Reach out to your friends who grew up playing with American Girl dolls in the ’90s. According to American Girl herself, they’re old now.
Today, American Girl announced that the ’90s are officially of the distant past. It introduced two new historical dolls, twins Isabel and Nicki Hoffman, who live in Seattle in … 1999. This reminder that 1999 was 24 years ago serves to teach the next generation about the “dial-up decade” and the challenges of having a twin with a really different aesthetic than you. While Isabel is a preppy, pop girlie, Nicki is a skater who’s also into Seattle’s infamous alt-rock scene.
She was a skater girl; her twin was a preppy girl, what more can I say?
Credit: American Girl
To those who aren’t of the American Girl doll experience, this news might not have sent a shiver down your spine. For others, it’s the first time the era of their childhood will be represented in one of the iconic historical dolls, which is bound to cause many to contemplate the cruel passage of time.
“Given the prevalent wave of ’90s trends and pop culture nostalgia, we’re excited to celebrate like it’s 1999 with our newest historical duo Isabel and Nicki,” says Jamie Cygielman, general manager of American Girl, in a press release. If you take a close look at the twins’ bedroom you’ll see relics of technology’s past: a dial-up computer, a home phone, an alarm clock, floppy discs, a portable CD player, and a Tamagotchi. You’ll also find a “Girl Power” notebook that looks like it could be merch for Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour. In fact, other than the tech, most items look like something you’d be able to purchase at Urban Outfitters in 2023, proving culture is a rabid circle.
So much vintage tech nostalgia in one image.
Credit: American Girl
While historical dolls like Kit Kittredge and Claudie Wells represent the Great Depression and the Harlem Renaissance, Isabel and Nicki tackle the tech boom, grunge, and culture’s early embrace of the Internet. Can someone check on Eddie Vedder?
