Millennials and Gen Z Are Fighting Again. This Time About Gym Clothes.
The New York Times
Are you team tight-on-tight or tight-on-baggy?
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.
A Gen Z user modeling different combinations described a tight outfit as “giving middle school.”
