What is hipster?

[firecat]

There is a company that sells printed magnetic sheets the size of your whole refrigerator*. This one depicts 35mm cameras, Converse basketball shoes, round glasses, something that looks like a cassette tape, and something else I can't parse. This particular magnet is called "hipsters set."

http://www.kudumagnets.com/hipsters-set

I thought I had an idea of what hipster is. But this makes me think that hipster is nostalgia for the 70s, and that's not what I thought it was.

*If you ask me, that takes all the fun out of refrigerator magnets.

Comments

[cleverthylacine]

Apparently I am a hipster (when I'm not a lolita), which amuses me no end. Ever since I went gluten-free and lost enough weight to shop at some of the weird/quirky shops I like (not intentionally, it was just a side-effect, and the sizing is hit or miss for me), people have begun looking at me like I belong in those shops, which, as has been pointed out to me by several very amused friends, are hipster shops.

I am older than most of them but most of my close friends are in that age group and so far as I can tell, being a hipster seems to mean a habit of wearing horn-rimmed glasses and quirky clothes which people who don't fit the demographic find unfashionable, but which I hesitate to call unfashionable when almost everyone I know who cares about fashion at all likes them.

I'm not big into the ironic/pretending not to be interested thing but I do sort of think it's ironic when I run around wearing Angelic Pretty's Decoration Pony necklace (intended to be worn with lolita), a waffle shirt, and a My Little Pony beanie and/or barrettes?

Anyhow, the style is basically dark rimmed/cat eye glasses (if you wear glasses), narrow pant legs, tunic dresses over leggings/slim pants, scarves, etc but the really big things that denote "hipster" to me are the juxtapositions, when people wear t-shirts with old labels or graphics on them with modern clothes, or an item that is a kid's accessory or a vintage piece or an ethnic/traditional piece with their other clothes. And really cool socks. Hipsters love awesome socks. They also love clothing styles that people wore in the 1950s-60s-70s. This sometimes causes me to gape with horror when a friend announces that they really like something that looks like a horrific thing my mom tried to make me wear in 1975, but I really love a lot of the stuff like cat-eye glasses and dresses that look like they belong on Mad Men (with or without leggings and flats), so idk.

I think a lot of the people who wear this look maybe take themselves a bit too seriously but that's a thing that people in their early to mid 20s who are afraid people will think they're kids have done since time immemorial.

[firecat]

Thanks! I'm starting to get the picture now.

This sometimes causes me to gape with horror when a friend announces that they really like something that looks like a horrific thing my mom tried to make me wear in 1975

I feel that way pretty often...