Am I a hipster?

spr0k3t · Post by **spr0k3t** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:34 pm

So I was specking with a gaggle of my friends the other day and one of them popped up with a question: Does owning a scooter make one a hipster? I told him no, because I was cooler than that.

Thoughts?

z20k · Post by **z20k** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:42 pm

No, being a hipster makes you a hipster.

Maximus53 · Post by **Maximus53** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:44 pm

z20k wrote:No, being a hipster makes you a hipster.

Macbook, large dark plastic framed glasses, flannel, messenger bag? Yes
Scooter? - no

Post by **jrsjr** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:52 pm

Maximus53 wrote:Macbook, large dark plastic framed glasses, flannel, messenger bag? Yes

Don't forget the hat.

spr0k3t · Post by **spr0k3t** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:57 pm

Maximus53 wrote:
z20k wrote:No, being a hipster makes you a hipster.
Macbook, large dark plastic framed glasses, flannel, messenger bag? Yes
Scooter? - no

Oh thank god... I could never be a hipster. It would take a million years for me to willingly own an apple product.

Drum Pro · Post by **Drum Pro** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:39 am

IMO to be "hip" is when you try NOT to be "hip" and just be yourself. The "hip" thing just sorta happens without trying....

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 1:07 am

Who cares? Hipster, geek, nerd, jock, hippie, punk, twihard, trekkie... they're all just labels that people use to dismiss people who are Not Like Them. Sure, some of these people can be annoying, and a lot of them are ridiculous. But... so what? If somebody enjoys a certain style of dress, media, activities, social affectation, politics, etc. good for them.

As for riding a scooter (in particular)... the reasons people ride scooters are almost as varied as the people themselves. I'm sure there are some who do it because it fits in with a certain fashion of lifestyle... and that's OK. But there are more who do it for some other reason. And that's OK too.

Stitch · Post by **Stitch** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 2:17 am

What's a hipster?

Lokky · Post by **Lokky** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 3:08 am

Today we were at a goodwill while killing time waiting for a table at a restaurant and I found myself lamenting the fact that we were at a chain thrift store instead of a smaller, independent thrift store.

The realization of my hipsterness hit me like a truck and I had to drown it in approximately 100 shrimps by ordering the endless shrimps at red lobster.

Post by **ericalm** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 3:49 am

If you have to ask, no.

Drum Pro wrote:IMO to be "hip" is when you try NOT to be "hip" and just be yourself. The "hip" thing just sorta happens without trying....

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 5:45 am

no you are not

TomCat · Post by **TomCat** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 7:56 am

"Hip to be Square"
Mr H. Lewis

Rusty Shackleford · Post by **Rusty Shackleford** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 1:16 pm

Drum Pro wrote:IMO to be "hip" is when you try NOT to be "hip" and just be yourself. The "hip" thing just sorta happens without trying....

This is also how I see it.

As far as the hipster subculture goes; they wear tiny hats, skinny jeans, little shoes, small thrift-store flannel shirts, plastic retro glasses, and carry stuff in messenger bags. Here in Richmond, VA; a ridiculous number of tattoos is also part of the uniform. The more, the merrier to the RVA breed. Bleeding-heart, elitist, liberal politics are a must; and anything that's perceived as remotely pop-culture is unacceptable... unless being enjoyed ironically. Also, they have the largest number of scraggly full beards per-capita of any demographic.

As mentioned, in Richmond, they also have loads of tattoos; but people like this...

Stitch · Post by **Stitch** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 1:24 pm

That sounds like a lot of work. Ill just keep doing my own thing.

Post by **illnoise** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 1:31 pm

Lokky wrote:The realization of my hipsterness hit me like a truck and I had to drown it in approximately 100 shrimps by ordering the endless shrimps at red lobster.

