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Sorry, Gen Z, But We're Never Giving Up Our Skinny Jeans And Side Parts

Updated August 16, 2021

Okay, guys. We gotta talk.

I'm what I lovingly refer to as an elder millennial. I, like Taylor Swift, come from the distant year of 1989. I have seen some things, learned some stuff. I've seen the low-rise jeans of the early 2000s, the porkpie hats, the jelly sandals.

I know we millennials are corny, and dorky, and a little cringe. But here's the thing: that's only okay when we say it.

So, I'm of two minds here.

Instagram | @kelly.knecht

The first is this: We millennials need to calm down. Taking roasts seriously is actual proof we're as dorky as Gen Z thinks we are.

The second is: Y'all have no idea what we went through to get to this comfort level on social media.

Here's the serious part: You just weren't there, you know?

You have no idea what fashion hell we've been through, and what it took to stay on-trend. I distinctly remember being ruthlessly bullied for not having a coveted "GAP" sweater and Seven for All Mankind Jeans.

However, here's the thing: the early 2000s weren't about the clothes as much as it was about being thin enough to pull the clothes off.

Thin was IN.

Getty Images | SGranitz

I didn't have those jeans because, as a size 12, I couldn't fit into those jeans. (Those jeans were dumb AF anyway, and $100 a pair. You know what that is in today's money? Like, $680,000. That's real math, trust me.)

So, what could us chunky girls do when faced with peers and a media that ruthlessly ripped women apart for not being stick thin?

Where do you think the whole body positivity movement on social media came from?

That was us trying to reject the immense media pressure to be thin enough to show off your hipbones in low-rise jeans.

But it's also about seeing the next generation perpetuate the same attitudes we fought against in the early days of social media. Is gentle roasting about a side part really that serious? Of course not! But it does bring back those memories.

On the not-so-serious side: Listen, we as a generation have been the butt of the joke for years.

We un-ironically tell people our Hogwarts houses, we LOVE our side parts (I'm rocking mine right now, and I have no intention of getting rid of it), and yeah, we love a good emoji from time to time.

Consider this, though: Even though this whole debate has us on opposite sides of the fashion spectrum, I think we can agree on one thing — leggings are superior to jeans, anyway.