Hipster poll

brookfetish

It seems that "hipster" is a naughty word around here. Just what is a hipster to you? Why do you dislike them (or like them....or are one if that is the case)?

daniel

"I don't know how to define it, but I know it when I see it."

I don't see too many of what I consider hipsters in the Park Slope area, certainly not anywhere near the number that you see when walking through Williamsburg.

brookfetish

Is there a "uniform" of the hipster? Again, personal opinions.

candicissima

In my case, a hipster is someone else that does the things I'd be stereotyped based on my interests as liking to do. But the difference is they are insufferable and smug and I am not.

bluedove

Candicissima wrote: In my case, a hipster is someone else that does the things I'd be stereotyped based on my interests as liking to do. But the difference is they are insufferable and smug and I am not.

Heheh

Yeah, that's about right.

Webster's defines a hipster as "a person who is unusually aware of and interested in new and unconventional patterns"...okay...that makes sense, in a dry and understated sort of way.

To me, hipsters are the people to whom it's so important to be "different" and cooler than everyone else (the ones who think they're better than you--and let you know it--if they can reel off some band or designer nobody's ever heard of) that they reek of pretense and desperation. Take a walk through Williamsburg. Look around you. 99% of those people? Are hipsters.

Some of us in PH/Crown Heights are sometimes confused for hipsters because we might be young, kind of artsy, maybe dress a little differently. But the difference is in the caring. The pretentiousness. The difference is in the NEED to be different--and constantly proving it--rather than just being who you are and liking what you like, and letting the social chips fall where they may.

*Shudder* Yes, hipster is a dirty, dirty word.

unterberg

ah, gawd...Williamsburg hipsters...I feel nauseas...

daveb

bluedove wrote: Take a walk through Williamsburg. Look around you. 99% of those people? Are hipsters.

I think Williamsburg gets a bit of a bad rap. It's really not that bad. I lived there for about three years. It was the first NY neighborhood I lived in. Granted, it's a little more extreme now, but I gotta say it was one of the best NY experiences I've had, living in that neighborhood. But, I was smack in the middle of the beautiful people. There's just a lot of hardworking people there. Artists, models designers and musicians, most of whom are struggling, but all are real people. There was (and there are more now) a quickly growing clique of trust-fund wonders. You want to talk about hipster attitude, those guys were insufferable with their cocaine and football field sized lofts.

I don't know, I enjoyed living there, was well liked by my fellow billburg barflies, met a ton of really interesting people and made a lot of good friends. I don't think I qualify as a hipster either. More like a denuded caveman.

alan

<angry_cynical_rant>

1. Value style over substance. If you didn't pay over $50 of your (parents') money for a "vintage" Joy Division T-shirt, you aren't trying hard enough.
2. Snub all non-hipsters.
3. Shop at Urban Outfitters/Brooklyn Industries/Salvation Army/Beacon's Closet.
4. Always have a "vintage" copy of some existentialist work in hand when taking the subway or chillin' out at the park. Reading it (critically, that is) is optional.
5. Drink PBR because you are too "poor" to afford bourgeoise beverages that cost a dollar more. The "I feel like I got hit by a bus" hangover subsequently reduces food intake, helping contribute to the anorexic hipster look.
6. Don't participate in nonhipster "conversations" because its beneath you. When confronted with the possibility of participation, just nod your head and give a condecending look. Normal people are too stupid to understand hipsterism.
7. Tell people you are into music. Proceed to drop the names of esoteric indy bands that people never heard of.
8. Live off your parent's dime. You are too cool to work.

Sorry for the bitter tirade. I suppose I'd have a less cynical view if these people got out there and did something with their lives. Such as helping out in a soup kitchen. Or protesting the war. Or cleaning up trashed parks. But instead, they spend all their free time (which they seem to have lots of) being "cool". As in "MTV" commercial, corporate America cool.

Whatever. I need a drink.

*And yes, I am a hypocrite in some aspects, since I don't participate in public service. But some of us also have to work at our crap jobs...
</angry_cynical_rant>

bluedove

daveb: No, that's true. I do have friends who live there, my husband lived there when I first met him (and we met because of the friends that lived there)...etc. I have had some good times in Williamsburg. And I've seen plenty of normal people on the street, too. But (a) I think it's really getting worse--those trust-fund "artists" are definitely the worst offenders, and I think they're, like, multiplying. And (b) it's not that hard to spot them in the crowd up there, seeing as they're so plentiful in that area. That's really what I meant by that.

My best friend was waiting for me outside a deli up there recently while I ran in for cash and smokes. She is no hipster, but she's pretty cool and looks it. Some very obvious hipsters walking by on the street looked at her, snorted, and said "Where's the mall?"

'Nuff said.

carnivore

bluedove wrote: My best friend was waiting for me outside a deli up there recently while I ran in for cash and smokes. She is no hipster, but she's pretty cool and looks it. Some very obvious hipsters walking by on the street looked at her, snorted, and said "Where's the mall?"

