- Combat trousers: So comfy. Covered all manner of sins. But also sexy. How did they manage it? Thanks for letting us not have to wear heels as well. Bliss.
- Mix tapes: Short of actually reading his diary, getting a mix-tape from your boyfriend was the ultimate way to delve into his psyche and intentions towards you in intense detail with your friends. You’re Gorgeous by Babybird better be on there. Anything by Alanis Morissette better not be. How are we supposed to know what the bastards are thinking these days?
- Smash Hits Polls Winners Party: Will Mark from Take That beat Jordan from New Kids on the Block to win Top of Mop award? Will Kylie win Most Fanciable Female? Will Brian from East 17 win Party Mentalist of the Year?
- Leonardo DiCaprio: Feeling that the love you have for your partner will never even come close to how you felt about him in Romeo & Juliet.
- Electric pencil sharpeners: Like a miniature mill. The thrill of your pencil becoming sharper than a hypodermic needle.
- Spelling out words on your calculator: Maths is so much more enjoyable when someone has passed you a calculator that says (remember to read upside down) 5318008.
- Tippex: Remember when we wrote with a pen? And making mistakes didn’t mean you had to go on antidepressants?
- Copydex glue: Why DID it smell of fish?
- The original supermodels: Christy, Cindy, Naomi, Linda and Claudia. That Versace runway. Still trying to get over it. Failing.
- Wayne’s World: Remember when this was the funniest film you’d ever seen and saying ‘NOT’ at the end of a sentence made you totally hysterical?
- Twin Peaks: When it didn’t matter that it didn’t make sense (!) and everyone looked young.
- Clubbing: Dancing to Underwater Love on a great many drugs.
- Plaits: When it was cute to wear your hair in plaits instead of a bit desperate.
- Silver trainers: That whole rave vibe.
- Raves: Bonfires, fields, neon and Voodoo Ray sounding vintage.
- No mobiles: When you made plans and stuck to them because cancelling was a great deal more complicated.
- Friends: Rachel in Friends profoundly influencing your look.
- Slogan t-shirts: Look how sassy and funny you are with your blatantly egocentric self-labelling: ‘Goddess’ / ‘Fallen Angel’ / ‘Absolutely Adorable’ / ‘Kitten’.
- Oasis versus Blur: Yes you fancy Damon the most, but anyone who doesn’t prefer Oasis is MAD.
- New Labour: There was a time when elections felt empowering and exciting…
