I’m a millennial who grew up in Portland. I started seeing what is being defined as the “hipster” aesthetic around 2003 at house shows as a teenager. I remember thinking it was refreshing seeing young men wearing well-fitting and tailored outfits compared to what boys were wearing at my high school- mainly polos, baggy jeans, and basketball shorts. In my mind they were like modern newsies, which signaled to everyone else they were…different. Counterculture as it goes. It only took a few years for it to become mainstream and seeing ultra skinny jeans go from a punk silhouette to the norm.
Interesting, grew up in Chicago and I first noticed it in 98-99 from fans of what we now call “midwest emo” bands but wss just called post-hardcore back then by many. It was a lot tigher pants (often thirfted old man trousers), chuck taylors, black rimmed glasses and band shirts. Cedric bixler zavala and omar rodriguez lopez while still members of ATDI are probably the best examples.
I was in salem at the time but I agree, the whole thing predates the 2008 recession imo by quite a lot. The Strokes, Interpol, YYY, all had albums out in the very early 2000's and are typically thought of as hipster bands.
Sis - every time you say 'hipster' I feel like one of the animals from the Planet Earth documentaries. I can't believe we're so old that our teens/twenties items are now being deconstructed in video essays. It's crazy how detailed you've gone. I've always found it so interesting as someone from the global south / a developing nation how trends from America / the western world came to us - also funnily enough we would buy clothes that were made here but were meant for export for the western market - they were called 'export rejects' - there were whole markets where we could buy oversized tees, leggings, boho dresses, keffiyahs, fucking fedoras (of which I had a sad phase), short dresses with tights (functional for a place where you can't really go out showing much leg safely). We had our own versions of gentrified neighourhoods and small businesses - that then got a second and third wave of gentrification and mainstreaming. For me as a punk/grunge/indie kid - to be obsessed with music and even somewhat stupid tumblr pages, seeing those represented and our own tiny bourgeoning scenes - it's kind of fun to look back at it all.
Wow, you left NO stone unturned. Hipster fashion is so much more understandable once you have the entire context and history of its origins on the table.
I'm 28 now and grow up with the hipster aesthetic as a teenage art student. Alot of my friends still dress this way and partake in "hipster" lifestyle choices. While a lot of people will call it ironic and in some ways it can be, I think the appeal was simply to appreciate and enjoy what we had and give it new life. Hipster fashion was celebrating a lot of things from the last and saying "let's not let go of this" and I notice alot of modern trends simply dont feel like they want to honor the past. Alot of my hipster friends actually became closer to their grandparents or parents wanting to wear their old hand me downs or learned a lot of history and skills from this aesthetic. I learned DJing, photography, repurposing, how to kiss a girl (lol), and even some mechanical work.
Gotta agree, as a guy who is 26 a lot of hipster fashion influenced people younger than me too,I know people who are 20-25 who still wear hipster fashion even now
While many elements of hipster culture feel dated or cheezy now, and it also didn't live up to really challenging the status quo, it still majorly contributed to culture in some positive ways, like a re-appreciation for the crafts and vintage clothing (although it's a double sword, because the best vintage clothes are now ridiculous prices, and vintage stores are very gentrified). And some of the styles do still look iconic and will probably be revived at some point
I'd just like to point out that most people I knew during peak "hipster" era, who they themselves could have been labeled as such, preferred smoking cheap cigarettes (or "splurged" on American spirits) to vapes and jokingly refereed to it as "analog" smoking.
I had a love hate relationship with hipsters. I started going to shows in the scene at the end of 2003. I was born and raised in NYC so there was a level of resentment towards the people who were gentrifying our neighborhoods while I was simultaneously enjoying the music and all that came with the scene 😂 I had loads of fun, but can't say I was truly *in* the scene beyond the music (I saw SO many shows 😅). Instead, I was on the periphery dipping my toe in here and there.
@ijustneedmyself New York saved music at the time in my opinion. The "indie" scene that birthed The Strokes, Interpol, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs etc. was a welcome throwback to just cool alternative rock. I still love a lot of those bands.
True hipsters were bitchy AF, especially to outsiders of their close friend groups. I always thought they were conformists and cultish. I love seeing how some of them still reserved their fashion styles and they look like Rock stars still haha. Still pretentious af when I see them post. I think most were older millennials. I fell into the indie sleaze category and it's embarrassing , no wonder I never truly fit in with them lol. They would turn up at the same parties but were like too cool and always acted like they were about to go to a much cooler show or party. Haha nostalgia ❤
This is one of the best explanations of, how Hipsters started their "signature look" and how later that was taken over by companies like "Urban Outfitters".
Hipsters got a lot of hate (I may have been one of those haters.) But looking back at it now, it all seems so innocent, compared to the styles and trends that have come after it.
The “not like other girls” thing didn’t exist back then. My hipster friends were more grossed out by mainstream than anything… we didn’t need to broadcast that we were different we just were. Idk. Mainstream was lame and most of us didn’t hang out in those spaces as those people were not interesting.
@@sophieschaible5747 idk where it came from. But hipsters didn’t need to be picked nor did they want to be picked by mainstream conformist losers. Pick me girls are the exact opposite. Hipsters were totally fine being weird alternative different and separate from all that. They didn’t broadcast it in order to be deemed interesting. In fact, hipsters thought it was lame to even be called a hipster and thus grouped in a singular category which could be stereotyped (part of their inherent pretentiousness). None of my hipster friends ever said they were hipsters. So… no… I don’t think they started the pick me thing at all. Only an outsider would think that. Outsiders are the ones who coined them hipsters and then sought to emulate them based on conformist tropes and trends.
@@sophieschaible5747 I think what they mean is that the not like other girl was an idea constructed by outside people imagining and assuming those women are doing it for male validation, while many were doing it because they wanted to.
@@BeneathFullMoon no I've heard many enough millennial and older GenZ women talk about their "not like other girls" phase in their teens/early 20's for it not to be a thing. They considered anything coded "girly" and popular with girls as vapid and dumb and adopted alternative or quirky aesthetics to set themselves apart (not necessarily as pick-me girls tho).
One thing I think this video would have benefited from is some sort of discussion about the music scenes associated with hipsters. I understand your focu is on aesthetics, but as with most subcultures and counterculture movements, music is an extremely important component.
Just watched a documentary about a trend I was a part of in my teens/early 20's. Of course I would never admit it. Like a any real hipster, you never admitted you were a hipster. I guess it really is all over if I am admitting I was one, or at least wanted to be.
I still wear many of these separate items like the vintage pattern button ups and also still loooove a tight on the bottom, chunky on top moment. The 2010s were when I first started considering fashion, so my taste will I think always be at least a little influenced by that era :')
I feel old now that most hipsters are in their 40s and having kids. The hipster trend was awesome and I miss it. Neighborhoods were so relaxed when they moved in but what sucked was that neighborhoods became so expensive due to the racist part of the real estate industry. I was a hipster in 2014 til 2017 when it went out of fashion. I pray the hipster movement makes a comeback though.
With how fast fashion is cycling, it probably will be back soon even though it has fallen out of fashion only 5 years ago. The trend is in the McBling era right now. It’s going to be going straight into hipster fashion soon enough. Especially since everything is so expensive again
I am not as concerned about its aesthetics but their ethics and lifestyle. Where did those go because it adoption seems to be of consumerists not creators.@@dessieangel1021
@@dessieangel1021 people have been talking about "indie sleaze" coming back for like two years now, which is legit just a new way of saying late 2000s hipster
Good thing about it is that it was never meant to be popular. It makes a little difference , only you get from popularity is a corporate culture that takes over the reins and suffocate s it.
