brief hello and scurry away.

My 13 year old boy told me how most of the boys take hair brushes into school and brush their hair..really tickled me it did! My son spends an enormous amount of of time brushing his own hair on the bathroom at home.

My son and his lovely group of male friends are very accepting of gay/lesbians and neurodivergence. When I told my son we weren’t allowed to even be taught about being gay in pshe in high school he was shocked and appalled-makes me so proud.

Get ready for what tho?? They never go OUT OUT!

My friend had a big inflatable chair in her bedroom-I thought she was so cool! It was from Argos and I envied her so much🤣🤣

pretty much all the girls at my sons high school have handbags rather than a backpack/rucksack type-apparently on a few year 7 girls and the lesbians have rucksacks 🤣🤷🏻‍♀️

Wearing leggings with a short top (not covering bum and vaginal area) back in the day was definitely seriously frowned upon. It was quite shocking to see and also seen as, both unattractive and unfashionable. As a PP said wearers would be considered to be half dressed. Could really do with it being the same nowadays!

Those slippers were bloody dangerous. My auntie got me some seal pup ones one Christmas. They looked very odd, like I had two seals impaled on the end of my legs. But the worst thing was if you tried to go up or down the stairs in a hurry, they were a serious trip hazard. I nearly came a cropper more than once and "the sealies" went to the charity shop!

This needs to come back. Cover those parts up in public.

The one I always notice looking at the kids from my local secondary school is short trousers with white socks for the boys - at my school in the 90s you would have been called a 'pikey' if you wore them. Also:

Trainer laces on show
Mullets and moustaches
Girls in skirts - like another ppl at my school in the late 90s/very early 2000s no-one would have been seen dead in a skirt as part of their uniform
Showing vulnerability/talking about being anxious etc.
I always notice now how it seems much more normal to be extremely supportive and caring - rather than absolutely savage - although I'm not under any illusions that teenage girls are always kind to each other
Backpacks on both shoulders
Liking a range of music from different eras rather than just what's in the charts
Charity shop outfits (there weren't many alternative kids at my school)
Girls wearing flat shoes for school - I was a teenager in the era of Kickers/Pod chunky heels and then in sixth form, court shoes and stilettos!
Wearing big coats
It being completely normal to be open about mental health and SEN
Hanging out with parents
Going to university open days with parents

I do get where you are coming from. I guess it has always been like this for girls and women. As pp said there is also freedom to be alternative now. Fat or thin. Pros and cons.

Ah yes that trend for me wasnt until I was at uni in 1998. My friend had one. Looked so good but very uncomfortable.