From popping into HMV to buy a CD for your brother to a last-minute dash to Woolies for toys, high street shopping was once as essential to Christmas as mulled wine and mince pies.
Before the days of online ordering, gathering all the festive necessities was a workout in itself with shoppers trudging home with arms laden with bags from all the big department stores and popular retailers of the time.
Now, even when we do go to the shop in person, we may not leave with a branded carrier bag, which have largely vanished since the introduction of charges on single-use plastic bags from 2011 in the UK.
So, it’s no wonder the sight of carrier bags from Christmases past, particularly those from department stores and shops that no longer exist, provokes a wave of nostalgia.
An Instagram post by mumfluencer Neha Gandesha, who goes by the handle @squashedpickle, shared a post with pictures of ‘carrier bags only 90s kids will know’ that brought a wave of nostalgia over fans.
It included stores like HMV, which has been around since 1921, the now-defunct but beloved Jane Norman, Miss Selfridge and Topshop, which were all once the darlings of the high street.
Many people commented and reminisced on how they picked up their shopping in distinctive bags and kept onto them for months – even years – to transport everything from school P.E. kit to the bottle of wine at a dinner party.
Colourful Jane Norman shopping bags were so en vogue in the 80s and 90s that school children would use them to bring school lunches and PE kits
Woolworths was a beloved one-stop shop during the festive season and their vintage Christmas carrier bags are now considered collector’s items
An image of lingerie brand La Senza’s carrier bag had fans reminiscing about the scented beads the brand used to package their lingerie products with
Once-coveted bags from lingerie brand La Senza also sent Brits on a trip down memory lane – particularly as the products used to come with scented beads.
The old bags prompted fans to share their memories about using them as a fashion statement, even after the items that were bought in them had been taken out.
‘I bought something from Jane Norman that I didn’t even like so I could have a carrier bag for my PE kit,’ one person reminisced.
Another recalled: ‘Absolutely loving the throwbacks. Remember every one of those and hung on to the Jane Norman and La Senza bags for as long as possible!’
‘I can smell those La Senza beads right now,’ a third added with a crying face emoji.
The post proved so popular that Neha created a part two post, with even more nostalgic vintage carrier bags from shops like Kookai, River Island, Tammy Girl, WH Smith, and Shelly’s.
She wrote in her caption: ‘So many of you commented on my last post asking for these so I [dove] deeper and this is what I found.
‘Who remembers these? It feels like only yesterday but a lot of these are from the 90s! Where does the time go?’
Expressing their joy at seeing the vintage carrier bags, one person remembered: ‘The Shelly’s bag was THE one – how proud you were strutting into school with that.’
Another wrote: ‘The River Island ones were iconic… Mad how a plastic bag can have so much character.’
Jane Norman and Shelly’s weren’t the only branded carrier bags to have appeared as fashion must-haves in school – Abercrombie & Fitch’s iconic bags that featured half-naked male models in black-and-white were also popular among pupils. Its sister brand Hollister also offered a similar bag.
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What do you miss most about the days when shopping bags showed off where you’d been?
Abercrombie & Fitch bags featured the extremely chiselled physiques of half-naked men
Shelly’s was an iconic shoe brand in London and fans walked down memory lane as the carrier bag reminded them of a bygone era
A carrier bag from Kookai, a fashion brand that was huge in the 90s but withdrew from the UK in 2013, also brought back memories
Miss Selfridge, which is now a part of ASOS, used to give out brightly coloured pink carrier bags at its bricks-and-mortar stores
Hollister followed in the footsteps of Abercrombie & Fitch in placing the image of a half-naked male torso on its carrier bag
Meanwhile, Jack Wills’ iconic pink and black striped carrier bag was a must-have accessory for those with a more preppy sense of fashion
HMV – which once dominated the high street – had a distinctive pink and blue bag
Meanwhile, the Body Shop had green plastic bags which shoppers loved to show off
Many shoppers would take their rented videos home in a Blockbuster bag
Those shopping for cards, balloons and party decorations would remember the bright orange of Clintons
Argos released special Christmas bags with cute Reindeer illustrations on them
On Reddit, one person recalled they once received the bag itself as a gift, while others recalled: ‘I remember girls bringing their lunches in these bags in high school lol.’
Another added: ‘I brought my gym clothes to school in these.’
A third boasted: ‘In seventh grade I turned this exact bag into a book cover for my maths book! Got the abs centred perfectly and I was very proud of myself!’
During the festive season, some shops turned their carrier bags into Christmas masterpieces, with decorative graphics or cheerful slogans to keep shoppers’ spirits up.
Department stores like Woolworths and Littlewoods were the go-to each festive season in the 60s and 70s, and they could be found on just about every high street in town centres throughout the UK.
Woolworths, affectionately known as Woolies, carried everything, from clothes and home goods to vinyl records and toys, making it a beloved one-stop shop – and the ever-changing designs of their Christmas carrier bags also meant people looked forward to seeing and collecting them.
Littlewoods, which was founded in Liverpool, England, in 1923, was a staple of the high street and shopping centres for around 65 years and was known for its iconic glossy mail-order fashion catalogues.
C&A and Bhs were also hugely popular over the years, whilst more trendy and affluent shoppers headed straight to the likes of Tammy Girl, Topshop and Selfridges in the 80s.
Littlewoods was a staple of the high street and shopping centres, and was especially beloved for its glossy mail-order fashion catalogues
Teenage girls in the 90s and Noughties went wild for Tammy Girl, which made a comeback in 2022 and is now exclusively stocked at ASOS
River Island’s plastic carrier bags used to have ‘so much character’, fans said after being reminded of one of the brand’s vintage bags
At its peak, Topshop’s plastic carrier bag was simple but instantly recognisable – but now you can only shop for its products online
Karen Millen carrier bags were also the height of luxury and style, particularly as they had more structure and shape
Punkyfish was especially beloved among teenage girls seeking an ‘alternative’ style in the 90s and the carrier bag brought up many memories for former scene and goth kids
Selfridges has long been popular for Christmas shopping and before the neon yellow bags we are accustomed to today, they released festive edition carrier bags
M&S has been around since 1884 and is also a popular destination to stock up on Christmas food and gifts, which it remains to this day
Allders was a historic British department store chain that was founded in Croydon, London, in 1862 and closed in 2013 – but it has been recently revived as part of a new project
Argos was founded in 1973 and became a staple of the high street throughout the 80s, with shoppers heading there at Christmas to get gifts
Wilkinson, which is now known as Wilko, was also a reliable store to buy plenty of Christmas – and everyday – items at
Even Tesco used to produce Christmas-themed plastic carrier bags for customers doing the festive shop back in the day
WH Smith, a common sight on the high street for over 233 years, released different iterations of its plastic carrier bags at Christmas over the years
Another vintage WH Smith bag made fans recall their favourite things about the store
C&A was a major clothing retailer on the British high street for nearly 80 years, but it withdrew from the UK in 2000 due to fierce competition
The landscape of high streets began to shift from the late 90s to the early Noughties, as corporations snapped brands up to consolidate them under a single umbrella, or brands started focusing on online sales.
Nevertheless, Christmas carrier bags from M&S, Argos, Hamley’s and Debenham’s continued to stay popular, with numerous bags being listed on secondhand sites like eBay and Vinted as collectors’ items.
A retro Jane Norman carrier bag can cost over £10 on eBay, while a vintage HMV plastic carrier bag is listed for just over £15.
Even an old supermarket plastic bag could earn you some cash, with a Christmas edition of a Tesco plastic bag costing over £5.
A Woolworth’s carrier bag with a Christmas design can even set fans back by an eyebrow-raising £21.50.
