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Pop Culture

'Guys with alpaca hair' and 14 other Gen Z fashion trends people pray will end in 2025

People have some passionate thoughts on current trends.

fashion trends, alpaca hair, nose rings

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a woman with a nose ring.

Online culture has had an incredible effect on fashion trends. It used to take a trend about 20 years to complete a cycle: introduction, rise, peak, decline, and obsolescence. However, in 2024, this cycle has been sped up incredibly due to several factors. Trends can be quickly introduced and adopted due to social media, online shopping and quick turnaround through fast-fashion distribution. The speed of adaptation also means they can fizzle out just as fast.

This means a fashion trends we’d usually see stick around for years can come and go in months. It’s an expensive pill to swallow for anyone trying to keep up with the latest (Gen Z, we’re looking at you), but it’s a blessing for those of us who have a problem with some of today’s polarizing looks.

The bad news is you may not like broccoli cuts. The good news is that they will be gone and forgotten before you know it.



A great conversation recently broke out on Reddit, where commenters weighed in on all the fashion trends they couldn’t wait to go away. It seems that some of the most controversial styles are the work of Gen Z. Whether it’s the nose ring that looks like it belongs on a bell cow or big pillowy eyelashes, Gen Z has championed some looks that will probably look a little silly in a few years.

Here are 15 fashion trends currently “in” that people are already over.

1. Suits with shorts

"Took my cousin to prom and saw at least 30 dudes wearing a suit with shorts."

2. Anti-aging tweens

"Children (I’ve mostly seen around ages 9-13) going to Sephora for anti-aging serums and makeup. You all can hardly go to the park by yourselves, yet you’re plastered in expensive creams and makeup like you’re 20+."

"This one really bothers me. It’s pretty dark, honestly, and the parents who allow this are weird as hell."

3. Limp Biz-kids

"I'm a high school teacher and a surprising number of the boys dress like it's 2000 and they've got Limp Bizkit's 'Nookie' on repeat. There's one kid that looks like he's from 1977. Puka shells, feathered hair, big, open collars. I like that kid."



4. Botox

"Excessive Botox in young people. I’m so tired of everyone having a frozen face. It’s not pretty. It’s just weird."

"I swear there was a coordinated effort by some industry to convince girls in their 20s that they need to start Botox now because it’s preventative. That’s the reason given when I ask these early 20s girls why they use it. “It prevents future wrinkles” like there was a peer-reviewed study showing it does or something."

Patricia Wexler, MD, of Wexler Dermatology in Manhattan, told Vogue that getting preventative Botox injections at a young age can lead to more wrinkles. “If you do too much Botox on your forehead for many, many years, the muscles will get weaker and flatter,” Wexler says. This means that surrounding muscles do more work when you make facial expressions. “If one stops using their forehead muscles, they may start squinting using their nose and have wrinkles along the side of their nose," she continued.

5. Teen boys with alpaca hair

"I used to work reception at a salon and it was always fricken hilarious when these kids would come in to get a perm. They'd come sulking in behind their mommies, sit for 2 hours with curlers and stinky perm solution in their hair looking like cats being forced to take a bath, then prance out thinking they were the shit with their new poodle cuts lol."

"Some of them are definitely embracing their natural curls, which is awesome! But a good chunk of them, especially the preppy ones with rich parents, are getting straight up 80s style perms. It's great."

6. Laminated brows

"Eyebrows that are brushed upwards. That's the only way I can think to describe it. I can't see anything else when looking at someone who has that style brows. I just don't know why people like it."

"Almost every eyebrow trend ends up looking kinda silly. Let's just all work with the eyebrows we have. Sure, clean it up a lil bit if you feel like it."

7. Over-the-top fake eyelashes

"The ridiculous false eyelashes. I get it. I've got no problem with the ones that at least have a semblance of being natural. But the uber thick ones that look more like fur are just...pointless.Someone I deal with at work wears them. And it's so weird, because most of the time she dresses down in sweatshirts, jeans, sneakers, etc. And doesn't pay much attention to her hair. But she's got those stupid wooly caterpillar eyelashes in. They just call attention to how un put together the rest of her is. I know that everyone should just dress for themselves, but it's just weird."



