Cringe things we all did on a night out in the ‘90s

When you look back at your teen and early adult years, you didn’t have to worry about kids, the school run and sugar content levels. All you thought about was the weekend and partying – how times have changed! It may have seemed like great fun then, but as you try and relive your youthful years by singing along to old-school ‘90s tunes in the car with your kids demanding ‘turn it off’, it may have occurred to you that the ‘90s wasn’t as cool as it seemed ...

Butterfly clips were the staple to any ‘90s hair do. They would create a ‘fun’ look that said ‘I’m ready to party’. Inevitably, this style soon lost it’s appeal and looking back, we all realise we just looked like a load of six-year-old girls.

Pastel-coloured jeans gave us that ever-so-chic look – or at least we thought it did at the time. And there was nothing better than pairing a low-rise jean with a tiny crop top to show off a totally toned physique (er, of course it was).

Belly button piercings were all the rage in the ‘90s, especially if you had a belly button ring with a Ying and Yang symbol. They said ‘I’m fun, rebellious and spontaneous’. But oh how they hurt when you got them done (or if they got infected!).

The tighter and smaller the t-shirt, the better! Some went the extra length (pardon the pun) and bought their tops from children’s clothes stores.

Any type of shoe always looked 100 times better with a platform. And made you look taller, slimmer ... you could have given Christy Turlington and Linda Evaneglista a run for their money. That was the theory anyway. And it was a perfectly good one, until you had to walk in the shoes, of course.

Glitter injected gloss was also a must-have look. The wetter and the more gloss there was, the better. Quite sticky when your hair got covered in it, too.

You couldn’t walk into a bar, pub or club without seeing half the party-goers with this alcoholic lemonade in their hands. In fact, at its peak Hooch would sell 2.5million bottles per week in Britain.

In the ‘90s, mobile phones weren’t what they are today. Not only did they look like black bricks, but getting any form of signal on them took a lot of effort. Which made it impossible to call or text anyone to find out where they were.

It was one of the many popular dance songs of the ‘90s. You only have to mention the title and the song will loop around your head for the rest of the day – sorry! But, the moves were slightly harder to grasp ... especially after a few bottles of Hooch.

This cult show, which aired in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, was best watched with a kebab and chips in hand. Host Pete Waterman and Michaela Strachan would tour the UK to get an inside view of clubbing around the UK – cringey dancing, cheesy outfits, compulsive viewing.

Hollyoaks was THE soap when it started in 1995 and it was the perfect show to watch back-to-back episodes of on a Sunday morning, while nursing a hangover and waiting for your mum or your housemate to cook a fry-up. Or, you might have some Friends episodes recorded on VHS ...

All the male stars from the 90s were at it, from Axl Rose to Leonardo DiCaprio and David Beckham, the messy long-haired, heavily gelled 'greasy' look was the in-thing for guys. It was even worse when they'd tie it up in a ponytail *wretches*.

It was tasty version of minty gum and it’s still sold today. We all wanted to be like the cool American teens chewing gum in exotic locations in the commercials ... didn't have quite the same effect chewing it in the rain while waiting for the number 85.

Because what says ‘sexy and sophisticated’ more than sticky glitter in sporadic patches across your body? It became even more attractive when you started to sweat from all the dancing and it clumped together. But no matter, as everyone else you may have gone near during the evening was also covered in your glitter.

In theory, we thought we’d be sexy like Naomi or Ginger Spice, but we just ended up looking like Cellulite Spice. And the front wedgies were a sensation you’d never be able to forget.

Because, if Madonna did it, it was cool. However, like most things Madonna does nowadays, if you pulled out this move while at a party now you’d be on the receiving end of a lot of baffled looks and raised eyebrows.

Cosmetics, including fake tan, were not what they are nowadays. They looked great in the adverts, but put into practice, fake tan always looked a bit patchy and orange, and it whiffed a bit. Plus, no matter how carefully you washed your hands after, you'd always end up with bright orange palms.

Jack from Titanic was the man of our ‘90s dreams. We all wanted to be painted like Rose. So when there was a lookalike in a club, you'd fix your butterfly clips and chew the straw of your drink as you tried to look all ‘girl next door’ to seduce him.

Before the days of iPhones, Instagram and selfies. It was all fun and games when you and your mates were snapping each other doing ridiculous things while incredibly intoxicated. But, seeing the look on the Snappy Snaps worker’s face as she handed you back the incriminating pics was embarrassment-inducing.

We all claimed to 'know' someone who was ‘throwing this amazing rave’ in some abandoned warehouse or countryside somewhere, and it would be the ‘party of the decade’. However, when you were driving around for ages trying to find the spot on the field in the middle of nowhere, it wasn't that great.

Back in the ‘90s, licensing laws were strict, and clubs and pubs closed earlier. But we always wanted to carry on the party, so before last orders, you’d rush to the bar and order as many bevvies as possible, not considering how this would contribute to your huge hangover the next day.

Oh, the days before mobile phones! If everyone wasn’t out the front of McDonald’s at 8pm, you had no chance of finding them again.

Remember when people would smoke in clubs? Yup, glad that’s stopped now!

Seriously, cigarettes were such a hazard!

And they showed up every bit of white fluff on your outfit. Not ideal.

If that wasn’t the scent of the ‘90s, we don’t know what was!

And at the end of the night, there was always someone in the corner, belting it out on a guitar.

EVERYONE had one of these Live Strong bracelets. You could spot them anywhere and everywhere!

A few Bacardis in and you were zigga zig ah-ing all the way home.