Drew Barrymore’s 90s era is the throwback we needed

Drew Barrymore just pressed play on nostalgia and reminded everyone exactly why she ruled the 1990s. In a Feb. 24 Instagram post, the Drew Barrymore Show host shared a playful video that flips between present-day silliness and intimate throwback photos from her teen years. The now 51-year-old, who celebrated her birthday on Feb. 22, opens the clip, attempting the floss dance, with the on-screen caption, “Mom, what were you like in the 90s?” What follows is a rapid-fire montage of Barrymore in her element decades ago. 

Blonde pixie cuts. Pasta dinners. A goat cuddle. A grin that defined an era. Set to the Goo Goo Dolls’ 1998 hit “Iris,” the post feels less like a celebrity flex and more like a scrapbook cracked open at the kitchen table.

The 90s Style Icon We Forgot We Missed

Before TikTok trends and curated aesthetics, there was Drew Barrymore in the 1990s. Effortless. Slightly rebellious. Soft around the edges but fearless in spirit.

Her short blonde hair became a signature. This was textured, choppy, lived-in cool. She wore it like it was an afterthought, which only made it more influential. That laid-back confidence defined 90s beauty standards long before the word “authentic” became a branding strategy.

© Ron Galella Collection via Getty

The throwback photos in her Instagram video capture that energy perfectly. Eating pasta without posing for it. Laughing mid-moment. Cuddling a goat like it was the most natural thing in the world. It is raw, joyful, unfiltered 90s nostalgia.

Barrymore’s look during that decade helped shape the era’s fashion and beauty landscape. Minimal makeup. Smudged liner. Bare skin. Playful femininity that did not feel manufactured. For a generation raised on glossy magazine covers, she felt reachable.

© Getty Images

From Teen Star to Cultural Force

Barrymore’s 90s run was not just about aesthetics. It was a cultural reset. She moved from child-star headlines to defining roles that cemented her as a box-office draw and rom-com queen. Films like Scream, “The Wedding Singer,” and “Never Been Kissed” positioned her as both edgy and romantic. She could play the wild card and the girl next door in the same breath.

In the caption, Barrymore wrote, “Oh the 90s! I went down memory lane looking at these photographs.” 

Florence Pugh summed up what many fans were thinking in the comments, praising Barrymore’s cool hair: “You were just the coolest ever with the coolest hair and the coolest smile. Ahhhhh 😍,” she wrote.