- Tight leggings have fallen out of trend as "flare leggings," or yoga pants, come back into style.
- Gen Z loves to pair the wide athletic pants with chunky shoes and crewneck sweaters.
Gen Z isn't a fan of your leggings.
You know the ones. They're probably jet-black and super comfortable. They hug your legs, complement your favorite boots, and are ideal to wear anywhere from the grocery store to the gym.
Sorry to break it to you like this, but young people just aren't wearing those anymore — and they'd prefer if you didn't either.
Instead, they prefer a style you probably left behind in high school or college: yoga pants.
Why isn't Gen Z wearing form-fitting leggings?
The shift in style started around 2020. It was the height of the pandemic, and athleisure was everywhere.
Yoga pants became especially popular, as Hannah Amini reported for L'Officiel, returning from the depths of our 2010s memories and childhood closets for the first time in years.
Once influencers like Emma Chamberlain began swapping their standard leggings for the older style, the pants instantly looked fun and cool again.
And it didn't hurt that they were given a trendy new name: flare leggings.
Let's be clear, flare leggings are yoga pants. They're form-fitting up top — sometimes with a folded waistband — and wide at the bottom.
If there's any major difference, it's that the fabrics used today are generally stretchier and more comfortable than those used in 2012.
Gen Z typically wears the pants in solid colors (they haven't brought overwhelming prints back, thankfully), and they sometimes opt for pairs that have slits at the ankle.
The swap in styles mirrors another fashion faux pas Gen Z has warned against: skinny jeans.
The younger generation prefers denim that's wide and baggy, and they've consistently called out millennials who wear the opposite.
So it only makes sense that trendy young people would eventually ditch tight leggings for wider ones too.
How to wear flare leggings in 2023
Last week, TikToker Hannah Brown posted a video in which she wore classic leggings tucked into ankle socks and low sneakers. She also posed the question: "Hot girls on TikTok, what are we wearing to run errands?"
She got enough feedback to create an entire list of "hot girl errand outfit" staples. But the main suggestion was to swap her leggings for flared pants.
Gen Z seems to love affordable ones from Aerie, and higher-end options from Lululemon and Bleusalt.
@anisiafromsprouts these aerie crossover flared leggings are absolutely everything. #outfitinspo #fyp ♬ Maria Maria (feat. The Product G&B) (sped up) - Santana & sped up + slowed
As Brown explained in her second video, Gen Z typically styles flared yoga pants with clog-style shoes like platform UGGs or Birkenstocks, and they wear crewneck sweaters on top.
You can also add delicate gold jewelry and a vest for extra flair.
@hannahabrown0 #greenscreen what do we think of these suggestions? Im excited to try this formula out! #errandoutfit #errandfit #errandfitcheck #comfyfitinspo #comfyfits #hotgirlaesthetic #thatgirlaesthetic ♬ original sound - hannahabrown
If you've been wanting to try flare leggings for yourself, now is the time — at least, according to Gen Z and TikTokers.
And as a millennial who experienced an earlier yoga-pant trend, my biggest piece of advice would be to not let them drag on the ground all winter.
I can promise you there's nothing worse than snow-soaked yoga pants.