Gym clothes — New battlefront for millennials, Gen Z

NEW YORK: The infamous “war” between millennials and Generation 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 favouring 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 feel strong allegiances to either side.

The debate about clothing tightness, for both the gym and regular wear, has been brewing for years. It 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 they like or dislike.

In the videos, the women are often wearing tight-on-tight ensembles when it gets to “I don’t know.”

Some millennial 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 modelling 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?”

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,” said Amiel, who lives in Lenexa, Kansas.