To find out more about the Geriatric Millennial Instagram page, we got in touch with the account's creator, Tara B. She was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and explain how the page came about in the first place.
"I started out on TikTok about 3 years ago, where it took me quite some time to build a following," she shared. "Last spring, I decided to try my luck over on Instagram, where I immediately saw more success."
"I think there's just more people in my age range over there," Tara B. continued with a laugh. "I originally started making the 80s/90s/00s to sort of document my memories and have visual references of my younger years to share with my teenage daughter."
We were also curious about what Tara loves most about the decades that she celebrates on her page. "I love the 80s/90s/00s because, in my personal opinion, that was the best time to grow up. I love that there's not a ton of evidence of all our shenanigans," she said with a laugh.
And how does Tara decide what to post? "Things/memories will pop into my head, and I just kind of go with that," she noted. "I use a mixture of my own belongings/stuff from my parents house, things I've sourced online and the occasional submission from followers to make memes and other content."
"It's actually quite hard to find pictures of certain things because we didn't take as many pictures back then, so often when I make a post, it's inspired by something I've seen someone selling on Facebook Marketplace or eBay, etc.," she continued.
"My parents house is also a huge time capsule. Often when I visit, they send me home with items from my childhood," Tara shared. "My daughter has inherited a lot of my childhood toys, clothes and decor, so I often draw inspiration from those items as well."
Finally, we asked the creator what advice she would give to young people who want to familiarize themselves with the 80s, 90s and early 2000s.
"If Gen Z wants to learn more about 80s/90s/00s culture, I suggest they just talk to their parents, aunts, uncles, teachers, older coworkers etc. or even follow pages like mine," she shared. "I love reminiscing and comparing stories with people of all ages. We can all learn from each other."
Trends cycle every few decades, so it’s no surprise that 90s and early 2000s fashion has made a resurgence on social media in recent years. And I am all for it! Gen Z wasn’t around to see the birth of Y2K fashion, but they’re making up for it by popularizing it yet again on TikTok.
Women’s Wear Daily notes on their site that some of the most popular trends of that time are back: low-rise jeans, crop tops, Uggs, trucker hats, bell bottom jeans, cargo pants, denim skirts, platform flip flops, rimless sunglasses, butterflies and capris. When I was in high school, I wouldn’t have been caught dead in a pair of low-rise jeans, but they’re all the rage today!
Some other trends from the 2000s that are seeing a resurgence today are graphic tees, shoulder bags, micro miniskirts, vests, rhinestones, bucket hats, pointy boots, strappy sandals, oversized belts and more, Cosmopolitan reports. Now, for many of us, these style choices might remind us of photos of us from our tween years that make us cringe today. But for the youngest generations, these fashion choices are fun and exciting, and it’s great that they’re learning more about previous style trends!
If we really want to get nostalgic, we can focus on some of the best aspects of the 80s, 90s and 2000s. And without a doubt, these decades had some amazing media and music. Growing up, I was obsessed with John Hughes films, even though his biggest hits all came out about a decade before I was born. And today, I still love music from the 80s. I don’t think the sounds of Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, Duran Duran, The Cure, Depeche Mode or Tears for Fears will ever get old to me.
When it comes to iconic cinema, no one will ever be able to forget Clueless, Ghostbusters, The Breakfast Club, Dead Poets Society, American Beauty, The Truman Show, Titanic, E.T., Home Alone, Edward Scissorhands and more. And while there are still amazing films being made today, it often seems like theaters show many more remakes and sequels than original pieces. The 80s, 90s and 2000s were full of innovation, creativity and what later became known as classics!
When we reminisce on these past decades, we should also remember that life was very different during those times. When there were cell phones at all, they were nothing like what we have today. And the internet was nowhere near as prevalent in people’s lives. Your parents probably read the newspaper every morning, and if you wanted to catch your favorite TV show, you needed to be seated on the couch with your popcorn ready at the moment that it aired.
