When we think back on past decades, much of how we define those time periods is based on fashion. The 80s are defined by flashy shoulder pads, bright colors, power suits, and leg warmers. The 90s are defined by sleek slip dresses, flannel, baby tees, and bucket hats. The 2000s are defined by velour tracksuits, low-rise jeans, skinny scarves, and cargo pants.

However, as we push farther into the twenty-first century, it becomes harder and harder to define what our trends are. Can you call sweatpants a fashion trend? What about leggings? Can you even call them fashion?

Much of fashion trends are determined by the styles of the younger generations. Today, Gen Z is one of the most prevalent offenders in the degradation of modern fashion.

Milton High’s student body is proof. On any given day, it’s a guarantee that walking through the halls, the majority of students will be wearing sweatpants, hoodies, leggings, or pajamas.

An anonymous survey of MHS students revealed that 48.3% wear these sorts of comfortable clothes for all five days of the school week, on average. An additional 21.7% wear comfortable clothes four days a week, on average.

The comfortable clothing movement has now become somewhat of a revolution. The athleisure and activewear that was previously solely a gym staple is now commonplace among teens, reflected by the booming popularity of brands like Lululemon, who made 8.8 billion dollars in the past year, according to Macrotrends.

The reasoning behind this revolution is unclear. On a global scale, it could likely be attributed to the COVID 19 pandemic, in which people began to opt for pajamas on their Zoom calls, over the suits, pencil skirts, and office attire they were accustomed to.

According to Forbes, athleisure orders rose 84% from the start of the pandemic. Nonetheless, the pandemic is over and comfortable clothes are nowhere near disappearing, at least for high school students.

The student survey reported that 53.3% of MHS students wear athleisure and comfortable clothes because they’re too tired in the morning to wear anything else. Sophomore Macy Burns said, “In all honesty, it’s just too much effort to put together an outfit with a nice top and jeans. It’s so much less work to pull on a pair of sweatpants or a hoodie.”

To older generations, “too much effort” seems to be the mantra of Gen Z. We’re always looking to put in minimal effort, we’re too lazy, and we don’t work hard enough.

Instead, I’d argue that we’re not lazy, just burnt out. According to The Atlantic, “American teenagers now [average] about twice as much time spent on homework each day as their predecessors did in the 1990s.” Similarly, the Child Mind Institute reports that “teens need over nine hours a night to be healthy. But over a third of teens get only five to six hours a night.”

Sleep-deprived and buried in work, teens understandably tend to reach for comfort over fashion.

“People are less focused on their appearance and more focused on trying to survive day to day,” in the words of junior Jasmine Bethea.

On top of all that, this comfortable revolution has caused our standards for what is presentable to drop drastically. As someone who wears jeans or a pair of non-athleisure pants to school almost daily, I’m constantly flooded with comments along the lines of “Wow, you dress so nice!”

It baffles me how jeans, which used to be worn if it was casual Friday at work, have become “fancy.” Is it really true that my simple shirt and jeans have become the height of everyday fashion?

Not only have our standards for presentability dropped, but we’ve pushed truly presentable clothes so far from the norm that they can seem unusual or socially unacceptable. There have been many times that I’ve worn a skirt or a nicer top to school and all day, I’ve felt self-conscious, overdressed, and a little too visible.

“Wearing nice clothes feels too out of the ordinary like all eyes are on you,” junior Maggie Carr shared. “It feels more socially acceptable to wear comfortable clothes; it’s just a lot easier to blend in.”

Athleisure seems to mirror the increase in the “don’t try too hard” mentality. For example, consider the rise of the messy bun. While the trendy hairstyles of past decades have been bombshell blowouts, beehive updos, and slick mohawks, the messy bun now reigns supreme. The entire concept of this hairstyle is backed by the idea of minimal effort and an “I woke up like this” look.

Trendiness is no longer based on how long you took to get ready or how elaborate and expensive your outfit is, it’s how chill you seem. Sweats, pajamas, and leggings are just what you need to get the job done.

Regardless of whether the pandemic, workload, sleep deprivation, or “chill” trends are to blame, one concept seems to explain the entirety of fashion’s deterioration: perhaps, our society has just become too complicated for fashion to be complicated too.