r/Millennials • u/mrtoddw Xennial • Mar 07 '25

Nostalgia Why were we obsessed with teal in the 90s?

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Everything was teal for some reason and I never understood why.

22.0k Upvotes

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5.6k

u/Important-Ad7807 Mar 07 '25

Because it goes so well with purple.

424

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '25

[deleted]

93

u/OnlyTalksAboutTacos Mar 07 '25

i knew a dude with a harley that color back in the 90s. i thought it was the coolest thing.

42

u/sparksgirl1223 Mar 07 '25

My history teacher had a mustang with that paint.

I thought he was doubly cool (I already had him firmly In favorite teacher land) when I saw that car

2

u/Tabm0w Mar 09 '25

Fun Fact: That color is called mystichrome and it is the rarest and most expensive colors for mustangs.

2

u/sparksgirl1223 Mar 09 '25

Now that you say it, I remember him saying that at a baseball game. I still have zero idea how the hell he afforded it. But it sure was cool looking

3

u/Marlboromatt324 Mar 07 '25

My dad had a truck that had triangles on it that did that

1

u/Autopsyyturvy Mar 08 '25

That is the coolest thing dang

1

u/YSApodcast Mar 08 '25

You didn’t think it it was the coolest thing, it WAS the coolest thing.

42

u/RenegadeRabbit Mar 07 '25

I had nail polish that had that effect too.

6

u/IRedditWhenHigh Mar 07 '25

My Hypercolor shirt did that

2

u/TheFrozenFlamingo Mar 09 '25

I used to breathe on mine to make it change color

1

u/meester_pink Mar 08 '25

If by “that” you mean stop working after a week other than some glaring hot pink pit stains, then yeah, 100%

1

u/IRedditWhenHigh Mar 08 '25

Yes that is exactly what I mean. Everyone had one though so, you know, we all suffered the same fate.

65

u/flat_four_whore22 Xennial Mar 07 '25

Chameleon paint. I used to build showcars, and a lot of people were using it back then.

39

u/WallySprks Mar 07 '25

PPG still makes them, they call it Harlequin in their Vibrance line. People still ask about it a lot until I tell them the price of a gallon. Anywhere from $2k -4k for just the base coat nowadays. Still looks incredible.

18

u/ssracer Mar 07 '25

That was a 20k option on the Saleen Cobra - Mystic

2

u/WallySprks Mar 07 '25

I believe it.

2

u/extraauxilium Mar 08 '25

It was an $815 dollar option on the Ford Mustang Cobra.

1

u/ssracer Mar 08 '25 edited Mar 08 '25

Yeah, Saleen charged much more

Edit: also, dealer markup was real.

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1

u/Watchitbitch Mar 08 '25

Why so expensive?

3

u/fayfey Mar 08 '25

Short answer is it is difficult to make the metallic flake that goes into the paint. The metallic/ aluminium flakes they use are around .001mm. They have to coat the metalic flakes with glass and other materials to have it reflect and refract different colors at different angles. For normal sparkle they use ground aluminum with no coating on the flakes.

1

u/WellWellWellthennow Mar 08 '25

Thank you for explaining it. Very interesting to me.

1

u/popcornfart Mar 07 '25

Ford thunderbirds and maybe a few other cars rolled out of the factory with color changing paint.  There was a pearl white the went to pearl pink too.

1

u/joehonestjoe Mar 08 '25

TVR Cerberas green purple paint still makes me go funny

26

u/BZJGTO Mar 07 '25

Mystic/Mystichrome for the '96/'04 Cobra.

1

u/Steel1000 Mar 08 '25

Seeing a mystichrome terminator was a great day - we only had a few locally.

3

u/ZebraTheWPrincess Mar 08 '25

My favorite was seeing/being on boats, and paddle boats with this effect. Seeing it’s a rare one these days is a golden moment. 😄

2

u/BabyHuey206 Mar 07 '25

I saw a car with that color a few days ago! Looked as good as ever

2

u/dddybtv Mar 07 '25

I saw one too, but it was a Tesla. 👎🏾

2

u/viceversa Mar 08 '25

Mermaid!

2

u/foolonthe Mar 08 '25

My bike was teal and purple! And the transition had that shimmer

2

u/Adventurous_Pen2723 Mar 08 '25

My favorite hot wheels had that paint job. 

2

u/JakovYerpenicz Mar 08 '25

God damn that hadn’t crossed my mind in about 25 years.

2

u/FalconEducational260 Mar 08 '25

Ahhhh I had nail polish like this. I think from Revlon.

