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

[MJCouture]

Hipsters are people who know about the next "it" neighboorhood before New York Magazine writes a two thousand word feature on it.

 

[tangerine]

...

as for those shoes, neither fit the image of hipsters shoes here..

Most of the US west coast hipsters I have seen wear Chuck Taylors (high or low) or the 70s retro leather/suede sneakers/trainers, not the hightops. I would say at the moment Puma is the most commonly seen of the leather ones, but Gola is making a strong bid and Adidas seems to have fallen back.

...

the hipster clothing thing is fine.
it's the attitude & 'anti-' philosophy that is extremely irksome.

Yes, I agree!

 

[softgrey]

as a clothing 'trend' the hipster look is fine, it has much in common with 'vintage' 'rock n roll' and even 'bohemian' or 'arty' dress. I myself wear certain vintage-y items from 60s-70s that are 'scenester-esque.' [1966 tweed sportcoat; 1976 emerson lake & palmer flash-rock tee shirt].

but specifically in usa and microcosmically in nyc, hipsters are identified as [usually] williamsburg and lower east-siders with a horrid 'cooler than thou' attitude based on nothing more than a pseudo-political-cultural stance. and this 'coolness' is usually based on their belief that only they know the cool bands & clothes. its really that superficial & if you engage them in conversations about history, culture, philosophy etc, you will be stunned at how their points of reference begin around 1983 wheh MTV debuted.
So its not cool to be 'a hipster' its 1 of the most hated 20-something dumb fads in nyc & I gather across america. 'hipster' carries a terrible connotation at this point and that is much-agreed upon.

the hipster clothing thing is fine.
it's the attitude & 'anti-' philosophy that is extremely irksome.

i will confirm this...it's the ATTITUDE that is the problem...but this is generally associated with youth and ignorance...the idea that anyone who isn't them is an idiot and has absolutely NO idea about anything remotely cool...it's a dismissive attitude...it's rampant in the fashion wannabes...including and especially young wannabe stylists (or really asst stylists)...and some young designers...(the ones i was trying to explain about in another thread)
the idea that if you don't like what they like...then you "just don't GET it"...well i GET it...i just DON"T LIKE IT...i am allowed to think for myself and because i have a different opinion from you ...doesn't make me stupid or 'uncool'...it just means i can think for myself...

and lady grey is right...ask them for a reason why...and their answer will usually be the standard 'you just don't get it'...meaning...'i have nothing to back up what i am saying so i will sneer at you in an attempt to make myself feel better"...

sound annoying???...IT IS...
hipster was once a cool thing..but these kids have bastardized it and now it's another word for annoying wannabes...
B)

ps...lena...the thing sean said about the low waist pant was a joke...
hipster is another word for low waist pant (worn on the hip)...not about hipsters wear...

i am alot of the things that hipsters are...but i'm mature enough not to scoff at those who are different...it's very specific to a certain generation...arrogance associated with youth...
i think every generation has a group like this...

 

[strawberry daiquiri]

Ah, so that's the name for them.

 

[MulletProof]

Ah, so that's the name for them.

 

[kiimihaana]

For those still confused, there's always The Hipster Handbook....

 

[Nemova]

If they spend a lot of money to look like street bums, if they talk too loud in coffee shops about Sartre, if they proudly and obstreperiously listen to bands you have never heard of, which all sound the same (whiny, strident, musically inept), if they have not had a working relationship with a hairbrush for a good two years, if their car is mostly held together with snarky bumperstickers, and if they can sneer in their sleep, then they're probably hipsters.

your definition goes well with this:

Someone who thinks that they are being "special" and "unique" for liking some underground bullsh*t no one else cares about. And they pointlessly look down on people who don't know anything about indie culture, because that's the only thing they know anything about. They're quick to call the rest of the world conformists when in reality, they are the ones conforming by partaking in a "too cool for mainstream so i am going to reject it by looking and acting like a grungy ***hole" way of life only to seem uber-fashionable. They just end up looking like idiots.

I totally hate hipsters. They are all over and they're boring. And they know nothing about anything.

 

[Nemova]

^ PS: Here in Rio they don't come from specific places, some of them are even lower middle-class college kids who live in the suburbs (which are not wealthy neighbourhoods down here as they are elsewhere).

 

[PrinceOfCats]

the idea that anyone who isn't them is an idiot

Commonly held idea across many age groups, methinks.

 

[tigermilk]

hi all,

I am very interested in subcultures of all kind.
Especially modculture and indiepopculture is close to my heart.
I think the whole hipster thing is something kind of mainly from the us ( i'm from sweden) but allso when I've been travelling in uk, and perhaps all over europe there are quiet a lot of garagekids, which are super annoying loud teens think they are special, but all look the same with sort of unsymetrical bangs and reading NME, are they considered hipsters?
I thought hipsters was more of some kind of pre- emo after grunge thing while there was a britpop wave in europe perhaps. Perhaps listning and influenced by ermm say, velvet underground - sonic youth,
whatever,
sorry its just that i hate how the genre "indie" is totally misstreated today!!
cause indiepop really means to me, im sucha geek for it.

xx

 

[Spike413]

i will confirm this...it's the ATTITUDE that is the problem...but this is generally associated with youth and ignorance...the idea that anyone who isn't them is an idiot and has absolutely NO idea about anything remotely cool...it's a dismissive attitude...it's rampant in the fashion wannabes...including and especially young wannabe stylists (or really asst stylists)...and some young designers...(the ones i was trying to explain about in another thread)
the idea that if you don't like what they like...then you "just don't GET it"...well i GET it...i just DON"T LIKE IT...i am allowed to think for myself and because i have a different opinion from you ...doesn't make me stupid or 'uncool'...it just means i can think for myself...

and lady grey is right...ask them for a reason why...and their answer will usually be the standard 'you just don't get it'...meaning...'i have nothing to back up what i am saying so i will sneer at you in an attempt to make myself feel better"...

sound annoying???...IT IS...
hipster was once a cool thing..but these kids have bastardized it and now it's another word for annoying wannabes...
B)

This is exactly where I was going, this is what I think of when I think hipsters. Arrogance has a lot to do with it which is why I just can't stand it.