Portlandia and the hipster allure drove me to go to uni in Portland 😂 I love wet weather and forested land but grew up in the desert/chaparral, so it felt like the perfect place to run away to. Was kinda late to the trends as I started uni in 2014 but it was still a good time…
As someone that lived in Portland 2013-21 (NYC before and since) I was thinking this the whole time watching this nice vid. Look at Dandy Warhols style in the 90s, Stumptown Coffee (founded in ‘99,) food truck culture, and so many other things and it seems hipster culture was largely just the culture of Portland trending in other places.
36:29 Okay, _there_ it is! You talked about androgyny as the main reason for skinny jeans, but I'd argue they're functionally linked to the bike trend, because your hem can't get caught in your gear chain. And the bikes tie into the recession, because you don't have to pay for gas, and the simpler a bike is, the easier it is to fix it yourself.
Let's not forget Toms shoes! Such an important (and somewhat naive) expression of hipster conscientiousness :P I rocked toms for like 5 solid years...so much sweat XD
The colorfull makeup make so much more sense now. When kylie jenner drop her nude makeup, it was the conterpart of this style. Honestly i'm super exited for the next videos, i hope you will touch upon swag era, with miss Zendaya as the representativ, the rise of street wears and all. To me the cultural reset that changed everyting was miley cirus we can't stop so like 2014 to 2016 and evolved in the kardashion style, more nude than red color palette.
I noticed the term ‘appropriated’ is only used when talking about people of color, and terms like ‘adopted’ and ‘inspired’ by for non poc’s. Great video
Hipsters were a neoliberal answer to disillusionment with neoliberalism, one that appeared progressive and pro-working class, but could be easily folded back into the status quo. Unfortunately, capitalism is really good at recuperation like that. Many good things did come out of the hipster era though: an appreciation for the crafts, the popularity of reusing clothes (Tbf it's a double edged sword), popularity of bike-riding in the US (in my own country it was always already a common way of transport), the repopularization of social movements (even if imperfectly so), the informalization of the workplace, focus on sustainability etc. And while some elements have become incredibly cheezy, I genuinely still see elements of the aesthetic that look incredibly cool and will probably be revived in ten years or so (I mean, the "indie sleaze" thing is already kinda having its moment I've heard).
Cory Kennedy was an ultimate hipster at the height of MySpace. I have a love/hate of hipster. Being 17-22 in the 2005-2010 era of hipster and in the Hudson Valley, the hipsters there were stuck up and looked down on people if they liked anything on the radio or other mainstream areas. Eventually I think they grew up and had to get real jobs
Millennial here. You nailed it. I miss the hipster days a lot. Edit: As to the gentrification problem: Don't forget that the 2008 crisis left many millennials financially disenfranchised as well, which led to taking up space in historically poor neighborhoods. The rise in small and bespoke businesses was our way to keep afloat in an otherwise unfriendly economy. This culture and alternative economy was majorly wiped put during Covid, and has yet to recover, leaving the now 30 and 40--something millennials disenfranchised yet again...
If you ever visit downtown Toronto you will see everyone still dresses alot like this. Pretty sure they always had and they always will look just like this.
i love 80s fashion but the 2010s did such a bad job at recycling 80s trends. I do feel nostalgia for that era but I remember even then thinking the fashion looked bad
I was more scene kid then hipster in the late 00s early 10s but I remember the transition out of scene and hipster around 2015-2017 as the internet and social media became more accessible world wide
Back in the 00d regardless of your race everybody wanted to dress like a hipster lol it was that girl trust me it looked really cool but like you weren't trying too hard to your point the Kardashians pretty much took over pop culture in the mid to late 2010s so a lot of younger women were getting surgery to look like them and hipster was out
@ your definitely right I remember hipster to Kardashian influence was strong. Doesn’t feel like a slow transition but one that happened relatively fast over night maybe a year if that.
Wow this was so accurate! Lol I was in high school and college from 04-13 and this style really got big in 08, the year I graduated high school, the year I started college, and the year the recession started. I remember going to a college party wearing this fedora that had one side longer than the other and a feather and leather string around it. It sounds ugly but it was actually really cute lol and I LOVED shopping at thrift omg did I love it and I still do! But I remember buying 80s shirts, Ray bans, the beanies, the acid wash. Yup yup. I still have my oversized acid wash jacket. I can seem to let it go. I started wearing it again recently. Honestly I think I dress like this still but with more “updated” pieces.
I mean it's cool that you mention some of the cons at the end of this video but not the pros and that most hipster trends were started by poor to lower middle classes (not white middle class - they likely made them more mainstream). I'm 37 and as kids my single mom working 2 jobs would take us to thrift shops to buy our clothes. She allowed us to pick out our own clothes which helped us to express our creativity and resourcefulness. Even though I wore hand me downs to high school (2000-2004), I was considered a best dressed with an unusual aesthetic combining many different styles. Some people criticized me demanding what box I fit into when really I just liked a bunch of styles and could only afford thrift so that's why I mashed them together. Hipsters broke down the barriers to only having to wear and be classified as one group (skaters vs punks vs surfers vs cholos, prep etc). So I'm very much proud to be of a minority race who developed a hipster aesthetic because it was born out of creativity, resourcefulness, and poverty (and do not consider it an appropriation of other cultures but yet an acceptance and influence by them which is of the highest honor). This was back when "thrift" actually was reflected in the prices and things you'd find for free on the street. Some of the pros is that despite the recession brought on by greedy capitalists putting people out of work, the hipster era sparked the surge of coffee shops and food trucks (originated by Hispanic food/taco trucks which was not mentioned here) which helped to employ people. This is a pro. Also, appropriation of wearing items from other cultures is a made up thing that white liberal people perpetuated. In the case of wearing tattoos and native/black/hispanic clothings helped to break down the stigma that if you dressed or wore certain clothes, you were a criminal. This is a pro that meant people who wear certain clothing and tattoos can be seen in a different light. When we speak of appropriation today, we speak as if it's 1999 again and people want to know what box you fit in and why you can't fit in other boxes... that's contradictory. Not to mention, thanks very much to capitalism (sarcasm), our broke out of work a55es helped spur the economy by purchasing homes in these low economic neighborhoods (which happened to be in my own neighborhood) and we've also helped dismantle crime ridden neighborhoods by doing so. You can buy a house in Compton for $700k now. It's still ghetto but not as bad as it used to be which is also good because it helps to improve the schools children attend and improve property maintenance so the houses can be passed to next generations. But nonetheless I still really enjoyed and appreciated watching this! Thank you.
I don't think that the hipster aesthetic is truly gone. First, I think many men in their late twenties-fourtys are still dressing like that. Probably because gen z fashion feels too young or too materialistic. Second, alternative (left) spaces are not changing a lot. We even saw it in your comparison with 60s hippies, 90s grunge, 80s punk etc. They are always wearing what the mainstream considers unfashionable: old shirts, work gear or military inspired clothes, ugly sweaters. They may have ditched core hipster items like the moustache motif, galaxy print or the bowler hat, but combat boots, leather jackets, workwear, the nose piercings or ugly glasses are not going anywhere. And they have and (probably) always will appropriate other cultures. If it's not native american pieces, it is indian or middle eastern stuff. But I noticed the pants getting bigger: As gen z enters alternative spaces, they bring their silhouette (big on bottom, tight on top). But other than that, politically left or alternative spaces have not changed at all, fashionwise.
