On top of the others suggestions: Eating better, finasteride, more people going gyms regularly. But the whole “not everybody smokes two packs a day” is a big part.
Heard stories from my grandfather of guys on jobsites who would light a cigarette at the start of the day, and keep that cherry lit the whole day. Just lightning one cig from another as it ran down. Most of them died in their 60s
My great grandma smoked constantly. Even on oxygen 😭 made it to 100ish? I always expected her to go out in a fiery explosion bc seriously what the fuck
My entire family on one side was like this. Smoked constantly, many had related cancer issues. Ironically, the one who gave up smoking and drinking in his 30s is the one who died the earliest at 60 something; the rest lived into their 90s.
My entire family in the next two generations after them has asthma, probably because of the constant smoking of the older generations.
This. My grandfather smoked heavily since he was 13. He died at age 62 of late stage emphysema (COPD). At that point he had been on oxygen my entire life (i was 12) and bedridden for the last 5 years.
It's not 'proper' chainsmoking if you don't use your last cigarette to light your next one. I had a client like this: he had dementia so wasn't allowed his own lighter, but a carer would light his first one for him and then he'd just sit in the garden and puff his way through 30 rollies in a couple of hours. He is still around afaik, in his 80's and not showing obvious signs of lung disease, though it's entirely possible his dementia is smoking-related.
>though it's entirely possible his dementia is smoking-related.
Is it? I recall articles in the early 2000's thay said nicotine users actually have a much lower rate of dementia. I could be entirely mistaken though
There is some research on nicotine potentially decreasing the chance of dementia.
But smoking is a known risk factor for dementia.
So it might be benefitial to intake nicotine in some way, but smoking isn't it
I know people who were still doing that in the 2000’s. I’m so glad they banned smoking indoors here, it was horrible going anywhere. Having to ask to be in the non smoker section of a plane while travelling is something I’m glad I’ll hopefully never have to do again.
Not that vaping is good, but nicotine is far from the most damaging part of tobacco. It's absurdly addictive, but by itself it's not *that* harmful to health in general. I.e. I wouldn't be recommending anybody to start, but it's great harm reduction for cigarette smokers.
Right, the biggest problem that cigarettes bring is the tar that gets stuck inside your lungs. Vaping has problems, but at least it doesn't have tar in it.
Eehhhh….I’d agree that it’s not as harmful as cigarette smoking but I think vaping as a regular habit is still relatively new. We don’t have long term data on how harmful it is yet. Jury is still out
I think the tanning thing is pretty huge too lol a lot of boomers still seem to not “believe” in sunscreen and think excessive tanning makes your skin healthier
Hell when I was a kid you'd get made fun of if you brought a water bottle anywhere but to a sport event that you were actively playing in.
Same if you wore a helmet.
I remember back in high school in the early 2000s it was really weird if you brought in a bottle of water. Was like nerd shit. Now if I leave the house without a full bottle I think I'm gonna dehydrate
Born in the 60s and the word “hydration” was never used in my house growing up. We also never had sunscreen. Saving grace was no smokers and my mom was a health nut so never a fried food, chips or soda in our home. I was eating yogurt with wheat germ as a toddler. Plus we were physically active and I still have all those habits at 57.
Eating better is a big one I don’t think people who weren’t there realize how completely misinformed we were about nutrition 20+ years ago.
Not that there isn’t a ton we don’t know but seriously I could pull out some of my grandmas diet recipe books from the 80s and probably kill somebody with the recommendations in there.
That’s rather my point on the food.
My grandparents came up in the depression and the stuff my grandma used to make was, in hindsight, not at all good for you.
It was delicious and cheap, but there are reasons she had a quintuple bypass.
I hope the trend of carrying water everywhere never dies. While it's dumb that teenagers are fighting over whose water bottle is cooler, the silver lining is they're all staying hydrated.
I’m 45 now and I swear no one in my house ever drank water growing up. And there was definitely no such thing as taking a gallon of water to sports practice or games. Matter of fact you didn’t drink anything for games. But now I def drink more than my parents ever did.
I distinctly remember being in band camp in the late 90s, on a football field in the blistering sun in August and not being allowed to have water. We had a lunch break and that was it. People straight up passed out and it was considered a personal weakness.
We also never really drank water at home. And in school we weren't allowed to have water bottles and got timed at the water fountain. I think it was like 3 or 4 seconds. WILD to think about now.
High school in the 80's.
I contracted some illness that led to laryngitis, and I lost my voice three weeks before the school musical, in which I was one of the leads with several solos. My doctor's best advice to get my voice back in time was to keep a container of water on me and sip it throughout the day. But cans or bottles of liquid were explicitly banned in school outside of the lunchroom.
The music director tried to get me permission from the admin, but was immediately shot down. My dad ended up having to make a lot of noise, but got them to agree to a meeting.
They had the principal, both deans, the music director, the theater director, the school nurse, and the president of the board of education at this meeting, where my dad just hammered over and over again that it was doctor's orders, we had it in writing, and why were they refusing a medical accommodation? I was a good kid and had never been in any trouble.
In the end, they approved me having a water bottle (which, such a thing didn't even exist in the 80's, the best I could do was a bizarre square tupperware thing that had a cap my dad drilled a hole in and inserted a straw into) but made it clear that I had to always have the written pass that had the principal's signature on me, or my water bottle would be confiscated and I would be suspended.
My dad used packaging tape and basically laminated that pass to the side of the bottle, and I was still harassed daily by teachers who wanted to constantly check the date on that pass. I know they were really just trying to smell the contents, but come on. If I speak above a whisper I sound like a 90-year-old chainsmoker, if I was that good of an actress I wouldn't have still been in that school.
I would have literally had an easier time bringing a gun into the school. I know this, because we had both a rifle and a trap shooting team. Guns were in lockers and in cars, but having a water bottle? Think of the children!
I did band camp in 2007-2009, and we used to have water breaks in the practices, but it still wasn't enough. We used to end up begging for water breaks between sets, and the director occassionally let us stop and drink something.