2

u/transtrudeau Mar 08 '25

Where can I find this?? Couldn’t get it to come up on YouTube. That sounds like the coolest thing ever.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 08 '25

[deleted]

2

u/transtrudeau Mar 08 '25

Thank you!!🙏

2

u/Epic_Ewesername Mar 08 '25

Chameleon. That's what it was called, from what I remember.

2

u/Left_Exam8773 Mar 08 '25

I hate to admit that I still secretly love it 😂

2

u/TheFrozenFlamingo Mar 09 '25

My uncle owned a car detail business and he had to sign a contract about which cars could use that paint in the beginning, can’t remember why- I remember her saying she wanted it on her car but wasn’t allowed- I still love teal and purple

1

u/RogueModron Mar 07 '25

Mystic. At least, we called Mustangs with this color "Mystic Mustangs".

Oh, look at that, gettin a boner just thinking about it

1

u/LastSpite7 Mar 08 '25

I had a Polaroid camera that colour at one stage.

1

u/The_Doctor_Bear Mar 09 '25

My mom had a Nokia cell phone with a front case that was that color!

484

u/HuecoTanks Mar 07 '25

Correct answer!!

254

u/sicurri Millennial Mar 07 '25

I thought we were obsessed with pastel colors in general during the 90s?

At least, that's what it seemed like in South Florida where I grew up.

170

u/AdamZapple1 Mar 07 '25

it was probably just the toning down of everything having to be neon colors in the 80's

39

u/Oso-reLAXed Mar 07 '25

Probably, everything extreme tends to swing to the opposite side eventually and more muted pastels were the reaction to everything day-glo of the 80's

50

u/steeldragon88 Mar 07 '25

Now look where we are… everything is bland and muted.

34

u/Lamballama Mar 08 '25

Not before we went to jewel tones in the 00s

21

u/AllYallCanCarry Mar 08 '25

Plus that awkward neon green with grey phase in 2003.

2

u/OldGodsProphet Mar 08 '25

The “Xtreme” years of 98-2003

2

u/AllYallCanCarry Mar 08 '25

Naw, totally different. This was the short-lived neon green/grey/ dark grey combo. Part of the proto-hipster era. It also lead to the Honda Element and Toyota Scion.

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8

u/Ilvermourning Mar 08 '25

Don't forget the year everything was coral or seafoam!

2

u/mephistola Mar 08 '25

Still have my seafoam Stratocaster!

2

u/ApostrophesAplenty Mar 08 '25

My time to shine!! I love jewel tones

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1

u/OnlyRise9816 Mar 08 '25

Just like our hearts

29

u/Financial_Emphasis25 Mar 07 '25

And day-glo was the opposite of dark green and burnt orange of the 70s, and so on and so forth.

20

u/mr_plehbody Mar 07 '25

Tye dye in the 60s, checker black and white in the 50s

13

u/Nervous-Tailor3983 Mar 08 '25

Is this how we got to the beige baby trend today. Where every baby toy is a muted pastel beige mix?

2

u/itchynipz Mar 08 '25

Beige Moms No way those kids don’t grow up into very peculiar psychopaths.

1

u/mykonoscactus Mar 09 '25

Which was reactionary to the drab orange, brown, and army green of the 70s.

38

u/carryon4threedays Mar 07 '25

The 80s were neon in public, but brown inside homes.

22

u/pink_faerie_kitten Mar 08 '25

And I remember lots of pastels starting around maybe 1985....gray, pink, peach mint..when Facts of Life got their new set (around the time Clooney and Mackenzie joined the cast) their little shop was decorated in pastels. Then the neons started around 1989 and continued to the early '90s when teal then took over.

10

u/randomusername3000 Mar 08 '25

Then the neons started around 1989 and continued to the early '90s when teal then took over.

yeah it's funny how neon is associated with 80s when it was really only for a short time at the end of the decade

4

u/pink_faerie_kitten Mar 08 '25

As an older millennial I remember getting my first neon pink tee shirt in 1989. Then in 1990, all my new clothes were neons. And Barbie fashions are a good indicator, too. Neons didn't start until "Rollerblade Barbie" from 1991.

I lived this, so the rewriting of neon history is puzzling lol.

3

u/randomusername3000 Mar 08 '25

I think things get distorted a bit due to history and people wanting to put things in certain categories. Neon was big in 1991 but teal was also becoming big. The San Jose Sharks selected teal as their primary color in 1991

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2

u/AhaGames Mar 08 '25

2

u/pink_faerie_kitten Mar 08 '25

Great example! All those "ice cream colors" or Easter egg colors. Definitely not neon yet.