Love its adoption of the best parts of many different eras. Agree that there was a few faux pas and massively agree it resulted in the rise of gentrification (as someone who lived through hipster peak 2004-2010 in my youth and uni days and is now priced out of housing market because of my own participation in the cool coffee scene and books store vibe I am a little bitter).
@@sofijones5048Yeah, I tend to think of a Rasta cap as a) crocheted, b) much more voluminous than a beret, to accommodate dreads, and c) often striped in the pan-African colors.
@@sofijones5048 I'd think the shape would be the most distinct. You do have some variance in what terms relate to how the hat is made vs. how it's worn. So a beret or tam is typically blocked flat and worn perched on top of the head, a beanie or tuque is more tubular and pulled down over the ears, and a slouch beanie or Rasta cap is longer, wider, and has some extra volume flopping down from the crown. You might wear long hair in a bun _inside_ a slouch beanie, but not a beret. All of this is from a knitting perspective, crocheters might use slightly different terminology.
I never realized how many influences hipsters took into to make their own, very interesting, and I love the way the video referenced both men and women’s usage of the style
I lived in South Philly in the aughts. If it wasn't the hipster capital, it was at least the hipster second city. Unlike the people in Brooklyn we didn't have trust funds. It was mostly people that grew up in lower middle class white suburbs and moved to the city. I can sum up the zeitgeist with a quote from Hemingway: "...we were very poor, and very happy." Warm summer nights, bike rides to punk shows, dive bars and house parties. I feel very sad for twenty somethings now.
Hipster fashion will never end, thrift stores are just cheap and super convenient, i live in LB hipster fashion is more popular here than it has in awhile
Unfortunately the rise of fast fashion with its poor quality fabrics, poor construction and lack of longevity could very well mean the gradual demise of thrift clothing.
@@wildmarjoramdieselpunk6396 we sell minnetonka moccasins- the slip on kinds- at my job every year (marshalls and I live in Maryland). I know that they sell the knee highs in some obscure places, and on their website, too!
Wow you really hit it on the head with this one. The gentrification and fast fashion. The social media making it less authentic and more diluted then previous countercultures, and even the appropriation of ethnic fashions with the top buttoned plaid shirts. Very well researched. You forgot about the Wolf t-shirts everyone wore tho lol
I’m fascinated by Afropunk which is basically a Black version of hipster, mainly done by left wing middle class people of African descent living in urban metropolises of the US, London, and English speaking African cities like Nairobi… in many ways this trend has far more in common with the hipster aesthetic than more established Black aesthetics in the diaspora (hip hop etc) or traditional African cultural attire. It also takes the negative aspects of white hipster culture which is a very narrow and elitist definition of what counts as ‘cool’ which relies on being constantly on the right social media platforms to get style inspiration, and spending a lot of money on trendy outfits which is way out of the budget of most Africans
I'm 32 and absolutely rocked hipster vibe! I loved the muscle t with a flannel and beanie and shorts with tights underneath. Omg, and those terribly uncomfortable toms shoes with everything hahaha
The rasta cap is similar to a hat called a tam here in the Uk and has been worn for hundreds of years originating in Scotland. As a 2010s hipster myself, i wore knitted tams not rasta caps. . It is similar to the beret style. Not every thing you think is appropriated.
It was defined by skinny jeans leather jackets and top hats definitely influenced by the Harlem Renaissance in New York City it was a way to look Chic like you weren't trying too hard
I love how appropriation was mentioned every two minutes but of course not when Scottish plaid/tartan was mentioned despite it being culturally worn as formal wear for weddings, funerals etc.
I recently found an oversized free people army jacket at the thrift that I remember wanting back in like 2013. Funny enough I was interning for the same concert promoter that does Coachella, AEG live. And I wanted this jacket so bad lol but of course because it was free people it was $200 😵💫 I’m pretty sure if I go back far enough on my Pinterest board I’ll find it saved there. Well I found it at the thrift store for $30 bucks (still pricey for a thrift store) but damn I felt good wearing it 😂😅 honestly, I’ve gotten so many compliments already when I’ve worn it out. Except now I wear it with workout leggings. Anyways it’s crazy how fast trends come and go. It’s why I love shopping second hand. Even for my kids. And I take pretty good care of my clothes.
I feel proud of denying being a hipster back in the 2010s and wearing second hand boots and frame glasses...gosh I miss those times, back when having a tattoo was cool and not mainstream. Once a hipster, always a hipster
Loved this video, you really summed up the era so well. Not many Plus Size females could fit into those skinny jeans. The Palestinian scarf seems to have made a comeback in 2024 though.
As someone who lived through this time I applaud you for your coverage of unisex and 80's and 90's influences, however I think you may be mixing up boho dressing of this time with hipster and they are not the same. Boho and hippie new age revival (festival wear) was its own thing. Hipster less likely to wear fringe and long necklaces and more likely to wear artistic earrings or imported jewelry from a local shop. Also the movement was in full swing by early 2000 to 2004 and even earlier in spots like Portland Oregon.
I appreciate you talking about fast fashion and environmental impacts of fashions. We should pay attention to this....then again I'm a old hipster so what do I know 😅...I was tumblr famous once! I still have a record collection too 😆
when the hipster aesthetic came back around, I was about 10-15. I used to go to a private school in East Africa, so I never got to wear anything but a uniform, which sucked because I used to come back to the states for the summer and have so many fits I wanted to wear that my mom had gotten for me at Ambercrombie or AE. really sucked, cause I'd got right home after school, and who tf wears a bowling hat at home. As a black, Muslim, 24 year old, who knows how to sew and crochet, I find myself gravitating back into this aesthetic, but more with the help of this video, I get to learn what it was really about. Hipsters did come off as pretentious growing up, but I've met some pretty chill ones because I guess at the end of the day, the entire subculture can't be lumped up to be a stereotype. Idk where I'm going with this- but I sure am glad that I cam across your page and this analysis. It's golden. You've def given 13 year old me a slap in the face with nostalgia
Ok i know how hipster this comment is gonna sound BUT I wish more of these images were of everyday hipsters & indie musicians instead of mainstream celebrities, trendy blogger, streetstylers imitating the style. It was cyclical btwn high fashion, trend blogs & fast fashion of but it was all informed by the indie subculture
I lived so many years in Glasgow defo an hipster city if you ask me, but sill pretty eterogeneuous with different social strata.tbh I don't think this style is a passing trend in Glasgow as they are huge on music, and indie rock is still kicking. Possibly this is an American perspective. In fact, I can see that there was a different take on that epoch. I have been part of many counter cultures,and none at the same time. I was into indie rock amongst other genres. I'm still an alternative person, and I feel ageless. People crying and screaming they are old, for sure have embarked on a life of societal expectations, becoming a grown person they themselves despise. Apart from this I subbed...pro tips it would be great if you add a series of how to edit vid for beginners...you are good at what you are doing
love your videos! please don't stop making them you r great!!!! wish u could do them for the new aesthethic of this era (coquette, office siren, quiet luxury...)
