It must be the same for everyone: at some point fashions that you remember from your childhood and teenage years come right back round, full circle, and are everywhere. While some of these fads remain happily consigned to the vaults of history, others may leave you wishing you’d held onto your treasured faves.

Hypercolour Tshirts

With the 90s being the decade where everything was better in neon, hypercolour Ts were the epitome of cool. Few non-uniform days at school were complete without at least a small tribe sporting colour changing t-shirts. The problem was, sweaty, hormonally charged teenagers and clothing that changed colour with heat weren’t the best combination and there always seemed to be that kid with huge circles of contrasting colour under the arms. Then, there was the added problem of mis-laundering, so after an accidental spin in a too-hot washing cycle, your t-shirt would just turn a delightful, sludgy colour. Is this going to make a comeback? Erstwhile hipster faves, American Apparel, tried something similar in the late 2000s, but to no massive commercial success. Maybe – thankfully – for the best?

Tie-dying. Everything.

Often found in conjunction with the above technology. Everything was better in neon in the 90s, ok?

Pogs

Pogs were those little cardboard discs beloved of junior school-age children during this hallowed decade, and no doubt loathed by the parents, guardians and teachers that had to deal with the almost inevitable quarrels that ensued because of them. Although adorned with every conceivable 90s, zeitgeisty character (think Pokemon, Helly Kitty etc etc), in fact the game itself has a much longer history. It’s suggested that the game (originally called Milk Caps) dates back to the 17th century in Japan, but it really came to prominence in Hawaii during the 1930s when it was played with milk caps (also another name for the game). And – factoid alert – the name pogs actually comes from the an acronym of the Hawaiian fruity drink company, Passion Orange Guava, that popularised the game.

Trolls

Any chance of forgetting about these little are-they-cute-or-not figurines has long since gone, with both a new-ish movie and the folks at make up brand MAC bringing out a Trolls-themed and 90s-friendly make up range last year. In fact the Trolls weren’t a 90s invention, but date back to the late 1950s when Thomas Dam created one for his daughter as a Christmas present. Clearly the idea was appealing, and Dam started making them for a wider market. Between 1963 and 1965 they were reportedly the biggest toy trend in the United States. Evidently there’s an evergreen appeal to the furry-headed good luck charms, but we wonder if it’s a case of either getting their appeal, or really, really not…

Magic Eye

If you were walking along the Portabello Road market in the early nineties, chances are you would have walked into someone going cross-eyed trying to figure out one of the many Magic Eye pictures for sale. Given the 90s revival we’re in the midst of, we don’t think it’d be a surprise to find these weird pictures find their way back into popularity again. The idea was the invention of Tom Baccei, who worked with a Japanese magic firm to produce a series of images, which quickly – and inexplicably – took the world by storm. Also called autostereograms, they work by defocusing your eyes until a 3D image pops out in front of you. The reality was always a little more underwhelming than the promise, but they have had another use in treating patients with various occular dysfunctions. We’ll remember them mostly for being a major source of frustration and we most associate them with the 90s cult film Mallrats and poor Willam’s inability to see the sailboat. We feel you, Willam. We do.

Reebok Pumps

Hi-top trainers have come back into fashion again, but if you lived through the first iteration, you’ll probably remember these beauties. The pump bit enabled you to inflate part of the shoe to get a better fit, but the people we knew with them spent most of the time with the laces artfully undone, thus surely negating this feature. Funny thing though: Reebok have a new-ish line of trainers with this very same ‘pump technology’ which Reebok says actually means there’s no need for laces… maybe it’s not so faddy after all?

Beanie Babies

Sure, they look kind of saggy and – if you refused to remove the heart-shaped tag from the poor softie’s ear – rather like it had been tagged along with a herd of cattle, but boy were these things collectible.

Right from the get go Ty Warner, the rather obsessive chap behind Beanie Babies, decided to operate on the business model of deliberate scarcity and by the mid 90s they had become very collectible indeed. Each run of beanie babies was kept deliberately small, ensuring stores and collectibles would clamour for them. The bears were different from their more conventional teddy cousins because they were stuffed with, yup, you’ve guessed it: beans.

Tamagotchi

May 1997 might have been memorable as being the dawn of New Labour in the UK, but it also marked the global release of the Tamagotchi, essentially an egg-shaped key fob with a tiny pixalated pet which the user had to ‘care for’ by feeding it. Neglect your tiny digital critter and the poor thing expired, thereby teaching kids the responsibility of pet ownership without the need for poop bags. An enormous source of frustration for parents and teachers across the land and probably a complete mystery to today’s generation of primary schoolers.

Tattoo chokers, butterfly clips, snapbands and mood rings

Oh yes. Almost nothing screams 90s louder than a choker, and you don’t have to look far on Pinterest to see that they’re making a serious comeback. It was a part-goth, part-coolest-girl-on-the-block vibe that we all aspired to, particularly because absolutely ALL the teen dramas seemed to consider the accessory absolutely mandatory and you were less Goth than – as brilliantly put by the good folk at Bustle – ‘Goth-lite’. Now they’re back, as if not a second has past in the intervening two decades (and yes, it has been that long…). Add to this jewellery phenomenon mood rings, butterfly hairclips and snap bands and that’s a pretty good summation of 90s teen accessories.

Who knows what we’ll find we wish we’d kept in another few years? If your collection (however ‘faddy’) has got a little out of hand, or you’re sure you’ll get round to wearing your beloved Reebok airs again, but just not now, Boxman can help. You can store things easily and efficiently in our sturdy, waterproof boxes (which we’ll deliver directly to you, and take to our secure storage facility). Because things have mercifully moved on since the 90s, you’re able to keep track of what’s inside each box digitally, making it easy to see what’s stored where. Questions? Get in touch! We like to chat.