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Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization

“You’re not some club kid in New York in the nineties. This shit is so hipster!” – which sparks a bit of a catfight, causing me to beat a hasty retreat.

It’s the cover story of Adbusters this month, and it’s not just another article making fun of hipsters. Def worth a read, especially if you work in marketing.

“Take a stroll down the street in any major North American or European city and you’ll be sure to see a speckle of fashion-conscious twentysomethings hanging about and sporting a number of predictable stylistic trademarks: skinny jeans, cotton spandex leggings, fixed-gear bikes, vintage flannel, fake eyeglasses and a keffiyeh - initially sported by Jewish students and Western protesters to express solidarity with Palestinians, the keffiyeh has become a completely meaningless hipster cliché fashion accessory.”

Def add Australia to this list!

It used to be that one had to seek out what was cool..sure there were always sources to turn to for guidance, but are the days of pouring through a Vouge, running to the store and showing up to school the next day with that, “I love this dress sooo much, but is anyone/everyone else going to think so” gone by? Does anyone not have a clue what’s cool or what’s not when you can browse millions of websites telling you so? Or even better, no real need for browsing when you can have your RSS/subscription email/facebook app/friend feed do it for you!

“The dancers are too self-aware to let themselves feel any form of liberation; they shuffle along, shrugging themselves into oblivion.

Is self-awareness a trait that will be more and more ingrained in us and generations to come? Has the internet and our ‘virtual persona’ (how we represent ourselves online) made us more aware of how we present ourselves in real life? Since it could easily come back to haunt us via google cache/facebook photos, are we slowly self-regulating?

Skater, hiphop, indie, they are all wearing the same graphic hoodies, listening to Daft Punk and amalgamating into one giant, watered-down hipster. What happens when the counterculture becomes the mainstream and does this global homogenization mean the end of counterculture? Is this a reflection of a new ‘we are all connected’ generation?

“Hipsterdom is the first “counterculture” to be born under the advertising industry’s microscope, leaving it open to constant manipulation but also forcing its participants to continually shift their interests and affiliations. Less a subculture, the hipster is a consumer group – using their capital to purchase empty authenticity and rebellion. But the moment a trend, band, sound, style or feeling gains too much exposure, it is suddenly looked upon with disdain. Hipsters cannot afford to maintain any cultural loyalties or affiliations for fear they will lose relevance.”

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