Hipster-dom and Fashion

Cartoon characters as hipsters by Matt Lassen

Hipsters are this decade’s answer to the pop punk kids of the early 2000s, or the carefree grunge adolescents of the ‘90s. Although its etymology is oftentimes muddled and contested, the term hipster has been used to refer to various trends and subcultures since it first entered the lexicon in the 1940s. Our modern understanding of it, though, is best summed up by Joshua Lipson in The Harvard Crimson:

In the 1990s, social commentators began to use the term to apply to the type of people who listen to independent music, ride fixed-gear bicycles, and eat organic foods. This early conception differs little from the 2010-era hipster, a much more culturally prominent being.

Lipson, however, points out the problematics of this definition: the three abovementioned elements—independent music, fixed-gear bicycles, and organic foods—don’t really have anything else in common outside of their stereotypical association with the hipster aesthetic. He thus argues that the so-called hipster movement—seen by many of the sterner social critics as, at best, “full of contradictions” and at worse, “the dead-end of Western civilization”—is not really so much as a movement as it is a “categorizing [of] alternative trends.”

Apart from musical tastes, mode of transport, and choice of diet, perhaps the most salient aspect that makes the hipster stand out in an urban crowd is their choice of fashion. Horn-rimmed glasses, tight shorts, mustaches, and flashy custom shirts with an ironic quote or some elusive band’s name printed on the front—these, among other apparels, have become the markers of the hipster figure, even if many of them (in keeping with their self-contradictory nature) outright reject the label. Other items in your typical hipster’s closet may include a Walkman, bulky headphones, cardigans, hoodies, flannel shirts, fedoras, and beanies—pretty much anything that harkens back to some imagined past, and bears virtually no connection to the other items being worn.

This attempt to eschew designer clothing in favor of more urban wear that reeks of a fabricated retrospect stems from, according to Hanaa Masalmeh, the hipster’s fascination with all things vintage and nostalgic, as well as his penchant to pull off an “effortless aesthetic” that is clearly effort-intensive. For the hipster, the “mainstream” is a scourge, a shallow pool, and the past is a carefully constructed amalgam that provides an escape. This logic is, of course, quite faulty and raises a whole bunch of questions, chief among these being the irony that, in order to shun the mainstream, one must also co-exist in the same space as that mainstream.

Irony, according to Princeton University assistant professor Christy Wampole, is therefore integral to the hipster identity. Hipsters invoke in her a “distinct irritation” (I imagine the sort of irritation a professor has of a know-it-all student), especially since their pretentious air ultimately conceals an aversion for risk and a preference for more solitary, albeit temporary, pursuits ranging from woodcarving and craft brewery to killing time in coffee shops. This ironic and flippant attitude creeps into the political sphere, apparently, since hipsters, although generally liberal in their social views, are known to display a lack of enthusiasm for voting, either because none of the candidates suit them, or worse, they deem the right to suffrage as just another manifestation of the mainstream.

In her essay “The Paradox of Hipster Fashion,” part of a series of articles on the subject of hipster-dom, one criticism Hanaa Masalmeh levels at the subculture is its members’ tendency to go for eclectically pricey clothes (example: ripped jeans paired with expensive shoes) that, to anyone else, would appear somewhere between rugged and flashy, or—to use Masalmeh’s term—effortless. In the wake of recent economic crises and critiques of capitalism, one may read this as their way of exhibiting their anti-corporatist stance toward designer clothing and established brands. But this logic, according to Masalmeh, raises its own issues of sensitivity, for however sympathetic with the less fortunate the hipster wishes to appear, he is nevertheless typically a young working professional with a steady cash flow. He thus has a choice in what he can do with his wardrobe, along with his lifestyle, whereas the average poor person has no such privilege. Additionally, the hipster’s ostensible anti-consumerist views are betrayed by their blatant accumulation of other material possessions, such as the latest iPhone for selfie-taking purposes—again, another irony.

There is then the matter of the hipster’s relation to the very mainstream he so vilifies. The basic hipster look (tight jeans, thick glasses, etc.), for instance, has since been embraced by corporate America, the wellspring of all things mainstream. This development is clearly an attempt by clothing companies to capitalize on the public’s fascination with (or ire toward) hipster culture. Additionally, the hipster’s tendency to gloat about trends and fads before they were “cool” (as in, “I was a fan of Walk the Moon before it was cool” or “I was wearing hoodies before it was cool”) also poses some problems as the “before it was cool” line denotes that that “it” has just been admitted into the mainstream, and therefore the hardcore hipster faces the quandary of having to lose his affection for that “it” lest he be seen as part and parcel of the mainstream.     