The thing is, the dichotomy between 'rebel consumer' and 'appropriating black culture' cannot be so starkly defined. The logic was that specifically by appropriating black culture one could become a rebel consumer. In his 1957 essay The White Negro, the American novelist and journalist Norman Mailer characterized hipsters as American existentialists, living a life surrounded by death-annihilated by the atomic war or strangled by social conformity-and electing instead to "divorce [themselves] from society, to exist without roots, to set out on that uncharted journey into the rebellious imperatives of the self". These early hispsters also didn't much (if at all) profit from this appropriation, since the usual avenues of fast fashion were non-existent, and there was at the time very little (if any) interest in corporatizing subcultural fashion.
I binged all of your content, this is seriously good. The only thing that makes me cringe a bit - is the constant refrain of cultural appropriation. While it is sometimes absolutely true, like, the trend of feathers, fringes, all refering to native american culture, it would be good to aknowledge other influences, including european influences. Large vests ? Definitely asian/japanese. Tattoos ? The oldest piece of tattoo we found was actually on the body of a cisalpine celtic man who died 5000 years ago. I encourage people not to take everything they read / watch online for gospel truth - including this comment. ✨🙏
I was hoping to hear more of the economic influences on hipster fashion. For example the cost of razors and barbers causing men to shave/cut their hair less often. I also would've liked a mention of the suspenders and bowtie inspiration of previous periods of economic hardship in the USA such as the 1890s and 1930s. Portlandia mentioned this in their song 'The dream of the 1890s is alive I'm Portland'.
As someone who was in my 20s in the hipster era, there is something fun and rebellious about it that was only heightened because of youth. I still appreciate the understanding of layering clothes and the willingness to adopt more vintage styles like skirts. The idea of rebellion makes a lot of sense due to the pressures of the baby boomer generation.
I like hipsters, sure the aesthetic can be pretentious and hypocritical but there's a lot of fun hobbies associated with it that I myself really like today and it's just people who were having fun at the end of the day. They got a lot of hate but they didn't deserve it all.
Skinny jeans/skinny chinos were the absolute worst. I bought a pair of skinny chinos back in 2012 because I noticed all the "cool kids" at my college wearing them. That was the first and last pair of skinny pants I ever owned. Truly terrible to wear. Relaxed fit is where it's at.
I loved this video! It brought back so many memories, I had to search the name Agyness Deyn because her face was so familiar from the 2010s. Also I realized that I still love several of the trends. I finally bought myself a Wayfarer last fall after wanting one for yeaarrsss. Guess we millennials are finally having enough income to buy nice things now?! :D
I was born right between the millennial and gen z years, and this style still influences my fashion sense. It was always ironic that the 'counterculture' styles were the ones I couldn't escape in stores and media.
When I was in middle school, it was the party rock era. I feel that 2012 was the death throes of the genre before it became the deconstruction of the late 2010s.
I remember this look being huge when I was in college. I was definitely trying to emulate the soft grunge tumblr side of things back then. At the time I thought of myself as unique and original but watching this and seeing that I was just like everyone else at the time 😂
I enjoyed this era but im glad its over bc everyone was SO SO pretentious that i really felt out of it most of the times, even though i was basically wearing the hipster uniform
But now it's much, much worse. I can't help but feel so much nostalgia because for me these times were simpler and everyone (unlike what you think) was less pretentious and materialistic than the people now. Today things are completely out of control, just spend a couple of hours on Tik Tok if you don't believe me.
It was something I wanted to be for a while, I thought of it like pop culture adventureism, along with the unique, non conformity and mixed retro style. The problem was it didn't end up being any different from what people claimed it was rebelling against. Their own hypocrisy killed the whole thing.
I see nothing wrong with “””culturally appropriating””” stuff and fashion It’s always been that way The ancient Roman Empire “appropriated” the Greek art of sculptures… so what?
Pipes have been in use in the west since the 1500s, and were not associated with intellctuals. In fact many old images of pipe smokers are set in peasant taverns.
A style always goes out of fashion for a generation or two and then the new youth rediscover it and love it once it becomes nostalgic. Same shit as always. The hipster aesthetic has a lot to do with the fact that malls were still a thing and online shopping was kind of just becoming widely accepted. Urban outfitters was available to teenaged millennials. We didn’t have depop and IG and targeted ads and endless brands online that were easily accessible. The hipster aesthetic was that. It was basically the coolest shit you could find at a shopping mall at the time. Black people went to fubu white people went to urban.
I’m a millennial who grew up in Portland. I started seeing what is being defined as the “hipster” aesthetic around 2003 at house shows as a teenager. I remember thinking it was refreshing seeing young men wearing well-fitting and tailored outfits compared to what boys were wearing at my high school- mainly polos, baggy jeans, and basketball shorts. In my mind they were like modern newsies, which signaled to everyone else they were…different. Counterculture as it goes. It only took a few years for it to become mainstream and seeing ultra skinny jeans go from a punk silhouette to the norm.
it will make a return as dressing in pjs,hobo couture, is the current meta.
Interesting, grew up in Chicago and I first noticed it in 98-99 from fans of what we now call “midwest emo” bands but wss just called post-hardcore back then by many.
It was a lot tigher pants (often thirfted old man trousers), chuck taylors, black rimmed glasses and band shirts.
Cedric bixler zavala and omar rodriguez lopez while still members of ATDI are probably the best examples.
I was in salem at the time but I agree, the whole thing predates the 2008 recession imo by quite a lot. The Strokes, Interpol, YYY, all had albums out in the very early 2000's and are typically thought of as hipster bands.
Sis - every time you say 'hipster' I feel like one of the animals from the Planet Earth documentaries. I can't believe we're so old that our teens/twenties items are now being deconstructed in video essays. It's crazy how detailed you've gone. I've always found it so interesting as someone from the global south / a developing nation how trends from America / the western world came to us - also funnily enough we would buy clothes that were made here but were meant for export for the western market - they were called 'export rejects' - there were whole markets where we could buy oversized tees, leggings, boho dresses, keffiyahs, fucking fedoras (of which I had a sad phase), short dresses with tights (functional for a place where you can't really go out showing much leg safely). We had our own versions of gentrified neighourhoods and small businesses - that then got a second and third wave of gentrification and mainstreaming. For me as a punk/grunge/indie kid - to be obsessed with music and even somewhat stupid tumblr pages, seeing those represented and our own tiny bourgeoning scenes - it's kind of fun to look back at it all.
Don't say sis, you hipster.
You're so iconic for that
Haha, same thing happened in South Africa regarding the whole “export rejects” thing
Wow, you left NO stone unturned. Hipster fashion is so much more understandable once you have the entire context and history of its origins on the table.
So much cultural appropriation it's untrue. 😮
No stone unturned except for Gen X.
@@TACOVAN I'm sure there's a video on Gen X uploaded
I'm 28 now and grow up with the hipster aesthetic as a teenage art student. Alot of my friends still dress this way and partake in "hipster" lifestyle choices. While a lot of people will call it ironic and in some ways it can be, I think the appeal was simply to appreciate and enjoy what we had and give it new life. Hipster fashion was celebrating a lot of things from the last and saying "let's not let go of this" and I notice alot of modern trends simply dont feel like they want to honor the past. Alot of my hipster friends actually became closer to their grandparents or parents wanting to wear their old hand me downs or learned a lot of history and skills from this aesthetic. I learned DJing, photography, repurposing, how to kiss a girl (lol), and even some mechanical work.
