- If you asked me what I was wearing out in college, I would tell you a "going out top."
- Also known as "jeans and a nice top," this trend is now dead, according to TikTok.
In 2011, if you asked me what I was wearing that night, I would have told you "jeans and a cute top."
Most millennials probably had one of these "cute tops" or "going out tops" in their wardrobe — it was likely in a fun color or fabric and hit your shoulders in a nice way or draped in a style that felt slimming. Peplum was huge, as were flowy jersey tanks paired with skinny jeans, heels, and dangly necklaces. I thought we were living in the golden era of fashion.
And so did Jessica Britvich, a social worker and TikToker with 10,000 followers who went viral for her take on how the "going out top" is now no longer fashionable. So far, her video has over 4.8 million views and nearly 390,000 likes.
"I had a revelation in going out fashion, specifically for us millennial women, and that is the old jeans and a cute top — a staple, a tried and true, sometimes also known as 'jeans and a going out top' — the Gen-Z replacement is a top and fun pants," she said in her viral video.
@jessephora In memorandum of “I need more going out tops” #jeansandacutetop #jeansandagoingouttop #goingouttop #funpants #millenialfashion #genzfashion #updatingmillenialoutfits #millenialsoftiktok #cutetopandjeans ♬ original sound - jess b
Britvich said she texted her "very fun, very cool" Gen Z friend to ask what she was wearing that night, and her mind was blown when her friend responded, "Probably just a fun pant and a tank top combo."
The problem? "This is not in the repertoire of millennial women," Britvich said in her video, adding: "We were not wearing fun pants. We were wearing 'going out tops.' The party was on top."
@jessephora Replying to @Jaclyn Cartwright Tag other creators or pant inspo in the comments #funpants #jeansandagoingouttop #millenialfashion #updatingmillenialoutfits #genzfashion #coolpants #goingoutpants @jess b ♬ original sound - jess b
Britvich, who at 29 tells Insider she considers herself in the latter half of millennials, said she wasn't expecting her video to go so viral but isn't completely surprised since comparisons between Gen Z and millennials always get people talking. On her video in particular, many of the comments range from millennial women not wanting to give up these beloved looks to Gen Z wondering why millennials want to look so much like them in the first place.
Britvich also theorizes that these comparisons are becoming more common because both Gen Z and millennials grew up in an age where cameras and social media became prevalent, making it easier to look back on fashion mistakes gone by.
"There's a documentation of trends and fashion," Britvich tells Insider, even including her own texts and Instagram photos in her video to prove it. "People in the comments are saying that these tops weren't cute, and I'm like, 'They were at the time!'"
Britvich has since posted videos helping anyone curious find fun pants — name-dropping stores like American Eagle and Abercrombie, which have evolved from their early aughts fashion, just like their customers — though she points again to the comment section on her original video that launched an interesting discussion on thrifting and fast fashion.
"There was a bigger discussion about fun pants being not as versatile to wear, but then people were arguing the same thing about going out tops," she told Insider, pointing out the "fun pants" she was wearing in her video were from the resale store Buffalo Exchange. "Thrifting is more sustainable, but then the question of if thrifting takes away from communities who need it was also in the comments. It was a really interesting discussion."
Our shared nostalgia for these "going out tops" is echoed across TikTok, where millennials are already forced to reckon with being left behind with changing trends, from jeans to hair to makeup. But instead of being nervous about it, Britvich says there should be less of a divide between the generations.
"I really admire Gen Z for their political action," she told Insider. "I wish there was less of a divide and more of a coming together between Gen Z and millennials because there are so many similarities between the two."
Millennial or Gen-Z, there's no denying it's now the era of the fun pant. So long, going out tops. Thanks for the memories.