Growing up in Lubbock in the 90s, we had a very specific definition of \u201cfancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
If it glittered, glowed, spun, or cost more than $4.99 at Mervyn\u2019s, we were convinced it belonged in a mansion. We were kids raised on Safety City field trips, McDonald\u2019s birthday parties, and South Plains Mall glamour.<\/p>\n
Our bar for luxury was\u2026uniquely West Texan…and if I’m honest, quite low…<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s look back at the things we were 100% sure were peak sophistication,\u00a0but definitely were not.<\/p>\n
Photo by Toa Heftiba<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>1. Red Lobster: The Pinnacle of Fine Dining<\/p>\n If your folks took you to Red Lobster, you were basically royalty. You got all dressed up in your church clothes, practiced your best manners, and ordered shrimp scampi like you had a fully stocked 401 (k) plan.<\/p>\n Photo by Markus Spiske<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>2. Big Soft Pretzels From Target<\/p>\n Target wasn’t just “shopping” for us ’90s kids, it was a dang outing. That warm, overly salted pretzel from the fancy little cafe at the front of the store? That was Paris. That was friggin’ Milan. That was the most luxurious carbohydrate experience we could imagine. Bonus points if your mom caved and bought you an ICEE, too.<\/p>\n Photo by Kier in Sight Archives<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>3. Bedazzled Anything<\/p>\n Jeans. Belts. Hats. Shirts. You name it. If it had rhinestones, it was designer-level shmancy garb. Every Lubbock kid grew up thinking that owning a Bedazzler was essentially the same thing as having a degree in fashion somewhere in New York. Meanwhile, we were all walking around looking like rejected members of S Club 7. We thought we were stunning, and we rocked the hell out of it.<\/p>\n Photo by Martin Engel<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>4. A Bedroom With A Lava Lamp<\/p>\n If your friend had a Lava Lamp, they were rich as all get out. A lava lamp meant that their parents didn’t shop exclusively at Kmart. It was peak vibes. It was wealth. It was everything to us. In reality, it was probably $10 on sale at Spencer’s.<\/p>\n Read More:\u00a0Lubbock’s punk rock legacy shines with the Descendents’ upcoming<\/a><\/p>\n Photo by Francesca Petroni<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>5. The South Plains Mall Carousel Ride<\/p>\n This wasn’t just entertainment. The little fiberglass horse ride at the mall meant elegance. You felt like a princess (or prince) while perched upon that thing, ignoring your mom yelling, “HOLD ON!” from the side. You didn’t need her advice. You were straight up livin’.<\/p>\n Photo by Neli Cerquetella<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>6. Owning a TV\/VCR Combo<\/p>\n This was basically the flex of the decade. If your TV had a VCR in it, you had some damn Elon Musk technology going on. And, if you had your own, in your bedroom? That was some gated community sh*t right there.<\/p>\n Photo by Laura Chouette<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>7. Sparkling Grape Juice on New Year’s Eve<\/p>\n Nothing said “classy” like you and your 8-year-old pals pretending to be wasted on New Year’s Eve, passing around a plastic bottle of sparkling Welch’s. Spoiler alert: they were like $3.49.<\/p>\n Photo by Josh Eckstein<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>8. The Giant Crayola Box With The Sharpener<\/p>\n If you had the massive 64-pack Crayola box with the built-in sharpener, you were the queen\/king of the classroom, y’all. You weren’t just coloring. You were curating museum-level masterpieces. Nobody cared that the sharpener only kind of worked. Who had time for that?<\/p>\n 9. A Bedroom Phone (Especially a Clear One, and Your Own Phone Line)<\/p>\n Those see-through phones with neon wires and flashing lights were the fanciest things we could imagine. Beverly Hills. MTV Cribs. You believed your pal with one was leading a double life as a pop star. The truth is, every ’90s kid in Lubbock had one because they were $12 at Hastings.<\/p>\n Photo by Rapha\u00ebl Biscaldi<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>10. A Backyard Above-Ground Pool<\/p>\n We thought this was peak luxury. A pool in your own yard??? Holy smokes! Never mind the water was always freezing, full of june bugs, and had had a rough spot that always seemed to scrape your toe. Ballin’.<\/p>\n We were delusional, but it was beautiful. Looking back, our idea of “fancy” was pretty adorable. It didn’t take a whole lot to impress us. All you needed was a trip to Red Lobster, a lava lamp, and a novelty phone, and honestly, that’s what made growing up in Lubbock magical. We turned ordinary things into absolute glamour. That’s what made us fun.<\/p>\n Truthfully, I still fan-girl over all of that junk today…<\/p>\n Keep scrolling for more Lubbock fun in the galleries below…<\/p>\n 10 Lubbock Items Most Likely To End Up in The Smithsonian in 2125<\/p>\n Some may think I’m joking, and that’s because I am…<\/p>\n Gallery Credit: Chrissy <\/p>\n 5 Great Places To Take A ‘Fart Walk’ In Lubbock (And Where You Never Should)<\/p>\n Gallery Credit: Chrissy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Growing up in Lubbock in the 90s, we had a very specific definition of \u201cfancy.\u201d If it glittered,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169,223],"class_list":{"0":"post-56333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lubbock","8":"tag-lubbock","9":"tag-lubbock-headlines","10":"tag-lubbock-news","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}