Gen Z, Take Several Seats — Your Fashion Sense Is Just Bad

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash.

Ah, teenagers. All of us apparently-now-old folks still remember what it was like to be young, so sure that we knew everything and that our style was never going to look bad later. Of course, those of us who grew up in the ’90s and were hitting up the club in the ’00s know how wrong that is. (So, so wrong.) My eyebrows have never quite recovered from the pencil-thin phase, and I still cringe at some of the things that were considered sexy and stylish. (Victoria’s Secret slipdresses over flare jeans, anyone? Yikes.) Now, of course, we’re older and wiser. We’ve figured out what works for us… and then along comes Gen Z (those born after 1996) with the worst fashion takes of all time. Well, little fashion babies, go ahead and take a seat, get comfortable, and grab a notepad… because you’re about to get schooled.

In case you’ve somehow missed out on all the things that now make us millennials look “old,” here’s a rundown: According to the neonates populating TikTok, skinny jeans and side hair parts are no longer fashionable. Now, it’s all about baggy jeans and middle parts, and in case you haven’t noticed when browsing Target with your Starbucks, pretty much the worst parts of ’90s fashion have come back to haunt us… including those horrific crotch-snap bodysuits.

According to Buzzfeed, Gen Z is even hating on coffee, pizza, and bacon, which is so insane in and of itself that we can safely assume their so-called “fashion advice” must be a hallucination from their bacon-free, coffee-less addled brains… but I digress.

Gen Z, y’all, trust me here: Us millennials, we are here to help you. Because right now, you’re walking around legit looking like this and proclaiming yourselves fashionable.

Seriously, what is going on?! Gen Z’s fashion goals are apparently to look like the dowdy moms of 1993 had a baby with the acid-tripping hippies from 1972. Y’all. This is not a good look! Trust us, we chased all the worst ’90s/’00s trends. You’re not going to look back on pictures of yourself wearing baggy mom jeans and a velvet crotch-snap bodysuit, with your stick-straight middle-parted hair, and go, “Man, I was styling.”

 

And no Gen-Zer should dare try to school us on what’s cool when they are, honest-to-God, acting as if they “discovered” yoga pants by rebranding them as “flare leggings.” I wish I was kidding. Honey, back right on up, because we INVENTED yoga pants. I’m glad you’ve finally realized how amazing they are, but we were rocking those “flare leggings” before you were even born.

@myfriend_megi rue the day when gauchos come back in style… what will they be called then?♬ original sound – meg

Maybe you don’t want to wear skinny jeans — that’s totally fine! But y’all, the answer to getting away from skinnies is not to go for modern-day JNCO pants. Believe it or not, there are wide-legged pants that still have shape to them and are ridiculously stylish (all hail Katharine Hepburn, the queen of wide-legs). Baggy mom jeans just ain’t it, and you will hate yourself for it one day, I promise.

And here’s another little secret (or two): Fashion, my sweet sweet infants, is cyclical. That means what you think you oh-so-brilliantly pioneered has long-since been done before. Over the past 10 years, fashion has taken inspiration from the ’70s, then the ’80s, and now, we’ve dropped ourselves into the ’90s, and y’all Gen Z kids want to act as if you can school the people who originated this stuff on how to wear it? Girl, please.

The other important thing to remember, and it’s something that you’ll probably realize too late, is that the worst thing you can do is chase fashion trends. Nothing looks good on everyone. Yes, some people will be flattered by a middle part, but others just won’t. Different cuts and styles of jeans will look good on different body types. The absolute best thing you can do is find what works for you, and rock it no matter what anyone else thinks. Forget being trendy. Find what makes you look fantastic, and stick with that. Of course, you won’t actually have the guts to do this until you’re pushing 40 with a cup of coffee perpetually in your hand because you’re too tired to give a f*ck what the infants behind you are saying is cool… but if you can start doing that now, you’ll thank yourself later.

Finally, don’t try to school us millennials. We were on social media before it was cool. We survived the worst fashion trends ever. You may think you know better than us, but… you really, really don’t.

Love,
The More Stylish Generation

Cassy Fiano-Chesser
Cassy Fiano-Chesser is a Jacksonville native and mom to six kids. Her husband is a Marine Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient. She works from home as a blogger and a freelance writer, and they currently live in the Argyle area of Jacksonville. Benjamin is their oldest, born in 2011, and he loves being a big brother. Wyatt was born in 2012, and he has Down syndrome. Ivy came next, in 2013, followed by Clara, born in 2015, who is a diva-with-a-capital-D. Rounding out the brood is Felicity, born in 2017, and Lilly, born in 2007. They love discovering things to do on the First Coast and going on family adventures, as well as cheering on the Jumbo Shrimp and the Icemen.

22 COMMENTS

  1. Why is she so upset over what teens and early twenty somethings are wearing? this whole “article” is embarrassing. Most people don’t care about what others wear.

  2. I’m getting kinda bored of this topic tbh, it’s just infantile to even respond to them to begin with? Like who freggin cares, wear what you like. Why let a bunch of teens put you in this amount of stress over something so superficial 🙈 And yes, this isn’t an article. This is a glorified MySpace type rant a 13 year old would have made after getting teased over something ridiculous.

  3. Thank you. I feel like I’ve been losing my mind over the past several years. Everything is hideous… the colors, the cuts, the coordination. I mean it is funny but not laugh out loud funny because there are no good clothes to be found anymore, and it is too unnerving to and irritating to make me laugh. Just. Awful. All of it.

  4. It is funny all the defensive comments in here. It is narcissistic rage. They need to hear it – their fashion aesthetic is absolutely atrocious.

  5. Well I liked your post 🙂 As a fellow millenial, I found it funny. I think Gen Z has some really nice styles. I am trying to update my wardrobe, but I can’t get behind all of the trends. A few of them just take me back to elementary school. A few of them are unbelievably unflattering on me.

    There were a few people here that did not like this post. I could be wrong, but I don’t think it’s meant to be so serious.

    Love to both generations <3

  6. This article is bold! You’re so straightforward about fashion.
    I was born in 1997. I wouldn’t consider myself belonging to Gen Z. I’m more of Gen Y since I wear skinny jeans all the time. There must be teen girls who are not conformist like the girls on social media.

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