Being a Millennial in 2025 Feels Like…Anxiety

Yes, we long for a simpler time when everything wasn’t going to give us cancer, and the not knowing was bliss. Red 40? Bring it. Remember when the scariest thing in your lunchbox was whether your Capri Sun straw would actually puncture the pouch? Now if you mention Capri Sun to anyone they will quiver in fear at the amount of sugar in each pouch.

We secretly wish we could trade the constant “hot takes” of 2025 for something simpler. I’m convinced Labubu is what a full grown Tamagotchi would have looked like if it hatched from the egg and we didn’t kill it. Let us go back to worrying about what songs to burn on our mix CDs, or how many poses we could squeeze into a single roll of Glamour Shots.

Give me the joy of rediscovering Skechers D’Lites or Nike Shox for the first time. Let me go rollerblading after an early dismissal from school. When I say we’ve been around the block, it’s literally because that was the allowed perimeter of our play space, around the block.

Take me back to Friday nights wandering Blockbuster aisles, judging movies by their covers. The world felt big, fun, and most importantly, less judgy. Nobody was carrying a pitchfork in their back pocket ready to cancel the next person for making a mistake.

Sure, Gen Z likes to poke fun at us for being “obsessed with nostalgia”, but can you blame us? We know what life was like before social media, and some days we’d do anything to get that back.

As for the fashion attacks? Please. Baggy jeans? Been there, done that. We walked so you could TikTok. We simply know that after you get tired of your baggy jeans you will long for the more flattering fitted look like we did, and reach for skinny jeans that you will likely rebrand as something else with a silly name.

Leggings? Bury us in them, I do not care how hard you try to make us feel bad about leggings. We are mature adults now and we like what we like. You can pry our yoga pants (not “flared leggings”) out of our cold, dead hands.

Middle parts? Cute idea, but we’ve already tested out that science experiment. Most of us decided we’d like to avoid looking like the guy from Little Rascals, but if you need proof we have pictures to prove it.

To your silly jabs about our fashion choices I say, I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever bounces off me, sticks to you.

So my question is: why are you so obsessed with us? (Siri play Mariah Carey) Nearly every 90s-2000s trend you’re wearing now? You’re welcome. The layered tanks, the butterfly clips, the low-rise denim (God help you). Millennial fashion walked so Gen Z could thrift.

Gen Z, if you want to raid our closets and recycle all the 90s-2000s trends, you’re welcome. But stop acting like you discovered them. We’ve already done the hard work, and we’re happy to pass along notes, if you ask nicely.

5 Things Millennials Refuse to Apologize For in 2025

1. Leggings – They are pants. End of discussion.

2. Side parts – Not every face is built for geometry class.

3. Skinny jeans – We suffered through low-rise denim once. Never again.

4. Nostalgia – Blockbuster, AIM, big league chew, Kraft Mac &cheese. Our childhood was gold.

5. Pumpkin Spice Lattes – We walked so your matcha could run. (Preferably the recipe prior to 2015)

We may be the internet’s favorite punching bag, but here’s the truth: we’re too tired, too caffeinated, and too comfortable in our leggings to care. And if any millennials reading this were starting to feel bad, consider this your encouragement to say IDGAF and keep on keeping on.