Is Gen Z The Copy-Paste Generation When It Comes To Style?

The list of things that Gen Z does that I can’t relate to seems endless—from having Finsta accounts, to cancelling everyone (because apparently there’s no room for improvement), using words like ‘drip’ and ‘cap’, not caring one bit about professionalism (well, most of them anyway), overusing the word “aesthetic”—or worse, using it incorrectly (it’s a noun, not an adjective!).

But one thing about Gen Z that really grinds my gears is how they are all dressing the same. Okay, hear me out. When was the last time you saw a Gen Z guy wearing something other than baggy pants, a fun oversized shirt/T-shirt, really chunky shoes and a Y2K inspired necklace? You know what I’m talking about—you’re walking your dog, or running errands, and you see these young boys all dressed in the same effortless, oversized outfits, usually in happy colours, like it’s a uniform. Going by their “fits” (as they like to call them), all Generation Z men are basically clones of each other.

Why is no one dressing like Leonardo Dicaprio from the 90s? Or going for the vintage grandpa core aesthetic? Or preppy? Softboy aesthetic, perhaps? How is it that the athleisure and chunky shoes look peppered with a little bit of Y2K is everybody’s collective personal style in this generation? I’m glad we collectively decided that skinny jeans are not cool, but isn’t this taking it too far? And don’t even get me started on their sneakers. If I see one more 19-year old boy wearing the same Air Jordan high tops, I might lose my will to live.

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Credit where it’s due, it’s great to see Gen Z men trying clothes and accessories that millennials and boomers would perhaps shy away from—like pearl necklaces. But when each one of them is wearing the same beaded necklaces, we have a problem. Granted that they’re experimenting, but they’re all doing it within the realms of the same umbrella aesthetic. There's still room for more diversity.

Which begs the question: Does Gen Z not have a personal style? Personal style is supposed to be a form of expression, an extension of your personality. However, this generation of men have created a prototype and are vehemently following it, not realising that it might not even be their personal style.

But who decided that there’s just one way to dress? When did boys start fitting into a mold as opposed to embracing their personal style? There is a good chance that an entire generation sticking to the same mood board can be attributed to social media. What else is the one common thing that everyone in the generation is constantly exposed to, to be influencing their taste similarly? When a pop culture icon is wearing a cool new shoe, or dressing a certain way, the trend will inevitably trickle down to the masses. It is important to then be mindful of your vibe, not let these factors dictate your style. Because here’s the thing: trends should be something you chose and not something that happens to you.

To all the guys reading this, it is very easy for you to be stylish today—you just have to embrace your own personal style, because everybody else is just copying others.

So if baggy clothes and Y2K accessories is what comes naturally to you, then you’re probably on the right track already, but if wearing cute plaid Bermuda shorts with a cricket sweater and oxford shoes is what comes naturally to you, go for it! If you like dark and grungy and not the dopamine colours that Gen Z usually goes for, you do you!

You don’t have to be stylish like someone else, you can be stylish like you! In the words of Oscar Wilde, “be yourself, everyone is already taken”.