- Gwyneth Paltrow put her Montecito guest house on Airbnb for one night only.
- Mark Zuckerberg said Meta’s Threads app had lost half of its 100 million users in its first 30 days.
- Ticketmaster offered $157 “listening only” tickets to Beyonce’s tour.
A cult Instagram account of naff 90s memorabilia hit 250,000 followers this week. The account’s rapid growth – launched in January 2022, its content reached 4.8 million people in the last 30 days – is evidence that the 1990s cultural resurgence is now entering its “real, raw and ropey” phase.
So what? Get involved! With humanity now racing towards its own destruction, it’s no wonder we’re all feeling bittersweet nostalgia for the last pre-internet decade. But we should be used to this by now. The New York Times heralded the first 90s revival back in 2016, arguing that the combo of geopolitical turbulence, dicey financial markets and the prospect of a(nother) Clinton presidency was so mid-90s-esque it had everyone reaching for their Jagged Little Pill CD to calm down. The same could be said of the UK in 2023, only with Starmer / Blair in place of the Hillary / Bill potential political switcheroo.
Don’t look back in anger. Ever vigilant, Weekend Sensemaker has recently spied the forthcoming return of TV series Byker Grove, a new bi-monthly print edition of music magazine NME and noted that the Ninja Turtles are back in cinemas. In March this year there were even rumours that Blockbuster video chain could make a comeback, after the brand’s website mysteriously reappeared with the cryptic message, “We are working on rewinding your movie”. (The official US Blockbuster Twitter account is worth following). Resistance is futile.
Uncool Britannia. What makes this summer’s 90s wave different is that it’s finally embracing the awkward truth that most people didn’t spend the 90s swaggering about the Met Bar with All Saints. This summer’s run of sellout shows for Britpop megabands Blur and Pulp, which have had fields full of 40-somethings rapt with nostalgic ecstasy, are the acceptable face of it – but the whole Cool Britannia vibe flashed red on the uncool-o-meter a month ago when Great British Sewing Bee did a “90s week” featuring a cargo pants pattern challenge. Cringe.
Knee deep is your love. The nostalgia of @knee_deep_in_the_90s is so acute it should come with a trigger warning. Lovingly curated from Newcastle upon Tyne by 41 year-old Victoria Carser, it’s a deliciously British collection of shopping malls, frozen food, TV ads and bad makeup crowd-sourced from a growing fanbase of largely female Generation X and so-called geriatric Millennials (born between 1980 and 1985). Treasures unearthed from parents’ attics, childhood bedrooms and chazzers (90s slang for charity shops) include Spice Girls branded Impulse body spray, mint condition Kookai carrier bags and still operational Pop Swatches.
“We are a unique generation because we are the only ones to have experienced a childhood without social media and are then young enough to be fully submerged in it all in adult life,” says Carser. “Things weren’t so easily accessible which made everything seem a little more special – my followers are always amazed we were all living identical childhoods despite the fact there was no social media.” It’s an aide-memoire for how the 90s really looked (and smelled) and a slice of pre-internet social history that high street revival collections will never capture. It’s so therapeutic that a mindfulness book inspired by the account, The 90s Activity Book (for Adults), will be published by Penguin this October.
Groovy is in the heart. Carser’s work has even inspired Impulse to re-issue their iconic scent (and PE kit bag essential) O2, first released in 1997. And the other Knee Deep favourite, Bang On The Door, has just released a new range of tees based on original 90s designs. Studio co-founder Karen Duncan launched the brand in 1988 but its sketchy, kooky character Groovy Chick, “the first design-led tween queen,” introduced in 1992 was the one who became a stalwart of key fobs, birthday party stationery and pencil cases throughout the decade.
How low can you go? 90s popsters S Club’s comeback single, released last week ahead of a reunion tour, was written by the prodigiously talented British songwriter Cathy Dennis. If you find yourself inadvertently humming it you may be strong enough for the 90s Baby Pop gig at Manchester’s AO Arena this October. The lineup includes Blue, Peter Andre, Five, Samantha Mumba, Louise, Ultra Nate, Snap!, Sonique and many more legendary acts. If that all sounds too serious and credible, singing teacher James Partridge (@jamesbpartridge) has built an Instagram following of almost 35,000 people who line up nicely to join in his school assembly singalong shows featuring stone cold classics such as Lord of the Dance and Autumn Days. His live album, School Songs for Anxious Adults, was released this week.
Your mother warned you there’d be days like these. First aired in 1994, Friends ran for 236 episodes over ten years. Turn an authentic 90s blind eye to all the fat shaming, drag shaming, sexual harassment, objectification, questionable understanding of consent etc etc and get yourself down to the new Friends Experience at Birmingham’s NEC! For £26.50 you get to take selfies in the girls’ and boys’ apartments, lark about in the fountain and have a coffee at Central Perk. Could it be any more 90s?
Still works = still cool. Unlike your iPhone, obsolescence on purpose wasn’t inflicted on the O.G. Nintendo Game Boy, which sold 120 million units after its release in April 1999 and is currently enjoying a hipster renaissance. Nintendo’s smart decision to prioritise simplicity, sturdiness and battery life over fancy graphics and fiddly features is paying off even now as plenty of Game Boys still work. Decent examples (not too sticky and with all the bits attached) go for about £70 on eBay but good-quality original games are harder to come by. Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening will set you back at least fifty quid, and up to £200 with the original box.
It’s not surprising that I’m feeling nostalgic. This is my last piece for Weekend Sensemaker as I’m leaving Tortoise this week. I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you and farewell to Tortoise members for all your lovely emails, bracing criticism (!) and brilliant contributions at ThinkIns over the last five years. Being your Members’ Editor has been so much fun and it was a great privilege to get to know so many of you. I do hope our paths cross again. With love and thanks, Liz.