Mike Rugnetta of the PBS’s Idea Channel on Youtube postulates that a large part of the scorn directed at hipsters stems from their known “reappropriation” of cultural capital. Rugnetta is more accepting in his views, and first uses the nerd as a counterpoint to understanding why the hipster has been the target of so much disdain in this day and age. Just like hipster, the term nerd, along with its accompanying subculture, was seen as pejorative in its earliest days. Today, however, nerd subculture sees wide acceptance among the masses, thanks in large part to the different celebrities who proudly identify themselves as nerds and the growth of nerd culture and fandom in general. However, where the nerd is seen as just one of many subcultures known to “enjoy what they enjoy” or are associated with a certain lifestyle, the hipster is merely seen as a “pastiche” or a “reappropriation” of the effects of various subcultures he only possesses a superficial knowledge of. Rugnetta asks, “You are not a 1920s oil baron, why the handlebar mustache?” and “You wear red flannel and a large beard yet you’ve never touched an axe.” He does not, however, see a problem with this mixing-and-matching because even so-called “non-hipsters” have varied, unpredictable tastes and views. Capitalism too has its way of reappropriating certain fashion apparel so that these eventually see wider acceptance, even to the point where the masses can no longer draw the link between the item and the subculture it was originally associated with. Objects such as jeans and chain wallets, for example, which were the marks of coal miners and punk rockers respectively, have now been “reappropriated” into casual mainstream wear. Following this argument, Rugnetta then asks the viewer if we are not all hipsters in our own unique ways.

Lipson follows a similar vein, although takes a decidedly more altruistic stance. Aside from seeing hipster-dom as less of a cultural movement and more of a re-categorization of trends, he argues that we cannot deny that it has nevertheless made an impact on mainstream culture. Lipson writes, “Whatever the reader personally feels about cardigans and bright-colored hoodies, [hipsters] have swept youth fashion while at the same time loosening traditional taboos on which gender is supposed to wear what.” Simply put, the hipster movement has pushed the fashion medium forward into new, exciting directions. He then assures us that it’s highly unlikely that hipsters will—as many social critics fear—overthrow mainstream culture, considering the most dedicated of them can barely find the motivation to vote.

For my part, though, I’d like to think of the hipster as the height of millennial eccentricity. We are, after all, a generation that laughs at jokes like “What’s Snakes on a Plane about? It’s about horses on a boat.” In this day and age where capitalism seems to have seeped into every nook and cranny of daily life, and information is easily accessible to us via the internet, millennials have the distinct advantage over previous generations of viewing trends from bygone eras and formulating their own definition of what constitutes “stylishness,” regardless of how random the outcomes may be. With a whole host of apparels readily available via online retailers and outlet stores that cater to different demographics, the millennial-turned-budding hipster has the luxury of sifting through centuries’ worth of wardrobes and virtually unlimited options when looking for inspiration. And with clothing companies always changing their lines and trends every few months or so, what is new one day may be deemed vintage the next, before finally turning into a potential curiosity for the full-fledged hipster, who, by the way, would prefer not to be called a hipster.

Works Cited

Fletcher, Dan. “Brief History: Hipsters.” Time, Time Inc., 29 July 2009, <http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1913220,00.html>. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

Lipson, Joshua. “No Need for Hipster Hate.” The Harvard Crimson, Trustees of The Harvard Crimson, 19 Nov. 2010, <www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/11/19/hipsters-hipster-culture-mainstream/?utm_source=thecrimson&utm_medium=web_primary&utm_campaign=recommend_sidebar>. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

Masalmeh, Hanaa. “Defining the Paradox.” The Harvard Crimson, Trustees of The Harvard Crimson, 29 Sept. 2015, <www.thecrimson.com/column/the-hipster-paradox/article/2015/9/29/defining-the-paradox/>. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

---. “Of Ray-Bans and Retro-Chic.” The Harvard Crimson, Trustees of The Harvard Crimson, 13 Oct. 2015, <www.thecrimson.com/column/the-hipster-paradox/article/2015/10/13/hipster-paradox-vintage/?utm_source=thecrimson&utm_medium=web_primary&utm_campaign=recommend_sidebar>. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.       

                                               

---. “The Paradox of Hipster Fashion.” The Harvard Crimson, Trustees of The Harvard Crimson, 10 Nov. 2015, <www.thecrimson.com/column/the-hipster-paradox/article/2015/11/10/paradox-hipster-fashion/>. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

Wampole, Christy. “How to Live Without Irony.” The New York Times, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., 17 Nov. 2012, <opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/how-to-live-without-irony/>. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

Brown, Kornhaber. Are You a Hipster? Idea Channel, PBS Digital Studios, 16 Jan. 2013, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3xe-Wxio1o>. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.