Social media has done any number of world-altering things to our lives, but one of the ones that fascinates me is this: It’s given us “uniforms.”
Let me explain. A few months ago, an X user posted a photo of a group of young women who all appeared to be wearing more or less the same outfit: light denim jeans with a loose-cut leg, white sneakers, and a form-fitting black top.
This outfit was so familiar that people were calling it the “Gen Z uniform.” The discourse started again just this week when The Bachelor star Chelsea Vaughn posted a TikTok talking about the very same outfit:
“Last night I was sitting at a bar, and a gaggle of girls walked in together, and they looked IDENTICAL,” Vaughn said in the video. “It looked like they all went up to each other like, ‘Hey yeah, black top, exact same cut of jeans, exact same fur jacket?'”
The comments back Vaughn up, and so does the TikTok algorithm:
Now, I want to be clear that Gen Z isn’t the only generation to have a “uniform.” I remember the days when millennials were all wearing short-sleeve t-shirts over long-sleeve t-shirts. And Vaughn mentioned the “blazers and bauble necklaces” trend, which was very much a millennial uniform.
Many of the comments on Vaughn’s video agree that millennials shouldn’t be one to talk.
Others think it’s not tied to age at all: It’s more that conservatism and conformity is “in” right now.
The current political climate could have a lot to do with that, especially in the US. However, my theory is that it has much, MUCH more to do with social media and the pressure it puts on young people.
Not to mention, if the algorithm is algorithming, many of us are going to be served the same ad on social media platforms, think, “Oh, that’s cute,” and buy it. The result is everyone owning the same dang thing. When shopping was more in-person than online, maybe we had the opportunity to do more browsing?
This sort of “flattening” of style means that we might be seeing fewer specific subcultures of style, as this commenter theorizes.
Or maybe it’s just about convenience! There’s something to be said about the simplicity of sticking to the “basics” of fashion. I want to know what you think: is the generational “uniform” thing a problem? What uniform do you associate with your generation? Let me know in the comments!