Battle of The Basics: Gen Z v.s Millennial
“Wow, you’re so basic.” That sentence alone seems to have become a threat and an insult to any fashion lover out there. Being basic has connotations of being not creative, merely in it for the trends, and a follower (or as the cheeky Urban Dictionary says “sheep”). It is essentially making the statement that the person is only interested in the mainstream style and does not look to push any boundaries. Some may think that being basic is staying with the classic trends of the current moment, while others think it’s sad to dress like everyone else. Regardless, the conversation of basic-ness is a hot topic and a fiery insult to any fashion lover who’s looking to push the boundaries of style.
Photo from Business Insider
Beyond the debate of whether being basic is good or bad, there lies the fact that different eras consider different items of clothing to be basic. This conversation sparked huge debates on TikTok, where Millennials and Generation Z battled it out to see whose basics were truly more “tragic”.
Photo from Kulture Hub
As someone who grew up in the early 2000s and was a teen in the 2010s, I have had my fair share of experiences with both basic styles. For the height of Millennial basic (the early 2000s), it was all about skinny. Skinny jeans, tight leggings, ankle boots, and harsh side parts. For Gen Z, it was out with the skinny and in with comfort. Straight leg jeans, booming sneaker movement, middle parted hair, and a monumental athleisure movement. Both basic styles have similar staples like jean style and hair trends, and both even borrow from each other, with Gen Z capitalizing on the Millennial legging movement. Regardless of their similarities, both camps are strongly defensive of their own form of basic.
Photo from Buzzfeed
Ultimately, most of us follow the trend that’s considered “basic” because that’s the hottest, easiest, most saturated trend. And surprise, many fashion icons, labels, and brands often put spins on basic trends to make it more fashion forward (think about the evolution of leggings to biker shorts and the resurgence of bucket hats).
Photo from Song of Style blog
Whether you love the basic lifestyle or would be devastated to be accused of such a thing, we all carry a little basic in us. And personally, I think we should be proud to! Because at the end of the day, we’re all at the mercy of trends and following their every move, and fashion trends have a unique way of uniting our society.
Ali Wood