MovieChat Forums > Slacker (1991) Discussion > The number of fanny-packs in this movie

The number of fanny-packs in this movie

posted 16 years ago by MnemonicDevice
11 replies | jump to latest

I don't remember fanny-packs being particularly popular with young hipsters in the early 90s, but in this movie it seems like every other person wears one. Was this an Austin thing or what?

[–] KneeDeepintheDead 16 years ago

they were very popular... i remember saving proofs of purchase in the early 90s on cereal just so i could get a darkwing duck fanny pack.

don't tell me that's not devotion to a trend!

[–] MnemonicDevice 16 years ago

So were you in the Austin area at the time? Because, like I said, it was so totally not a cool thing in the northeast where I grew up.

[–] SyphiliticSunburn 16 years ago

I had a fanny pack as a kid...

[–] tfonville-1 16 years ago

I was in Austin from 1983 through 1998. You couldn't throw a rock down Guadalupe Street (in front of UT campus) without hitting someone wearing a fanny pack. Not enough pocket room in the Whole Earth Provisions rugby shorts, so viola fanny pack explosion.

[–] BbaySMH 16 years ago

Like the other poster said, was it just something going on in Austin? Yeah fanny packs were "in" (if you could ever call it that) at one point, but they were more of an 80's fad and you'd likely get stabbed to death wearing one in the 90's. I too am from the northeast and the fanny pack went out of style long before the 90's up here. Although I've admit, I've seen a lot movies, news footage, documentaries, etc that seem to back up the notion that the south is about 10 years behind in terms of fashion etc. Even throwing on a backwards hat with a bent brim these days would be treated like wearing a fanny pack or wearing flannel.

[–] blahblaher2003-1 16 years ago

The movie was filmed in what, 90 or 91? So considering the already never-really-was-in-style dress for most of the thriftier, bohemian cast/characters; fanny packs were probably more of an item of convenience than a fashion accessory. People who are transient, mobile, or generally unconventional in that sense might need more pockets. I doubt too many people in this movie were concerned with how cool they looked when getting dressed. And I can't recall anyone in this movie wearing clothes that were brand new for the time, even back when I first saw it in the early 90s.

[–] colbymacinnis 16 years ago

it was filmed in 89, and fanny packs where bigger then everyone so far thinks.

[–] TequilaMockingbird5150 8 years ago

fanny packs then in the spring of 89. Everyone seemed to be wearing them.

The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. Samuel Beckett

[–] russellsolomon 16 years ago

Although I didn't live in Austin, I was in Houston during the same time period.

And yes Fanny Packs were HUGE in the late 80's/early 90's down here in Texas. Someone posted on this thread about saving proofs of purchases to get a darkwing duck fanny pack. That's freakin' hilarious.

It seems that fanny packs were given out mainly as a gimmick to get you to buy something. While vacationing in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, my parents were tempted to buy a time-share condo with the promise of free fanny packs! All we had to do is go in and listen to their schpiel and we walked away with a family set of bright red fanny packs that read "THE RIDGE TAHOE" in huge letters emblazoned on the back.

Those were the days...

[–] spica123 16 years ago

Fanny packs were NEVER cool. Ever. Anywhere. Period.

[–] TequilaMockingbird5150 12 years ago

which if memory serves me right, was the first time that I ever saw one was the summer of '89.

The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. Samuel Beckett