Gotta agree, as a guy who is 26 a lot of hipster fashion influenced people younger than me too,I know people who are 20-25 who still wear hipster fashion even now
Booo!
While many elements of hipster culture feel dated or cheezy now, and it also didn't live up to really challenging the status quo, it still majorly contributed to culture in some positive ways, like a re-appreciation for the crafts and vintage clothing (although it's a double sword, because the best vintage clothes are now ridiculous prices, and vintage stores are very gentrified).
And some of the styles do still look iconic and will probably be revived at some point
Gotta love the unspoken, but consistent visual references to *Alexa Chung as the ultimate example!*
I find Alexa Chung more twee personally!
And Nick Grimshaw for the men haha
A lot of Lua P, too. I love her style. ❤
I'd just like to point out that most people I knew during peak "hipster" era, who they themselves could have been labeled as such, preferred smoking cheap cigarettes (or "splurged" on American spirits) to vapes and jokingly refereed to it as "analog" smoking.
Yep. I still call "regular" cigarettes "analog" 😅
I looovveeddd the pretentiousness and weird vibes of hipsters. They really did put me on to so much good music that I had never heard before.
I had a love hate relationship with hipsters. I started going to shows in the scene at the end of 2003. I was born and raised in NYC so there was a level of resentment towards the people who were gentrifying our neighborhoods while I was simultaneously enjoying the music and all that came with the scene 😂 I had loads of fun, but can't say I was truly *in* the scene beyond the music (I saw SO many shows 😅). Instead, I was on the periphery dipping my toe in here and there.
@ijustneedmyself New York saved music at the time in my opinion. The "indie" scene that birthed The Strokes, Interpol, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs etc. was a welcome throwback to just cool alternative rock.
I still love a lot of those bands.
True hipsters were bitchy AF, especially to outsiders of their close friend groups. I always thought they were conformists and cultish. I love seeing how some of them still reserved their fashion styles and they look like Rock stars still haha. Still pretentious af when I see them post. I think most were older millennials. I fell into the indie sleaze category and it's embarrassing , no wonder I never truly fit in with them lol. They would turn up at the same parties but were like too cool and always acted like they were about to go to a much cooler show or party. Haha nostalgia ❤
This is one of the best explanations of, how Hipsters started their "signature look" and how later that was taken over by companies like "Urban Outfitters".
It definitely was inspired by black culture and jazz music as she accurately said
Hipsters got a lot of hate (I may have been one of those haters.) But looking back at it now, it all seems so innocent, compared to the styles and trends that have come after it.
@@jrojala Hipsters were annoying, but the current trends are even more annoying. Like what's up with the bull ring on your nose?
@@minnae.1747 Don't you ever think that... Maybe today's trends are just as innocent and you're just hating for no reason again?
@@kamilerazanskaite5274 All I'm saying a lot of people who get face tattoos may end up regretting them. Hope the tattoo removal improves.
i rember how much this style had a urge to push back against mcbling and the rise of "not like other girl"
The “not like other girls” thing didn’t exist back then. My hipster friends were more grossed out by mainstream than anything… we didn’t need to broadcast that we were different we just were. Idk. Mainstream was lame and most of us didn’t hang out in those spaces as those people were not interesting.
@@maverickbull1909 what you're describing is simply the basis of the pick me girl. do you think it came out of nowhere?
@@sophieschaible5747 idk where it came from. But hipsters didn’t need to be picked nor did they want to be picked by mainstream conformist losers. Pick me girls are the exact opposite. Hipsters were totally fine being weird alternative different and separate from all that. They didn’t broadcast it in order to be deemed interesting. In fact, hipsters thought it was lame to even be called a hipster and thus grouped in a singular category which could be stereotyped (part of their inherent pretentiousness). None of my hipster friends ever said they were hipsters. So… no… I don’t think they started the pick me thing at all. Only an outsider would think that. Outsiders are the ones who coined them hipsters and then sought to emulate them based on conformist tropes and trends.
@@sophieschaible5747 I think what they mean is that the not like other girl was an idea constructed by outside people imagining and assuming those women are doing it for male validation, while many were doing it because they wanted to.
@@BeneathFullMoon no I've heard many enough millennial and older GenZ women talk about their "not like other girls" phase in their teens/early 20's for it not to be a thing.
They considered anything coded "girly" and popular with girls as vapid and dumb and adopted alternative or quirky aesthetics to set themselves apart (not necessarily as pick-me girls tho).
One thing I think this video would have benefited from is some sort of discussion about the music scenes associated with hipsters. I understand your focu is on aesthetics, but as with most subcultures and counterculture movements, music is an extremely important component.
Also it's association with whiteness
@@johnindigo5477she did mention it
Just watched a documentary about a trend I was a part of in my teens/early 20's. Of course I would never admit it. Like a any real hipster, you never admitted you were a hipster. I guess it really is all over if I am admitting I was one, or at least wanted to be.
neo-hipster movement, anyone? :P
I still wear many of these separate items like the vintage pattern button ups and also still loooove a tight on the bottom, chunky on top moment.
The 2010s were when I first started considering fashion, so my taste will I think always be at least a little influenced by that era :')
I feel old now that most hipsters are in their 40s and having kids. The hipster trend was awesome and I miss it. Neighborhoods were so relaxed when they moved in but what sucked was that neighborhoods became so expensive due to the racist part of the real estate industry. I was a hipster in 2014 til 2017 when it went out of fashion. I pray the hipster movement makes a comeback though.
With how fast fashion is cycling, it probably will be back soon even though it has fallen out of fashion only 5 years ago. The trend is in the McBling era right now. It’s going to be going straight into hipster fashion soon enough. Especially since everything is so expensive again
I am not as concerned about its aesthetics but their ethics and lifestyle. Where did those go because it adoption seems to be of consumerists not creators.@@dessieangel1021
@@dessieangel1021 people have been talking about "indie sleaze" coming back for like two years now, which is legit just a new way of saying late 2000s hipster
Being hipster through 2014-2017? 😂 I sympathize. It was so out of fashion indeed. 80s were popular during that time, lo fi, pastel gothic
Good thing about it is that it was never meant to be popular. It makes a little difference , only you get from popularity is a corporate culture that takes over the reins and suffocate s it.
This is literally just all of Portland. I can see why Portland grew so much bc a lot of people were attracted by that mythos.
Toronto too... well the white people in Toronto anyways 😂
Portlandia and the hipster allure drove me to go to uni in Portland 😂 I love wet weather and forested land but grew up in the desert/chaparral, so it felt like the perfect place to run away to. Was kinda late to the trends as I started uni in 2014 but it was still a good time…
As someone that lived in Portland 2013-21 (NYC before and since) I was thinking this the whole time watching this nice vid. Look at Dandy Warhols style in the 90s, Stumptown Coffee (founded in ‘99,) food truck culture, and so many other things and it seems hipster culture was largely just the culture of Portland trending in other places.
36:29 Okay, _there_ it is! You talked about androgyny as the main reason for skinny jeans, but I'd argue they're functionally linked to the bike trend, because your hem can't get caught in your gear chain. And the bikes tie into the recession, because you don't have to pay for gas, and the simpler a bike is, the easier it is to fix it yourself.