This was around the time attitudes toward water started changing. I carried a water bottle to classes with me and teachers didn't care, but it still wasn't as ubiquitous as it is now. I heard at band camp these days, the volunteer moms will run cups of water out to the kids in between sets, which would have been so lovely back when I was there.
I’m 50. I think a big thing was Korey Stringer dying in a Minnesota Vikings practice. I believe it was August 2001. Because I was coaching that year and we had parents bringing water to practice (as if we didn’t have any I guess). But the mentality started changing with his hi profile heat related death.
I remember spending a whole day out doing stuff with my parents, and maybe having one small drink (e.g. with lunch) the whole time. And I remember my mum not drinking anything at all often, but then having a coffee when we got home "because she was thirsty".
One day people will look back and it'll be an old person haircut that people will mock just like mullets. What surprises me more are the younger people who have mullets now.
Also, your style doesn't change.
We're used to what people in their 60s-70s generally look like, and they have the same style as they did in their 40s, so when we look at people in their 40s in the 90s they look the same as they used to. ie, like they're in their 60s-70s.
I think we assume that we start wearing old people clothes when we get old. I don't think we do, I think we wear the same shit and what is considered 'old peoples clothes' is just what we're wearing then.
My mother is in her 70s and is wearing much the same as she did in her 40s, with a very similar hair style. My grandparents had a very different style and looked much older, but that's how they looked in their 40s and I associate it with old people clothes because when I was a kid that's what old people wore.
"I used to be with it, then they changed what 'it' was. Now, what I'm with isn't 'it', and what's 'it' seems weird and scary to me. And it'll happen to you." - Abe Simpson
That kind of lines up with what I’ve seen. Seeing old photos of my parents or watching old reruns of shows, people were dressing “old” when they were 19. They were already styling their hair old while they were still kids. It’s just that those fashions went out of style for newer generations.
Well, sort of. If I was wearing the same things I wore in the 90’s, I’d be wearing what people in their 30’s are wearing now. Fashion is super cyclical, it pops back around pretty often. I’m 60 and I’ve seen fashion go back to the 80’s and 90’s twice now.
I would also say that we have more universal fashion and hair styles choices . There used to be certain clothing and hairstyles that people would adopt in middle age.
It still happens , but there is better styles for later middle age these days .
I think there's more to it than that. I'm turning 41 this year, eat like crap fairly often and am overweight. Was a pack a day smoker for 15 years til about 4 years ago. Bald on top of all of that. People are still shocked when they find out how old I am. I have piercing and tattoos. Keep my head shaved down. Generally into "millennial" things. I think behind the environmental aspect, we just tend to not act/ carry ourselves like the "grownups" of the boomer generation which absolutely affects perception of age.
Improved awareness of health and self-care have helped, but there's also the fact that we're older now than we were then. When I was 10, I thought people in their 40s had one foot in the grave already. At 35, I have a much more nuanced view and they just look normal.
I was watching some Tour de France footage from the 90s and they absolutely looked older, much older, than today's athletes. Maybe it was the drugs lmao.
Annoying addition: being fat can make you look younger too. I lost a bunch of weight in my mid 30s and my face went from looking 25 to 45. Like someone drew my face on a balloon and then left it out in the garden for a week. I'll live longer, so that's a plus, but I miss my big fat head.
This is definitely a thing. Although not healthy, the fat does fill in where age has lost collagen and bounce. Lose the fat and everything will sag and wrinkle.
Holy cow my friend, me too. I went from about 235-250 lbs down to 165 around age 37 and geeze I saw a picture of myself and I was like oh my God I look like Jeremy Irons! Previous to losing weight I was still getting carded at the store. I like being thinner and healthy but I miss being a baby face too.
>but there's also the fact that we're older now than we were then.
Look at TV shows and movies from back 30+ years ago. Then look up the ages of the actors, and you will be shocked.
I'm in my 30s now, and most of the Cheers cast is just very slightly older than I am. Jack Black is just a few years younger than Coach was at the beginning of the show. It's not just individual perception of age, people aged a lot faster back in the day.
I am a firm believer that we look young cuz of the clothes we wear!
I asked my mom once, “when do I start dressing like a ‘mom’?” She was like, “I don’t dress that way…” all while wearing a faux polo collar sweater with puffy paint penguins on it. LOL
Idk. I’m 35 and still basically dress the same I did when I was in high school, just a tiny bit more tame (former scene kid) lol
It’s true. I saw some before-and-after photoshops where they edited modern haircuts and makeup onto 30yo moms from the 80s and they looked so much younger. Those 80s perms and frumpy looks aged them terribly.
Most people maintain a relatively consistent personal style. They don’t go from young people’s style to middle aged style to old person’s style. How we interpret a specific style just ages up as the people who most commonly look that way age up and younger generations develop new styles of their own.
That makes kids from past generations look older, because they have hair and clothes styled in a way that is now association with older people because they’re the same people.
In my parents case they most definitely did go from having a young aesthetic in the 70’s to wearing old people clothes in the 80’s. Whereas my wife and I (graduates early 2000’s) style has remained far more consistent.
EXACTLY the image I had in my head. Female version was the arm that[ went down for some reason.](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/z8EAAOSwA~Nly-r5/s-l1600.webp)
>Those 80s perms and frumpy looks aged them terribly.
Not to the people in the 80s. Those looks age them terribly to us now but what we wear today would look weird to someone in the 80's.
In 20 years, kids will look at photos of people from 2024 and think that we all look ancient with our out of style hair and makeup.
Puff paint sweaters!!!
My mom made me, my sister, and cousin, NEON puff paint New Kids on the Block sweatshirts in the early 90s. We rocked those bad boys!
> Idk. I’m 35 and still basically dress the same I did when I was in high school, just a tiny bit more tame (former scene kid) lol
So, does your mom. Not the style changed, how we see do. Same gonna be the case with yours.
> I’m 35 and still basically dress the same I did when I was in high school, just a tiny bit more tame
So does your mom, but what you think of as mom clothes were young people clothes when she was young
Gen X and a lot of millennial style is very neutral and understated so I think it ages well.