That's actually pretty good advice, if you think anyone is mistaking you for a hipster, just walk into a mall-parking-lot restaurant.

jmer1234 · Post by **jmer1234** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 5:28 pm

Maximus53 wrote:
z20k wrote:No, being a hipster makes you a hipster.
Macbook, large dark plastic framed glasses, flannel, messenger bag? Yes
Scooter? - no

I meet 3 of the 5 with a scooter. Does age, at least, automatically disqualify you?

ravenlore · Post by **ravenlore** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 5:45 pm

jmer1234 wrote:
Maximus53 wrote:
z20k wrote:No, being a hipster makes you a hipster.
Macbook, large dark plastic framed glasses, flannel, messenger bag? Yes
Scooter? - no
I meet 3 of the 5 with a scooter. Does age, at least, automatically disqualify you?

man I hope so, because I also meet 3 of the 5...4 if you count that sheer flannel-patterened blouse I wore to work that day...

Rusty Shackleford · Post by **Rusty Shackleford** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 7:02 pm

Ironically, cliche' hipster styling is very mainstream now days. Now that their long-established aesthetic has been co-opted, I wonder what they'll turn to. I still see a lot of people that meet the current stereotype where I live.

Wheelz · Post by **Wheelz** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 7:07 pm

The real question here is. "Am I red?"
After we establish that perhaps we could talk about why that is....

*WHY RED IS RED?*

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 7:09 pm

Don't forget the retro 'bowling' shirts. And PBR in cans, just like in that Corazzo Messenger ad usually seen below.

Oh, and wearing big headphones around your neck in public.

As Ed (Hector Elizondo) put it on "Last Man Standing", "I hate hipsters. They wear funny hats and have complicated coffee drinks."

avonpirate · Post by **avonpirate** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 9:48 pm

As far as the hipster subculture goes; they wear tiny hats, skinny jeans, little shoes, small thrift-store flannel shirts, plastic retro glasses, and carry stuff in messenger bags. Here in Richmond, VA; a ridiculous number of tattoos is also part of the uniform. The more, the merrier to the RVA breed. Bleeding-heart, elitist, liberal politics are a must; and anything that's perceived as remotely pop-culture is unacceptable... unless being enjoyed ironically. Also, they have the largest number of scraggly full beards per-capita of any demographic.

Hmmmm, that description and those pictures look like every 'lift op' in the Vail Valley. i'll make my first million by selling t-shirts in ski areas that state: I'm not a Lift Op, I'm a Hipster.

Scootagangsta · Post by **Scootagangsta** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 11:52 pm

spr0k3t wrote: I was cooler than that.?

Yes

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 12:33 am

Is it hipster to be bored with criticizing, griping about, and ridiculing hipsters? Not when I do it, of course; when everyone else does.

rsrider · Post by **rsrider** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 4:50 am

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:14 am

As someone who works, lives and pretty much surrounded by the type that is described, I think I can shed some light on it's definition:

A "Hipster" is simply what was once called a "Poser": Someone who attempts to emulate a particular lifestyle gained from being a starving artist without starving or having artistic talent. They do things only because it's "ironic" or "not mainstream" because when artists do it, they get attention. Nevermind that artists do things that no one else does because they are trying to create something new. Most artists who are "ironic" but not noticed are simply called "weird" or "strange". But, they still keep doing it. A hipster will stop doing whatever it is the moment it either becomes popular and they are not noticed for standing out, or when it is completely written off for being strange and ignored, and they are not noticed for standing out.

The fixie bikes, vintage mopeds, thrift store clothing and "ironic" beards and mustaches were all co-opted from artists they saw, and like kindergarteners they mimic what they see. The only difference is that the only purpose for this faux-fringe behaviour is to be noticed, and not the byproduct of the creative process and slightly off-kilter mind that true artists have and don't think about.

That and they have either credit cards and trust funds in their parent's names or banal office jobs that entail ZERO artistic effort but plenty of corporate obligation and drudgery that allow them the disposable income to live such a bohemian life. Because, in truth, true artists, musicians and creative types couldn't afford the $800 fixie bikes, $150 skinny jeans and $600 iPhones that are required uniform for the hipster culture.

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:18 am

True moped hipsters ride top tank bikes like Puch Magnums, Peugeot TSMs, Sachs G3s, Batavus Gran Prixs and the like.

