I was not alive in the 90s. But a lot of my blog readers were, and I got a lot of comments about life in the 90s on my last post about Nicki and Isabel Hoffman! Here's some more theories from those comments:
" Definitely the end of the cold war - with names like Nicki and Isabel I doubt that they are direct immigrants, but maybe one of their family members will come over. [...] Slap bracelets. The new American Girl doll of course (Addy in 93 and Josefina in 97). Grunge (ick, I hated it, but there you have it. You can't rewrite history). [...] Definitely the nickelodeon shows, not just cartoons, and of course Saved By the Bell and Full House. [...] I was in a very focused world of ballet and community theater, so I think I don't remember a lot of "trendy" stuff. Beauty and the Beast (91) Aladdin (92) Lion King (94) Those were super popular. 94 was also when they adapted Beauty and the Beast for broadway, so if they are going artsy that might be a big thing - oh yeah, Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera. Both really big in middle school. Basketball was really big in my area, so Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. And I remember the cars becoming much more curvy and streamlined instead of boxy. Yes, prettier cars in the 90's than 80's. And video games came into your house on a large scale (Nintendo 64 came out in 96)You didn't have to go to the arcade. Oh, Jurassic Park!!!!! How can you forget Jurassic Park?!?!?! Spawned a huge paleontology movement as well as CGI. Popular colors were fuscia, teal, purple (Aladdin colors) - seriously, so many new schools built in the 90s chose teal and purple for their school colors. Desert Storm was in 90 and 91, and that shaped a lot of thought for the rest of the decade. There was a lot of renewed interest in middle eastern culture." -effiemeandmydolls captainjoeandlauren, was in middle and high school during the 90s
"Barbie was insanely popular in the 90's I'm thinking one of them may have a barbie doll. And since they are owned by mattel I think it could be a possibility. And an AG size barbie doll and box would be soooo cute!!! And trolls were super popular too, so maybe a troll? Or a cabbage patch doll? Character watches were also super popular too. Friendship bracelets. Portable cd players. Double dare, goosebumps, kids game shows. Lots of super fun possibilities." -AGAndKpopLover
"Spice Girls and the death of Kurt Cobain were big cultural moments. The 24 hour news cycle was just beginning to be a thing, so kids were a bit more tapped into world events. But MTV needs to be on the list. It was a HUGE driver or culture, there was no streaming or YouTube, pre-teens and teens watched MTV religiously. Overall, I think this has real it takes two energy. The Olsen twins were everywhere in the 90s and they always had a « one is sporty and one is fashion » dynamic." -Blaire Fan
"I'm hoping that it will be set in 1995 so one or both of them will have a mini–American Girl of Today doll!" -Lily Rose Lovemoon
"First cultural thing is "taking your daughter to work" day that eventually became "take your kid to work day". This was a way especially to encourage girls to follow their ambitions and enter the work force, but eventually it became a popular thing for companies to designate days for kids to come to the office and there would be special events or parties planned for the kids at their parent's jobs.
I am also an identical twin. In the 90s there was a boom of twins. Special festivals were created to celebrate this as a result. These girls might make references to Mary-Kate and Ashley (really popular twins at the time). They might switch places even...lol...that might be interesting to see. My sibling and I have done it once or twice.
In the 90s, for the first time, Jewish girls started to celebrate their Bat mitzvah, whereas before it wasn't as common, acceptable, or mainstream for Jewish girls to have this coming of age celebration in the Jewish faith (they mostly had such celebrations reserved for boys called a Bar Mitzvah). These girls might prepare for their Bat Mitzvah instead in the books for the first time and even go to a special school, which would be a different experience from someone like Rebecca (who would have never imagined this experience in her time period growing up as a Jewish girl).
Extreme sports became really popular in the 90s so I'd wager at least one of the twins will be interested or a family member. Roller blading especially became popular because of the introduction of the roller blades. Either that or baseball. Baseball caps became a popular fashion item in the 1990s, even for girls! Women's sports started to expand in the 90s more than ever before.
We can also expect them to make references to the internet boom and they may even play on video game consoles or computer games (from the early days). Their parents might have a cell phone (the older ones before texting and internet) and if they are in the mid to late 90s they might have DVD players.
Boy bands and girl bands were definitely HUGE, true, so I imagine at least one of them will like Spice Girls, TLC, Backstreet Boys, or N'Sync. Maybe even New Kids On The Block if it's the early 90s. However, one twin might go the alternative route and enjoy grunge bands like Nirvana. You never know! Because of the creation of CDs, they might be able to listen to all their favorite songs on a CD player. (I still have mine lol)
Disney World and Disney Land also expanded and thanks to Disney's time share access, more people than ever visited the massive park. People from all over the world got introduced to Disney parks, which was catapulted by the Disney Renaissance. I'd wager the girls will either visit a theme park of this nature or make reference to it due to it being more culturally relevant than in previous decades. I don't know too many families who didn't take their kid to Disney Land or Disney World in the 90s (or at least there were families who wanted to). Universal Studios Theme Park opened for the first time in the 90s and thanks to Nickelodeon, Universal Studios was also a hotspot where you could actually see live shows like All That and Kenan and Kel up close and personal (before they started filming in California). Six Flags Great America also expanded. It was the decade for massive theme parks. Hopefully, we see some interesting adventures with these twins in a massive theme park like these!
As far as historical events, another one to mention is the death of Princess Diana, who for the longest time was the most popular British princess around the world. I'll never forget it as a kid.
I can imagine one of the twins or a family member might be interested in fashion magazines or fashion in general. The rise of the supermodel is one of the things that might be mentioned and may even lead to conversations about body image.
As far as appearance, if they are in the early to mid 90s, they'll probably look like Chelsea Clinton as was popular then (or at least one of them will have that look). They might have bushy, curly hair. They'll have a Blossom daisy hat for sure and denim jackets or vests with floral skirts.
If they are in the late 90s, they might be interested in Old Navy khaki pants, denim of all kinds including overalls, chokers, hair clips, capri pants: looks inspired from teen celebrities of the 90s. One of them might even have braces (celebrities started wearing colored braces as a trend, making it more popular to get). It literally became a fad to wear braces in the 90s! lol
Also, I know they are going to reference Pokémon cards if they live in the mid 90s. Everyone had Pokémon cards! lol" -animestories
"I’m surprised no one’s mentioned the Atlanta Olympics! Maybe they go." -kristinazubic010