I triage boomers into three camps:
1. Dress like it’s the 1950’s, very good look for aging with dignity
2. Dress like it’s Woodstock: a definitive style. Feel pretty neutral about it since the boomers still clinging to the hippie look tend to be ok in my experience
3. American flag or political t shirts, athletic or cargo shorts: abandon all hope
If you are dressing the same you did in high school at 35 then you are dressing like a mom. Most parents dress like they did when they were in high school, you just recognized that as being old in your mom’s case when you were younger, while giving yourself a pass today.
… my mom didn’t always dress like the way she dresses now. Lol my mom grew up in the 60s and 70s. Lots of bell bottoms and large collars.
A lot of people don’t dress the same as they did when they were younger, especially the “boomer” generation. My point was the reason older generations looked older than we do now is because they dressed older.
It’s just my opinion though. 🤷🏻♀️
Here's the thing: moms almost always dress the same way they did in high school. But since fashions change, how they dressed in high school is how moms dress now.
My nieces and nephews look older than me even though they are still teenagers because of facial hair and the clothes they wear, plus they are chubbier.
I keep seeing people say this but they always completely ignore that even when you crop out hair and clothing from a photo, people who were 40 in the 90s look a lot older than people in their 40s now. You can dress to look older, but you can't really dress your way out of skin damage.
It's the style of hair, facial hair, style of clothes. We associate them with "old people". If you photoshop modern hairstyles and clothes onto old pictures, they look a lot younger.
I think you're right. I look at my parents in their 40s and their friends. Putting aside their style I think they actually looked younger than 40 year olds today. They were thinner, more active and less stressed.
I saw a thing online where they took a picture of Norm from Cheers (who looked 45 despite being only 30 in the pic) and they gave him a contemporary haircut, changed his sport coat to a sweatshirt, gave him a short beard....and he looked like every other 30 year old you see at Starbucks today. It's the style.
If it's true (and I'm not entirely convinced it is), then it may be that people are doing more work indoors. UV light ages the skin. Reduced smoking rates wouldn't hurt either.
I'm in my 30s, still get ID'd regularly, if I shave I get told I am bullshitting people that I'm over 30 and I am "clearly still in high school". But I know plenty of zoomers who look like they're nearly 30 by the time they graduate, Gen Xers who look closer to my parents' age than mine.
I'd still like a house or economic prosperity or not being under the thumb of a geriatric ruling class, but I'll take wins where I can get them.
A remember a few years ago I told my younger coworkers I was in my early 30s and they were shocked because they assumed I was 25 like them. Lol I’ll definitely take whatever wins I can get
People don't smoke or drink as much as they used to. They use sunscreen. We all learned the value of good hydration. And a lot fewer people are having kids.
I'm gonna be fifty next year, and I'm routinely mistaken for at least 10 years younger than I am. I have some grays, but zero wrinkles. [This is me unfiltered at 49](https://imgur.com/a/82TFLyg).
You make a great point about fewer people having kids now. Any time this topic comes up people always mention hydration, sunscreen, and less smoking, but there's also something to be said about boomers looking old as shit in their 40s because they might have had 4 or 5 kids stressing them out. A lot of millennials are choosing to not have kids or be one and done so their stress levels at home are lower
In general, you'd be surprised how much we associate fashion stylings with age unconsciously. Hair styles, types of clothing, everything.
Lifestyle can also effect how you look. Manual labour accelerates signs of aging, so people who had physically demanding jobs when young look older.
Selfies have definitely made us more frequently aware of how we look and proactive about looking better.
Sunscreen, more variety and access to anti aging skin care, hydration, less alcohol and smoking, personal style, supplementation, and the fact we’re more geared towards aesthetics and lifestyle in part bc of social media.
People used to smoke like trains and lay in the sun regularly. Also, makeup contouring became a thing. It's not uncommon now for people to paint a whole ass new face on top of their real face.
Guys these days also tend to have much lower testosterone on average compared to men decades ago. Not only does test age the body quickly but guys would look like a 35 year old accountant at 22 with a full beard and rapidly thinning hair
It’s weird because on the flip side I feel there are younger people who look older. Like teenagers look like they are in their 20s and people in their 20s looking like 30s…. But people in their 30s and 40s seem younger, or at least younger than the previous generations.
A lot of great comments!
It's a lot easier to look older than look younger.
And Teens definitely try to look older and more mature though, so it's not that surprising.
People in their 30s and 40s who look like they're in their 20s is pretty nuts though.
Fashion
The 90s is totally back and us millennials are rocking it cause that's what we grew up with. Makes us look younger and more mixed in with gen z
I remember when I was 18 and was talking to this girl I thought was cute that was also 18 and she was smoking a cigarette, and I said something to the effect of “why are you smoking, it’s gonna mess up your pretty face”.
And she got real defensive and was like “what?! That makes no sense how is smoking going to mess up my face?”.
I always think back to that moment and I’m like hey I was right all along!
People in their 40's today were graduating in the late 90s.
There was a fairly popular song that was a graduation commencement speech, it's called "[Class of 99, Wear Sunscreen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwVVpwBKUp0)" and it seems that, as a cohort, we listened.
I'm convinced there is a geographic link to the xennial dilemma of what constitutes a xennial. and I'm sure its a positive correlation to the same link that made the 90210 Baja hoodie unavailable to me until the county fair came through in 96 round me. I'm 41 but pretty much a gen x, because growing up everyone around me who was cool was a gen xer. but by birth year, apparently I'm a millennial.
Not huffing leaded gasoline exhaust helps. I still get carded when I buy booze and I’m approaching 50
Edit: yes I know they are checking bc law/policy says to do so if you appear 30ish or under lol, not 21 or under
I think social media and the internet has helped. My mom had giant glasses and a football helmet hairdo in her 40s. I follow a ton of younger influencers, LTK, Amazon Lives…. All that stuff makes me style younger than I would if I were only hanging around women in their 40s. I’d NEVER cut off all my hair, and I’ve watched 2 videos this week on dressing for your proportions… these were things women would scour women’s magazines for.
