1993 A to Z: B is for…
Welcome back to my brand new blog series . . .
1993 A to Z!
In which we discuss all sorts of phat stuff from the 90s, in honor of my newest novel, Rewind. And we do it alphabetically, because I am the daughter of a librarian. Today we’re checking out the letter “B”!
B is for . . .
[Image courtesy of MovieStillsDB.com]
baby doll teesIn 1993, the baby doll tee was invented. Or, er, not invented so much as re-sized. Because what would become the fashion statement of the 90s was literally just . . . a shrunken down t-shirt. Or a t-shirt in a much too small size. But whether it was a stroke of fashion genius or a laundry day disaster, people went nuts for these itty bitty tops. Soon all the coolest 90s icons were wearing them—Drew Barrymore, Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Aniston, you name it. Crop top or not-so-cropped, short sleeves or long, on its own or under a flannel or spaghetti strap dress or a denim vest . . . the possibilities for this fashion staple were endless. And the baby doll tee still looms large in fashion today, proving that, quite literally, nothing really ever goes out of style.
Special props to . . .
[All images courtesy of Wikipedia unless otherwise noted]
BlockbusterTrue story: At the beginning of my freshman year of college, as my mom was helping me buy a new laptop, the salesperson at the Best Buy tried to sell me on this new-fangled subscription service, where you would pay a monthly fee, and the company would send you rental DVDs in the mail. And I was like, “What is that nonsense? No one’s going to do that. When I want movies I’ll just go to Blockbuster.” Obviously that subscription service was Netflix, and it’s a good thing I don’t speculate on the stock market because I would be a poor, poor lady. So yeah, Blockbuster is caput now. But back in 1993, it was the place to go for movie rentals (and individual bags of microwave popcorn, and all your favorite boxed candy, too). On any given evening, in a small town like I grew up in, you might see dozens of people you knew there, all trying to choose the perfect flick. And if you were a kid or teen trying to rent a movie that was anything but G-rated, the sales clerk would have to call up your parents to see if you had permission to watch it. Oh, also you could call dibs on movie posters and they’d write your name on the back and when they were done with them you could take them home and hang them on your wall like a cool cat. Ah, memories . . . I honestly miss video rental stores. Flicking through options on a TV screen just isn’t the same.
With additional props to . . .
BjörkMan, Björk is weird. But long before the Icelandic musician ever wore that swan dress to the Oscars, she was blowing our minds with her mesmerizing, out-there tunes. Her debut album (probably not coincidentally entitled Debut) dropped in 1993, and one of its funkiness, most interesting numbers was a song called “Human Behavior,” which I used for the title of Chapter 10 in Rewind. (You can find the full Rewind playlist here. It’s chock-full of amazing 1993 jams!) The music video, which features a hedgehog stalking Björk through the woods and a teddy bear driving a sedan, was directed by none other than Michel Gondry, who would go on to create such trippy films as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Go ahead, give it a watch!
