On June 29, 2024, TikToker @maisieisobel_ (Maisie Sellwood) posted a video of herself and two friends, Amelia Gregorian and Eloise Lord, chanting about their outfits on a street at night4. The three, all 26 years old, had been friends since studying musical theater at The BRIT School in London5.

The whole thing started by accident. While getting ready for a night out during a last-minute weekend trip to the seaside town of Margate, Sellwood asked Lord what she planned to wear1. Lord's answer was simple: "Oh, you know, the usual. Boots and slicked-back bun"5. Sellwood found herself repeating the phrase, entertained by its rhythm, and the chant spread to their bar crawl. "After a few cocktails we were just chanting 'boots and a slicked back bun,'" Sellwood told the New York Times5. Later that night, Sellwood pulled out her phone and recorded each friend's verse, with Gregorian adding "cowboy boots and a blowie" and Lord rounding it out with "Sambas and a little red bag"7.

The New York Times covered the trend on July 10, 2024, interviewing the original creators and framing it as a wholesome celebration of female friendship5. Sellwood reported that "99.9 percent of the response has been women uplifting women"5.

The Amy Poehler crossover was significant. Her version with Dratch, Jones, and the Meyers cameo became one of the most-viewed entries in the entire trend, pulling over 21.8 million plays in one day and bringing it to a wider audience beyond TikTok's core Gen Z demographic4.

The trend sparked broader discourse about generational cringe cycles, with multiple outlets (Polyester Zine, Daily Dot, The Super Slice) covering the backlash to the TBH Skincare version as a case study in how memes get co-opted and how each generation eventually faces the same mockery it once dished out892.

What made "Boots and a Slick Back Bun" stick wasn't just the catchy melody. The format tapped into something specific about how women hype each other up. Sellwood described it to the New York Times as an organic extension of female camaraderie: "We are inherently and organically each other's hype women"5. The Polyester Zine analysis pointed out that the original video captured a very specific feeling: "what it's like to walk home from the pub, a few drinks in, with your friends, when you feel powerful"8.

Commenters drew comparisons to the "Hi, Barbie" trend from summer 2023, which similarly involved women greeting and celebrating each other3. One commenter called the tune the "song of the summer," while another predicted Charli XCX would sample it for an "Everything Is Romantic" remix1.

The TBH Skincare version changed the conversation. Their employees sang verses like "Gen Z boss and a mini," "Itty bitty titties and a bob," "5'3 and an attitude," and "Fake tan hands and a hoop"7. The video pulled 3.4 million views on TikTok and 77,000 likes on Instagram2. While many fans loved it ("Nothing has made me want to work at a company more," one commenter wrote1), it drew sharp backlash when reposted to Twitter/X.

The viral repost framed the video with the caption, "the HR department 1h before doing engineering layoffs"9. Criticism came from multiple directions. Parts of the manosphere zeroed in on it, possibly triggered by the "Gen Z boss" framing9. But the cringe label spread beyond those circles. Many commenters accused Gen Z of "entering their millennial cringe era"1. The Daily Dot noted the backlash likely stemmed from two things: a general Gen Z distaste for corporate co-option of memes, and the "girlboss" framing that "reduces feminism to how much money and power you can grab within the system"9.

TBH Skincare leaned into the controversy. Their employees filmed a response video opening with "Gender pay gap, bring it back," directly addressing the hate comments2. The response pulled 2.8 million views with over 203,000 likes2.

The Polyester Zine used the moment to examine a broader pattern: each generation eventually gets labeled cringe by the next one8. Gen Z had spent years mocking millennials for side parts, skinny jeans, and Eminem fandom. The "Gen Z Boss and a Mini" backlash suggested Gen Z's own era of cringe had arrived. As the article put it: "It's hard to come to terms with the fact that our adoption of bows, Sambas, cowboy boots and using TikTok like a search engine will come back to bite us in the arse someday"8.

The trend also crossed into traditional media. ABC Australia ran a segment where reporters Amal Wehbe, Dan Bourchier, and Johanna Nicholson attempted the chant in their news studio6. Their slightly off-beat attempt (with verses like "koala pin and a dark blue suit" and "pink shirt and red nails") was met warmly by viewers who appreciated the wholesome effort6.