Millennial’s Plea for Help After Failing to Nail Gen Z Outfit Goes Viral

A millennial turned to Gen Z for fashion advice after struggling to perfect a trendy gym outfit.

Rachel Cheng (@l3hcaR), 31, shared her attempt to replicate the effortless yet stylish gym look she often saw women wearing—baggy sweatpants, a coordinated sports bra, and large airpods. But despite numerous tries, she couldn’t seem to get it right. Her post garnered 466,600 likes and 5.8 million views on TikTok.

“I seriously love when I see a girl at the gym with an amazing outfit that looks cute AND functional! But I really have tried to recreate it so many times and KNOW it’s that I don’t have the right sweatpants. I felt like a lot of people could relate to this feeling/moment,” Cheng told Newsweek.

She emphasized how a great outfit can boost confidence at the gym, telling Newsweek: “I’m definitely a believer that feeling your best, whether that means a little makeup and a matching gym outfit or not, contributes to feeling confident, and if I’m going to be staring at ourselves for an hour in a mirror under fluorescent light… putting myself together before the gym definitely helps!”

Describing the look she was trying to achieve, Cheng explained that the ideal outfit includes a: snatched ponytail with large headphones, baggy sweatpants – that are oversized, but not so baggy they fall down – paired with a coordinated sports bra or crop top.

Cheng said the social media reaction to her video was overwhelming, initially making her feel as though everyone but her knew where to buy the right sweatpants.

However, she was soon encouraged by the sheer number of women who found the conversation helpful. She noted that the majority of the comments were positive and empowering, with many people using words like “confident,” “flattering” and “affordable” to describe their favorite sweatpants.

While there were a few negative comments from people questioning the need to “look cute” at the gym, Cheng said they were overshadowed by the support from other women who were eager to share their fashion tips. She also highlighted that many commenters pointed to fitness influencer Whitney Simmons as the ultimate inspiration for achieving a stylish and confident gym look.

According to Cheng, the top recommendations for oversized sweatpants came from brands like Aritzia, Garage (noted as Aritzia dupes), Walmart’s No Boundaries line, and gym-focused brands like YoungLA and Dark Sport.

Since receiving the recommendations, Cheng said she had ordered several pairs and even heard from some of the tagged brands. She shared that she was particularly loving the Garage Cargo sweats, as they fit the exact look she had been searching for and had made her feel great at the gym.

TikTokers eagerly weighed in with suggestions.

“The girls are wearing the Aritzia cargo sweatpants!!! I have 2 pairs and they are my favorite pants EVER!!!!” said Lydia Riedman.

“NIKE PHOENIX FLEECE—high-waisted oversized sweatpants TRUST!!!” said Lulu.

“Gymshark sweatpants I swear by,” said Cat.

“My wife kills that look and wears Gymshark,” said Benny.

“My current fave pair that I am LIVING in right now are Fabletics,” said Terra.

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