When/Why Did It Become Cool To Be A Hipster?

@BoG:

What future? There is a limited window in which Lunar life would be cool.

@Video_Game_King: You know, the one in the future.

@BoG:

You say that as though there's one future.

@Gamer_152 said:

This hipster stuff isn't really a thing in the UK, but what I've seen of the anti-hipster stuff from the U.S. has been pretty annoying and a little bit hysterical. If someone thinks they're better than other people for listening to newer music then yeah, that's pretty douchey, and if people are trying to be unique by conforming well then yeah, they're doing it wrong, but this whole thing seems very silly. We all conform to certain cultural standards, "hipsters" appear to be just another sub-culture, and if you think you can judge everything about a person from the way they dress or the music they listen to then you're probably just as deluded and just as much of an asshole as any "hipster" out there.

Even if you're just annoyed by the way they dress, their mannerisms, the way they talk, or what they listen to, why does it matter so much to you? The people who seem to be the most annoyed by specific sub-cultures and consider themselves qualified to most make judgements on them, are the ones who proudly express how detached they are from the sub-culture themselves. This obsession with judging people by their clothes and musical taste is the kind of thing 14 year old girls are all about, I thought we would be past that kind of thing by now. As long as someone is not hurting anyone else with what they're doing, live and let live, you're going to have a much more stress-free time in life if you do.

Well that's true as well. I'm sure different countries and cities have different hipster cultures. Maybe they aren't such bad people in some areas. I don't like writing judgmental things about people. because that is not what I am about at all. I am just perplexed as to where the hipster culture came from. More than anything it is the attitude that I dislike. Their whole love for weird music and odd clothing styles are just strange, and a little funny, but I certainly don't judge a book by it's cover. If someone were an easily identifiable Hipster it's not like I wouldn't be friendly and talk to them. But if they were complete jerks, I would think to myself ... good lord, another ridiculous hipster, how did these people get so messed up?

Others have mentioned that hipsters have always been around. I guess to some extent that is true. There have always been groups that conform to a certain style. But In my lifetime, no social group has been as large or popular. Back in the mid 90's and early 2000's quite a lot of people pretended that they were rappers / gangsters, but that was a bit different. It wasn't really an exclusive group that had to act or dress a cetain way.

What's a "hipster"?

I myself don't really know what exactly defines a hipster. I only began hearing it used in the last few years. All I know is that there is suddenly a group of really obnoxious people who dress in silly clothing, utilizing similar elements (neon / tight pants / big black glasses, outrageous hairstles) each trying to look more ridiculous than the other. Some listen to music they don't even like, but listen to it because it makes tham appear original or cool. No other social group (or even individuals) I have come across prior to the last five years have behaved or acted like this. Where did they come from?

If my post has offended you, or made you feel judged, I am sorry. That is not the intent of my post. I am just curious about why or how this huge and incredibly popular social movement developed?! Maybe it's not that big in your city or town, but in mine, it seems to be one of the most dominant groups.

Don't think.

Feel.

It became cool to be a hipster before you even knew it was cool to be a hipster

I met an actual hipster once (probably have met others, but none as memorable as this one guy). A girl inadvertently called him a hipster due to the way he dressed and the fact that he kept on trying to put on music no one liked, I like a lot of different types of music but what he was putting on was awful. But anyway, this guy got so offended about kinda being called a hipster he yelled out, "I'm not a fucking hipster!!!" and ran out the door. We didn't see him for hours, apparently while he was out he may have pulled a knife out on some people all while his friends were looking for him, true story. When he got back, he may have kinda made reference to date raping a girl passed out in the bathroom. Then finally he tried to pick a fight with me, which was weird given I was never the one to call him a hipster. Moral of the story, I guess, is to never call a hipster a hipster.

But really I have nothing against hipsters, I love to wear a fedora (on occasion), but when I see the prototypical hipster walking down the street, I chuckle a little bit and get a little scared all at the same time.

Ironic how people who try to be original, unique and individualistic end up all looking and acting the same.

Anyone who says otherwise from OP has never known a hipster, or atleast a hipster wannabe, which is extra lame

When there is a person/group of ppl who are revisiting a particular style from a very impacting and influential era, or better yet reviving a long missed style of such an era, there are some expectations from those who actually lived in that time. And in turn, a responsibility on those who choose to "bring it back". Ex: if i see a young kid riding a skateboard and wearing a torn pair of jeans with patches, and a misfits shirt, I expect that kid to actually be the one who ripped holes in those pants and actually listen to, and like, the misfits. Not because I'm narrow minded but because that style, that unique look had a serious impact on the time in which it started. Before, it was called a "poser" if you displayed a certain brand or band or style without loving it or listening to is or learning about it first. If you never actually define who you are before showing the world your individuality, then the people who are trying to view things for their value and influence rather than what is "cool, or not cool" feel even more defeated. It's just another set of posers, but this group is covering all the topics at once, almost like a game. Who can de-authenticate the most shit in one outfit and beard style. Just my thought.

Stop. Hipsters don't exist. Such a tired slur.

Hi. I listen to obscure music, as a result people call me a hipster, when in actuality I just like listening to music. I play arty indie games and get called a hipster, when I just like original video games. I think people don't understand what the term hipster means

Oh another necro'd thread that's going to get locked, cool.

@boozak: reviving old threads is the new hipster trend

Millennials are worse than hipsters.

It always comes across as someone googling a topic of interest, clicking on a search result for a thread on GB, and then going through the trouble to create an account and write a post... all without seeing (or caring) that the topic is usually several years old. For the off topic stuff like this, I wonder if they even realize they're on a video game website.

What Was the Hipster?, Mark Greif described the term as meaning a "consumer" who "aligns himself both with rebel subculture and with the dominant class and thus opens up a poisonous conduit between the two

As far as I go, hipster was not always a bad term. It generally meant some individual who was in some way counter cultural, without pigeon holing them as a hippy, as a beatnik, as a punk etc. Kerouac, among others, uses the term much in that sense with the counter cultures of that time. Young people recently made it a dirty term, though I understand the definition. In my day we would have called such people as affectatious, or pretend. There are better terms I know. To my own thinking, it would be more marrying oneself to materialism and consumption while adopting the trappings of a culture that to some significant degree rejects the values of material culture..

In a real confusing early tweet, Dan Ryckert illustrated that by snarling at a Hippy/ Grateful Dead-like Clothing store. It looked like he hated hippys, where in fact he probably, or also, hated stores that sold you 50 dollar tie-dye shirts and 100 dollar matching pants.