Millennials are horrified to find out that a 1992 dress is being described as 'vintage' as part of a mega-viral TikTok

• A TikToker went mega viral when she found a Versace dress at a thrift store for under $20.
• Viewers on the app helped her track down the specifics of the item which appeared to be from 1992.

Back in March, 28-year-old TikToker Sarah Dunk went mega-viral when she found a 1990s Versace dress at a thrift store for less than $20. When she posted a video about it, fellow TikTokers were blown away, and scrambled to help her track down the era of the item.

On the other side of the internet, Facebookers were about to make their own discovery — that the 1990s were now considered a dusty period in history.

After snapping the dress up for just $17.49 Canadian, or $12.72, Dunk's video received over 16.5 million views, and 2,100 comments who excitedly helped her research the designer dress.

"My jaw dropped. That's not just Versace it's VINTAGE Versace. Best find ever!!" one viewer wrote in a comment that received a whopping 44,000 likes.

On March 8, Insider's story about Dunk's "vintage" find was shared to Facebook, where it quickly popped off with 17,000 reactions and 1,100 comments. While some noted the impressive find and wrote how happy they were for Dunk, many more were troubled, baffled, and alarmed by one word in particular.

"Crazy that they call 90s vintage now!" a Facebooker who goes by Roni Joy wrote, receiving 176 likes, and promoting a 25-comment discussion where fellow users did some quick math and realized how old they were.

"Well I mean in 7 years the 90s is going to be 40 years ago," wrote a user whose bio says they were born in 1992. The sobering comment received 34 reactions, many of which used the teary-eyed emoticon.

"I don't need to read the article… I'm just hear to complain about referring to something from 1992 as vintage," user Candace Carrera wrote and received over 215 reactions. "Yikes. I'm old," a fellow Facebooker wrote in response.

Another reader, who identified as an "80s baby" said she was "struggling" with the term too.

One commenter, whose bio says they were born in 1993, pointed to the natural evolution of such terms. "Clothes have such short trend cycles now that 20 years for clothes is vintage and is allowed to be sold and categorized vintage on Etsy and eBay after 20," they wrote.

According to Merriam-Webster, the term "vintage" is defined loosely as "dating from the past," however in fashion circles it can differ. Vestiaire Collective, a marketplace for preloved high-end fashion, allows users to list anything over 15 years old as vintage, and Thrifted, a vintage clothes retailer, sells items from the 1990s and 2000s under that label.

Dunk, who is coming up to her 30s told Insider she can relate to the Facebookers' concerns, as she too has "truly started to realize my age" as she predominantly shops for vintage items.

"The word vintage is synonymously used to describe items that are in fact older but also of value and higher quality than fast fashion pieces," Dunk said, after Insider caught up with her recently.

She added, "I think we are hearing the term 'vintage' now more than ever as our society is aware of the negative impacts of fast fashion and is choosing to purchase vintage pieces that can serve them better."

But Dunk is also looking on the positive side, and embracing the different style choices she's making as she gets older. "If I was any younger I might not have been looking for a black gown and just might have missed out on my best thrift find ever," she said.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.