That is obnoxious, but you have to admit- it's pretty funny. :twisted:

bluedove

I guess. But a great example of why the hate! :x

emily

My friends and I call some of those Williamsburg types "trustafarians." I hate it when people think that they are cool because they have "achieved" in fields that most people avoid for financial reasons. Yeah, I could be a "poet," too, if my parents paid for my housing and food. Heck, I could be in training to be an "astronaut" under those circumstances.

I once sat through a horrible dinner with a guy whom a FOAF was dating. He was going on and on and on about how "poor" he was because it was hard to make money as a freelance record reviewer. The company I was then working for had lots of work available for freelance desktop publishing people--nice, easy, clean, relatively high-paying work, with friendly people who played good music in the office and got drinks after work. When I suggested that I hook him up with these people, he looked at me as though I'd suggested that he work at a sewage plant or mall food court. Oh, so you don't actually need work then, do you?

alafairnadia

bluedove wrote: daveb: No, that's true. I do have friends who live there, my husband lived there when I first met him (and we met because of the friends that lived there)...etc. I have had some good times in Williamsburg. And I've seen plenty of normal people on the street, too. But (a) I think it's really getting worse--those trust-fund "artists" are definitely the worst offenders, and I think they're, like, multiplying. And (b) it's not that hard to spot them in the crowd up there, seeing as they're so plentiful in that area. That's really what I meant by that.

My best friend was waiting for me outside a deli up there recently while I ran in for cash and smokes. She is no hipster, but she's pretty cool and looks it. Some very obvious hipsters walking by on the street looked at her, snorted, and said "Where's the mall?"

'Nuff said.

I'd say that half the staff at restaurants/bars/stores in Williamsburg are roughly the equivalent in service quality as the lady from Muddy Waters. the other half are fine. that's a bit trying. and that's my beef with Williamsburg.

jessicasophia

On a somewhat related note, did you know that Old Navy, you can get a t-shirt that says "Williamsburg" in that brooklyn script font?

candicissima

JessicaSophia wrote: On a somewhat related note, did you know that Old Navy, you can get a t-shirt that says "Williamsburg" in that brooklyn script font?

I did see that. And when I went to the one on 34th Street the other day, they were all downstairs on the clearance rack!

brookfetish

This is interesting.

I guess "hipster" means different things in different parts of the country. I've lived in Boston and now Minneapolis (moving to PH next week).

The attitude towards the word/person is similar in Boston and Brooklyn.

In Minneapolis (which one could argue is one of the most "hip" cities in the US, or at least the "sleeper" in that category), it doesn't have such a negative connotation. Although, I would argue that the ratio of folks working to folks living off mommy and daddy is quite different in Minnesota than it is in NYC.

teddyballgame

The thing that makes hipsters so offensive to me is that true hipsters tend to be hilariously hypocritical. I mean, I do and like a lot of the same stuff as someone you'd call a "hipster," but I also pride myself on making my own decisions about how to dress and what to like. Hipsters seem to sort of wear a uniform and follow a very defined idea of what music, etc., they are permitted to enjoy.
I got involved in a conversation about Indie Rock with some obvious hipsters in, it just so happens, Williamsburg, and they were like really digging the conversation when I was talking about the Arcade Fire, the National, the Caesars, and similar uber-hip bands of that time (only a few months ago, though i'm sure hipsters would now consider those bands passe).
The conversation drifted and I mentioned how I still occasionally like to listen to the stuff I listened to growing up as a punk-ska kid in the mid to late 90s like Op Ivy/Rancid, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, NOFX, and the like. The look on these guys faces was as though I had pissed my pants, and they wanted no part of the conversation after that. That, to me, defines the hipster: someone who is unwilling to admit that they've ever had tastes other than the ones that pitchfork currently deems cool.
Sorry, I'm venting. I guess I really don't like anyone who can be so wholly and definitely categorized, because usually those people are missing the point entirely.
Egads, that was long-winded.

Incidentally, BrookFetish is right, minneapolis is a very cool city.

bluedove

That's what I call hitting the nail on the head.

flute

daveb wrote: I don't think I qualify as a hipster either. More like a denuded caveman.

Off topic ... (well, i just don't KNOW from hipster --- it's so much NOT a part of my genetic make up, so i wouldn't even know how to begin to comment on this topic, i'd make a fool of myself -- i'd be a denuded cavewoman) ... anyway, i HAVE to say ... your kooky self-deprecatory posts on here make me (and I'm sure others as well) laugh so hard ... your blog ... also hilarious ...

