For all of our Brooklyn-ites & curious internationals, the hipster has come to embody a lot of what urban America/Gotham City is known for now. A random cool person breaks it down on Reddit for ya. It’s one of those gigantic posts that really puts things in perspective. For people that aren’t into reading, the tl;dr is
“There’s no one thing that defines a hipster. It came out of the punk/DIY movement, but has become a commercialized subculture that many of us who were part of the earlier counter-culture don’t recognize.”
Coming out of the anti-capitalist/DIY/post-punk movement, a lot of heads eventually got recognized as unique/authentic, and then the fashion got stole’d by richies, diluting the entire construct and making it totally against what it was started for. Now, instead of looking retro/vintage because you spent 5hrs thrifting because you reject capitalism/materialism, you spend 2 grand and look the same. Interestingly this was lampooned in both Gangnam Style (for those of us who bothered looking up the translated lyrics) and more accessibly, in Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Lewis, posted below for the approximately 4.7 people in America who still have not heard this song.
So, check it out, and next time you see em, remember, authenticity is forever and douches will always find a way to get ripped off trying to be authentic. See you on that dance floor, wear something that helps you express yourself, not some bullshit that some style-guide told you was in.
Terry Gotham 