The Hipster Movement

So, I consider myself to be quasi-hippie. No, that doesn’t mean I’m a tree hugger. It’s so much more than that. I think that being a hippie is a mentality; it is sort of a way to live life. It’s about…. being about something different than what everyone else is about and letting that something define you. And yes, it sometimes coincides with dreadlocks and a bit more freedom from the recommended number of weekly showers… but those two things are OPTIONAL.

But what’s the real difference between a hippie and hipster? Well, I think hipster is supposed to be the “new cool”. But did you know: the word hippie actually came from hipster? Yeah… that’s right. You hipsters don’t even know it, but you’re part hippie. Similar to a hipster, one of the main things about being a hippie is not conforming to society, to be a free thinker, to challenge things. On the other hand, I think that being a hipster means that you are currently fashionable, to set a trend, but to still have your own style. Sound like a contradiction to anyone? They’re telling you to be trendy… but just be different about it. So, being a hipster is a trend. It’s what “in” right now…. But what are you gonna do? Really, how do you dress differently unless you are knitting your own clothes? We all shop at the same stores….  I’ve thought about this and I believe I have it figured out. I’ll tell you how it is done. You ready? Wear things that don’t go together. Wear as many mismatched things as you can. The more holes the better. Basically, you have to just to try and dress as awful as you possibly can. So, that’s what’s going on: The new trend is to dress very badly. Denim, daisy duke cutoffs will be in fashion next season. For those of you who don’t know: Daisy Dukes are really short shorts. That’s straight out of the urban dictionary. Wearing Daisy duke cutoffs and shredded t-shirts is the next step of the process.

What people don’t realize is that trends aren’t always coming out of nowhere. Sometimes, it’s a process.. In our case, people have been dressing worse and worse since the 1920s, where people were actually dressing very well. In the 30s, people were poor from the depression, so they wore the dingy clothes they bought in the 20s. That means they looked good still, but it was just slightly worse. In the 40s and 50s, people were too busy conceiving the baby boomer population to worry about clothes. In the 60s, people decided not to wear clothes for a different reason entirely. In the 70s, Black men were the only people in America who had style. This is a well-known fact. Don’t even bother looking it up. And to wrap up the history lesson, I’ll tell you this: As a country, I think that we basically hit rock bottom after the stock market crash of 2008 when people had to start wearing hand-me-downs again. Shopping for clothes at Goodwill became cool because you were being thrifty and different.  Basically, the last three decades have been a social experiment where people were just trying their hardest to look different. That sure as hell explains the 80s.  That explains Madonna. That explains Lady GaGa. So, I’m going to save you all a bit of headache and tell you how to overcome the challenge of looking different. It is a very big secret that the hipsters helped me to figure out. Here it is: STOP CARING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK. Start thinking for yourself! If you can do this, you will realize that you don’t have to conform, and you will just be different.

But… trends pop up all the time. That’s what they do. They procreate. They fester, and they eventually pop. Sometimes, I think to myself: this looks absolutely ridiculous - I cannot believe people are actually wearing this.  I’ll give you an example. Right now, it’s the kids with the relay for life sunglasses. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the hot-pink or hot-blue sunglasses that look like they came out of a cereal box. I don’t get it. So I’m sitting back and watching this from the outside and am in complete awe of this trend. I’m just watching…. thinking… all of these people are practicing self expression and, yet, still look the same as everyone else. But I guess that’s the cool thing about trends: they allow you to wear things that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing 5 years ago. Well, I’m here to tell ya: It looked stupid then, and it still looks stupid now.

On the other hand, some things will just always look good. Zoot suits are still pimp. Dick Tracy will never go out of style. No one has ever looked at a man in a pimp suit and said “he should hang that up”.  You want to know why this never goes out of style? Because it looks good! Things that look good transcend style and fashion.