Millennials born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s are at that spot where nostalgia hits differently. You see, millennials are old enough to remember life before smartphones but young enough to have adapted to the digital age. That position makes the age group susceptible to nostalgia. With that, here are the 10 triggers that hit millennials the hardest.
10. Y2K Fashion and Aesthetics
Gen Z has expanded their taste in fashion, incorporating styles you used to wear to school. The generation has brought back 90s and early 00s fashion trends, such as glitter details, claw clips, and Von Dutch caps. This style hit the hardest, as it represents the last moment before the 2008 financial crisis and the crushing burden of student debt that defined millennial adulthood.
9. The Golden Age of Toys
The ‘90s were the golden age for toys we consider iconic today. Toys like Furby, Polly Pocket, and game consoles shaped our entire childhood, and surprisingly, they cost high when purchased from resellers, as their editions were already phased out. It reminds millennials of the good old days, and they want something to remember the times by. These toys represent a time before smartphones, when play meant using your imagination.
8. VHS Tapes and Plastic Clamshell Cases
There’s something oddly comforting about hearing the crackle of a VHS tape or that plastic clamshell case where your Disney movie came in. You get reminded of the days you’re returning rentals at Blockbuster. You see, VHS tapes represent an era before streaming made everything digitalized. That’s how we yearn for physical media.
7. Celebrity Culture
Millennials are a unique generation defined by shared cultural experiences. You’ve been around since the rise of boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and pop stars like Britney Spears. You used to even watch MTV’s Total Request Live after school. It’s also a time when Lindsay Lohan is starring in a “Freaky Friday” movie, and former “Dawson’s Creek” co-stars Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson were recently spotted filming together. Now, when you hear or see their name, you get a little bit nostalgic for your teen years.
6. Clippy, the Microsoft Word Paper Clip
’90s kids can spend hours wading through recollections of Clippy, the Microsoft Word paper clip thing with the eyes. That creepy creature was forever in the corner of the screen, doing its thing when you wrote a poem for your crush or drafted your college admissions essay. Clippy represents a simpler time in computing when AI helpers were charmingly incompetent.
5. Lisa Frank Folders and School Supplies
Remember Lisa Frank? Who could even forget the scent of a brand-new folder? It’s even designed with rainbow dolphins, unicorns, and neon colors that seemed to vibrate off the page. Those gel pens and holographic stickers are what you and your friends use when designing your school projects. You see, Lisa Frank unfiltered joy before we learned to be self-conscious. Today, brands are capitalizing on this trend with Lisa Frank collaborations from makeup and fashion brands.
4. MSN Messenger and AIM
Remember those carefully crafted away messages, custom emoticons, nudges, and spending hours customizing your profile? They weren’t just communication tools but entire social ecosystems.MSN Messenger and AIM represent an escape to a time when online interactions felt magical rather than exhausting, maybe a time when social media became performative.
3. Tamagotchi
This was how we used to train for a real pet (and maybe convince your parents to get you one). The Tamagotchi is a handheld device that contains a virtual pet you feed, train, and play with. Many millennials today remember them with great nostalgia, and they sometimes gift them to nieces since they’re still available to buy.
2. Album Release Days at Physical Stores
In high school, friends used to have sleepovers the night before an album release. You’d all run to Best Buy to get them. You see, physical album purchases require commitment and anticipation, as you can’t skip to track seven immediately. And the feeling of owning something can’t be replicated by streaming.
1. The Sound of Dial-Up Internet
Remember that iconic screech and buzz of a modem connecting? It’s the dial-up internet, which would remind you of memories of logging into AIM after school and waiting for the webpage to load line by line. Today, you can easily access the internet anytime and anywhere with just a click on your phone.