So that's it. Credit where credit is due. My motto. 8)

dailyheights

daveb's blog is pretty great. Also Muk. Like Maddox, I think the concept of a "blogroll" is a bit silly, but as long as we've got the Proho list, an update is in order!

t-fal

teddyballgame wrote: The thing that makes hipsters so offensive to me is that true hipsters tend to be hilariously hypocritical. I mean, I do and like a lot of the same stuff as someone you'd call a "hipster," but I also pride myself on making my own decisions about how to dress and what to like. Hipsters seem to sort of wear a uniform and follow a very defined idea of what music, etc., they are permitted to enjoy.
I got involved in a conversation about Indie Rock with some obvious hipsters in, it just so happens, Williamsburg, and they were like really digging the conversation when I was talking about the Arcade Fire, the National, the Caesars, and similar uber-hip bands of that time (only a few months ago, though i'm sure hipsters would now consider those bands passe).
The conversation drifted and I mentioned how I still occasionally like to listen to the stuff I listened to growing up as a punk-ska kid in the mid to late 90s like Op Ivy/Rancid, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, NOFX, and the like. The look on these guys faces was as though I had pissed my pants, and they wanted no part of the conversation after that. That, to me, defines the hipster: someone who is unwilling to admit that they've ever had tastes other than the ones that pitchfork currently deems cool.
Sorry, I'm venting. I guess I really don't like anyone who can be so wholly and definitely categorized, because usually those people are missing the point entirely.

try saying that rumours is one of your life defining albums to a hipster. wait, not this month though, fleetwood mac is scheduled to be ironically cool for the nxt three weeks. seriously, i like it in an entirely unironic way. even the christine mcvie songs.

emily

I thought Fleetwood Mac was already cool and uncool again already? I thought Phil Collins the current favorite, due to that Postal Service cover of "Against All Odds."

I'm waiting for the hipsters to pull out the Hootie and the Blowfish t-shirts that you just know they all have hidden in the backs of their closets, alongside their Dave Matthews Band at Red Rocks boxsets.

daveb

Three words...

Motherfucking "Air Supply"! :shock:

jamesondean

Subject: "Being fabulous" is not a profession.

daveb wrote: [quote=bluedove] Take a walk through Williamsburg. Look around you. 99% of those people? Are hipsters.

But, I was smack in the middle of the beautiful people. There's just a lot of hardworking people there. Artists, models designers and musicians, most of whom are struggling, but all are real people.

Bone to pick: models are not real people. Trading on how you look does not make the world a better place. Fashion designers are a close second. What a waste.

As for the person who made the "Where's the mall?" comment: some people just haven't had enough beatings. Grr.

flute

Subject: Re: "Being fabulous" is not a profession.

JamesonVandy wrote: Bone to pick: models are not real people. Trading on how you look does not make the world a better place. Fashion designers are a close second. What a waste.

Whoa, that's quite a generalization there.

All of us, to some extent, are "trading on" something in order to make a living. Are actors not "real people"? Are they not, to a certain extent, trading on how they look? Perhaps they are just smarter, more talented versions of models. What about successful sales people? Aren't they "trading" on their ability to manipulate people into buying their product, even if it's an inferior product or not needed? (A generalization as well, I know.)

And I don't understand why you would say that fashion designers (as a whole) are not real people, or are a waste, worthy of our disdain. Clothing and standards of dress are, and always have been, a major part of the culture of any group or civilization, and often are a reflection its values and aethetics. That's why anthropologists look at those types of things. In that respect (and this may sound strange) it's kind of similar to architecture.

There is also the separation of our personal and professional lives ... which is very important to most people, even some models. They can't help it if they were born (or made themselves) "beautiful" (according to whatever standards of beauty that apply at any particular time in history). I grant you that many of them are narcissism personified (but that is not a trait limited to models, that I can vouch for) and that they would be more productive (in a global sense) if they went to college and moved on to make solar energy more efficient or develop viable alternatives to fossil fuels. But they didn't.

t-fal

hey now...some of us work in the fashion industry. stop the hateration .

what's with the model hate too? not all are as you've described them...they are just like the rest of the population, just better looking in pictures. some are assholes, some are fake, but some are sweet genuine people, and there's nothing wrong with trading on your looks while you still have them.

carnivore

daveb wrote: Three words...

Motherfucking "Air Supply"! :shock:

Foreigner is sure to be next. There was already an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force that features lots of their songs.

flute

Carnivore wrote: Foreigner is sure to be next.

Not to mention Peter Frampton ... Stevie Nicks (solo) ... and ... Bread !! :shock:

(flock of seagulls?) :evil:

sje

I'm a "fashion designer", Mr Vandy. And it doesn't get any realer than me, ask anyone who knows me. Models can be obnoxious, but so can anyone else. What a weird statement for you to make. :idea: :x

arielbl

As someone who sews (for fun, professionally I'm a medical writer), I have the greatest respect for anyone who can not only put together a garment so that it fits and moves, but also so it looks beautiful. Its HARD and engineering as much as art. Take a look at some of the suits in today's Times Styles section.

medusa

FLUTE wrote: [quote=Carnivore]Foreigner is sure to be next.

Not to mention Peter Frampton ... Stevie Nicks (solo) ... and ... Bread !! :shock:

(flock of seagulls?) :evil:

I love the Bread song "Guitar Man." It's one of my favorite karioke (sp?) tunes.