Let's not forget Toms shoes! Such an important (and somewhat naive) expression of hipster conscientiousness :P I rocked toms for like 5 solid years...so much sweat XD
The colorfull makeup make so much more sense now. When kylie jenner drop her nude makeup, it was the conterpart of this style. Honestly i'm super exited for the next videos, i hope you will touch upon swag era, with miss Zendaya as the representativ, the rise of street wears and all. To me the cultural reset that changed everyting was miley cirus we can't stop so like 2014 to 2016 and evolved in the kardashion style, more nude than red color palette.
And the bright lip was a counterpart to the Y2K/Mc Bling ear (late 90's and early 2000's) nude "concealer" lips.
I wonder how many hours - days - weeks it costs to make a video like this one... Well done 👍🏻
thank you, an absurd amount of time haha
@@aestheticsexplained9639🌹
@@robo2606rose toy 😈
I noticed the term ‘appropriated’ is only used when talking about people of color, and terms like ‘adopted’ and ‘inspired’ by for non poc’s. Great video
For reallll but the videos are so engaging
Hipsters were a neoliberal answer to disillusionment with neoliberalism, one that appeared progressive and pro-working class, but could be easily folded back into the status quo. Unfortunately, capitalism is really good at recuperation like that.
Many good things did come out of the hipster era though: an appreciation for the crafts, the popularity of reusing clothes (Tbf it's a double edged sword), popularity of bike-riding in the US (in my own country it was always already a common way of transport), the repopularization of social movements (even if imperfectly so), the informalization of the workplace, focus on sustainability etc.
And while some elements have become incredibly cheezy, I genuinely still see elements of the aesthetic that look incredibly cool and will probably be revived in ten years or so (I mean, the "indie sleaze" thing is already kinda having its moment I've heard).
Super interesting take.
this is the channel i have been WAITING for
Cory Kennedy was an ultimate hipster at the height of MySpace. I have a love/hate of hipster. Being 17-22 in the 2005-2010 era of hipster and in the Hudson Valley, the hipsters there were stuck up and looked down on people if they liked anything on the radio or other mainstream areas. Eventually I think they grew up and had to get real jobs
Millennial here. You nailed it. I miss the hipster days a lot.
Edit: As to the gentrification problem: Don't forget that the 2008 crisis left many millennials financially disenfranchised as well, which led to taking up space in historically poor neighborhoods. The rise in small and bespoke businesses was our way to keep afloat in an otherwise unfriendly economy. This culture and alternative economy was majorly wiped put during Covid, and has yet to recover, leaving the now 30 and 40--something millennials disenfranchised yet again...
If you ever visit downtown Toronto you will see everyone still dresses alot like this. Pretty sure they always had and they always will look just like this.
I see, hipster style still rules in almost every country. Endless era! 😅
Just it's just how middle class white people dress
Agree I'd say the same for downtown New York I don't think it ever went away it depends on your geography
@@johnindigo5477I'm black and plenty of mord eclectic black people who are into the arts dress like this
THE WAY POLYVORE OPENED UNLOCKED CHILDHOOD MEMORIES FOR ME
i love 80s fashion but the 2010s did such a bad job at recycling 80s trends. I do feel nostalgia for that era but I remember even then thinking the fashion looked bad
Agreed !!!!!!!!!!!!
I was more scene kid then hipster in the late 00s early 10s but I remember the transition out of scene and hipster around 2015-2017 as the internet and social media became more accessible world wide
Back in the 00d regardless of your race everybody wanted to dress like a hipster lol it was that girl trust me it looked really cool but like you weren't trying too hard to your point the Kardashians pretty much took over pop culture in the mid to late 2010s so a lot of younger women were getting surgery to look like them and hipster was out
@ your definitely right I remember hipster to Kardashian influence was strong. Doesn’t feel like a slow transition but one that happened relatively fast over night maybe a year if that.
Wow this was so accurate! Lol I was in high school and college from 04-13 and this style really got big in 08, the year I graduated high school, the year I started college, and the year the recession started. I remember going to a college party wearing this fedora that had one side longer than the other and a feather and leather string around it. It sounds ugly but it was actually really cute lol and I LOVED shopping at thrift omg did I love it and I still do! But I remember buying 80s shirts, Ray bans, the beanies, the acid wash. Yup yup. I still have my oversized acid wash jacket. I can seem to let it go. I started wearing it again recently. Honestly I think I dress like this still but with more “updated” pieces.
I mean it's cool that you mention some of the cons at the end of this video but not the pros and that most hipster trends were started by poor to lower middle classes (not white middle class - they likely made them more mainstream).
I'm 37 and as kids my single mom working 2 jobs would take us to thrift shops to buy our clothes. She allowed us to pick out our own clothes which helped us to express our creativity and resourcefulness. Even though I wore hand me downs to high school (2000-2004), I was considered a best dressed with an unusual aesthetic combining many different styles. Some people criticized me demanding what box I fit into when really I just liked a bunch of styles and could only afford thrift so that's why I mashed them together. Hipsters broke down the barriers to only having to wear and be classified as one group (skaters vs punks vs surfers vs cholos, prep etc). So I'm very much proud to be of a minority race who developed a hipster aesthetic because it was born out of creativity, resourcefulness, and poverty (and do not consider it an appropriation of other cultures but yet an acceptance and influence by them which is of the highest honor). This was back when "thrift" actually was reflected in the prices and things you'd find for free on the street.
Some of the pros is that despite the recession brought on by greedy capitalists putting people out of work, the hipster era sparked the surge of coffee shops and food trucks (originated by Hispanic food/taco trucks which was not mentioned here) which helped to employ people. This is a pro.
Also, appropriation of wearing items from other cultures is a made up thing that white liberal people perpetuated. In the case of wearing tattoos and native/black/hispanic clothings helped to break down the stigma that if you dressed or wore certain clothes, you were a criminal. This is a pro that meant people who wear certain clothing and tattoos can be seen in a different light. When we speak of appropriation today, we speak as if it's 1999 again and people want to know what box you fit in and why you can't fit in other boxes... that's contradictory.
Not to mention, thanks very much to capitalism (sarcasm), our broke out of work a55es helped spur the economy by purchasing homes in these low economic neighborhoods (which happened to be in my own neighborhood) and we've also helped dismantle crime ridden neighborhoods by doing so. You can buy a house in Compton for $700k now. It's still ghetto but not as bad as it used to be which is also good because it helps to improve the schools children attend and improve property maintenance so the houses can be passed to next generations.
But nonetheless I still really enjoyed and appreciated watching this! Thank you.
I don't think that the hipster aesthetic is truly gone.
First, I think many men in their late twenties-fourtys are still dressing like that. Probably because gen z fashion feels too young or too materialistic.
Second, alternative (left) spaces are not changing a lot. We even saw it in your comparison with 60s hippies, 90s grunge, 80s punk etc. They are always wearing what the mainstream considers unfashionable: old shirts, work gear or military inspired clothes, ugly sweaters. They may have ditched core hipster items like the moustache motif, galaxy print or the bowler hat, but combat boots, leather jackets, workwear, the nose piercings or ugly glasses are not going anywhere. And they have and (probably) always will appropriate other cultures. If it's not native american pieces, it is indian or middle eastern stuff.
But I noticed the pants getting bigger: As gen z enters alternative spaces, they bring their silhouette (big on bottom, tight on top). But other than that, politically left or alternative spaces have not changed at all, fashionwise.
Agreed
My alt wardrobe still holds many of the "hipster" fashion items
Love its adoption of the best parts of many different eras. Agree that there was a few faux pas and massively agree it resulted in the rise of gentrification (as someone who lived through hipster peak 2004-2010 in my youth and uni days and is now priced out of housing market because of my own participation in the cool coffee scene and books store vibe I am a little bitter).
