Pretend Cool Britannia is still a thing and that the Girl Power movement is classified as a feminist vehicle and you’ll be transported right back to the moment when the Spice Girls were top of the charts. Née top of the world. Newsstand brimmed with magazines bearing their pictures, arenas teamed with their fans and celebrities - including, lest we forget, the Royals - did everything they could to get a picture with them.
Over two decades on since their first album, and they still bear the hallmarks of everything we want to wear. Chockers, tick, tiny handbags, tick, adidas tracks, tick, tick, tick. Sure, it looks a little hokey looking back on it now, but their glitzy-gaudy-dodgy style is about as good as the ‘90s got. Come join us on an eight-point trip down memory lane…
1. When They Won The Awards
They came, they saw, they taught the MTV Music Awards a thing or two. Though they were only in their infancy, having been together for just a year, they took the awards show by storm. Though Mel C looks like someone you might see on a Saturday night in east London, the rest were gunning to show off their nicknames and trademark look. Scary, obviously, wore animal print, Baby gave her moniker a literal spin in a Babydoll, Ginger, taught American’s how to be patriotic and Posh pushed vampy to the extremes with kohl eyeliner thick enough to rival Taylor Momsen.
2. When They Gave Barbie Something To Think About
It’s 20 years on, and I still want one.
3. When They Made The Royal Family Giddy
Look how red Prince Charles is. He’s about five shades deeper than Scary’s suit and about three off from Ginger’s hair.
4. When They Owned Their Looks
If we ignore Geri’s appropriative dress for a moment and put it down to the ‘90s, can we appreciate just how may-jar the rest of the band look? Everyone appears dressed for a different occasion and like they’d go out of their way to ignore each other at a party, but it’s working for them.
5. When They Were Actually Relatable
Looking just like every group of mates on holiday ever, they look dewy (read: sweaty), a little frizzy and overly dressed up for their night out in Bali.
6. When Geri Wore That Dress
A telltale sign of just how groundbreaking this dress, which was originally made out of a tea towel, is that it sold at auction for £41,320. It’s the epitome of Cool Britannia, a brief of blip of time when patriotism wasn’t treated with suspicion and that pop stars, like the Spice Girls, could support the Tories without any questions being raised.
7. When They Made A Goddamn Movie
Yes the plot was a bit naff and the acting questionable, but it included such unforgettable lines as, ‘It must be so hard for you, Victoria. I mean, having to decide whether to wear the little Gucci dress, the little Gucci dress, or... the little Gucci dress!’
8. When Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen Turned Up To Their Premiere
If that’s not proof enough, nothing is.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.