Big Spending in the '90sA look at the decade-long heyday of brightly-colored, ridiculously loud, direct-to-children marketing and the many toys, foods, and products you begged your parents to buy you.
Updated September 23, 2021 28.8K votes 6.7K voters 484.5K views
Voting Rules
Vote up the brands that you loved too much to let go of.
If you've ever tried to emulate a look from the '90s, you know that it's actually pretty difficult to achieve '90s fashion today. For starters, you'll need a scrunchie, a sweater around your waist, and a few other bits of '90s flair that are now totally embarrassing. To be truly authentic, you might even go to a shopping mall in hopes of hitting up the local Contempo Casuals. If this is the case, you're in for a big disappointment; Contempo Casuals is just one of the beloved '90s brands that don't exist anymore.
Many '90s brands that went out of business were, for a time, the height of fashion. Despite their success, none of these brands are as ubiquitous as they once were, and the reason for their departure varies. Some companies were never able to recover from a change in management and were forced to close up shop as interest dwindled. Other brands have attempted comebacks, and while some have been successful, none of the rebooted brands feel anything like they did in the '90s.
Founded in the early '90s, Delia's took pride in being "the funky, fun, quirky teen girls’ brand." The company started as a direct-mail business, but grew until it had established retail locations in malls across the country. Despite the brand's successful rise, sales eventually started to dwindle, and in 2011 the company filed for bankruptcy.
Today, the physical Delia's stores are all gone. However, the company has returned to its roots, with an online-only comeback that began in 2015. Now the rights are owned by Dolls Kill.
In the '90s, Limited Too carved out a space in malls across the country by offering European-style fashion aimed at young girls and teens. In the late '90s, the retailer started focusing more specifically on tween girls, and by 2004, many Limited Too stores were rebranded as Justice. By redirecting the company's efforts, Justice was able to offer the same fashion seen at Limited Too, only for a more affordable price.
By 2008, pretty much all Limited Too stores were gone. However, if you're a fan of the brand, you may be in luck. In 2016, the owner of several prominent retail brands announced plans to attempt to bring back Limited Too in select locations.
The popularity of Looney Tunes spiked with the 1996 release of Space Jam, but the demand for clothes featuring the characters eventually waned. In 2001, the Warner Bros. Studio Stores closed for good.
How '90s were Bongo Jeans? The ads Bongo ran that featured Liv Tyler should tell you all you need to know. The company was founded in 1982, and grew steadily over the next decade and a half. During the rise of Bongo Jeans, Gene Montesano and Barry Perlman, the founders of the company, also created Lucky Brand Jeans in 1989.
By 1993, the pair had left Bongo to focus on Lucky Brand, and in 1998 they sold Bongo to Candies for $15 million in stock. Bongo Jeans are technically still around, but since the change in ownership, the brand doesn't feel quite the same; for starters, it's no longer tied to popular celebrities.
Nautica brand clothing was perfect for anyone in the '90s who owned a boat. It was also perfect for anyone in the '90s who wanted to pretend like they owned a boat. The company was founded in 1983 by David Chu, a Taiwanese immigrant who moved with his family to the US in the 1960s.
Nautica was immensely popular throughout the '90s, but was sold in 2003 to VF Corporation, who also owns North Face, Vans, and several other brands. While Nautica clothes still exist, the brand is no longer the powerhouse that it was in 1990, and is nowhere near as ubiquitous as VF Corporation's other brands.
6
1,792 votes
Bugle Boy
Photo: Bugle Boy
When Bugle Boy was founded in 1977, the brand was known as Buckaroo International. However, the company's fortunes changed in the late '80s thanks to a name change and a hip advertising campaign. The brand's commercials typically featured a woman driving up to a man, then coming to a stop to ask him, "Excuse me, are those Bugle Boy jeans you're wearing?"
The jeans remained popular throughout the '90s, but inexplicably vanished at the turn of the century; in 2001, Bugle Boy filed for bankruptcy.
