Hipsters

once contained in an american apparel petri dish

hipsters freely progen like planaria

the horror

the horror

I've been secretly, until now, raising a clone race of druids to take over the neighborhood and infest the co-op and Freddy's. They will rise one cold night from Vanderbilt!

Subject: Re: Hipsters

Jay B wrote: What's the deal? The dark frame glasses, tight jeans, scruffy faces, Brooklyn Industries bags, incredible skinniness, Chuck Taylor sneakers? Why are they all such carbon copies? I thought that whole style started as a way to be different, and now it's like a population of people who are exactly like each other and who are, in fact, very difficult to tell apart. I'm not trying to be offensive here, I'm truly curious. Does anyone know?

Dude- did you just move here? Is this an observation you've made only recently?

Ok- to answer your question- every generation has their followers, their sheep, if you will. Nothing new, except for the nicknames we give them.

I suggest going up to one and asking them. And please videotape it for us. We are a bored bunch of freaks.

maybe just the zeitgeist?

the bitter cold of 09 might explain the faces. or maybe they're getting ready to move farther east. a lotta hippies became hasids, so why not hipsters?

the skinniness is annoying yes, but nothing gives me a warmer feeling than seeing a fat hipster who dresses like he was skinny.

they'll be regretting the sneakers once they all have issues with their arches 10 years from now!

and the jeans... you know what jay-z has to say about that right?

I think this is a good thing, this hipster swarm. It's like when some tiny company or artist comes up with a good idea and a couple years later everyone you see is copying the idea.

The really great thing about Brooklyn is we all think we're the innovators when really we're just early adopters of (hopefully) growing trends (voting Democrat, organic food and green markets, locally made clothes bought at 5th Ave. shops, funny hats, reading, etc. etc.). It's like being the second or third guy in a pyramid scheme (at least as far as feeding my tiny little ego...)

About the jeans... um... maybe I'm not hip after all. I still wear khakis...

I believe, that in one fashion or another, the current hipster movement may have reared it's horn rimmed black glasses and skinny bs head from the mid-90's yuppie movement when the yuppies started to migrate from their posh lives uptown to the gritty and filthy scenes below 14th St. At that time, Hush Puppie shoes became the choice of footwear (for yuppies and those that wanted to be "cool") and soon it became an epidemic which was then caught by the rest of the population.

Soon enough, more and more people were wearing them and a new fad of "hipster" was born...out of yuppies. The blow, the clubs and bars were a breeding ground for "new" fashions which evolved into the current "hipster movement". When those particular neighborhoods started to become more like a mutated yuppie paradise(over priced and understocked), they started to move in and force the punks and residents out...as the "hipsters" number grew, they expanded and moved across the river to Williamsburg, now Hipster central.

Sure, maybe this seems far fetched, a crazy idea, but i have a feeling that it def. contributed to the current state of affairs.

Ok, can someone explain the whole "wearing your flat cap and scarf indoors" thing?

You stopped to take off your coat but you're leaving your hat and scarf on, why?

I'll explain the "flat cap and scarf"...it's because some people are that fucking stupid, i mean cool. 'nough said.

Rayven wrote: Everyone fits into some kind of carbon copy group, it is not just the hipsters. I personally think the girls who seem to think that tights count as pants or punish their legs by wearing big fuzzy boots and mini skirts are much more disconcerting.

True that...

as stuff that white people like pointed out, the scarves are for temperature regulation. a drafty room is likely to chill these skinny folk to the bone, and somehow wearing a big scarf (or the occasional non-political keffiyeh) keeps them warm. and the hats are because the dudes are self conscious either about hat head or hair loss.

i understand the latter, that's why i'm frequently wearing a phillies cap. WFC!

I'm sorry, you're looking for an explanation of why there exists a group of people who dress similar? How many bridge 'n' tunnelers have you seen sporting pink dress shirts that have glittery emblems on them, locked arm in arm with gals with even more glitter on their face? why do they do that? how about teenagers with loooong white t-shirts and those bags you get free with sneakers hanging off their elbows? why do they do that? ohio tourists with pants so high up their waist they don't have backs anymore? why do they wear those pants so high? or those grandmothers with purple hair. purple is less noticeable than white? why do they do that?

you really think hipsters are the single group with a herd mentality? _they're_ the best example you could come up with of blindly following a trend?

silverager wrote: demonizing innocent people for your own humor or insecurity or whatever. To each his or her own, that's what I say. It takes all kinds in this world and we are all just trying to get along as best we can.

also, i don't think criticizing mass-conformity or nitpicking on fashion trends is necessarily demonizing people. it's not like Jay B and I are talking about going hipster stomping. there are already people doing that (see: fed up).

You've probably seen it already...but it makes me giggle.

well it does have an RSS feed. you can think of all original posters as contributors to the blog, and every additional posting as a comment. if you've ever tried to follow brooklynian with a blog reader you'll know it's the worst blog ever.

silverager wrote: There are lots of real villains in the world - terrorists, murderers, thieves, rapists... plenty of people to extend hatred towards who truly deserve it, if you have so much rage inside of you.

So I have to wonder about all the vitriol directed at perfectly innocent people because you don't approve of how they dress. It really makes you look pathetic when you do that. Does it make people feel "cool" to tear down anything that doesn't fall into their perceived view of the way people should act and dress.

If they aren't bothering you or breaking any laws - then god bless 'em and move on instead of demonizing innocent people for your own humor or insecurity or whatever. To each his or her own, that's what I say. It takes all kinds in this world and we are all just trying to get along as best we can. Please grow up.

Well, first off, yes, on occasion, it is in fact loads of fun to direct vitriol at others. Sorry to break it to you. As much fun as eating a pound of bacon in front of my vegetarian sister, in fact.

And second, to direct ire at this particular group is more fun than usual, as, in my experience, its not their silly dress that's the issue, its their hive mind, their sameness. As I believe someone else already stated, this may have started out as some sort of minor counter-culture thing, an effort to be different than everyone else around you, sometime back in the mid- to late 90's. However, by the takeover of Williamsburg shortly thereafter, it was obvious that "being different" became the norm, at least it was if you were white, lived in either lower Manhattan or parts of Brooklyn, were in your 20's and your parents bought your apartment and/or paid your rent. Also, the holier-than-thou attitude that is so often on display does them no favors either. Case in point... this is a conversation that took place on Franklin Avenue about two years ago:

Lost Man: There's got to be someplace to eat right around here.

Lost Woman: Right, just get a couple of sandwiches or something.

Annoying Hipster Girl: Oh my god, they ONLY place to get decent food is Saje! Its right down the street, that way.

Last Man: Oh, thanks. They have, like, sandwiches? Lunch food?

Annoying Hipster Girl: They carry Pressinis that are sooo yummy. Really, its the only decent place in this whole neighborhood. I wouldn't even walk into anyplace else that serves food here.

So the lost couple proceeds to Saje, notice the prices, leave, and go to a bodega to get a couple of Boar's Head sandwiches. They were friends of mine who came down from Washington Heights on the subway to visit.


Am I generalizing unfairly? Of course. If you didn't know, sometimes that's fun too.