Fortunately, I have low class mopeds like Vespa Ciaos, Puch Maxis and a JC Penny Pinto.

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:50 am

az_slynch wrote:True moped hipsters ride top tank bikes like Puch Magnums, Peugeot TSMs, Sachs G3s, Batavus Gran Prixs and the like.

Fortunately, I have low class mopeds like Vespa Ciaos, Puch Maxis and a JC Penny Pinto.

That's because we can afford the Vespa Ciaos, Puch Maxis and the Pintos. The others command high prices on message boards on the internet that aren't mainstream about events and band we've never heard of...

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 1:52 pm

if scoots were ever 'hipster' they would have to be the most expensive vespas that were then covered with obscure band stickers and PBR labels.

I worried that I was becoming a hipster, as I listen to bands no one has heard of, wear glasses (but I need them...), drink PBR (because it's cheap), and have a full sleeve tattoo on the left side.

But, I realized I'm just older than current pop culture

. besides, I can't stand a beard on me.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:04 pm

I stopped being a hipster before it was cool to stop being a hipster.

SYMbionic Duo · Post by **SYMbionic Duo** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:12 pm

Rusty Shackleford wrote:
Drum Pro wrote:IMO to be "hip" is when you try NOT to be "hip" and just be yourself. The "hip" thing just sorta happens without trying....
This is also how I see it.

As far as the hipster subculture goes; they wear tiny hats, skinny jeans, little shoes, small thrift-store flannel shirts, plastic retro glasses, and carry stuff in messenger bags. Here in Richmond, VA; a ridiculous number of tattoos is also part of the uniform. The more, the merrier to the RVA breed. Bleeding-heart, elitist, liberal politics are a must; and anything that's perceived as remotely pop-culture is unacceptable... unless being enjoyed ironically. Also, they have the largest number of scraggly full beards per-capita of any demographic.

As mentioned, in Richmond, they also have loads of tattoos; but people like this...

If you see people like this in AZ or NYC, then hipsters, If in MN then they are probably from Fargo or Duluth.

Clint Eastwood drinks PBR, Clint is not a hipster. Now get off his lawn!

Also Hipsters seem to enjoy vintage small frame vespas not GTSs.

Hipster is just one type of poser. Just like white/asian suburbanites acting gangsta. Don't hate, just pity the fools.

Rusty Shackleford · Post by **Rusty Shackleford** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 4:18 pm

SYMbionic Duo wrote:Hipster is just one type of poser. Just like white/asian suburbanites acting gangsta. Don't hate, just pity the fools.

Haha, yup!

Fargo Rollin · Post by **Fargo Rollin** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 4:33 pm

SYMbionic Duo wrote:

If you see people like this in AZ or NYC, then hipsters, If in MN then they are probably from Fargo or Duluth.

I DO look like that, but only in the winter, and I AM from Fargo! What does that say about me..

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:23 pm

I love how judgmental everyone is. Makes me feel all warm and gooey on the inside.

It's just a popular style, no different than any other. There's no qualitative difference from people running around like contemporary Mods, wearing Fred Perrys and putting laurel and roundel decals on their scooters. Or rockabillies, punks, skinheads, hippies, etc.

In fact, the comments being made here have been made about all of those groups at some time. The only real difference is that hipsters are unlikely to self-identify as such.

I doubt any of us should be throwing stones at this glass house. Maybe it's time to lighten up and start living our own lives instead of criticizing what others do and how they live theirs—especially when it comes to such arbitrary superficialities such as clothing, facial hair and music. Just because most of us are old and jaded, we shouldn't fall into the trap of being bitter and critical, as all previous generations have done.