8. Barrell jeans

"The barrel jeans have got to go. They’re the ugliest effing things I’ve ever seen. And people keep lying to these women about how they’re flattering and I’m like no! You look bowlegged!"

9. '80s moustaches

"Weird '80s moustaches, I've seen good looking guys made to look like Ned Flanders. Ages them instantly, which I guess is the plan, but ages them past 20s to married with kids approaching teenage years."

10. Crocs

"I thought they were hideous when they first came out almost twenty years ago, and they’ve never gone away."

"We always made fun of them and then suddenly everyone was wearing them. I don’t get it!"

How did Crocs go from the bargain bins to becoming one of the top footwear brands in the U.S.? The big reason is that comfort became more important during the pandemic than aesthetics. They were also quite a statement for people who wanted to rebel against traditional beauty standards. Add celebrity endorsements from Justin Bieber and Post Malone and Crocs came back in a big way.



11. Long nails

"Super long acrylic nails, they seem really impractical."

"Especially the pointed ones that all the Hollywood people wear like claws. You look trashy and high maintenance."

12. Grunt style

"Patriot clothing and beards. Grunt style, nine line... all these fools dressing like they're special forces, their entire identity tied to 1776. It's embarrassing."

13. Hair parted in the middle

"Middle parts. You need an almost symmetrical face to be able to pull it off, which is pretty rare. Side parts all the way."

"Middle parts look so harsh and unflattering on everyone. Side parts are a million times better."

14. Nose rings

"That nose ring in the middle. Just doesn't look good to me. You do you. But just think it doesn't look good very often."
"They always make me think of cattle."

15. Political clothes

"Political attire as someone's entire main wardrobe, no matter the side of the spectrum. You got more personality than that!"

"I have a bro-in-law who wears American flag t-shirts almost exclusively. He must have hundreds of them. And not the tasteful kind with like a little flag on the sleeve or chest. I’m talking about the most garish kind. The kind with a gigantic waving US flag along with a menacing bald eagle flying dramatically over snow-capped peaks. We like America too, Dan, but can you try to wear at least a polo to Grandma's funeral?"

This article originally appeared last year.
True

Vimbai Kapurura is the Executive Director of Women Unlimited, a grassroots women’s rights organization working to promote the rights and leadership of women, girls, and marginalized groups in Eswatini and southern Africa. With support from the Rapid Response Window of the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), she’s advocating to have more female voices in national peace building spaces to ensure women’s rights and demands are included.

“Women are peacebuilders. We are peacemakers. We have a critical role to play in crisis situations and we are very much better placed to play a peacebuilding role in any country.”

In the face of the growing political turmoil in Eswatini, where calls for the establishment of a national dialogue remain seemingly unanswered, Vimbai and her organization are stepping up, raising their voice and bringing forward innovative solutions to promote peace and stability across the country. WPHF is supporting them to amplify women’s voices and mainstream gender perspectives into relevant decision-making mechanisms.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

“We are the cradle of life. We are changemakers, movers, shakers of any area of development. We want to be engaged and involved in any area of the value chain, the complete value chain. We want to be there.”

As part of its project with WPHF, Women Unlimited – with technical support from Cordaid, one of the INGO partners of the RRW – has trained several local women-led civil society organizations in conflict resolution, conflict prevention and mediation processes, as well as carried out educational and awareness raising campaigns on the value of women’s participation in peace processes, targeting both women and men across the country.

“WPHF has really helped us a lot. Not only has the funding allowed us to engage more women in peacebuilding processes, but it’s also supported us to underscore the need for female leadership in these spaces, where we’re often left aside.”

In Eswatini, where women and girls face deep-rooted patriarchy from a very young age, undermining their confidence, autonomy and leadership, Vimbai has become an outspoken advocate for women’s equal representation in decision-making roles at all levels, from community-level and regional committees to national and global peace building spaces.

