The Spice Girls in the 1990s, at Peak Spice Levels
The Spice Girls meant everything to young people in the 1990s. Staying indifferent felt impossible in the face of songs like Wannabe, or music videos full of colorful clothes, weird stuff, and lots of laughs. Everyone talked about them, everyone wanted to be them. They were big.
They met the King and Queen of England, won numerous awards, appeared in various TV shows, and crossed over with other popular artists at the time, especially boy bands. Fashion icons like no other, they always wore something new and different, usually hard on the eyes, setting trends every other day of the week and disrupting the fashion industry for years to come.
The Spice Girls represented more than just a girl band. They marked an era like very few artists could, and while a few photos can't really encapsulate what they meant for the world, we can certainly try.
Barbie Spice
Nothing says The 90s more than a Barbie Spice Girl. You just had to be there.
Iconic Looks All Around
Each Spice Girl had their distinct personality that would also show in their many different outfits, setting the stage for fashion to come.
Casual Spice
Even when they were dressing casually, the Spice Girls would be trendsetters.
Spice Girls
You were never going to see the Spice Girls using the same outfits in two different situations, and that was one of their many superpowers.
Top of the Pops
British TV Show Top of the Pops featured the Spice Girls while they were taking over the world.
Spice Robes
When we say the Spice Girls were trendsetters, we mean every girl you knew wanted to have a colored robe at home.
Spice Backstage
The Spice Girls documented their history in tons of photoshoots. Girls' walls needed posters. Bad.
Spice Switch
Their looks were so iconic that they could parody themselves by switching roles just for the fun of it and everyone got the joke.
Spice Smoke
Backstage pictures showed the Spice Girls in unusual situations.
Spice Injury
Seeing a Spice Girl with a mobile phone was probably where kids started asking for cellphones for Christmas.
Spice Paris
The Spice Girls traveled all around Europe, and Paris was one of the destinations that provided more footage of their casual outings.
Spice Video
The Spice Girls were the center of attention everywhere they went, even at the MTV Video Music Awards, full of celebrities and eccentric musicians.
Spice Pop
The Spice Girls had their own Barbies, as well as many other product collabs. But if you want to target little girls, you need to become a lollipop.
Spice AOL
The Spice Girls were on the internet before it was cool.
Spice Royalty
British Royalty (Prince Harry) meeting British Royalty (Spice Girls).
Spice Women
Many women today talk about the Spice Girls as their first contact with feminism and the idea that they could really do whatever they wanted with their lives.
SpiceCam
Having your own Polaroid camera in the 90s meant you were as big as could be.
Award-winning Spice
The Spice Girls were the most nominated artists at the 1997 Brit Awards, and they went home with two, which was also the most awards any artist took home that night.
Spice Party
Nobody partied like the Spice Girls… as we would realize decades later.
Spice Mania
While some people think it's crazy to compare the Spice Girls to the Beatles, there was a huge movement of fans around the world, and there are way too many pictures of the group in airports proving just how big they were.
Rolling Spice
Of course the Spice Girls featured in Rolling Stone magazine.
Baywatch Spice
Musical videos and thematic photoshoots were a regular thing for the Spice Girls, like this one homaging another big name in the 90s.
With the Backstreet Boys
Girl and Boy Bands were everything in the nineties, and seeing them crossover like this was a before-and-after moment for lots of teenagers.
Spice World
Like any other musical phenomenon, the Spice Girls starred in their own movie, Spice World. Like the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, it follows the band right before a concert, while they deal with all sorts of ridiculous problems and surreal sequences.