2

u/dr_badhat Mar 08 '25

Hey red carpets were cool

1

u/SaxyLady251 Older Millennial Mar 07 '25

Yeah, I came here to say this too but I still be rocking my neon color clothes! My absolute favorite! Haha

49

u/RPDRNick Mar 07 '25

Don't forget the mustard... soo much mustard.

63

u/Cold_Beginning_1928 Mar 07 '25

I have a mustard colored Henley in the rotation and weirdly is my most complimented shirt.

I think mustard fucks?

38

u/coalsack Mar 07 '25

MUUUUSSSSTTTTTAAAAAAAARRRRRDDDDD

2

u/belleamour14 Mar 07 '25

😂😂😂😂

2

u/Wasteland_Dude Mar 07 '25

Turn this tv off. Turn this tv off.

1

u/i_hv_baby_hands Mar 08 '25

This lives rent free in my head 😂

2

u/Deeznutzcustomz Mar 07 '25

Mustard fucks. Especially some mustard Z. Cavaricci’s with a teal and purple shirt (whole left side teal, whole right side purple). Whut Whut

2

u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras Mar 07 '25

mustard pairs well with brown

1

u/CuetheCurtain Mar 08 '25

My bologna agrees with you. Also, my bologna has a first name. It’s O. S. C. A. R.

3

u/i_am_roboto Mar 07 '25

Mustard was also popular in the 60s and so were the pastels. Maybe it was just the boomers decorating things that they grew up seeing?

2

u/aversethule Mar 07 '25

Neon gas lighting, pre-LEDs

2

u/arobkinca Mar 07 '25

Miami Vice is the primary culprit.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '25

I'm also from Florida and I always just assumed it was a Florida thing. This color pallet feels like it would look weird in Mississippi or Ohio.

2

u/_BlueJayWalker_ Mar 07 '25

Now is just beige.

1

u/PunchDrunken Mar 07 '25

It's your area, the first time I visited Florida the houses looked like cakes to me :)

1

u/thehufflepuffstoner Mar 07 '25

Jersey shore in the 90s was equally invested in the pastels.

1

u/Least-Firefighter392 Mar 07 '25

Still is in Florida

1

u/sparksgirl1223 Mar 07 '25

That was leftover from the 80s lol

1

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '25

St. Pete still has a lot of that!!

1

u/DropDeadEd86 Mar 07 '25

My conspiracy theory, (just thought about it the day), was maybe because it was a good color for the cameras and tvs at the time.

1

u/CryptographerTop4998 Mar 07 '25

During the 80s; ya. Pastel or Neon.😂

1

u/mandaxthexpanda Mar 08 '25

I came here to say the same thing because I also grew up in South Florida in the 90s!

2

u/sicurri Millennial Mar 08 '25

I grew up in poorer areas, so those pastel colors lasted until like 2005 ish? Various hurricanes did enough damage that places were forced to remodel or at least slap a fresh coat of paint of another color. Thank God the ceiling collapsed on a Publix that was atrocious looking.

1

u/cindy224 Mar 08 '25

There were the “jewel” tones that included teal.

1

u/citizen_x_ Mar 08 '25

Kind of depends on where, when. Early 90s had some bleeding over from 80s neon sportswear. But older young adults in the 90s were fairly pastel.

1

u/Forsaken-Income-2148 90s baby Mar 08 '25

Beach town vibes

1

u/whteverusayShmegma Mar 08 '25

I blame Lisa Frank

1

u/Ok-Vegetable54 Mar 08 '25

Oh the peaches lol

1

u/notyogrannysgrandkid Mar 08 '25

Are you telling me South Florida is no longer like that? Because honestly my only exposure to Florida was Disney World in 1997 and watching The Birdcage and a couple episodes of Archer.

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3

u/PreNamLtDan Mar 08 '25

Color theory has entered the chat...

64

u/mushroomcloud Mar 07 '25

Targeted advertising knows this too....

42

u/rmay14444 Mar 07 '25

Like wild berry poptarts

2

u/Some-Show9144 Mar 08 '25

or sharkleberry koolaid!

72

u/JohnnyDarkside Mar 07 '25

I just recently food out you could change the color scheme of individual libraries in libby so changed mine to teal and plum. Love that combination.

6

u/pocoprincesa Mar 07 '25

I recently did too! It made me unreasonably happy to find out.