“If you gather many women toward on common goal, you are guaranteed that that goal is going to be achieved. Let us come together and be the change we want to see. No one will do it for us. But together, we can.”

A tireless leader and activist who’s influenced the lives of many women and girls in Eswatini, Vimbai is a firm believer in women’s capacity, tenacity, and adaptability to lead and drive transformative change in their communities. When she thinks about peace, she dreams about women coming together, taking up space, and walking side by side for a more peaceful and gender-equal world in which harmful stereotypes and cultural practices are left behind.

Follow, engage, and amplify the work of Vimbai's organization!

Joy

Man uses the shoe aisle to explain a troubling economic trend in middle-class American life

"The thing is, most people don’t want longevity anymore. They want new."

Remember things being built to last?

It’s been proven that over the past few years, Americans have been dealing with shrinkflation, where food companies reduce the sizes of their products while the price remains the same at the grocery store. You see this in fast food restaurants when you pick up a burger and feel like your hand has grown a few inches, and at the supermarket when you buy a box of cookies, it weighs less than it did a few weeks ago. Companies use this strategy when they think you’ll be less likely to notice a dip in quantity than a hike in the price.

Another big trend in retail is fast fashion. People are buying cheaper garments made from low-quality materials. These products last about as long as the trend, so people throw them away and buy the next hot thing. This can be a real problem because fast fashion harms the environment and leads to exploitative labor practices.

A TikToker named Tom (@SideMoneyTom), popular for making videos about consumer products, recently went viral for a video where he called out shoe manufacturers for dropping their quality while keeping prices high. “So many of you guys want to shoot the messenger, but look, it's not my fault shoes are made out of Styrofoam and oil now,” Tom says in a TikTok with over 528,000 views. “It's literally every shoe you look at now. It's not even just the cheap ones. I can find hundred dollar plus pairs of shoes all day long with glue squeezing out of their Styrofoam cracks.”

@sidemoneytom

Replying to @Oscar Magaña shoes are done #fyp #shoes #foryou

Tom notes that recently, shoes have been made with foam soles instead of rubber. Both have pros and cons. Foam is a little more comfortable, but rubber lasts a lot longer. Rubber shoes keep shape and support over time and are much more durable. Conversely, foam shoes compress over time, losing their support and comfort. When companies sell cheaper shoes that wear out more quickly, they make much more money because you must keep replacing them.

In the video, Tom adds that many companies that used to have shoes made with rubber heels, such as Carhartt and Timberland, have switched to foam. This is an interesting choice for brands that pride themselves on selling durable products.

Cora Harrington, a writer and lingerie expert, says that companies aren't entirely to blame. Americans don’t want to pay higher prices. “People don’t exactly want to pay more for all that stuff,” Harrington told Vox. "So what has to happen if everything is more expensive and the customers still want to pay the same price, something has to be cut and that’s often going to be the quality of the garment.”

“There is an entire generation of consumers at this point that doesn’t actually know what high-quality clothing feels like and looks like,” Harrington continues. “It gets easier, I think, for consumers to just not know any better.”

@sidemoneytom

Replying to @donkles #shoes #fyp #sketchers #nike

Many commenters have noticed the decline in shoe quality and praised Tom for pointing it out. "I am so happy I’m not the only one who is baffled by shoes being made of styrofoam and then being upcharged for them," one commenter wrote. "When shoes started being named some version of 'Air Light Cloud float,' my thought was it was because they went from quality rubber to cheap foam and less materials,” another commenter added.

Tom believes the decline in shoe quality is an example of a more significant trend affecting American consumers' products: quality is decreasing while prices remain the same. “The quality of everything is going to hell, and the prices are going up," Tom concludes his video. "The problem is, so many of us have just become used to it that we keep buying it, and we basically allow them to dumb down the quality of everything. Everything in our lives. These shoes are just the tip of the iceberg. Start thinking about it in your life. What are you gonna allow to be garbage quality?

via Meg Sullivan (used with permission) and Canva/Photos

A volunteer hands out food in a food bank and Meg Sullivan shares her dad's kind gesture.

