All about being a hipster (not that there's anything wrong with that)

[cowfrogs]

What's the difference between INDIE and HIPSTER?

I can't really tell the difference between these two looks/lifestyles...

Need your help!

 

[morgan38]

Visually (i.e. fashion-wise), I would say no difference at all.

 

[Navygreen]

Hipsters are indies gone overboard. They also have more chances of being pretentious and looking ridiculous than the indie kids.

 

[cowfrogs]

Thanks for the replies.

So are you saying that hipsters are indies overdoing their look and taking themselves too seriously? Basically it's a look brought too an extreme... a (too much) wannabee indie maybe?

Also, is the word hipster always kind of negative (such as chav for instance)? Cause when I was in Williamsburg this summer I met a lot of people who defined themselves as hipsters (obviously without thinking that it was everything but negative).... hence the confusion.

 

[dumbfairy]

^I don't think the word hipster is always negative. Not to me anyway,maybe these people just like dressing like this

 

[hipsterama]

hipsters are opinionated - even blog about hipsterdom...

wow. people are very opinionated on this thread! oh my my my my my! well, i've got my own opinions on this phenomenon... (being opinionated is a crucial part of being a hipster...) and i write a daily blog called hipsterama, (link in signature block) just so i can share my opinions on what is hip? with the whole world. (so hipsteresque...)

so in addition to vintage clothes and a taste for obscure indie music, add strong opinions to the list of hipster qualities.

ciao!

 

[hipsterama]

hipsters - hard to define but you know one when you see one

top pic: hipsterama.com
bottom pic: painfullyhip.com

 

[Paradise]

^ I actually think that fits more of the indie style where as hipsters to me are Kanye West fans

 

[elegantly_wasted]

Ok hipsters to me seem to be oddly indie?? Or imitating indie?

Hipsters as far as I know here in Sydney is used synonymously with 'Trendy' which is basically from what I've read pretty much the opposite of a hipster.

A Trendy is someone who falls victim to all trends (social and fashionable).. anything from the 'cowboy' scarves a la McQueen style to the skinny jeans, fluro shirts, hi-tops, bomber leather jackets, tights and shorts, tights and mini skirts, basically anything marketed to the masses they purchase.. this includes and is not limited to charities and social causes..

animal rights (skinny biatch anyone?)
poverty - One campaign with those rubber wrist bands

Suddenly it's cool to care because the TV or supermodel said so... humph..

Right now, fashion trends are at its 'hippy' floral style and it's slowly moving into a chic Chanel inspired flooding which I'm painstakingly witnessing... I love Chanel, Coco inspires how I wear things and to see it marketed to the magnitude of Bratz Dolls or High School Musical is sad. Very sad.



So from what I gather, the hipster is the conformist of non-conforming trends.. am I right?

I'm so glad I'm my own person with my own style...



[/tangent]

 

[softgrey]

is it just me...
or is it becoming more and more acceptable to identify oneself as a hipster...

like...when this thread first started...
being a hipster was someone who was trying really had to be cool...
and basically winding up looking like they are trying really hard to be cool...
which is actually NOT cool...
*are you following me here?...*...
and everyone was like...
"oh yeah...those hipsters...such posers ...so annoying..."

but now...
it seems like it's turned a corner and the hipsters have settled into an actual category that isn't going away..
or maybe it's just that i have a bunch of brainy, artsy friends who live in williamsburg...
so it just seems like it where i am...
......

 

[pucci_mama]

you get hipster royalty such as the likes of it girls (which are hipsters) such as Jen Brill landing the role as a spokesperson for chanel being just seen on the scene, being a hipster is something people...not admittedly, respect it's a hustle.

 

[wild roses]

I just read through all 19 pages of this thread. I found myself laughing and nodding at reading the many (and often accurate) definitions of the hipster personality and lifestyle. I spent my college years around hipsters so I could relate to the frustrations that many have with them.

I'm from the Midwest (Ohio, USA), so the hipsters around here tend to rebel against the conservative Bible Belt suburb life. Which is fine, but they take it to the extreme. The group I was around even went so far as to assign people numbers based on geeky/indie they were. When they weren't judging outsiders, they were judging each other. I remember one particular discussion where I had to defend my liking my mainstream music.

I fell into the hipster crowd largely because of my politics (liberal feminist), but I never identified with them (and conversely, they never identified me as one of them, several even publicly saying so. Which I am so thankful for). To give them credit, while many could be overly judgmental, they also did really care about their causes and tried sincerely to include live day to day according to their beliefs.

However, while they took me "in," they always recognized that while I was a geek, I was really more of a very repressed wannabe UES princess. We didn't discuss that, naturally. It was always their interests, their politics, their something all the time.

As for hipster fashion, it doesn't really appeal to me, but I do think Boho Chic does look nice from time to time. Too often, it comes across as too busy, too sloppy, too grudgy, too calculated.