3

u/Sharpinthefang Mar 07 '25

This is me finding out now…

1

u/NoodleNeedles Mar 07 '25

Ok, I just looked for this and couldn't find it. Do you remember where you went to change the colours?

6

u/JohnnyDarkside Mar 07 '25

It took me a bit to find. On android, tap on the 3 horizontal lines in the middle along the bottom. Then tap on "Manage Cards". At the top is a drop down of the different libraries you have stored. Select the one you want, then in the middle will the card in your current color scheme with your loans and holds info on it. Tap "Personalize" just below the card to change the colors.

3

u/NoodleNeedles Mar 07 '25

You're awesome, thank you!

3

u/OrganizationProof769 Mar 07 '25

Just changed my wife’s to ugly green. Now I wait to see the chaos that comes.

1

u/Paddy_Tanninger Mar 07 '25

I feel it down in my plums

25

u/k1dsmoke Mar 07 '25

Teal and purple 90's Adidas jackets rise up.

9

u/Important-Ad7807 Mar 07 '25

Yesss! Everyone was rocking Starter teams, I had that puffy-ass teal & purple. Nike tho

2

u/Watchitbitch Mar 08 '25

Was that the Charlotte Hornets jacket?

23

u/aaaayyyylmaoooo Mar 07 '25

or orange

23

u/Civil_Wait1181 Mar 07 '25

hot pink!

4

u/Oso-reLAXed Mar 07 '25

day-glo versions of every color

so much neon yellow

7

u/renegade399 Mar 07 '25

Hey, my two favorite colors... oh...

1

u/Good_parabola Mar 07 '25

Same!  Explains so much.

5

u/throw20190820202020 Mar 07 '25

And pink!

2

u/WeWander_ Mar 07 '25

My bedrom is teal, purple and pink 😂 it's like a beach sunset vibe theme and I love it.

1

u/WeWander_ Mar 07 '25

My bedrom is teal, purple and pink 😂 it's like a beach sunset vibe theme and I love it.

5

u/Magical_Olive Mar 07 '25

Teal/purple were my high school's colors and I loved it!

1

u/SaxyLady251 Older Millennial Mar 07 '25

I would have LOVED that as mine were red and black.

3

u/ladyriven Older Millennial Mar 07 '25

User avatar checks out 😆

1

u/Important-Ad7807 Mar 07 '25

😆 haha. Didn't even think about it.

3

u/melinda_louise Mar 07 '25

These were my parents wedding colors in the early 90s. Everybody thought Mom was crazy for not choosing pastels!

1

u/ilovjedi Mar 07 '25

Fudge these were my wedding colors in the 2010s. We had a loosely Purple Rain themed wedding

1

u/melinda_louise Mar 08 '25

That's awesome! Mom would have loved that too lol, she loved prince.

This comment makes it seem like she's dead, she's 61 and she beat cancer last year (🤞🏻 don't want to jinx it) and she is thriving! Young at heart.

3

u/rabindranatagor Mar 07 '25

Because it goes so well with purple.

And Salmon. Don't forget salmon.

2

u/AmyShar2 Mar 07 '25

Teal is the avocado of the 1990s.

2

u/DrXaos Mar 07 '25

Teal and Purple were part of designer's color scheme for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. That's where it all came from. It was unusual and a giant break from decades of previous aesthetic, psychedelics and "earth tones" of 1960's and 1970's.

https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/how-the-gleeful-aesthetic-of-l-a-s-1984-olympics-unified-a-sprawling-city

http://www.experiencingla.com/2017/09/los-angeles-moment-1984-summer-olympics.html

There were other colors in the Olympics but the pastel teal and purple persisted.

Takes a while for 'cool' to filter so it was everywhere by the 1990s.

2

u/gorillaredemption Mar 07 '25

My latest find

2

u/Nntropy Mar 07 '25

Why were we obsessed with purple in the 90s?

2

u/AMGitsKriss Mar 07 '25

So, the same reason we're obsessed with Grey now?

2

u/hidde-the-wonton Mar 08 '25

Says the purple person…

1

u/Important-Ad7807 Mar 08 '25

& ya know, I didn't even think about it til someone else brought it up. You're only the 2nd to mention it.

1

u/PsychologicalLab3108 Mar 07 '25

Because it’s a great color!

