Apparently, your socks give away whether you’re Gen Z or a millennial
Raise your hand if you found that keeping up with fashion trends is tough once you hit your thirties or maybe when you became a mom. (Just me?) Figuring out what feels good while also possibly still staying on-trend is an unexpected challenge many of us have faced, and it turns out that others can totally tell what age bracket you fall into all by looking at your feet.
Phoebe Parsons, the host of the FIT(ish) podcast, recently shared a TikTok video explaining how your socks might give your age away, and yeah, it sort of feels like a personal attack if you’re still an ankle sock devotee. (Hi again, it’s me!) “This is exactly how you can tell the difference between a millennial and a Gen Z just by looking at their feet,” she says. “Are their socks up, or are they wearing hidden ankle socks?”
“Gen Z exclusively wears their socks up and millennials still wear ankle socks,” she added, showing off her very own pair of ankle socks hidden beneath her sneakers. “I’m a millennial.”
While ankle socks reigned supreme for years, COVID-era fashion proved that thick, tall or scrunchy tube or crew socks are more on trend these days, which makes sense, given that they pair perfectly with the slouchy athleisure that dominated pandemic style trends. By this logic, if you’re sticking to your low-profile, no-show ankle socks, anyone who peeks at your feet will know that you’re a millennial.
People took to the comments section of Parsons’ post to discuss their thoughts on the “socks up” style revolution adopted by Gen Zers the world over. “Socks up remind me of when my mom would dress me as a child,” wrote one person. “It makes me feel like a small child.” Another added: “So true though. Thought of socks up gives me the shivers.”
“My face tells everyone I’m a 40 yr old Millennial… no one is gonna be fooled by my sock choice
” joked one person. Another quipped: “I already learned this trick so I can blend in
”
Plenty of Gen Z commenters shared that they actually prefer ankle socks, while lots of millennials also noted that they love a “socks-up” look. One commenter summed it up perfectly, writing: “You know who wears their socks up all the way to their knees? Boomers in retirement homes.”
Of course, we might just be coming from a sensitive millennial POV, but there are pros and cons to both sock styles (high socks keep your ankles warm and protect you from ticks, while low socks let your lower calves and ankles breathe a bit) so we say, wear what you like. If you love an ankle sock, rock it proudly whenever you feel like it, friend.
