The ’90s and ’00s were defined by bold fashion, quirky gadgets, and a distinct sense of individuality—things many really appreciated. So after we discovered a couple of Reddit threads where people shared the trends from the two decades they wished would come back, the nostalgia was undeniable. It’s clear that these eras left a lasting impression and still reemerge in our memory when today’s world feels uncertain, offering a comforting reminder of simpler times. Who knows, they might return—at least in some form.
Good cartoons.
My kids are starting to get into cartoons now and I have such a hard time finding anything that they like to watch that I can even stand.
This might sound needlessly convoluted, but I miss when there was a clear divide between being online and offline. When going online was something you had to commit to, like you’d just be writing a Word document or playing a game or whatever offline but would decide “I want to go online now to look something up for my school assignment” and would have to click connect.
The whole “always online” thing which has crept up on us over the years does annoy me a little. We’ve now reached a point where if my ISP screws up and my internet goes out for a few hours, I can’t even fire up a locally installed single-player PC game to entertain myself during that time because even starting the game requires going through Steam, which requires an internet connection… and that really, really annoys me.
Respect and manners.
Going to your friends house and actually doing s**t instead of phones and dead silence.
2D animation.
Wheres the 2D animation? Everyone treats 3D likes its superior. It’s not, it’s just different.
Decent movies bring released on a regular basis.
Really good book/vinyl stores that people actually liked and not just went cuz it’s “cool”.
People pay attention to you when you talk instead of playing on their phones
Leaving the house at 9am on your bike, getting home at 6pm for dinner, and being completely uncontactable for that entire time.
Girls wearing chokers. I don’t know what it says about me that I find that so hot.
Split screen racing games for two people IN THE SAME ROOM.
Complete videogames. Now you get half a game at launch and the other half in dlc.
The advent of reliable fast internet gave too much leniency to developers and allowed them to release games at 70% to be fixed at a later date.
Expansions seem to be almost extinct too. They used to *expand* the game, while dlc is commonly used to complete development of the main game.
90s were so hopeful, life could only get better but now that we’re here it seems we all want to go back.
Mass media with pro-environmental themes because it wasn’t considered a partisan issue.
A booming economy with actual wage increases and affordable real estate
My hope of owning a house
Grunge music
Low gas prices.
Movie stores and people regularly frequenting them.
That was such a 90’s (and early 2000’s) community experience for me and I loved having it as a date night option. Perusing new releases and digging through the archives was a lot of fun and scanning one by one with a controller has always felt so limiting and lifeless by comparison.
Visited the last Blockbuster on Earth in Bend, Oregon the other week and had a blast. Granted, we have a local Family Video somewhere in my region but it doesn’t compare to familiar bustle of Blockbuster.
Good R&B music
Everyone in your friend group going to one guys house and having all your bikes outside
Video stores like Blockbuster…idk..I personally kinda enjoyed going to them on Friday nights
People minding their own business
Real internet privacy
Dangerous toys like Sock’em Boppers, Skip it, Moon Shoes, etc….
Everything.
Most stuff sucks now compared to 1990s.
But if I had to pick one, CDs >>>>> MP3s. When had your cd book in your car, and had a cd in your player…it often kept your place. It was easy to skip around songs as well. My car today has on/off issues recognizing my iPhone Bluetooth, and when I blast Tom Petty or something from my iPhone, it sounds thin. Whereas when I play it from the CD it has much more volume. just the act of hanging out at Tower Records and looking at CDs with a group of your teenage friends…that was like half my summer day back in the mid 90s.
The internet, even though I use it, has not turned up to be a positive force on society IMO.
Also, wtf aren’t kids hanging outside doing s**t anymore? Doesn’t anyone go cruising anymore? Where is everyone?
Old school rap.
Fun dance music on the top hits. Today’s music is too dark/sad/slow for me.