- - - Woman ‘Wasn’t Allowed’ to Take Part in ‘90s Trends as a Kid. Now, She Makes Nostalgic Skits to Help 'Heal Inner Child' (Exclusive)

Meredith WilshereJuly 21, 2025 at 4:00 AM

Janine Baggett

Janine Baggett in a pink jacket.

Janine DeMichele Baggett makes nostalgic '90s and 2000s skits and videos

Baggett talks to PEOPLE exclusively about the inspiration behind her content and what she wishes would come back from the '90s

Through her content, she hopes that people find comfort and peace

Janine DeMichele Baggett loves to play dress up.

Growing up with a background in theatre and always performing, it felt natural when she started making TikToks inspired by her childhood in the '90s, creating different characters such as the suburban mom or the classic sitcom teenager.

Baggett, 36, talks to PEOPLE exclusively about the inspiration behind her content, her famous silver eye shadow, and what she wishes would come back from the '90s.

After attending theatre school, Baggett began working in the entertainment industry while living in Atlanta. From there, she moved to New York City to pursue her Broadway dreams, but then the pandemic struck.

Janine Baggett

Janine Baggett in front of a green screen.

With more to spend at home in her apartment and the growing popularity of TikTok, Baggett decided to make a skit about the use of flashbacks in hit '90s movies. The video went viral, so she decided to make more.

Baggett then made a series predicting what TikTok would have been like had it been around in each decade, but her videos about the '90s and early 2000s consistently performed the best.

"I started getting an audience of people my age that connected, particularly with the '90s and 2000s," she explains. "I thought, 'This feels like it's resonating.' I was personally really having fun doing deep dives, and listening to all the music that I forgot about."

Baggett says she grew up in a very strict church and wasn't allowed to listen to pop music, so she would sneakily listen on the radio or at friends' houses. Now, she says her nostalgic content helps "heal [her] inner child."

"I'm reliving things I wasn't allowed to as a kid, and I found a lot of freedom in that, particularly as I deconstructed the strict religion I was brought up in," Baggett shares. "I love to find moments that feel comforting, and share that comfort with others, sharing things that everyone relates to."

One of her most popular series is centered around decorating in the '90s, specifically relating to kitchens. She also created a '"90s mom" character, who sings nostalgic hits from the decade, dressed in wigs with dark lipstick and a jean jacket.

"There was a lot of comfort in that, because it's your childhood," she shares. "Remembering going to your best friend's house, and it was fun to escape as a kid... going to a friend's house, and her mom let you have certain foods you weren't allowed to have."

Janine Baggett

Nostalgic things from the '90s owned by Janine Baggett.

"It's about finding these moments that feel like, 'This was so fun, and this gave me so much comfort,' and then trying to capture that and make that for an audience," she adds. "There's a collective feeling that we all missed that era, because it was the last era before the internet consumed us. It's comforting, and it brings a peaceful feeling."

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Baggett's videos are a blend of research and lived experiences. While she remembers putting on glitter makeup and heading to the skating rink, she wants to ensure she doesn't misrepresent anything for her audience.

"I research to make sure my references are exact. I want to make sure it's 100% accurate," she says. "My memory can be a bit fuzzy, especially for the early 1990s. I was young. It's mainly a blend."

She often looks to music videos from the period for reference, trying to emulate the fashion and hairstyles of the time. She also turns to her a collection of Sears and JCPenney catalogs, a reliable source of the everyday fashion trends at the time.

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A post shared by Janine DeMichele-Baggett (@retr0avocado)

Unfortunately, she "barely has anything from [her] actual childhood" still around, so she finds most of her nostalgic items at thrift stores, as well as marketplaces like Poshmark and eBay. Her go-to silver eyeshadow, featured in many of her videos, is from Colourpop.

The content creator says her videos leave her with a desire for the "feeling of freedom that I feel like we don't have anymore."

"People were more community-oriented. We were not glued to our screens," she said of the '90s. "I know that's such a cliché thing to say, but I miss where the internet was a thing you did for a couple of hours, it was not, your whole life."

Janine Baggett

Things from the '90s and 2000s owned by Janine Baggett

Of course, Baggett understands that she wouldn't have her career, either in content creation or her day job as a marketer, without the internet. Regardless, she misses a time when it didn't feel like you needed to be "online" all the time.

Still, she is grateful for her followers and the people who engage with her videos.

"It means a lot that people kind of nerd out with me about this. It's been positive to find a community of people that can appreciate what I do," she says.

With her content, costumes, and wigs, Baggett is healing her own inner child, as well as thousands of others.

on People

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