Should these nostalgic trends from 1999 make a comeback?

By El Hunt, 19 October 2018

Charli XCX's latest single 1999, a collaboration with dance-pop prodigy Troye Sivan, takes a nostalgic look at the final year of the 20th Century. Its amazing video references everything from the music of the time (the pair impersonate everyone from the Spice Girls to Eminem, and even recreate Justin Timberlake's infamous noodle hair) to the big screen hits (The Blair Witch Project and American Beauty among them) and our unfortunate fashion faux-pas of the years gone by.

Each week on his Radio 1 show, Nick Grimshaw opens the phone lines to listeners wanting to bring something from the past back into fashion. And after listeners have made their pitch on Don't Call It A Comeback, Grimmy has the final say: will something become cool again, or will it continue to be forgotten about?

And when it comes to all things nostalgia, who more perfect a guest than queen of 1999 Charli XCX? This week saw callers argue the case for bringing back baked bean pizza, conkers and the Vengaboys. Want to find out which of these Charli determined should be in vogue? Listen back below.

But what else from the year 1999 should make a return? Let’s take a closer look...

Rihanna dressing like the Pope is great and all, but the latter part of the 90s were the prime time for ridiculous red carpet outfits. Charli and Troye's 1999 video specifically pays tribute to the quite frankly jaw-dropping get-up Marilyn Manson and Rose McGowan wore to the MTV VMAs.

David and Victoria Beckham took things further by helping to popularise the matching outfit trend - 1999 saw Posh and Becks rock up to a Versace event in identical leather jumpsuits. It was quite the look and instantly iconic. Then two years later, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears continued the twin attire phenomenon with all-denim suits, what’s known across the pond as a "Canadian Tuxedo".

So, should it make a comeback?

Yes. We need more couples on red carpets with matching outfits. Because, well, it's a humble reminder that even the coolest stars on the planet can commit crimes against fashion - something wholly relatable and a comfort to us all.

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It wasn't just the couples being all matchy-matchy in 1999. 90s boy bands sat on stools in spotless, identical white outfits, ready to step forward during a key change. Backstreet Boys delivered the most memorable moment with their I Want It That Way video, later poked fun at by Blink-182 in their All The Small Things clip.

Thanks to groups like BTS, boy bands are very much all the rage again, so maybe these crisp and clean uniforms will see a revival as well.

Should it make a comeback?

No. Let’s think about the practical considerations: given that many of the most popular soft drinks of 1999 were often fluorescent red, blue and orange, this must have been a permanent clothing stain waiting to happen. Maybe let's give this one a miss...

Forget jeggings and spray-on skinny jeans, legwear in the 90s was all about comfort. Sure, we had Sarah Michelle Gellar's red leather trousers in the third season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (still a very popular Halloween costume), but generally, if you were comfortable, you were fashionable.

We had combat trousers hung with hundreds of straggly little velcro tags and side-popper trackies (as made famous by Sporty Spice). TLC probably achieved peak baggy trousers at the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards with their amazing, colourful mesh numbers.

Should they make a comeback?

Yes. We’ve seen the return of 90s clunky trainers and bucket hats come back, so why not add baggy combats to our throwback wardrobes?

Teen movies ruled the 90s and 00s, but it was actually in 1999 that the genre was at its height in popularity. After all, this was the year that the first American Pie movie came out. That original film set the tone for a whole avalanche of smutty and gross-out sequels.

Meanwhile, the year also saw some other classic high school flicks hit cinemas. 10 Things I Hate About You (loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and boasting an all-star cast of Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt) was a particular gem, along with She's All That (itself a modern adaptation of My Fair Lady).

Should they make a comeback?

Yes. With recent films like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and Lady Bird throwing back to the coming-of-age genre, there’s never been a better time for teen movies to return. Based on Charli XCX’s handiwork in her 1999 video, maybe she should direct them all! If she’s in, we’re in!

For some reason, cats, dogs or plain old hamsters just weren’t good enough for kids in 1999. Instead, we preferred to surround themselves with various toys which merely resembled real pets.

Ranging from the Tamagotchi (the egg-shaped pet which needed feeding and entertaining regularly) to the Furby (with their foot-long eyelashes and squawking beak), some kids even owned robotic dogs. The low budget option, however, was a little egg containing a gooey alien.

Should they make a comeback?

No. We've already seen Pokémon GO be all the rage, so we probably don't need these 90s pocket-sized virtual pets stealing all of our spare time too.

Some eagle-eyed fact-checkers will have spotted that Charli and Troye’s video make reference to possibly the most addictive video game of all-time, The Sims, despite that game not actually coming out until 2000.

1999 had its own abundance of great video games though. There was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Super Smash Bros, Medal of Honor, and we were still playing Zelda, Metal Gear Solid and Tomb Raider from the years prior. There was also Theme Hospital (a simulation that managed to make building and run a hospital actually exciting), Age of Empires (a history nerd’s dream) and Grand Theft Auto: London (which was basically like the original 2D GTA game but with added Cockney phrases).

One of the most-loved phones of all-time, the Nokia 3210, was also released in 1999, giving us Snake on one of the first mobiles not to be the size of a brick.

Should they make a comeback?

Yes. Some of these franchises are still going, but nothing beats their retro versions. So stop trying to break that Candy Crush Saga high score or unlocking new skins on Fortnite, and get rummaging in your attic for these vintage games!

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