When we consider people who have had a positive impact on the world, we often think of those who have made grand gestures to improve the lives of others, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Greta Thunberg, or Mahatma Gandhi. Unfortunately, that type of effort is out of reach for the average person.

However, O Organics would like to remind everyone that they can positively impact the world through small, consistent acts of kindness that add up over time. Much like how a small creek can create a valley over the years, we can change lives through small, consistent acts of kindness.

O Organics is dedicated to the well-being of all by nourishing people everywhere with delicious organic foods grown by producers who meet USDA-certified organic farming standards.

Upworthy's Instagram page recently posted a touching example of everyday kindness. Meg Sullivan shared how her father, Tom, peeled oranges for her lunch just about every day from kindergarten through high school. But on the final day of her senior year of high school, he sent his 17-year-old daughter unpeeled oranges with a touching note about how she’d have to start peeling them for herself.



“It’s Time Baby Girl,” he wrote on a wikiHow printout on how to peel an orange with a drawing of himself crying. For the father, this daily ritual was about more than just making lunch; it was about showing that he cared by going the extra mile. “I could have put money on her lunch account,” Tom told Today.com. “But it’s one of those little things I thought was important, that she knows somebody’s taking the time to take care of her.”

The small, daily gesture taught Megan an essential lesson in kindness.

The post reminded people how their fathers’ small acts of kindness meant so much to them. “My dad peeled my oranges until I graduated high school, too. Now, I peel my daughter’s oranges and will for the next 7 plus years,” Katie wrote in the comments. “Love this. My dad peeled mine, too. When I moved out, he gave me an orange peeler gadget,” Mary added.

o organics, albertson's giving backO Organics has a wide array of foods and flavors covering almost everything on your shopping list.via Albertson's

Did you know that every time you go to the supermarket, you can also change the world through small gestures? O Organics not only allows you to feed your family delicious and nutritious organic food, but each purchase also gives back to help people and communities facing food insecurity.

Through contributions from customers like you, O Organics donates up to 28 million meals annually. The company’s contribution is essential when, according to the USDA, 47.4 million Americans live in food-insecure households.

O Organics has a wide array of foods and flavors covering almost everything on your shopping list. “Over the years, we have made organic foods more accessible by expanding O Organics to every aisle across our stores, making it possible for health and budget-conscious families to incorporate organic food into every meal,” Jennifer Saenz, EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer at Albertsons, one of many stores where you can find O Organics products, said in a statement.

O Organics now offers over 1500 items, from dairy products such as eggs and milk to packaged meats and breakfast staples such as cereal bars, granola and oatmeal. You can also enjoy affordable organic produce with O Organics’ fresh salads and fruit.

Everybody wants to make the world a better place. With O Organics, you can feed your family healthy, organic food every time you go to the market while paying it forward by contributing to the company’s efforts to end food insecurity nationwide. That’s a small, daily gesture that can amount to incredible change.

Celebrity

Steve Carell calls into high school assembly and announces he's buying 800 students' prom tickets

Carrell did a great thing, but that didn't stop him from going full Michael Scott.

alicewillhelp/Instagram

Steve Carell announces free prom tickets for seniors affected by southern California wildfires.

Actor Steve Carell showed up in a big way for high school students affected by the recent wildfires in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. The Office actor, 62, partnered with charity Alice's Kids (@alicewillhelp), to pay for all seniors to attend prom at six different high schools in Altadena, California.

According to Alice's Kids founder and executive director Ronald "Ron" Fitzsimmons, Carell will be sending about 800 seniors to prom for free. Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Alice's Kids will donate about $175,000 in total.

The uplifting news was shared via Alice's Kids Instagram page, with a personal message from Carell that was played at each high school via video projection in auditoriums. "A special message from our friend Steve Carell. Right now, this is being viewed by every senior at the six high schools in Altadena, CA!! @stevecarellofficial," the video's caption reads.