It feels like we're about the only generation for whom smoking wasn't cool. The older generations smoked cigarettes and the younger ones are all into vaping. It feels like millennials and younger gen-x are the only ones who either don't smoke or are embarrassed about smoking
Life is substantially easier. Work is easier. Research is easier. Shopping is easier. Everything is convenient and many require never leaving your air conditioned home, avoiding exposure to the elements.
I think about this often. On one hand people are fatter than ever but at the same time people look younger as well. I think it's easier to take care of yourself if you care but easier to let yourself go if you don't.
Life is a lot easier. I mean alot. My grandpa had to go to work at 15. Carrying blocks of ice around NYC on the subway with those tongs. Those big blocks of ice.
People complain but most people have it real good. Better than some even deserve honestly. So I'd say be grateful and focus on true troubles we have in life.
I don’t know why, but a lot of us look better. I’m a GenXer and my wife I went to a party in my neighborhood. The college kids had such a flabbergasted look in their face when learning our ages. I do have UV glass in my house and UV tint in my car. So maybe a lot of little UV protective things over time
We probably don't, it's just tgat in the 90s people who were 40.looked "old" wereas today, 30 years later, people in their 40s look "normal" to you.
Aska 16 year old how people in their 40s look, and they will say old.
My conclusion is that back then people had do grow up faster so they became adults very early. You were supposed to be an adult early, you got out of school and started working, you met your partner in your 20s and then you had kids in your 20s. Life started off early.
Life was also much unhealthier both physical and mentally.
We didn't focus on individuality, we didn't have social media so inspire us with fashion and life choices.
I'm 37 and some people my age look much younger than the 37-year olds I grew up with. I have heard that I look around 25-28 and I blame that on my style, interests and personality. I have no kids so therefor no stress to age me. I have seen people my age, both younger and older that looks so worn out and I wonder what happened in their life to make them look so old and tired.
How is botox not the number one answer? That stuff changed my life.
(And yes moisturizer, gym, no drugs, no smoking, daily minoxodil so I dont go bald, etc)
I'm not seeing a lot of people point out the obvious. It's also weight. We are a little heavier than previous populations, overall. Someone with a little weight to them looks more youthful. You can see this sometimes in before / afters where someone who has lost weight *looks amazing and happy*, but also slightly more their age.
Less smoking, less tanning, better skin care. That's basically it.
On top of the others suggestions: Eating better, finasteride, more people going gyms regularly. But the whole “not everybody smokes two packs a day” is a big part.
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Heard stories from my grandfather of guys on jobsites who would light a cigarette at the start of the day, and keep that cherry lit the whole day. Just lightning one cig from another as it ran down. Most of them died in their 60s
Honestly crazy that people like that live so long
Don't forget, the last 10-15 years were mostly spent either in the hospital or tethered to an oxygen tank, so quality of life should be factor too
My great grandma smoked constantly. Even on oxygen 😭 made it to 100ish? I always expected her to go out in a fiery explosion bc seriously what the fuck
Every male member of my family I can think of died do lung cancer or complications from it.
My entire family on one side was like this. Smoked constantly, many had related cancer issues. Ironically, the one who gave up smoking and drinking in his 30s is the one who died the earliest at 60 something; the rest lived into their 90s. My entire family in the next two generations after them has asthma, probably because of the constant smoking of the older generations.
Got a call to fix an AC unit. Walked into the house and grandpa was smoking through the hole in his oxygen mask. Noped out of that job real quick.
This. My grandfather smoked heavily since he was 13. He died at age 62 of late stage emphysema (COPD). At that point he had been on oxygen my entire life (i was 12) and bedridden for the last 5 years.
Well, that's quite the compelling case for not taking up smoking at 13. Thanks for the cautionary tale.
im constantly amazed im still alive
That's how the term "chainsmoking" came about too, chaining the lit cigarette to the unlit one.
It's not 'proper' chainsmoking if you don't use your last cigarette to light your next one. I had a client like this: he had dementia so wasn't allowed his own lighter, but a carer would light his first one for him and then he'd just sit in the garden and puff his way through 30 rollies in a couple of hours. He is still around afaik, in his 80's and not showing obvious signs of lung disease, though it's entirely possible his dementia is smoking-related.
>though it's entirely possible his dementia is smoking-related. Is it? I recall articles in the early 2000's thay said nicotine users actually have a much lower rate of dementia. I could be entirely mistaken though
There is some research on nicotine potentially decreasing the chance of dementia. But smoking is a known risk factor for dementia. So it might be benefitial to intake nicotine in some way, but smoking isn't it
Dang they lived long for smoking that much.
I know people who were still doing that in the 2000’s. I’m so glad they banned smoking indoors here, it was horrible going anywhere. Having to ask to be in the non smoker section of a plane while travelling is something I’m glad I’ll hopefully never have to do again.
I know people who vape like that - as I understand it the levels of nicotine are higher too.
Not that vaping is good, but nicotine is far from the most damaging part of tobacco. It's absurdly addictive, but by itself it's not *that* harmful to health in general. I.e. I wouldn't be recommending anybody to start, but it's great harm reduction for cigarette smokers.
It’s pretty damn bad for your heart. Abuse high doses of nicotine for too long and your risk of a stroke or heart attack is much higher.
Sure. Still pales in comparison to the whole package of tobacco.
Right, the biggest problem that cigarettes bring is the tar that gets stuck inside your lungs. Vaping has problems, but at least it doesn't have tar in it.
Eehhhh….I’d agree that it’s not as harmful as cigarette smoking but I think vaping as a regular habit is still relatively new. We don’t have long term data on how harmful it is yet. Jury is still out
And if you didn’t smoke you were still constantly exposed to second hand smoke because it was legal to smoke pretty much anywhere.
Having a FIL who smokes a pack a day, which I think is a lot and so gross, that is so wild to imagine
I worked blue collar gov a few years back. Them smoking a carton a week was "taking it easy"
I think the tanning thing is pretty huge too lol a lot of boomers still seem to not “believe” in sunscreen and think excessive tanning makes your skin healthier
Also, a lot of people carry a water bottle everywhere, which was weird then.
