So I googled it and was directed to the urban dictionary. The first expression used in its definition was ‘independent minded,’ but then it gave a long, long spiel which confirmed that they’re merely followers of their own subset, just as mainstream consumers are followers of theirs. It said that many of them typically have liberal arts degrees. No surprise there, then. It also said that some of them have science degrees and are capable of high levels of analytical thought. But of course they are.
This is a repeating pattern.
11 comments:
I'm a Hipster! ;) we have that expression down here...Get with the times!!!! HAHAH lol i am so used to being told that... :p
And a very lovely hipster I'm sure, ZZ. It isn't the institution I find odd, it's the irony of the definition.
I hate to be so dull here but this is actually an old American expression which seems to have been reborn. To my mind it was used a lot in the 50's (though I wasn't there, so I can't swear to it :) and is defined as someone who follows the latest trends and fashions. Maybe it died for a while and then came back, but I can't believe it's unknown in Britain. I mean, wasn't Twiggy a hipster? I could be getting Alzheimer's.
It is an old term. I read a book about Beat poets and beatniks and supposedly Hipsters bridged the gap between beatniks and hippies.
Interesting, ladies. According to the definition I read, modern hipters are more likely to wear thrift store clothes than the latest fashion trends. In fact, the man who wrote the definition - himself a self proclaimed hipster - was adamant that they eschew mainstream fashion. They also seem too close to the edge of acceptably urbane to be anything like hippies. Beatniks, maybe. Seems to me the the re-emergence of the term is now applied to a different mindset.
As for Twiggy and whether we have the term in Britain:
Maybe we do and I just haven't heard it. But I certainly never heard Twiggy referred to as a hipster. She did, however, wear 'hipster jeans,' which were so called because they were low cut and sat on the hips rather than gripping the waist.
'According to the definition I read, modern hipters are more likely to wear thrift store clothes than the latest fashion trends'
i don't know about anywhere else, but down here we also call it 'indie' -short for independent? Yeah, it's not that independent now, seeing as vintage is so in. And university students and high school students are more likely to shop at thrift stores anyway, because we are so bloody poor!
I like to think that I am indie, because I am so not mainstream that i am indie, despite mainstream being indie.
It's only a bit of a mindfuck:)
Ha, I think "self proclaimed hipster" wins the prize :)
I'm beginning to think the only true indies are people like me, Carms - poor, alienated creatures who dress merely shabby and don't fit into any subset except 'outcast.'
Della: the man who wrote the acrticle even included a picture of himself.
Did he? Ha.
I think Allen Ginsburg even used the word hipster in his poem "Howl" but i'd have to check and make sure.
Hipsters buy clothes from Urban Outfitters and Free People that are made to look vintage and thrift. Lame.
'Free People.' That's a good one. You don't get to see any of this when you're a recluse.
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