What is a ‘vibe shift’? The latest sign you’re losing your cool

So, people are upset that they’ve been told they’re uncool? Yep. Ever since American trend forecaster Sean Monahan explained that we’re on the cusp of a “vibe shift”, in a now-viral article published by New York Magazine, people have got their undies in a twist.

Wait, a “vibe shift”? Oh, you know, the start of a new era of cultural change, led by Gen Z who have come of age in a pandemic, and which renders the previous trends hopelessly dated.

And it’s marked by different eras? Yes. You know how prehistory is divided into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age? It’s like that, except instead of tracking the evolution of humankind through life-changing technologies, Monahan’s eras detail how we like to spend our Sundays, what music we buy and whether we prefer dad jeans over skinny jeans.

No Indiana Jones-like archeological finds, then? Well, no. But Monahan’s relics are no less identifiable. The Hipster vibe (2003-2009) is best summed up by those bearded, tattooed guys who loved nothing more than attending an Arcade Fire show in high-waisted Cheap Monday jeans. The Post-Internet vibe (2010-2016) was your friend who got off on dressing like Jerry Seinfeld (thanks to the “normcore” fashion trend marked by aggressively “normal” clothing like Patagonia fleece jackets and New Balance sneakers) while listening to new-age R&B singer Blood Orange. The Woke vibe (2016-2020) celebrated protests over brunch, sneakerheads who sold iconic kicks for extra cash, and Drake at his Drakefest.

Right. Trends happen. So what’s the big deal? In the five days since the piece was published, the “vibe shift” has been criticised for being toxic and anxiety-inducing. “I got a brain tumor [sic] from reading this,” one person wrote on Twitter; “Please, extinction meteor… strike this planet NOW!!” wrote another. Some people have directed attacks at Monahan, with one tweeting they were shocked the trend forecaster, who coined the term “normcore”, is 35 and not “a middle schooler”.

But isn’t declaring what’s “cool” and what’s not kind of dated itself? You’re not wrong. The term “cool” will celebrate its 100th birthday in about eight years. When the term entered common American parlance, pillbox hats and dresses with fiercely exaggerated shoulders were the height of fashion. The hottest colour combination was prune and turquoise.

And weren’t we just here… With “cheugy”? Yeah. That viral term was a way for Generation Z’s to proverbially rap their elders – especially geriatric Millennials born in the early 1980s – on the knuckles for no longer being at the forefront of what’s hip. The term might have dissipated, but just nine months ago it described anything (from Ugg boots to cake pops and the phrase “I did a thing”) that Gen Z had deemed over.

But isn’t the “vibe shift” just synonymous with ageing? Trends do come and go, and being a 30-something inevitably means that you’re often no longer at the forefront of the latest trends. If you don’t catch on to the new vibe, you just might end up wearing New Balance sneakers until you die. So what, right? Still, some take it hard, like the author of the viral piece. “Not everyone survives a vibe shift,” she wrote. “The ones still clinging to authenticity and fairy lights are the ones who crystallised in their hipsterdom while the culture moved on… It’s chilling to realise you may be one of the stuck, of if you aren’t, you may be soon.”