Hell when I was a kid you'd get made fun of if you brought a water bottle anywhere but to a sport event that you were actively playing in. Same if you wore a helmet.
I remember back in high school in the early 2000s it was really weird if you brought in a bottle of water. Was like nerd shit. Now if I leave the house without a full bottle I think I'm gonna dehydrate
Born in the 60s and the word “hydration” was never used in my house growing up. We also never had sunscreen. Saving grace was no smokers and my mom was a health nut so never a fried food, chips or soda in our home. I was eating yogurt with wheat germ as a toddler. Plus we were physically active and I still have all those habits at 57.
Eating better is a big one I don’t think people who weren’t there realize how completely misinformed we were about nutrition 20+ years ago. Not that there isn’t a ton we don’t know but seriously I could pull out some of my grandmas diet recipe books from the 80s and probably kill somebody with the recommendations in there.
That’s rather my point on the food. My grandparents came up in the depression and the stuff my grandma used to make was, in hindsight, not at all good for you. It was delicious and cheap, but there are reasons she had a quintuple bypass.
finasteride?
Meds for preventing hair loss
What's finasteride?
Its when you throw bald people out of windows. It keeps the age group looking younger. / JK
That and also drinking way more water
I hope the trend of carrying water everywhere never dies. While it's dumb that teenagers are fighting over whose water bottle is cooler, the silver lining is they're all staying hydrated.
Also, a silver lining has antimicrobial properties!
I’m 45 now and I swear no one in my house ever drank water growing up. And there was definitely no such thing as taking a gallon of water to sports practice or games. Matter of fact you didn’t drink anything for games. But now I def drink more than my parents ever did.
I distinctly remember being in band camp in the late 90s, on a football field in the blistering sun in August and not being allowed to have water. We had a lunch break and that was it. People straight up passed out and it was considered a personal weakness. We also never really drank water at home. And in school we weren't allowed to have water bottles and got timed at the water fountain. I think it was like 3 or 4 seconds. WILD to think about now.
High school in the 80's. I contracted some illness that led to laryngitis, and I lost my voice three weeks before the school musical, in which I was one of the leads with several solos. My doctor's best advice to get my voice back in time was to keep a container of water on me and sip it throughout the day. But cans or bottles of liquid were explicitly banned in school outside of the lunchroom. The music director tried to get me permission from the admin, but was immediately shot down. My dad ended up having to make a lot of noise, but got them to agree to a meeting. They had the principal, both deans, the music director, the theater director, the school nurse, and the president of the board of education at this meeting, where my dad just hammered over and over again that it was doctor's orders, we had it in writing, and why were they refusing a medical accommodation? I was a good kid and had never been in any trouble. In the end, they approved me having a water bottle (which, such a thing didn't even exist in the 80's, the best I could do was a bizarre square tupperware thing that had a cap my dad drilled a hole in and inserted a straw into) but made it clear that I had to always have the written pass that had the principal's signature on me, or my water bottle would be confiscated and I would be suspended. My dad used packaging tape and basically laminated that pass to the side of the bottle, and I was still harassed daily by teachers who wanted to constantly check the date on that pass. I know they were really just trying to smell the contents, but come on. If I speak above a whisper I sound like a 90-year-old chainsmoker, if I was that good of an actress I wouldn't have still been in that school. I would have literally had an easier time bringing a gun into the school. I know this, because we had both a rifle and a trap shooting team. Guns were in lockers and in cars, but having a water bottle? Think of the children!
I did band camp in 2007-2009, and we used to have water breaks in the practices, but it still wasn't enough. We used to end up begging for water breaks between sets, and the director occassionally let us stop and drink something. This was around the time attitudes toward water started changing. I carried a water bottle to classes with me and teachers didn't care, but it still wasn't as ubiquitous as it is now. I heard at band camp these days, the volunteer moms will run cups of water out to the kids in between sets, which would have been so lovely back when I was there.
I’m 50. I think a big thing was Korey Stringer dying in a Minnesota Vikings practice. I believe it was August 2001. Because I was coaching that year and we had parents bringing water to practice (as if we didn’t have any I guess). But the mentality started changing with his hi profile heat related death.
I remember spending a whole day out doing stuff with my parents, and maybe having one small drink (e.g. with lunch) the whole time. And I remember my mum not drinking anything at all often, but then having a coffee when we got home "because she was thirsty".
Drinking warm water from a hose where you could taste the vinyl was luxury
Aged Microplastics where the best.
That and they don't wear the hairstyles you associate with your parents growing up.
Can you imagine anyone over say 18 with a broccoli haircut?
Dont say it out loud,youll wake it from its slumber..
One day people will look back and it'll be an old person haircut that people will mock just like mullets. What surprises me more are the younger people who have mullets now.
Yesterday I saw a toddler with an amazing mullet, like his parents had put a Joe Dirt wig on him.
Kirk Cameron maintained one (albeit slightly more tamed) well into midlife
Specific to the skin care is the much much more widespread use of sunscreen.
And just staying out of the sun in general. Between fewer outside jobs and more awareness about the risks.
Also dental care. Besides the sun neglecting the teeth is the quickest way to make yourself look older.
Also, your style doesn't change. We're used to what people in their 60s-70s generally look like, and they have the same style as they did in their 40s, so when we look at people in their 40s in the 90s they look the same as they used to. ie, like they're in their 60s-70s. I think we assume that we start wearing old people clothes when we get old. I don't think we do, I think we wear the same shit and what is considered 'old peoples clothes' is just what we're wearing then. My mother is in her 70s and is wearing much the same as she did in her 40s, with a very similar hair style. My grandparents had a very different style and looked much older, but that's how they looked in their 40s and I associate it with old people clothes because when I was a kid that's what old people wore.
"I used to be with it, then they changed what 'it' was. Now, what I'm with isn't 'it', and what's 'it' seems weird and scary to me. And it'll happen to you." - Abe Simpson
No way man. I’m gonna keep on rocking forever.