Galaxy print and mustaches. Galaxy print and mustaches EVERYWHERE. I so wanted a pair of galaxy print leggings tho😭
As a teenage during the late 00s and early 2010s, I related so much with the hipster trend 😂 I used to have every single items in this vid
The"rasta cap" was a beret, which is from the beat style of the 50s' and traditional Scottish styles.
yeah I caught that too
@@sofijones5048Yeah, I tend to think of a Rasta cap as a) crocheted, b) much more voluminous than a beret, to accommodate dreads, and c) often striped in the pan-African colors.
@@sofijones5048 I'd think the shape would be the most distinct. You do have some variance in what terms relate to how the hat is made vs. how it's worn. So a beret or tam is typically blocked flat and worn perched on top of the head, a beanie or tuque is more tubular and pulled down over the ears, and a slouch beanie or Rasta cap is longer, wider, and has some extra volume flopping down from the crown. You might wear long hair in a bun _inside_ a slouch beanie, but not a beret.
All of this is from a knitting perspective, crocheters might use slightly different terminology.
I never realized how many influences hipsters took into to make their own, very interesting, and I love the way the video referenced both men and women’s usage of the style
I lived in South Philly in the aughts. If it wasn't the hipster capital, it was at least the hipster second city. Unlike the people in Brooklyn we didn't have trust funds. It was mostly people that grew up in lower middle class white suburbs and moved to the city. I can sum up the zeitgeist with a quote from Hemingway: "...we were very poor, and very happy." Warm summer nights, bike rides to punk shows, dive bars and house parties. I feel very sad for twenty somethings now.
Hipster fashion will never end, thrift stores are just cheap and super convenient, i live in LB hipster fashion is more popular here than it has in awhile
What does lb stand for
@@natatattful Long Beach CA
Unfortunately the rise of fast fashion with its poor quality fabrics, poor construction and lack of longevity could very well mean the gradual demise of thrift clothing.
@@franceshanna3724 I doubt it, working class people will always shop thrift
The vintage workwear aesthetic is today's hipster fashion.
so mcbling turned to hipster turned to hypebeast which was just mcbling 2.0
Don’t forget the Minnetonka moccasins and fringe boots, they had a chokehold on hipsters back in the day
They are very comfortable. I just wish they were made in the US.
@@wildmarjoramdieselpunk6396 we sell minnetonka moccasins- the slip on kinds- at my job every year (marshalls and I live in Maryland). I know that they sell the knee highs in some obscure places, and on their website, too!
Wow you really hit it on the head with this one. The gentrification and fast fashion. The social media making it less authentic and more diluted then previous countercultures, and even the appropriation of ethnic fashions with the top buttoned plaid shirts. Very well researched. You forgot about the Wolf t-shirts everyone wore tho lol
I’m fascinated by Afropunk which is basically a Black version of hipster, mainly done by left wing middle class people of African descent living in urban metropolises of the US, London, and English speaking African cities like Nairobi… in many ways this trend has far more in common with the hipster aesthetic than more established Black aesthetics in the diaspora (hip hop etc) or traditional African cultural attire. It also takes the negative aspects of white hipster culture which is a very narrow and elitist definition of what counts as ‘cool’ which relies on being constantly on the right social media platforms to get style inspiration, and spending a lot of money on trendy outfits which is way out of the budget of most Africans
big beards are going to be associated with millennial men and short curly hair on men is going to be associated with gen z men
Just blown away by the care and time you put into this video. Well done
I'm 32 and absolutely rocked hipster vibe! I loved the muscle t with a flannel and beanie and shorts with tights underneath. Omg, and those terribly uncomfortable toms shoes with everything hahaha
yes! no mention of Toms XD I rocked Toms from, like, 2010-2015. So much sweat...
The rasta cap is similar to a hat called a tam here in the Uk and has been worn for hundreds of years originating in Scotland. As a 2010s hipster myself, i wore knitted tams not rasta caps. . It is similar to the beret style. Not every thing you think is appropriated.
All I remember hipsters wearing were flannel shirts, skinny jeans, and lots of hats.
It was defined by skinny jeans leather jackets and top hats definitely influenced by the Harlem Renaissance in New York City it was a way to look Chic like you weren't trying too hard
I love how appropriation was mentioned every two minutes but of course not when Scottish plaid/tartan was mentioned despite it being culturally worn as formal wear for weddings, funerals etc.
I recently found an oversized free people army jacket at the thrift that I remember wanting back in like 2013. Funny enough I was interning for the same concert promoter that does Coachella, AEG live. And I wanted this jacket so bad lol but of course because it was free people it was $200 😵💫 I’m pretty sure if I go back far enough on my Pinterest board I’ll find it saved there. Well I found it at the thrift store for $30 bucks (still pricey for a thrift store) but damn I felt good wearing it 😂😅 honestly, I’ve gotten so many compliments already when I’ve worn it out. Except now I wear it with workout leggings. Anyways it’s crazy how fast trends come and go. It’s why I love shopping second hand. Even for my kids. And I take pretty good care of my clothes.
They’re called harem pants. Not Harlem lol. Look up what ‘harems’ are and you’ll see why. Think of Aladdin/middle eastern pants.
I feel proud of denying being a hipster back in the 2010s and wearing second hand boots and frame glasses...gosh I miss those times, back when having a tattoo was cool and not mainstream. Once a hipster, always a hipster
Please do the 2014 Tumblr "soft grunge" aesthetic!
“who sings this song?”
“oh….. you’ve probably never heard of them 🤭”
this is so well-research and well presented... the way you went back and forth between direct and indirect style influences is really great!!
Loved this video, you really summed up the era so well. Not many Plus Size females could fit into those skinny jeans. The Palestinian scarf seems to have made a comeback in 2024 though.
As someone who lived through this time I applaud you for your coverage of unisex and 80's and 90's influences, however I think you may be mixing up boho dressing of this time with hipster and they are not the same. Boho and hippie new age revival (festival wear) was its own thing. Hipster less likely to wear fringe and long necklaces and more likely to wear artistic earrings or imported jewelry from a local shop. Also the movement was in full swing by early 2000 to 2004 and even earlier in spots like Portland Oregon.
In 2014 if you had skinny jeans and an iPhone you were a hipster. Now that’s just every normie. Interesting how stuff crosses over.
True. It's especially noticeable here in the UK. Most guys either dress like a 2014 emo kid or a 2014 hipster. Makes me cringe.
Finally… someone who understands what the Hipster Aesthetic actually looked like. Lol
I appreciate you talking about fast fashion and environmental impacts of fashions. We should pay attention to this....then again I'm a old hipster so what do I know 😅...I was tumblr famous once! I still have a record collection too 😆
when the hipster aesthetic came back around, I was about 10-15. I used to go to a private school in East Africa, so I never got to wear anything but a uniform, which sucked because I used to come back to the states for the summer and have so many fits I wanted to wear that my mom had gotten for me at Ambercrombie or AE. really sucked, cause I'd got right home after school, and who tf wears a bowling hat at home. As a black, Muslim, 24 year old, who knows how to sew and crochet, I find myself gravitating back into this aesthetic, but more with the help of this video, I get to learn what it was really about. Hipsters did come off as pretentious growing up, but I've met some pretty chill ones because I guess at the end of the day, the entire subculture can't be lumped up to be a stereotype. Idk where I'm going with this- but I sure am glad that I cam across your page and this analysis. It's golden. You've def given 13 year old me a slap in the face with nostalgia
You should make a video about 2010s Tumblr Girl
Yes!!!!!! Tumblr was a time
Wow massive study of hipster’s era. Thank you so much ❤ I’m a fan of your channel now
Ok i know how hipster this comment is gonna sound BUT I wish more of these images were of everyday hipsters & indie musicians instead of mainstream celebrities, trendy blogger, streetstylers imitating the style. It was cyclical btwn high fashion, trend blogs & fast fashion of but it was all informed by the indie subculture
I still own each one of these 😭💕 except the harem pants.
