Do you feel like you’re dressing like a trendy member of Gen Z?
You might be giving yourself away as a millennial, born between 1981 and 1996, without even realizing it.
TikTok content creators explain the major giveaways you’re a millennial instead of Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012), from how you wear your socks to the shape of your nails.
While you might appreciate your classic style, these small, trendy fixes could make you look a little younger.
TikTok content creator Chloe Baffert explained that ‘long, oval nails and clearly fake diamond earrings are dead’ to Gen Z, calling it an ‘awakening for all of us’ millennials
Commenters said they would never stop getting oval manicures and joked that Gen Z was obsessed with hating on millennial style
Rethink your go-to manicure
TikTok content creator Chloe Baffert proclaimed, ‘My fellow millennials, I’m here with a groundbreaking update. Long, oval nails and clearly fake diamond earrings are dead,’ calling it an ‘awakening for all of us.’
The New York City-based content creator who’s the head of merchandising at re-sale website Poshmark, explained that ‘squoval’ or square oval nails are the look now.
However, not everyone agreed.
‘I’m Gen Z and oval nails are very much in idk (I don’t know) what you’re on about,’ one person wrote.
Another joked: ‘Gen Z’s Roman Empire is the millennial life.’
Someone else declared, ‘I will never go back to square nails. Sorry but they make everyone look like they have stubby fingers.’
Comedian Heather McMahan was especially offended by the observation and responded to the video.
‘So, what do you want me to do? This is how I live! I’m not going back to the short square because that’s not who I am anymore,’ she declared.
Stop showing skin in your Chelsea boots
Content creator Montserrat Varela explained there was a millennial way to wear Chelsea boots as well as a ‘modern way.’
According to the image consultant who is based in Germany, the ‘dated way to wear them’ is by showing ‘that little bit of skin between the hem of the pant and the beginning of the shoe,’ which is unflattering for most body shapes and outdated.
She also suggested not rolling the hem of the pant or wearing skinny jeans with Chelsea boots.
Content creator Montserrat Varela explained there’s a millennial way to wear Chelsea boots as well as a ‘modern way’
The image consultant suggested swapping leather leggings for a leather blazer to wear with your Chelsea boots for a young, fresh look
The video quickly went viral, with plenty of commenters weighing in.
‘I’ve gotten on board with the straight leg jeans but you’ll never convince me black leggings don’t look great,’ a millennial commented, as another wrote, ‘I literally could not care if I look outdated.’
Others had issue with the skinny jean slander, writing: ‘Ok but I’m curvy and straight leg jeans just make me look even bigger.’
Another said: ‘You will pry skinny jeans out of my cold dead millennial hands.’
One commenter argued: ‘The thing is Chelsea boots only look good with skinny jeans.’
Ditch your leggings
Leather leggings are over, according to Montserrat, as the personal stylist says the style was in five years ago.
Instead of leggings or skinny jeans, she suggested straight leg jeans and explained: ‘It’s very important to cover that little bit of skin.’
She continued that the boots needed to be taller or the pants longer.
Alternatively, women could wear tights or socks underneath.
Many commenters believed it was more flattering to wear the ‘outdated’ style of skinny jeans tucked into Chelsea boots, instead of straight jeans over them
To get the injection of leather that the leggings would bring, she suggested a jacket or blazer in the material.
‘This is going to be very flattering and very modern,’ Montserrat, who regularly makes videos about easy ways to update millennial outfits to make them feel more modern, promised.
In fact, leggings are out entirely according to Gen Z and have been replaced by flared leggings (better known as yoga pants to millennials).
Start showing off your socks
Socks are another giveaway, according to n fitness influencer Phoebe Parsons, who said the it’s ‘exactly how to tell the difference between a millennial and Gen Z just by looking at their feet.’
‘Gen Z exclusively wears their socks up while millennials still wear ankle socks,’ the millennial said in the viral TikTok, revealing her own bare ankles.
A commenter wrote, ‘Millennials all wore their socks up when they were kids,’ as another pointed out, ‘If they’d been as aggressively bullied over the smallest hint of sock as we were, they’d never dare.’
n fitness influencer Phoebe Parsons showed ‘exactly how to tell the difference between a millennial and Gen Z just by looking at their feet’
To make her point, Phoebe showed off her own super low socks that weren’t visible with her sneakers on
Plenty of millennials in the comments took issue with the pulled up socks, joking in the comments that the footwear wouldn’t be the giveaway
‘Socks up remind me of when my mom would dress me as a child. It makes me feel like a small child,’ another commenter agreed.
‘My face tells everyone I’m a 40 yr old Millennial… no one is gonna be fooled by my sock choice,’ a popular comment read.
On X (formerly Twitter) the reaction was much the same, as one person tweeted, ‘Can a young person please explain the current “socks situation” to me, an elder millennial. K, thx. No show socks are out, yes? What do wear instead? And how? So many questions….’
A fellow millennial shut it down when they replied, ‘Children ain’t gonna tell me what socks I can wear. Tube socks were never cute, kiddos.’