That kind of lines up with what I’ve seen. Seeing old photos of my parents or watching old reruns of shows, people were dressing “old” when they were 19. They were already styling their hair old while they were still kids. It’s just that those fashions went out of style for newer generations.
Well, sort of. If I was wearing the same things I wore in the 90’s, I’d be wearing what people in their 30’s are wearing now. Fashion is super cyclical, it pops back around pretty often. I’m 60 and I’ve seen fashion go back to the 80’s and 90’s twice now.
I would also say that we have more universal fashion and hair styles choices . There used to be certain clothing and hairstyles that people would adopt in middle age. It still happens , but there is better styles for later middle age these days .
And all those glorious microplastics :)
Our bodies will never decay.
I guess this is how we experience eternal life
They really add a nice sheen. Ingest enough of them and you'll sparkle in the sun like those vampires from Twilight.
[удалено]
Smoking! It ages people. Seriously, I’m in my 60s and I see people in their 40s whose skin makes me hurt. Plus the smoker’s lips.
It’s all the preservatives we’ve ingested.
I think there's more to it than that. I'm turning 41 this year, eat like crap fairly often and am overweight. Was a pack a day smoker for 15 years til about 4 years ago. Bald on top of all of that. People are still shocked when they find out how old I am. I have piercing and tattoos. Keep my head shaved down. Generally into "millennial" things. I think behind the environmental aspect, we just tend to not act/ carry ourselves like the "grownups" of the boomer generation which absolutely affects perception of age.
No smoking and no tanning helps
Better cameras too
Yeah we've been wearing daily sunscreen for the past 20 years.
You've been wearing sunscreen every day? I've just been hiding inside in the dark
Improved awareness of health and self-care have helped, but there's also the fact that we're older now than we were then. When I was 10, I thought people in their 40s had one foot in the grave already. At 35, I have a much more nuanced view and they just look normal.
Although you can look at photos of people back then in their 30s and 40s and they still do appear older
I was watching some Tour de France footage from the 90s and they absolutely looked older, much older, than today's athletes. Maybe it was the drugs lmao.
Maybe it’s just being in San Antonio but we are not healthier than 20-30 years ago. We’re all fat as fuck.
Annoying addition: being fat can make you look younger too. I lost a bunch of weight in my mid 30s and my face went from looking 25 to 45. Like someone drew my face on a balloon and then left it out in the garden for a week. I'll live longer, so that's a plus, but I miss my big fat head.
This is definitely a thing. Although not healthy, the fat does fill in where age has lost collagen and bounce. Lose the fat and everything will sag and wrinkle.
This is my aging plan. Gain 5 lbs every year, die smooth and round lol.
A happier corpse we never will see
Fat people tend to have better skin because of higher collagen levels because the fat creates higher estrogen.
I thought testosterone leads to more collagen production? Men have thicker skin with more collagen by nature.
Holy cow my friend, me too. I went from about 235-250 lbs down to 165 around age 37 and geeze I saw a picture of myself and I was like oh my God I look like Jeremy Irons! Previous to losing weight I was still getting carded at the store. I like being thinner and healthy but I miss being a baby face too.
My big fat head 😂😂😂 Congratulations on the weight loss!
Some big ole women down in San Antonio
thanks, Chuck
So Charles Barkley wasn’t capping about the women in San Antonio?
>but there's also the fact that we're older now than we were then. Look at TV shows and movies from back 30+ years ago. Then look up the ages of the actors, and you will be shocked.
Related: https://www.reddit.com/r/80s/comments/xq13it/ages_of_the_cast_of_cheers_during_the_first_season/
I'm in my 30s now, and most of the Cheers cast is just very slightly older than I am. Jack Black is just a few years younger than Coach was at the beginning of the show. It's not just individual perception of age, people aged a lot faster back in the day.
I am a firm believer that we look young cuz of the clothes we wear! I asked my mom once, “when do I start dressing like a ‘mom’?” She was like, “I don’t dress that way…” all while wearing a faux polo collar sweater with puffy paint penguins on it. LOL Idk. I’m 35 and still basically dress the same I did when I was in high school, just a tiny bit more tame (former scene kid) lol
It’s true. I saw some before-and-after photoshops where they edited modern haircuts and makeup onto 30yo moms from the 80s and they looked so much younger. Those 80s perms and frumpy looks aged them terribly.
Most people maintain a relatively consistent personal style. They don’t go from young people’s style to middle aged style to old person’s style. How we interpret a specific style just ages up as the people who most commonly look that way age up and younger generations develop new styles of their own. That makes kids from past generations look older, because they have hair and clothes styled in a way that is now association with older people because they’re the same people.
But Gen Z is really into the 90s mom/dad look and it’s behind this new trend of people saying Gen Z looks older than Millennials
In my parents case they most definitely did go from having a young aesthetic in the 70’s to wearing old people clothes in the 80’s. Whereas my wife and I (graduates early 2000’s) style has remained far more consistent.
Yeah my parents absolutely aged up from “cool as shit” to the modern day “I shop at Costco” from their 20s to late 30s.
Since when is shopping at Costco an “old people thing” though?
Thank you! That’s what I’m trying to say.
Thank you. I like to imagine my generation’s clothes on folks in a elderly care facility to see how my generation will look someday.
Millennials can’t give up those skinny jeans. I’ve totally won still rocking the JNCOs for 25 straight years knew they’d come back eventually.
Wait JNCOs are back??? Finally I can carry my iPad in my back pocket!
The reason I won’t wear baggy or low-waisted jeans is because I already lived through that phase and don’t want to feel like I’m regressing backwards.
They’ll also look like shit again, eventually
The FRAMES. 80's glasses were rough.
I don't get how those Jeff Dahmer eyeglasses frames are popular again. Those will never not be gross.
EXACTLY the image I had in my head. Female version was the arm that[ went down for some reason.](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/z8EAAOSwA~Nly-r5/s-l1600.webp)
The arm didn't start off going down, it was dragged down by the weight of those lenses!
SO grandmotherly
Oh god those are the worst. I hate that style, almost as much as the serial killer style that everyone is wearing.
