Gen Z declares war on leggings! New ‘hot girl’ trend emerges on TikTok – as fashion fans reveals what you should be wearing instead
Plain old leggings are no longer in fashion, according to the gospel of Generation Z. Instead, they’ve declared that if you put on a pair of flared leggings, you’ll get a seat at the cool kid’s table.
As many millennials have been showing off their casual outfits on TikTok lately, countless Gen Zers born between 1997 and 2012 have criticized their appearance, down to the bottom of their pants.
In a now viral TikTok video Posted earlier this month, user Hannah Brown, who calls herself a “hot girl anthropologist,” took to the platform to crowdsource exactly how people style themselves for grocery shopping.
During the clip, Brown showed off what she wore to run to Target, including a chunky, beige-colored oversized sweater, leggings, white socks and sneakers.
In the viral clip, TikTok user Hannah Brown asked viewers what they wore to run errands, to which many responded that she should wear “flared leggings.”
Brown calls herself a ‘hot girl anthropologist’ and often makes videos about fashion and lifestyle
‘What do we think?’ she asked. “Tell me what we wear when we go grocery shopping.”
However, in the comments she was bombarded with people telling her that typical leggings were now out of style.
“We all need to collectively burn our leggings,” one person wrote. “Let’s face it: they are not flattering to the majority.”
“I definitely need to replace those leggings with baggy leggings + platform uggs + hair in a claw clip + tiny hoop earrings,” another typed.
Someone else agreed: “I’m not a pretty girl, but I wear flared leggings, cropped sweaters or fitted cropped tops with a cute jacket, and fake platform Uggs.”
“Flare leggings, regular diva leggings,” said one commenter.
Another commented: ‘The most important thing here is the leggings! Go for flared leggings (yoga pants). It’s no longer Nike either. Adidas Sambas or New Balances are the sneakers rn.’
In a follow up video posted a few days later, Brown went through the list of tips she put together based on the comments on how to get a “hot girl grocery” outfit, and flared leggings were top of mind.
In a follow-up video posted a few days later, Brown went through the list of tips she put together based on the comments on how to get a “hot girl grocery shopping” outfit, and flared leggings were top of mind.
In the comments section, many users claimed that flared leggings were more trendy than regular leggings
“Apparently we don’t wear leggings anymore,” Brown stated in the clip. “Leggings are for the gym.”
“We wear flare leggings, also known as yoga pants, for us millennials. We wear them to run errands, and maybe to the gym too? I don’t know, you can’t trust me, you know this.’
Last October, there was another millennial using the username Crusader style took to TikTok to ask how we style leggings for fall.
“Do we do a no-show sock, or do we do a thick white sock that goes over the leggings?” she asked.
But in the comments section, instead of getting advice about her socks, she was met with some disdain for her plain old leggings.
“We make flared leggings,” one user declared.
Another agreed: ‘I’m switching to wider leg trousers to replace leggings.’
“I don’t think we can wear leggings anymore,” one TikTok user joked.
Last October, another TikTok user, who goes by the username Style Crusader, asked for advice on which socks to wear with leggings, but was quickly called upon by some to make her flare.
“Flare leggings solve the sock problem and look flattering,” someone else said.
Last spring, Liz Teicha stylist from New York City, also showed how to upgrade your ‘millennial’ outfit by swapping regular leggings for flared ones.
The video was part of her ‘millennial outfit makeover’ series.
In the clip, she takes the outfit from hot to nun by swapping leggings for flared ones, a T-shirt with a relaxed button-down and a puffer jacket for a ‘lifted’ wool coat.
But this ‘flared leggings’ trend is obviously not new to many.
In the early 2000s, flared leggings were instead called yoga pants, and it was a wildly popular trend.
At the time, yoga pants were sold everywhere from places like Victoria’s Secret to Target to department stores and beyond.
It’s unclear how and why exactly Gen Z decided to change them to “flared leggings,” but they’ve certainly given the age-old trend a second wind.
Another TikTok user, Liz Teich, showed how millennials can upgrade their outfits to become more of a stylist, including swapping regular leggings for flared leggings
Content creator Jenna Barclay even had fun at the revival of the trend in a video during the summer.
Barclay often creates videos depicting nostalgic scenarios and style trends from the early 2000s.
In the clip, she portrayed a scene where the “2023 flared leggings girl” meets the “2009 yoga pants girl.”
The flared leggings girl of 2023 is obviously wearing flared leggings paired with a black crop top sports bra, and is holding a green juice and a yoga mat.
On the other hand, the 2009 yoga pants girl is also wearing “flared leggings,” a Victoria’s Secret PINK tank top, and has a Walkman on her arm.
In a hilarious video, content creator Jenna Barclay even poked fun at the trend, depicting a 2023 “flared leggings girl” and a 2009 “yoga pants girl.”
Barclay showed off her bedazzled Victoria’s Secret PINK yoga pants as she played the 2009 “yoga pants” girl
“I like your pants,” the 2023 girl says to the 2009 version of herself.
‘My yoga pants? Thank you!’ the 2009 character exclaims, showing off the purple patterned waistband.
“These are my favorites because they have the rhinestones on the waistband,” she continues, to which the 2023 girl looks absolutely shocked.
“I like your yoga pants too,” says the girl from 2009.
“Oh no, these are flared leggings,” she replies.
The two then go back and forth with each other about what the style of pants is actually called, which ends in some serious confusion.