Before the nineties happened, the backpack was a handy vessel that allowed you to carry your stuff around with ease. Sure, there were politics involved at the turn of the decade - one strap or two? - but nothing could prepare folks for the next stage in this item's development: the blow up bag. Impractical, garish and not to mention easily popped, these bags were a hit on the schoolyard and, scarier still, come the end of the decade the air had been let out of whatever reason existed in the fashion world with everything from chairs, tables and pillows being given the inflatable treatment. The horror.