 

[kellyt]

Quote:
Someone who thinks that they are being "special" and "unique" for liking some underground bullsh*t no one else cares about. And they pointlessly look down on people who don't know anything about indie culture, because that's the only thing they know anything about. They're quick to call the rest of the world conformists when in reality, they are the ones conforming by partaking in a "too cool for mainstream so i am going to reject it by looking and acting like a grungy ***hole" way of life only to seem uber-fashionable. They just end up looking like idiots.


Quote:
"I totally hate hipsters. They are all over and they're boring. And they know nothing about anything."


I really don't think what you are saying is fair. Are you saying that music has to be mainstream to be relevant? I mean, what kind of music is relevant then? There is a lot of really important music that is not mainstream. I agree about the attitude hipsters have about music, as far as if you aren't into underground music you are worthless. But really you dont know who knows what about what. There are a lot of great artists ( not just music, but writers, photographers, performance...whatever) that are a part of that type of scene, and are in to indie culture. There are a lot of creative and productive people who fit in to this category. A lot of fashion designers use underground music in their fashion shows...isn't this website called "thefashionspot?"

A lot of hipsters are conformists. But so are most people are in some form. I don't think it is fair to say hipsters are boring and don't know anything either, just because you don't identify with them. You might be thinking I am a hipster at this point. No, because I think as a whole they are pretentious and annoying, and I don't drink only cheap beer, live off my parents, or roll my own cigarettes. but I do listen to underground music and do not listen to most mainstream music.

 

[brian]

hipster was once a cool thing..but these kids have bastardized it and now it's another word for annoying wannabes...

 

[softgrey]

hi all,

I am very interested in subcultures of all kind.
Especially modculture and indiepopculture is close to my heart.
I think the whole hipster thing is something kind of mainly from the us ( i'm from sweden) but allso when I've been travelling in uk, and perhaps all over europe there are quiet a lot of garagekids, which are super annoying loud teens think they are special, but all look the same with sort of unsymetrical bangs and reading NME, are they considered hipsters?
I thought hipsters was more of some kind of pre- emo after grunge thing while there was a britpop wave in europe perhaps. Perhaps listning and influenced by ermm say, velvet underground - sonic youth,
whatever,
sorry its just that i hate how the genre "indie" is totally misstreated today!!
cause indiepop really means to me, im sucha geek for it.

xx

hi there...in my area...it's a fairly newish way of describing the whole..'i'm too cool for school group'...i'd say 2-4 years...max...and the look is really 'the strokes'...as someone mentioned very early on...
a lot of them are rich kids from a privileged background 'playing' at being artsy and bohemian (which perfectly describes the strokes)... i think the dior homme collection for fall really shows this well...exhorbitantly priced clothing that looks like it came from a thrift store...


oh...and it's synonymous with converse...around here...sort of grunge with a slightly 80's retro new wave vibe... i think it started out cool and then something went wrong somewhere along the line...
i think marc jacobs is the king of 'hipster' style...at least in this city...he's the one that started the striped scarf and converse thing... well...he made it mainstream anyway...

and i really don't think it's accurate to say they listen to and like things/music that NO ONE else cares about...that's just a bit extreme and elitist in my book...

 

[Nemova]

^^^ Hipsters, where I live, fit in all the negative definitions put in here. So I know what I'm talking about, because there are loads of them in my college and in the places I usually go. And they all sound like they know zero about everything except the latest 'it' band from God knows where. They all dress the same and like the same stuff. I still don't like them, there's no uniqueness to people who wear jeans (or a skirt if you're a girl), a tee and a pair of Adidas to look different from the rest of us while looking the same as the hipster next door.

 

[softgrey]

hipster fashion photographer extaordinaire...
juergen teller...he also photgraphs all of marc jacobs ads...
with hipster poster children like sofia copolla and winona ryder...

went to a gallery opening of his work last year or so...more hipsters than you can imagine...
a sea of denim and olive green ...loads of converse and vintage pumps and the ubiquitous scarf...lots of marc jacobs, balenciaga, prada ...everyone looked like they were in the same fashion show...like it was all the same collection...different versions of the same outfit...and they all looked like they hadn't bathed in a week...

herd mentality of a different kind...honestly...they all looked the same...it was freaky...

 

[model_mom]

OMG I think Sarah is one. I never knew what her style was,but you described it to a tee.

 

[softgrey]

^^^ Hipsters, where I live, fit in all the negative definitions put in here. So I know what I'm talking about, because there are loads of them in my college and in the places I usually go. And they all sound like they know zero about everything except the latest 'it' band from God knows where. They all dress the same and like the same stuff. I still don't like them, there's no uniqueness to people who wear jeans (or a skirt if you're a girl), a tee and a pair of Adidas to look different from the rest of us while looking the same as the hipster next door.

i'm sure that's true nemova...but when i was in college...mainstream people used to say that kind of stuff about me and my friends and the music we listened to...and you know what music that was?...it was the clash...and U2...and depeche mode...and the cure...etc...
soooo...i'm just reminded of that here...

 

[softgrey]

OMG I think Sarah is one. I never knew what her style was,but you described it to a tee.

is she in a band?...

 

[model_mom]

She's been known to play the drums in questionable attire.