Alexa Palermo, @alexairenepalermo, started a debate with her take on the basque wedding dress trend. In a TikTok post with 1.6 million views from April 27, Palermo warned TikTok, “don’t hate me, but…” before she announced: “the basque waist of a wedding dress is the 2025 version of a mason jar.” The creator referred to millennials’ rustic-themed weddings of the early oughts that featured mason jars as glassware.
The aesthetic has fallen out of fashion, and many Gen Zers associate the mason jar with millennial cringe. Some dismissed Palermo’s claim, responding that no one cares. Others discussed the history of the basque waist dress, and refuted her position via historical evidence. A lot of TikTokers were simply threatened by what felt like an unprompted attack.
The basque waist is just a sign of the times
“Sorry but that’s a brain-dead take. The basque waist is timeless,” replied @headsorhales in response to Palermo's post.
@jocelynlburns hit the creator with a history lesson, and commented, “Hard disagree. Mason jars were original at the time, and thus fell out of trend after a time. Basque waist dresses have been a thing since the Victorian era and continue to come in and out of fashion.”
“Let’s see your wedding dress,” threatened @rachelr.smith.
Palermo responded to the backlash with the comment, “Never said it’s trendy! Just that it’s a sign of 2025!”
Aesthetics age, but does that make them cringe?
TikToker @chelseacassavoy took the news pretty hard and shared a video with the caption, “Just saw someone compare basque waist wedding dresses to mason jars and now I need to cancel my whole wedding wtf.” Commenters denounced the comparison and hopefully talked her off the ledge.
“Just remember basque waist was popularized in the Victorian period. IT IS CLASSIC and TIMELESS! Mason jars were gimmicks, they are are not the same,” commented @crookedcauldron.
@moonie020507 reminded everyone, “Mason jars happened because no one could afford anything else, that’s why they went out so quick.”
In TikTok user @mandypatinkinstanaccount’s view, everyone in this debate is a winner—or just cringe: “In 10 years everything about your wedding will be like mason jars because everyone ages and the youngest generation will always see older ones as cringe, hope this helps.”
‘Nobody cares ten years later whether the mason jars are cool or not.’
One millennial bride-to-be, who is also a bridal content expert, took it upon herself to let everyone off the hook. @sincerlymunti said, “I remember mason jar weddings, and they were litty.” She told anyone worried about hosting a cringe wedding to “go touch grass.” TikTokers chimed in to agree with the “who cares?” sentiment.
“I had a mason jar wedding and I still look back fondly,” @traumatonic said, and added, “I also got married in a barn with a steampunk theme. It was all DIY because we were young and broke, but we loved it.”
”I wore a basque waist dress back in the 80s…it was so flattering,” replied @chefcarolyn01.
Some people on the thread assumed that the basque waist had the silhouette of a mason jar, and were grateful to have the record set straight. @yapyapgod commented, “Thank GOD we have an elite millennial to explain this to us because…I thought they meant the dress looked like the jar.”
Basque waist or drop waist tho?
Others were debating the finer points: Did Palermo confuse the basque waist with a drop waist?
“The girl who said confused basque waist and drop waists…like basque waist is a classic…” said @igc94444.
“I would argue that the drop waist is more equivalent, lol,” commented @chaudown24. @312_ccc replied, “Drop waist is the mason jar. Basque waist is timeless.”
Don’t hate me, but these are all just Disney princess dresses, right? Something to mull over for sure as you “go touch grass.”
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