Fashion Flashback: 10 Fads from My Childhood

Okay, fine. I’ll admit it. I love boy bands.

There, I said it!

Recently, I’ve been introduced to the jailbait that is One Direction (no judging!) and it has brought back a flood of memories from my boy band years. I’m a child of the ‘90s—the era of five-man pop groups with over-the-top costumes and cheesy lyrics. NSYNC and BSB, anyone?

As unpalatable as this genre might be to some music purists, I’m secretly thrilled about the return of the boy band. Whenever your childhood comes back to haunt you, an inescapable sense of nostalgia takes over. Some long wistfully for the age of innocence, when we weren’t glued to the Internet or i-Gadgetry. Others think of how far we’ve come—from Encarta to Wikipedia, for instance. Most people just feel old.

Me? It’s all of the above, supplemented with the embarrassing recollection of my biggest fashion disasters.

But now that I think about it, fashion didn’t have to make sense when you were a kid. Figure-flattering? Versatile? Practical? To put it in Tagalog, ano yon? At that age, all we were thinking about was having fun—and being like the kids on Nickelodeon.

This probably explains why the biggest fads in my childhood are the most baffling today. When I flip through old photos and I see myself posing all proud in awkward ‘90s attire, my reactions alternate between hysterical laughter and gut-deep cringing. W.W.I.T.—what was I thinking?!

All I know is that it was fun while it lasted. Old fads are just like boy bands, you see. First, you can’t live without them, and they just make so much sense. Then, before you know it, they’re over—and you shelve them as the remnants of your past life. And then, when enough time has passed, and you’ve seen enough of the real world to feel tired and old, you’ll revisit them with good humor and maybe, just maybe, a little more fondness than you anticipated.

So, without further ado, here are 10 fashion fads that made a splash during my wonder years. Somehow they manage to make me feel completely ancient and completely adolescent at once!

(Flashbox photo from Clarissa Explains It All courtesy of Nickelodeon. All gallery photos from Polyvore, unless otherwise stated.)