“Attention. Attention all seniors. This is Steve Carell with a very special announcement. I work with a wonderful charity based out of Virginia called Alice’s Kids. And Alice’s Kids wanted me to let you know that they will be paying for all of your prom tickets,” he said in the video. “And if you have already paid for your prom tickets, they will reimburse you for your prom tickets. It’s a pretty good deal. Have fun. Enjoy the prom, and remember, this is Steve Carell.”

Fans of The Office will notice that the video is a subtle nod to the hit NBC show, where Carell played boss Michael Scott. During a 2009 episode from the sitcom titled "Scott's Tots," he promises to pay the college tuition for a group of third graders if they graduate. But when the time comes to cough up the cash, he doesn't have it. Thankfully, Carell's donation to Altadena students had a different outcome.

The video got an overwhelming response from viewers, many who caught on to The Office reference. "'Hey Mr. Scott! Whatcha gon’ do? Whatcha gon’ do? Make our dreams come true!' This is beautiful," one wrote. Another commented, "Love this! Scott’s Tots for the win!" And another added, "Scott’s tots is coming true!!"

Another wrote, "thank you so much for blessing our students at Pasadena HS with an unforgettable night of memories ✨️🌹🙏🏼." And another shared, "What a thoughtful way to celebrate kids who’ve lost so much!"

One viewer was also personally impacted: "THANK YOU FOR THIS!! MY SISTER IS ABLE TO GO TO PROM!!🫶🫶🫶," they wrote. still another added, "Thank you @alicewillhelp and @stevecarellofficial on behalf of my Muir Senior 💙💛🐴🙏🏽. You all are awesome!!!!! 👏🏽"

Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Carell and his wife, Nancy, have been involved with the organization for over seven years. The idea to donate tickets to prom came after making numerous calls to schools affected by the wildfires.

"That's when I thought, 'Well, let's do something later on. Later on, all the charities will be gone. The kids who are seniors will be going off somewhere,'" Fitzsimmons told the publication. "So that's when I thought, 'What can we do to lift them a little bit in a few months from now?' That's when the idea of prom tickets came up."

A woman feeling sick in her bathroom.

It’s easy to tell if mold is growing in your bathroom: you notice the black stuff growing on the caulk that lines your bathtub or near the bottom of the hot and cold water handles on your sink. But have you ever seen a ring of pink slime accumulating around your sink drain or on the bottom of your shower curtain? Most people think it’s mold, but it’s actually something worse.

U.K.-based surgeon Dr. Karan Rajan explained the pink slime phenomenon in a TikTok video that’s received over 640,000 views. “You've seen this pink slime lurking in your bathroom, it's not mold, it's bacteria,” Dr. Rajan says. “Specifically one called Serratia marcescens. And it vomits hot pink all over your bathroom.”

Yes, that’s not soap that has turned a bubble-gum color on the bottom of your shower curtain or Pepto Bismol that didn’t go down the drain. It’s bacteria vomit.

@dr.karanr

Pink slime

The interesting thing about this bacteria is that the products you use to clean your body in the shower or wash your hands in the sink are what it loves to eat. Pink slime feeds on fat and mineral deposits from soap scum and shampoo.

If you’ve found some pink slime in your home before, you know it’s much grosser than you originally thought. But is it dangerous? “[To] the average person, it's pretty harmless, even if you come into contact with it, but you still wanna avoid getting in your eyes or open wounds,” Dr. Raja warns. “However, it can cause gut, urine, or chest infections in those who are immunocompromised.”

"OMG this reappears in our tub every few weeks. I was wondering what it was!?" someone wrote in the comments on the TikTok post. "I always wondered. The pink slime and my bleach bottle are in a constant battle," another added.

The bigger problem of pink slime is that it may be a symptom of a more significant issue. “If your home has enough damp for pink slime to consistently develop, you could actually be growing other things as well, like actual household molds, which could be causing respiratory issues or allergies,” Dr. Rajan says.

serratia marcescensSerratia marcescens up close.via Bjorn S./Wikimedia Commons

How to clean pink slime (Serratia marcescens)

Here is how to clean and sanitize your bathroom of pink slime, thanks to This Old House.