Rusty Shackleford · Post by **Rusty Shackleford** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:17 pm

Eric, I know what you mean, but this thread is called "Am I a Hipster?" for cryin' out loud. We're just having fun, even if we all fall victim to it from time to time. The "hipster" element is particularly annoying because of the pretension, though.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:25 pm

I always find it funny that hipster is now a PARTICULAR scene. Back in the old days it was a way of trashing any scene that didn't make you feel welcome. Like someone was a hipster if they thought you were a poseur. Two of the most useless titles there ever were, that differentiate very little, - hipster and poseur.
Whenever someone points either of them at me or someone I know, it just makes it very apparent that they don't have a clue who they are, and aren't really trying very hard. It's a pretty lazy tactic. Everybody is more than a silly title.
The only time I have given it a chuckle is when it is self critical- like any scene with a good sense of humor that can laugh at itself. Scenes deserve a little chuckle, shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:02 pm

Yeah, the lack of sense humor is becoming problematic for many. It's like those who get rankled at the term "scooter dorks." No, it's okay, folks, really. It's dorky. But we love it. Get it?

Good-natured teasing and ribbing is fine, but there's a point at which it stops being that and starts being critical—and hypocritical.

rsrider · Post by **rsrider** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:04 pm

Fargo Rollin wrote:
I DO look like that, but only in the winter, and I AM from Fargo! What does that say about me..

One of the few good memories I had from ND was riding my snowmobile on the Red River when it froze over. Every once in a while I'll miss the white stuff, and then I remember the sub zero temps and I'm glad I live CA. I can always drive to the snow..........

anthony · Post by **anthony** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:26 pm

Tom wrote:I always find it funny that hipster is now a PARTICULAR scene. Back in the old days it was a way of trashing any scene that didn't make you feel welcome. Like someone was a hipster if they thought you were a poseur. Two of the most useless titles there ever were, that differentiate very little, - hipster and poseur.
Whenever someone points either of them at me or someone I know, it just makes it very apparent that they don't have a clue who they are, and aren't really trying very hard. It's a pretty lazy tactic. Everybody is more than a silly title.
The only time I have given it a chuckle is when it is self critical- like any scene with a good sense of humor that can laugh at itself. Scenes deserve a little chuckle, shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:15 pm

I remember when I lived in LA in the 90s and hipster for a time was an inclusionary term. Like "do you know so and so- he's a hipster", it just meant "he's cool." It wasn't particularly informative, like saying he's a punk, or a rockabilly dude, or a scooter guy. But nowadays I don't really hear it except as an exclusionary term- something negative. Might be very different from town to town. Back in those days when I started hearing it again (except for in regards to beatniks- in a historical context) it usually associated people who were kind of in the punk world but sort of artsy people. Not a derogatory term by any means back then.
Now as best as I can tell it's just that guy with a beard and a bicycle who likes to drink cheap beer, lol. I just don't believe that describes anybody, even if those three things are also true.

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:39 pm

In the '90s in TX, it was "scenester," which really just meant someone you're likely to encounter in all the places where cool stuff was going on. Of course, those who were tagged as such hated the term and found it insulting for some reason. Maybe the implication that they were showing up at places just to be there.

Forbes just names Silverlake, about 3 miles from where I sit, as the #1 hipster neighborhood in the country. And it's pretty funny. And accurate.

There's plenty of amusement to be had at the expense of hipsters, no doubt. They worked out that the coolest, hippest people in history were those who didn't give a crap about being cool and hip. This trapped them in a paradox of trying to be cool by not being cool, resurrecting fashions and obscure pop culture artifacts then rejecting them the moment they were recognized. What a dilemma. In the past few years, it's cemented into this easily-parodied attitude and style. The recent New Girl episode about their new neighbors was hilariously spot on and even had a whole meta-hipster-humor element thanks to Zooey Deschanel who may or may not still be revered.

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 12:43 am

No matter where you go or what you say on the internet (or in real life now), you will mortally offend some subgroup who will take your slight as an action akin to burning crosses on someone's front yard. It doesn't matter if you make fun of hipsters, cat owners or D&D players. Everyone is an equal-oppurtunity victim looking for an oppressor.

