Gen Z: What a year for fashion. 2025 = iconic vibes.
Boomer: More like chronic. I've seen the worst fashion crimes since 1985's 'shell-suit summer'.
Gen Z: Rude! We legit brought back so many of your generation's trends.
Boomer: Like?
Gen Z: Those triangle scarves for one. I've got the same Anthropologie one in five different shades.
Boomer: Pardon? I'm much too young to wear what one fashion editor dubbed an 'early-bird special shawl'.
Gen Z: Apols. Thought they were big when you were young in the 70s.
Boomer: Maybe with Russian babushkas. Funnily not with teenagers from London.
Gen Z: What about low-rise flared jeans? According to Gen Z trend tracker YPulse, they were the ninth biggest trend of 2025.
Boomer: The last time I wore flares was to a Blondie gig in '78. Got them caught in my bike chain cycling home and was nearly charged with indecent exposure...
Gen Z: I love them. Gap's Y2K-inspired ad with global girl group Katseye in super low-cut denim was this year's most-viewed campaign, with eight billion impressions.
Boomer: And I'd get around eight billion funny looks strutting around Tesco in hip-huggers. Less 'washboard abs', more 'mind the flab'.
Gen Z: FR*, how many times have we talked about #bodypositivity this year?
Boomer: As many times as you've tried to convince me those hideous jelly shoes are stylish.
Gen Z: They are! Vogue called them summer's 'unlikely It-shoe' and a 'fashion editor favourite'.
Boomer: I'm with the Times writer who said they're too laden with memories of blisters and crabbing in Skegness.
Gen Z: Get with it. According to Vogue, 2025 has been all about 'maximalist' and 'chaotic' accessories.
Boomer: Like my patterned reusable shopping bag?
Gen Z: For Gen Z, it was the year of the Labubu
Boomer: Like the furry trapper hat, now the 'go-to headwear for off-duty models and New York cool girls'.
Gen Z: IJBOL*. Please say you like Labubus more?
Boomer: La-who-whos?
Gen Z: You know... the furry little toys from Pop Mart we all have on our handbags.
Boomer: Oh yes. The ones Sarah Vine rightly described as 'Gremlins crossed with Cabbage Patch Kids. Only uglier, if you can imagine such a thing'.
Gen Z: Us Gen Zs don't think so. Pop Mart's profit rose 400 per cent this year through Labubu sales, with Business Of Fashion calling them 'perfectly ugly-cute'.
Boomer: They got the ugly bit right. Looks like something you'd find under a bridge demanding a riddle.
Gen Z: Given Rihanna, Lisa and Lizzo have them, I'm gonna ignore your negative vibes.
Boomer: As you wish. But the furry trolls get a labu-bye from me.
Gen Z: Well, if you want a more sophisticated 2025 fashion trend, what about 'office siren'?
Boomer: Dressing as a fire alarm?
Gen Z: No, the hot kind of siren. The trend-tracking website Hyphen said 2025 has been all about 'corporate looks with a sexy twist'.
Boomer: The closest I got to being an 'office siren' was when my blouse’s second button popped off.
Boomer: Now it's all about skinny glasses, loafers, knee-high socks, miniskirts and grey and brown. Haven't you seen the Prada and Miu Miu collections?
Gen Z: Knee-high socks and miniskirts? No wonder unemployment's on the up. You've all been booted out by HR.
Boomer: There must be one 2025 style you've liked. Sheer skirts?
Gen Z: Call me old-fashioned, but opacity is one of my basic requirements for a garment.
Boomer: Fine. How about midi dresses over jeans?
Gen Z: Ridiculous! All the layers would make me look frumpy. Plus, it’s a nightmare pulling them all up and down when you need to spend a penny.
Boomer: Wait, I've got it.
Gen Z: Go on...
Boomer: Brown knitwear!
Gen Z: Huh? I've been wearing that since 1974.
Boomer: And now you're finally in fashion. Who What Wear says mocha brown is the 'most elegant winter shade'.
Boomer: I'm finally vindicated. And it nicely summarises all your 2025 fads, too.
Gen Z: Let me guess... a latte nonsense?