The infamous “war” between millennials and Gen Z has found a new battleground in recent weeks, with a fight brewing on TikTok over workout clothes.
There are two camps: People who like wearing tight-on-tight outfits to the gym — think leggings and a well-fitting tank top — and people who prefer baggier ensembles. According to some users on TikTok, these preferences fall along generational lines, with millennial women favoring the tighter outfits.
As with all generational trends, these divisions are tenuous at best. However, on a platform like TikTok, where rage and arguments are often the coins of the realm, they can spread quickly and widely, even if most people do not actually feel strong allegiances to either side.
The debate about clothing tightness — for both the gym and regular wear — has been brewing for years, but became more popular recently thanks to a TikTok sound — a voice saying “approved” multiple times before landing on “I don’t know” — that people have been using to model different outfits that they like or dislike, often wearing tight-on-tight ensembles for the “dislike” category.
In videos, some TikTok users have demonstrated their preferred skintight workout gear and proclaimed its merits or voiced surprise at learning their ideal workout clothes might make some people see them as older.
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A Gen Z user modeling different combinations described a tight outfit as “giving middle school.”
In some comments on these videos, users appear to be debating less about the clothing itself than about body types that do not adhere to traditional, thin beauty standards.
The sartorial schisms between millennials and Gen Z have long been hotly debated, with arguments over everything from sock heights to skinny jeans. (Before you ask: No-show socks are for millennials, and crew socks are for the younger crowd.) The dizzyingly fast cycle of the internet has also led some members of Gen Z to sour on so-called trends entirely.
Stephanie Zambrana, who is 28 and lives in Miami, recently posted a TikTok video urging people to wear whatever they like and not to be swayed by algorithmic influence. She said the regularity of trumped-up internet fights between age groups made them easier to spot and call out.
“Why does something always have to be made bigger than what it is?” she said in a phone interview. “Why can’t people just wear what they want, what they feel comfortable in?”
Ms. Zambrana said she preferred all-tight garments to better help her see her physical movements during her workouts.
Alexa Amiel, 23, posted a similarly critical video and noted that these debates are often gendered.
“It’s frustrating to see that these discussions are always targeted towards women and that we’re constantly trying to figure out like what the next trend is,” Ms. Amiel, who lives in Lenexa, Kan., said in a phone interview.
As a member of Gen Z herself, she’s also acutely aware that her generation’s time to be declared passé is coming and coming quickly.
“How long is it going to be until like Gen Alpha is like coming at, you know, ‘my gosh, I can’t believe that they were wearing like these types of baggy jeans or like they’re obsessed with the middle part?’” she said. “I don’t see that being like too far in the future.”