five 90s toys that shaped today's style.

today i read a story that reminded me that every kid has a few special toys that will stick with him or her for life. if not in reality, then at least in the best of memories. and not only that, but they help shape the future adult that kid will turn out to be. for me, those toys are:

1. puffalump, which looked just like this one. like whoever posted this ebay listing, i have no idea what kind of what animal it was supposed to be, but it didn't matter. mine was from 1986, but it was still a part of my nightly sleeping habits in the 90s. i still have this one. minus the dress...and a lot of the stuffing.

 photo credit: bruser917 on ebay

2. puppy surprise. ok, so this one is kinda creepy when you think about it. it's a stuffed mama dog that has a hole in its belly where little kids can remove baby puppies like some kind of weird c-section. but i loved it. my sis and i pooled together $20 worth of coins and dollar bills we saved to buy it, and we were so frigging excited when we were "surprised" with the max of five pups.

3. this next "toy" is more like a combination of memorabilia... my new kids on the block sleeping bag and joey barbie doll (which came with an interview on cassette tape that i used to secretly listen to because he talked about his "first kiss"). i don't have pics of these anymore, but i did find this gem of a birthday invitation so you can fully understand my kindergarten nkotb obsession. i'd tell you it was my first crush, but that would be a lie since the real answer is kevin arnold from "the wonder years." and i digress...

4. lil miss singing mermaid. this one was awesome mainly because my sis and i woke up on christmas morning to a matching set of lil miss mermaid dolls, little mermaid towels and little mermaid barbies, plus a little mermaid video tape and splash tape to share for the ultimate themed gift from santa. that was a good year. i'd tell you what made the doll itself special, but i think you're better off just watching - and hearing - the commercial.

5. american girl dolls. i had felicity. ash had molly. we both had about 12 sets of their clothes and i even made a quilt for mine thanks to help from my art teacher. at the time, i idolized these dolls and the books that went with them.  

photo credit: hal0maniak on ebay

little did i know how much i would have in common with them later in life. like my shared love for feminine apparel from brandy melville. which brings me back to the intro of this post... if you're a 90s child at heart and had an american girl doll of your own, you absolutely must read this magnificent article i found on huffpost style on "what your childhood american girl doll says about your style now." you won't be disappointed.