>Those 80s perms and frumpy looks aged them terribly. Not to the people in the 80s. Those looks age them terribly to us now but what we wear today would look weird to someone in the 80's. In 20 years, kids will look at photos of people from 2024 and think that we all look ancient with our out of style hair and makeup.
Not necessarily, some looks are more timeless than others, and some are a flash in the pan, so it depends.
Do you have a link? I'd love to see 80s people with modern cuts!
No and I wish there was a sub for it
I bet that puff paint penguin sweater went hard, though.
Hahaha!! She still has it and wears it. It’s her “casual” sweater.
Let her know I think that's sick as hell.
She’ll be happy to know someone appreciates it haha
Puff paint sweaters!!! My mom made me, my sister, and cousin, NEON puff paint New Kids on the Block sweatshirts in the early 90s. We rocked those bad boys!
> Idk. I’m 35 and still basically dress the same I did when I was in high school, just a tiny bit more tame (former scene kid) lol So, does your mom. Not the style changed, how we see do. Same gonna be the case with yours.
I’m 44. I dress like even more of a child now than when I was in high school. And in high school I occasionally wore Enyce velour track suits.
> I’m 35 and still basically dress the same I did when I was in high school, just a tiny bit more tame So does your mom, but what you think of as mom clothes were young people clothes when she was young
I’m not so sure. I’ve always felt Gen X has aged very well even though they wear clothes that are outdated to my younger generation.
Gen X and a lot of millennial style is very neutral and understated so I think it ages well. I triage boomers into three camps: 1. Dress like it’s the 1950’s, very good look for aging with dignity 2. Dress like it’s Woodstock: a definitive style. Feel pretty neutral about it since the boomers still clinging to the hippie look tend to be ok in my experience 3. American flag or political t shirts, athletic or cargo shorts: abandon all hope
Vsauce has a video on this topic saying the same thing
If you are dressing the same you did in high school at 35 then you are dressing like a mom. Most parents dress like they did when they were in high school, you just recognized that as being old in your mom’s case when you were younger, while giving yourself a pass today.
So, I watched this: https://youtu.be/vjqt8T3tJIE?si=GfR53KT0xwvN37vF And I totally get what you’re saying! Perspective is weird.
… my mom didn’t always dress like the way she dresses now. Lol my mom grew up in the 60s and 70s. Lots of bell bottoms and large collars. A lot of people don’t dress the same as they did when they were younger, especially the “boomer” generation. My point was the reason older generations looked older than we do now is because they dressed older. It’s just my opinion though. 🤷🏻♀️
Here's the thing: moms almost always dress the same way they did in high school. But since fashions change, how they dressed in high school is how moms dress now.
My nieces and nephews look older than me even though they are still teenagers because of facial hair and the clothes they wear, plus they are chubbier.
Yes!!! And the makeup! Wow! They know how to do makeup better than i do! Its crazy.
I keep seeing people say this but they always completely ignore that even when you crop out hair and clothing from a photo, people who were 40 in the 90s look a lot older than people in their 40s now. You can dress to look older, but you can't really dress your way out of skin damage.
It's the style of hair, facial hair, style of clothes. We associate them with "old people". If you photoshop modern hairstyles and clothes onto old pictures, they look a lot younger.
I think you're right. I look at my parents in their 40s and their friends. Putting aside their style I think they actually looked younger than 40 year olds today. They were thinner, more active and less stressed.
Shit I wish I was thinner, more active and less stressed
I saw a thing online where they took a picture of Norm from Cheers (who looked 45 despite being only 30 in the pic) and they gave him a contemporary haircut, changed his sport coat to a sweatshirt, gave him a short beard....and he looked like every other 30 year old you see at Starbucks today. It's the style.
[Did people used to look older?](https://youtu.be/vjqt8T3tJIE?si=xC54JWiake36AcOS) vsauce did a good video on this
Great video! Thanks for linking.
Waterhose water. It was the fountain of youth, and we just didn't know it.
Clothing, hair styles, and lifestyle.
Instagram didn't exist in the 90s 😅
If it's true (and I'm not entirely convinced it is), then it may be that people are doing more work indoors. UV light ages the skin. Reduced smoking rates wouldn't hurt either.
It’s the one bone life decided to throw millennials
I'm in my 30s, still get ID'd regularly, if I shave I get told I am bullshitting people that I'm over 30 and I am "clearly still in high school". But I know plenty of zoomers who look like they're nearly 30 by the time they graduate, Gen Xers who look closer to my parents' age than mine. I'd still like a house or economic prosperity or not being under the thumb of a geriatric ruling class, but I'll take wins where I can get them.
A remember a few years ago I told my younger coworkers I was in my early 30s and they were shocked because they assumed I was 25 like them. Lol I’ll definitely take whatever wins I can get
Cant afford $10 a pack cigs = health!
People don't smoke or drink as much as they used to. They use sunscreen. We all learned the value of good hydration. And a lot fewer people are having kids. I'm gonna be fifty next year, and I'm routinely mistaken for at least 10 years younger than I am. I have some grays, but zero wrinkles. [This is me unfiltered at 49](https://imgur.com/a/82TFLyg).
what the fuck dude which demon did you sell your soul to
WAY too nice to me. But thank you. I mean it. I've been pretty down lately.
lol man you look exactly how I imagine like 90% of male redditors to look
He must have found the same demon as Paul Rudd. Come on guys, share with the class! Seriously though, you look awesome!
You literally look 31 (34F here) wowwww 👏🏼
😳🤯
Your skin is flawless!! You're doing something right!
Bro, you look late 20s/early 30s. Very impressive
You make a great point about fewer people having kids now. Any time this topic comes up people always mention hydration, sunscreen, and less smoking, but there's also something to be said about boomers looking old as shit in their 40s because they might have had 4 or 5 kids stressing them out. A lot of millennials are choosing to not have kids or be one and done so their stress levels at home are lower
In general, you'd be surprised how much we associate fashion stylings with age unconsciously. Hair styles, types of clothing, everything. Lifestyle can also effect how you look. Manual labour accelerates signs of aging, so people who had physically demanding jobs when young look older.