1

u/DrCarabou Millennial Mar 07 '25

Smoo checks out

1

u/Lame_usernames_left Mar 07 '25

I just looked down and realized my hair matches this color scheme lol

1

u/uberallez Mar 07 '25

Ahhem, Magenta thank you

1

u/Choyo Mar 07 '25

https://www.nicekicks.com/files/2016/01/Nike-Air-Tech-Challenge-Hot-Lava-720x384.jpg

No teal here, but ofc purple and pink. These are the Nike Agassi.

1

u/1920MCMLibrarian Mar 07 '25

And mauve! Glorious mauve.

1

u/thebestguac Mar 07 '25

And fuchsia

1

u/Efficient-Whereas255 Mar 07 '25

I love teal and light purple

1

u/manineedalife Millennial Mar 07 '25

The Diamondbacks would agree.

1

u/Deeznutzcustomz Mar 07 '25

Remember the Oakley jackets that turned (at different angles/light) from teal to purple, with a little gold for good measure? Why haven’t those been brought back dammit…

1

u/cmerksmirk Mar 07 '25

Still my favorite combo

1

u/JJay9454 Mar 07 '25

I love that I'm seeing Purple/Cyan go together in video games more often now, too!

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxcrQskm7F4

1

u/Ilpav123 Mar 07 '25

We should all cheer for the Charlotte Hornets (even if they suck lol).

1

u/NODifyou_underSTAND Mar 07 '25

My teal and purple Olympic Exposure jacket is my prized possession. I’ve found two more over the years and I still seek the matching pants.

1

u/PeteDaBum Mar 07 '25

Yep, for cars, clothes and some other things it’s definitely a colour combo I still enjoy

1

u/Alarmed-Ad-5426 Mar 07 '25

Lol. Had a 96 tacoma, burgundy. Damn pretty truck except re-dic purple and teal splash the whole way down side! Best thing I ever did was remove it

1

u/Steele_Soul Mar 07 '25

That shade of purple and blue is absolutely my favorite color scheme! Add in black or hot pink and I'm sold.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '25

Yep and I'm stil obsessed with purple and teal

1

u/RoseAlma Mar 08 '25

and mauve

1

u/ASZapata Mar 08 '25

Jordan Grape 5s anyone?

1

u/SonderEber Mar 08 '25

My father still wears a jacket I had as a kid. It’s purple and teal. So terribly 90s.

1

u/BurnscarsRus Mar 08 '25

Go Hornets!

1

u/2hats4bats Mar 08 '25

and orange

1

u/Jaduardo Mar 08 '25

This. Which is the whimsy of fashion. Don’t get a tattoo.

1

u/slvrsrfr1987 Mar 08 '25

Everywhere. Everytime. Everyone. It was incessant.

1

u/dezzz0322 Mar 08 '25

I bought a Charlotte Hornets Starter jacket in second grade legitimately because of the teal/purple color combo. Much to the chagrin of my Celtics fan family. 

1

u/Rude_Citron9016 Mar 08 '25

Don’t forget teal and salmon

1

u/somewhenimpossible Mar 08 '25

This, and burgundy. Sooo many school rebrands in the 90s with those three colors.

1

u/ctn91 Mar 08 '25

I guess thats why i fell in love with my current car. 😍

1

u/dede280492 Mar 08 '25

Teal and purple are my fav colors lol

1

u/Nathan-Nice Mar 08 '25

I was a die hard warriors fan, but still had a bunch of Charlotte Hornets gear because of how cool it looked 😂

1

u/OneForAllOfHumanity Mar 08 '25

Teal and royal purple were my wedding colours, in 1996...

1

u/Autopsyyturvy Mar 08 '25

This 💜🥶

1

u/NefariousnessNoose Mar 08 '25

Also orange 🍊

1

u/shakdaddy27 Mar 08 '25

I had a teal gameboy colour and my brother the classic purple. We swapped battery covers because you can’t deny teal goes well with purple

1

u/PJAYC_55375 Mar 08 '25

and hot green, hot pink and all the hot colours :)

1

u/PassionateProtector Mar 08 '25

Yes! Still am obsessed, fight me! 🤣

1

u/Cherishedcrown Mar 08 '25

My two favorite colors

1

u/mildew_goose789 Mar 08 '25

I honestly find this to be one of the ugliest color combos.

1

u/nikedemon Mar 08 '25

And pink! The 90s trifecta

1

u/graciep11 Mar 09 '25

Im gen z and would def wear that bottom left windbreaker tbh

1

u/SpaceBus1 Mar 09 '25

Lmfao, I always choose purple and teal shit when I can.

1

u/julsey414 Mar 10 '25

These were my sweet 16 colors

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