  1. Wear safety glasses, a mask, and gloves
  2. Combine 2 tablespoons of dish soap with one quarter cup of baking soda
  3. Apply the mixture to the bacteria and scrub thoroughly with a nylon brush
  4. Rinse away the loosened bacteria
  5. Spray the affected area with 1:1 warm water and bleach solution
  6. Let sit for ten minutes, then scrub again
  7. Dry with a microfiber towel

How to prevent pink slime from growing in your bathroom

How do you keep pink slime from growing in your home in the first place? The key is to keep your bathroom dry. “The first rule of Pink Slime Club is to keep the bacteria forming in the first place. By curbing its growth, you'll be preventing other dangerous molds from forming,” Dr. Rajan says. “Keep your shower dry and well-ventilated, put on an exhaust fan or open a window after showering to keep humidity levels low, and regularly clean and disinfect your bathroom. It's filthier than you think.”

The oldest dog turned out to have the most love.

Anyone who's ever been inside a dog shelter can relate: You're naturally drawn to the puppies—the cute, young, and playful dogs eager for your attention and love. But at the same time, your heart breaks for the other ones. You know who they are. The older dogs with the gray muzzles who have lived a lot of life and don't have the same energy anymore. The less attractive ones, too. Scruffy mutts with overgrown fur and stained faces. You feel horrible that so many of them probably won't be chosen and won't find a home.

Still, it's easy to see the appeal of a puppy or younger dog. You can train it the way you want, raise it in your own home, and form an incredible bond throughout their entire life. You also get a companion by your side for a long time to come, with your commitment to them paying off for years and years. Though taking an older dog home is a nice thing to do, it can be tough for potential dog owners to sacrifice all of those perks. But maybe it doesn't have to be viewed that way.

One woman recently shared her story of walking into a dog shelter and specifically asking to meet the oldest dog there.

In a viral video on TikTok, Kristen Brown says she went to the shelter and was introduced to 12-year-old Jackie. The sign on her pen noted that Jackie had been surrendered by a previous owner (ouch, my heart) and required "Geriatric bedding," also noting that she was a "Sweet girl."

After meeting Jackie, Brown agreed. She decided to take the old gal home. What follows is an incredible montage of Jackie's new life: Naps in her special bed, being groomed for the first time, playing with her dog siblings, and morning walks.

Brown captioned the video from Jackie's point of view, with the final caption reading: "I can't believe this is my life now, I feel so loved."

Jackie looks like a larger breed that, sadly, probably doesn't have too many years left. But now she's got her happy ending. Watch it here:

@kristentbrown

to my sweet 12 year old Jackie Lynn♥️ (I cried making this) #dogsoftiktok #doglover #adoptdontshop #shelterdog

Commenters shared their own stories of adopting senior dogs and they're just the sweetest thing you can imagine.

When you adopt an older dog, the time you get with them may be short. But dog owners who viewed Brown's video are adamant that it can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.

"Did this, he ended up having squamous cell carcinoma. I gave him the best last 4 months I could"

"I went to the shelter and asked for the dog that's been there the longest. My Lilo had been there for over 3 years due to dog and people aggression. she was just in a bad place and nervous. she loves people now and she's working towards trusting dogs again. She's the sweetest baby ever. I will always advocate for adoption"

"my family has a 13 year old dog, she was used for at least 2 litters & made to live outside 24/7 before we got her at 7 years old. now she sleeps in her own armchair by the fireplace"

"My Billie was 11 when I adopted her. She was dropped off by the same person who adopted her as a young dog because her health was getting bad and although the year and a half I got with her was. often times challenging because of all her health problems I truly believe she was my soul dog."

According to the ASPCA, older dogs have a 25% adoption rate. That's less than half of their younger peers.

