What vibe are we shifting towards and should anyone older than Gen Z be afraid? Photo / Getty Images
What vibe are we shifting towards and should anyone older than Gen Z be afraid? Photo / Getty Images
OPINION:
I was 7 when I heard Mum singing a new release remake on the radio. An RTR Countdown and Smash Hits fan, I wasn't proud of Mum. Instead I exhibited the classic mortification of youth. Incredulous and mouth agog, my little world, of which I was the epicentre, was rocked.
Now I laugh delightedly as my daughter reels when I sing to some remake on YouTube. I'm not the only one. A vibe shift is afoot and geriatric millennials / young Gen Xers are about to have the geriatric rammed home hard.
After two years of activewear and loungewear we are emerging into a new phase. On the one hand we have opulence and excess, on the other it's a vibe shift to the look of the 90s and Noughties.
I will hypothesise with certainty that once someone lives through a trend or significant event, they don't revisit it when it comes back around. So what vibe are we shifting towards, and should anyone older than Gen Z be afraid?
After years of comfort, concealment and waist accentuation, the area between the belly button and the pubis is back. Circa 2002 I owned a pair of Lee boot cuts that had a one-button fly, now that's low. A Brazilian wax and a stomach that hasn't seen a complex carbohydrate nor a pregnancy were required accessories. Now from the young and lithe like Bella Hadid to magazines, to the catwalks of cool-girl Miu Miu and in a traitorous blow, Nicole Kidman on the latest Vanity Fair cover, the low rise is clawing its way back.
Nicole Kidman at 54, on the cover of Vanity Fair. Photo / Vanity Fair
2. Skinny brows
After painstakingly growing out our eyebrows, serums, powders, pencils, gels and micro-blading, the skinny eyebrow is rearing its head again. Of course, we couldn't expect Gen Z and young millennials to resist the urge of the tweezers; every generation has fallen victim to the perverse satisfaction of pulling a tiny hair out by the root. To be successful here, never shave them, even on a dare, and employ an eyebrow specialist to give you a base to work from before you go rogue at home in front of your ring light.
3. Retro sunglasses
Skinny sunglasses were knocked off their perch by Paris Hilton and then every woman worldwide who embraced large sunglasses. But skinnies are gaining steam, from dear Bella through to geriatric millennial Kim K wearing futuristic and angular skinny sunglasses - or "vintage", as my Gen Z hairdresser earnestly referred to them. Cue eye roll. Those wishing to resist this shift must make haste and stock up now on large sunnies before they are on the shelf alongside fit overs.
The ugly sandal trend is here and strong. People used to wear Tevas because they were practical to hike in, not because they were ironic. I will say this trend leads with comfort. Vibe shift ringleader Bella made headlines when she wore a vintage Ed Hardy T-shirt. Surely only Ed Hardy himself would keep such an item, especially as they were made of fabric so thin that a baby could poke a finger through it. As for bike shorts, they were horrific enough when a sadist forced me to wear them for PE back in 1996.
Do we need to adopt this vibe shift? No way! The secret is to use our age as an excuse to seem uncool, while actually being very cool, and confident in our personal style. Resist the pressure of the vibe shift and let Gen Z make their own memories to cringe at.