I lived so many years in Glasgow defo an hipster city if you ask me, but sill pretty eterogeneuous with different social strata.tbh I don't think this style is a passing trend in Glasgow as they are huge on music, and indie rock is still kicking. Possibly this is an American perspective. In fact, I can see that there was a different take on that epoch. I have been part of many counter cultures,and none at the same time. I was into indie rock amongst other genres. I'm still an alternative person, and I feel ageless. People crying and screaming they are old, for sure have embarked on a life of societal expectations, becoming a grown person they themselves despise. Apart from this I subbed...pro tips it would be great if you add a series of how to edit vid for beginners...you are good at what you are doing
love your videos! please don't stop making them you r great!!!!
wish u could do them for the new aesthethic of this era (coquette, office siren, quiet luxury...)
The thing is, the dichotomy between 'rebel consumer' and 'appropriating black culture' cannot be so starkly defined. The logic was that specifically by appropriating black culture one could become a rebel consumer. In his 1957 essay The White Negro, the American novelist and journalist Norman Mailer characterized hipsters as American existentialists, living a life surrounded by death-annihilated by the atomic war or strangled by social conformity-and electing instead to "divorce [themselves] from society, to exist without roots, to set out on that uncharted journey into the rebellious imperatives of the self".
These early hispsters also didn't much (if at all) profit from this appropriation, since the usual avenues of fast fashion were non-existent, and there was at the time very little (if any) interest in corporatizing subcultural fashion.
I cannot express enough how happy it made me to see an X Ray Spex t-shirt in these pics! Polly Styrene was my hero way back in the day
I binged all of your content, this is seriously good. The only thing that makes me cringe a bit - is the constant refrain of cultural appropriation. While it is sometimes absolutely true, like, the trend of feathers, fringes, all refering to native american culture, it would be good to aknowledge other influences, including european influences. Large vests ? Definitely asian/japanese. Tattoos ? The oldest piece of tattoo we found was actually on the body of a cisalpine celtic man who died 5000 years ago. I encourage people not to take everything they read / watch online for gospel truth - including this comment. ✨🙏
most in depth and fire channel atm going cRazy
I appreciate these videos for their knowledge and effort
I was hoping to hear more of the economic influences on hipster fashion. For example the cost of razors and barbers causing men to shave/cut their hair less often. I also would've liked a mention of the suspenders and bowtie inspiration of previous periods of economic hardship in the USA such as the 1890s and 1930s. Portlandia mentioned this in their song 'The dream of the 1890s is alive I'm Portland'.
absolutely AMAZING job on this!!!!!
As someone who was in my 20s in the hipster era, there is something fun and rebellious about it that was only heightened because of youth. I still appreciate the understanding of layering clothes and the willingness to adopt more vintage styles like skirts. The idea of rebellion makes a lot of sense due to the pressures of the baby boomer generation.
i love how u edit ur videos based on the aestheticc
Remember… to appropriate is to appreciate. 🥰
I saw Agyness Deyn in here a few times, she was a hipster IT girl for sure. I just looked her up and she goes for a more quiet luxury look now
my youth is getting broken down. ahhhhhh!!!
I like hipsters, sure the aesthetic can be pretentious and hypocritical but there's a lot of fun hobbies associated with it that I myself really like today and it's just people who were having fun at the end of the day. They got a lot of hate but they didn't deserve it all.
I feel Viberg was huge part of bringing in service boot style that came with hipster. Great video
Skinny jeans/skinny chinos were the absolute worst. I bought a pair of skinny chinos back in 2012 because I noticed all the "cool kids" at my college wearing them. That was the first and last pair of skinny pants I ever owned. Truly terrible to wear. Relaxed fit is where it's at.
Appreciate this illumination of my college experience and coming of age!!
Hipsters were also materialistic 😅 they wore also designer stuff and had apple etc
Very well done! the details and overall presentation are stimulating. I learned a lot! Now I feel a bit melancholy! Ha!
paige reifler’s hipster urban outfitters era was my bisexual awakening ✨
I loved this video! It brought back so many memories, I had to search the name Agyness Deyn because her face was so familiar from the 2010s. Also I realized that I still love several of the trends. I finally bought myself a Wayfarer last fall after wanting one for yeaarrsss. Guess we millennials are finally having enough income to buy nice things now?! :D
I was born right between the millennial and gen z years, and this style still influences my fashion sense. It was always ironic that the 'counterculture' styles were the ones I couldn't escape in stores and media.
When I was in middle school, it was the party rock era. I feel that 2012 was the death throes of the genre before it became the deconstruction of the late 2010s.
I feel called out on the carpet for this. I have so many hipster staples in my closet. But don't take my bangs and kanken bag. 😂❤
This is my era, period!! Hope it will come back together with Indie/Alternative Style and Music. Damn it I am old 😂
This is a great video!! Please do more❤
To me all of these trends just seem like what was mainstream fashion back then… am I missing something? Was everyone a hipster back then? 😄
For me the twees were more the hipstery ones and this was what everyone was wearing
I remember this look being huge when I was in college. I was definitely trying to emulate the soft grunge tumblr side of things back then. At the time I thought of myself as unique and original but watching this and seeing that I was just like everyone else at the time 😂
I credit so much of my taste to Tumblr
I enjoyed this era but im glad its over bc everyone was SO SO pretentious that i really felt out of it most of the times, even though i was basically wearing the hipster uniform
But now it's much, much worse. I can't help but feel so much nostalgia because for me these times were simpler and everyone (unlike what you think) was less pretentious and materialistic than the people now. Today things are completely out of control, just spend a couple of hours on Tik Tok if you don't believe me.
It was something I wanted to be for a while, I thought of it like pop culture adventureism, along with the unique, non conformity and mixed retro style.
The problem was it didn't end up being any different from what people claimed it was rebelling against. Their own hypocrisy killed the whole thing.
Very good video, well done work.
I see nothing wrong with “””culturally appropriating””” stuff and fashion
It’s always been that way
The ancient Roman Empire “appropriated” the Greek art of sculptures… so what?
Pipes have been in use in the west since the 1500s, and were not associated with intellctuals. In fact many old images of pipe smokers are set in peasant taverns.
A style always goes out of fashion for a generation or two and then the new youth rediscover it and love it once it becomes nostalgic. Same shit as always.
The hipster aesthetic has a lot to do with the fact that malls were still a thing and online shopping was kind of just becoming widely accepted. Urban outfitters was available to teenaged millennials. We didn’t have depop and IG and targeted ads and endless brands online that were easily accessible.
The hipster aesthetic was that. It was basically the coolest shit you could find at a shopping mall at the time.
Black people went to fubu white people went to urban.