5 on Friday: Trends That Can Stay in the 90s

There are now “90s nights” at clubs around town (I’ve seen the flyers, they gave me a sad). ModCloth now has a 90s section listed along with the 20s, 40s, and 50s. And walking around various department stores has shown me they aren’t the only ones cashing in on the 90s trend. Which means the 90s are the new 80s, where every high school/middle school kid thinks it’s all “like cool or whatever.” And while I look back on the 90s with a certain fondness (as the Wombats would say “I had no cares in the 1990s, I knew of no downfalls”) there are some trends that should stay in 1990.

1. Chunky Shoes – I was ridiculously proud of my chunky shoe collection. I had a pair Volatile flame sneakers I was particularly proud of. (This Etsy seller claimed they were from the 80s, I can assure you they were not.) And a pair of brightly colored Mary Jane’s for dates (like I had dates). But chunky styles are making their way back. Let’s not let that happen.
2. Overalls – Overalls were once a thing. I’ve seen them at stores recently, and the only explanation I can come up with is that once our jeans hit the lowest point they could during the early 00s, the rebound was so hard that the only place they could go was over our shoulders.
3. Internet Explorer – It came on your PC which meant it was the one you used. Afterall, you weren’t going to spend the time to download something else, and someone would probably pick up the phone midway through. Seriously though, the US government has said not to use IE. Can we stop now? (They do get points for this awesome video though.)
4. Walled Gardens – Not literal gardens (which are a good way to prevent erosion), but the old AOL model where you required AOL to get to certain websites. This is back in full force with “only on iPhone” and “only on Android” apps and services. We have the technology to make most of these things available from the web browser, lets just do that already.
5. Charging for Minutes Online – Remember when you had to pay for minutes to be online? You would get AOL disks in the Sunday paper touting “100 free minutes!” With the latest broadband caps I fear we’re heading that way but with bandwidth. Think of it like you do the dataplan on your phone.

The last one may seem ridiculous, but with the way the Net Neutrality arguments are going we could end up there. We’ve accepted it on our phones, and I wouldn’t be shocked if the ISPs move this way. It’s the demonstration NeoCities used to show the FCC the consequences of the laws they’re passing. Call your representative and let them know that you’re not OK with this.