@kristentbrown

Replying to @missjackielynn thank you everyone ♥️💕 #adoptdontshop #dogsoftiktok #dogs #rescue

When older dogs enter shelters, their odds of ever leaving are stacked against them. But contrary to the data, senior dogs often make incredible pets! While they might not have puppy-like energy and might be set in their ways to some degree, they still bring a lot to the table.

Older dogs often come with some training and are already house-broken, along with knowing basic commands like "sit." Their lower energy levels also mean they integrate into a home more quickly and usually love laying around and snuggling. They rarely have chewing, teeth, or other destructive behavior problems. And, finally, senior dogs have been known to "come alive" when they get adopted—showing tons of love and gratitude to their owners as their personality emerges far beyond what they show in the shelter.

Kristen Brown doesn't regret her decision to adopt an older dog. "They deserve a chance," she writes in a follow up video, as she's shown scratching a very happy and grateful Jackie's chin.

Joy

Funny music video perfectly parodies aging millennial cringe, wide-brimmed hats and all

Sorry, millennials, you had your time. Here's what you did with it.

Kyle Gordon and friends singing "We Will Never Die."

Every generation has that moment when fashion, music, and attitudes suddenly go out of style and begin to look a bit embarrassing. Baby boomers (1946 to 1964) had to deal with the death of the disco scene and the subsequent years when polyester suits and the Bee Gees were the butt of a joke that neve felt like it would end. (That is, until the Gen X-led disco revival of the mid-’90s.)

Gen Xers (1965 to 1980) had to quietly pack up their flannel shirts and Doc Martens when the grunge era gave way to the nu-metal and the pop resurgence that took over in the late ‘90s. However, everything that was old is new once again, and Gen Z would come to embrace all things grunge. Now, you’ll see as many Nirvana shirts at a high school as you did in 1992.

Sorry, millennials (1981 to 1996), it’s your time in the barrel, and the signature styles and songs you embraced a decade ago are starting to look, as Gen Zers (1997 to 2002) would say, a bit cringey and cheugy. If you haven’t embraced the inevitable yet, this is a warning to please pack up your wide-brimmed hat, take all of the word art off of your walls, and remove “We are Young” by Fun from your Spotify playlist, at least for the next decade or so. Time waits for no one, and sorry, millennials, it’s time to leave your “whoop” in the past.


To put the final nail in the millennial coffin, comedian Kyle Gordon (with the help of Kody Redwing and the Broken Hearst) has taken dead aim at peak cheugy with his song “We Will Never Die” and filmed in Brooklyn in a neighborhood that looks straight out of “Girls.” All that is missing is Lena Dunham. The video takes dead aim at this 2012 Fun anthem “We are Young” and the millenial catchphrases, styles, and attitudes that defined the era.

Warning: You may find the amount of people wearing super skinny jeans with flannel tops or jean jackets disturbing,

- YouTubeyoutu.be

The video is also filled with a list of catchphrases that are beginning to sound a bit passe:

“Yup, we did a thing.”

“Adulting”

“Said no one, ever.”

“Not today, Satan.”

“Ur my spirit animal.”

“Spread kindness like confetti.”

“Free hugs.”


Gordon’s song has all the hallmarks of a 2012 anthem with a big group of people singing “Hoooo-oh-oh-oh-owe-owee-ooh,” in the hook, a mandolin that pops up for no reason, and a plodding rhythm track that sounds like it was lifted straight from Mumford and Sons. Sadly, whoever played that mandolin will probably be out of work for some time, unless he moves to Nashville, because, just like the banjo, the instrument is no longer needed in pop music.

It has to be sad for some millennials to see their glory days have now become the subject of satire. But, if his story has shown us anything, it’s that once generation trends go out of style and are mocked for about 15 years, some high schoolers will find them nostalgic and they will come back in style again. So, after Gen Z is done mocking millennials for being chuegy, a Generation Alpha (2010 to 2024) kid will eventually see a wide-brimmed hat and a piece of artwork with something cheeky written in chevron font at a thrift store and say, “Hey! That looks cool.” Then, they will throw some LMFAO on Spotify and feel pretty cool, just like their mom did in 2011.