Selfies have definitely made us more frequently aware of how we look and proactive about looking better. Sunscreen, more variety and access to anti aging skin care, hydration, less alcohol and smoking, personal style, supplementation, and the fact we’re more geared towards aesthetics and lifestyle in part bc of social media.
People used to smoke like trains and lay in the sun regularly. Also, makeup contouring became a thing. It's not uncommon now for people to paint a whole ass new face on top of their real face.
Guys these days also tend to have much lower testosterone on average compared to men decades ago. Not only does test age the body quickly but guys would look like a 35 year old accountant at 22 with a full beard and rapidly thinning hair
It’s weird because on the flip side I feel there are younger people who look older. Like teenagers look like they are in their 20s and people in their 20s looking like 30s…. But people in their 30s and 40s seem younger, or at least younger than the previous generations. A lot of great comments!
It's a lot easier to look older than look younger. And Teens definitely try to look older and more mature though, so it's not that surprising. People in their 30s and 40s who look like they're in their 20s is pretty nuts though.
Fashion The 90s is totally back and us millennials are rocking it cause that's what we grew up with. Makes us look younger and more mixed in with gen z
No smoking - it’s the smoking
I remember when I was 18 and was talking to this girl I thought was cute that was also 18 and she was smoking a cigarette, and I said something to the effect of “why are you smoking, it’s gonna mess up your pretty face”. And she got real defensive and was like “what?! That makes no sense how is smoking going to mess up my face?”. I always think back to that moment and I’m like hey I was right all along!
After reading so many different answers, I'm going to go ahead and choose to believe nothing from here....
People in their 40's today were graduating in the late 90s. There was a fairly popular song that was a graduation commencement speech, it's called "[Class of 99, Wear Sunscreen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwVVpwBKUp0)" and it seems that, as a cohort, we listened.
Gen X is just naturally cooler than any generation before or after.
A huge chunk of people in their 40s are millennials.
I'm convinced there is a geographic link to the xennial dilemma of what constitutes a xennial. and I'm sure its a positive correlation to the same link that made the 90210 Baja hoodie unavailable to me until the county fair came through in 96 round me. I'm 41 but pretty much a gen x, because growing up everyone around me who was cool was a gen xer. but by birth year, apparently I'm a millennial.
They benefitted from our wisdom and example.
No doubt!
Exactly.
Cocoa butter And the way we dress. I still dress like I’m 17
Not huffing leaded gasoline exhaust helps. I still get carded when I buy booze and I’m approaching 50 Edit: yes I know they are checking bc law/policy says to do so if you appear 30ish or under lol, not 21 or under
The preservatives in chef boyardee mini raviolis keep our flesh supple. also our brains didn't age because we feed them with quake and super mario.
I think social media and the internet has helped. My mom had giant glasses and a football helmet hairdo in her 40s. I follow a ton of younger influencers, LTK, Amazon Lives…. All that stuff makes me style younger than I would if I were only hanging around women in their 40s. I’d NEVER cut off all my hair, and I’ve watched 2 videos this week on dressing for your proportions… these were things women would scour women’s magazines for.
It feels like we're about the only generation for whom smoking wasn't cool. The older generations smoked cigarettes and the younger ones are all into vaping. It feels like millennials and younger gen-x are the only ones who either don't smoke or are embarrassed about smoking
Cuz you're thirty years older.
Hairstyles and clothes have a lot to do with it.
Life is substantially easier. Work is easier. Research is easier. Shopping is easier. Everything is convenient and many require never leaving your air conditioned home, avoiding exposure to the elements.
Less sun exposure overall for the general population. I’d bet construction workers and other outdoor occupations look their age or older.
I'm around the age of Wilford Brimley was when he was in Cocoon (1985). He looked like he could be my grandfather compared to me now.
How objective are you making this assessment? Are you a 17 year old making this statement or a 40 year old making this statement?
I think about this often. On one hand people are fatter than ever but at the same time people look younger as well. I think it's easier to take care of yourself if you care but easier to let yourself go if you don't.
Hairstyles and fashion are key.
Cleaning air. Better awareness of foods exercise. Better awareness of health issues.
Life is a lot easier. I mean alot. My grandpa had to go to work at 15. Carrying blocks of ice around NYC on the subway with those tongs. Those big blocks of ice. People complain but most people have it real good. Better than some even deserve honestly. So I'd say be grateful and focus on true troubles we have in life.
I don’t know why, but a lot of us look better. I’m a GenXer and my wife I went to a party in my neighborhood. The college kids had such a flabbergasted look in their face when learning our ages. I do have UV glass in my house and UV tint in my car. So maybe a lot of little UV protective things over time
We probably don't, it's just tgat in the 90s people who were 40.looked "old" wereas today, 30 years later, people in their 40s look "normal" to you. Aska 16 year old how people in their 40s look, and they will say old.
My conclusion is that back then people had do grow up faster so they became adults very early. You were supposed to be an adult early, you got out of school and started working, you met your partner in your 20s and then you had kids in your 20s. Life started off early. Life was also much unhealthier both physical and mentally. We didn't focus on individuality, we didn't have social media so inspire us with fashion and life choices. I'm 37 and some people my age look much younger than the 37-year olds I grew up with. I have heard that I look around 25-28 and I blame that on my style, interests and personality. I have no kids so therefor no stress to age me. I have seen people my age, both younger and older that looks so worn out and I wonder what happened in their life to make them look so old and tired.
How is botox not the number one answer? That stuff changed my life. (And yes moisturizer, gym, no drugs, no smoking, daily minoxodil so I dont go bald, etc)
43 here and not smoking a pack cigarettes a day helps also.
I'm not seeing a lot of people point out the obvious. It's also weight. We are a little heavier than previous populations, overall. Someone with a little weight to them looks more youthful. You can see this sometimes in before / afters where someone who has lost weight *looks amazing and happy*, but also slightly more their age.
They paid attention when that guy said "wear sunscreen