I feel I get the right to point out such idiocy with those who try to mimic the "bohemian artist" lifestyle because I sure as hell don't see anyone clamoring to make the wages that I do that come with working in the arts. They want to look and to live as if they breathe creative energy 24/7. The problem is that they don't want to be without their $8 coffee drinks and iDevices either. Yet, they see me in my Kymco and not an ultra rare moped and my boring thrift store jeans and "trite" punk band T-shirt and turn up their nose... while that VERY night clamor to get into the shows I build so they can be seen by other hipsters.

So, I say whatever. It's society and someone is going to have a problem with how you do something and with what you have to say about it. If that makes me a mean person for shrugging my shoulders and going "eh, whatever", then so be it. I try to extend the same courtesy to others in general, but I think it's downright laughable how many people want to play at being artists, but don't want to live the reality of it. Because, when it comes to the working conditions and pay, it frankly sucks.

jaeger45 · Post by **jaeger45** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:09 am

Hipster?! What's going on? Aren't we doing grunge anymore? I didn't get the memo....

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 3:52 am

jaeger45 wrote:Hipster?! What's going on? Aren't we doing grunge anymore? I didn't get the memo....

If you want to feel old, the waning period where "grunge" was in the pop culture vernacular was just a hair over 15 years ago. Some music critics (since the look originated from the music style) would argue that it was starting to fall out of trend as early as '94, placing it nearly 20 years ago.

One of my colleagues at the university teaches music history, so I've heard ALL about the comparative that the "Hipster" sub-culture movement is one of the few in American pop-culture history that didn't directly originate out of a singular music genre. It's actually it's own current field of study for some sociology research papers.

redhandmoto · Post by **redhandmoto** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:51 am

Alright, Hipster taxonomy/morphology thread at last, and a chance to clear up a nagging question about the strata of pop culture, its means, mores, and accessories. This has bothered me for some time now, but I am at least 30 years beyond any personal involvement in such things, and naturally have no contemporaries I can ask.

So kindly, if you will, crowd-source this one for me:

What happened to all those little unisex knit Tibetan hats with the semi-pointy tops and the ear-flap strings? The All-Weather, All Occasions, Goes-With-Everything-Even-When-It's-90-Degrees ones.

I mean, for years, they were everywhere among a certain demographic, and then one day, Blammo!, they vanished, just like that; as though some Knit Tibetan Hat virus killed them all off overnight, like the bees and frogs.

They were around so long and of such seeming and enduring hoodie-like ubiquity that one expected to see some mention made of their passing in the press. They were far bigger than any skinny-brim Popeye Doyle pork-pie ever dreamed of being, felt or straw, not in its French Connection heyday or faint current renaissance.

So help Gramps out here; explain this species death.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 3:29 pm

as a 20+ year goth/punk guy, I know I am a dork! I still own/wear vinyl pants for the right occasion

.

The tibetan hats did vanish! now all you see is weird animorphic ones, that look like monsters sitting on or eating your head.

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 4:27 pm

Never had a Tibetan hat. I have one with the ear-flaps and strings, but it has a little pom on top and it's from Peru. Boss was going there on business, so I told him to get me a hat. I didn't think he'd take me seriously...

That Scooter Guy · Post by **That Scooter Guy** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:51 pm

My most Hipster moment.

KeLynn · Post by **KeLynn** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:24 pm

Rusty Shackleford wrote:

Be still my heart!

That Scooter Guy · Post by **That Scooter Guy** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:31 pm

People that hate on the hat just don't understand the hat. I rocked one ten years ago.

redhandmoto · Post by **redhandmoto** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:59 pm

That Scooter Guy wrote:People that hate on the hat just don't understand the hat. I rocked one ten years ago.

And you wore it well, damed well...but where is it now?

I never heard anyone hate on the hat, mock the hat...the hat was just purged in some kind of bizarre yet unspoken common agreement,like there'd been a sinister midnight tweet from the Hip Politburo: "Ditch the Hat"

tell ya what: i cruise a lotta thrift stores (yeah, ok - looking for classic flannel, alright?), and I've never seen a single Tibetan hat. 20 years from now, they'll all show up on etsy

Modern Buddy

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