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November 18, 2008

Post- Hipster or Anti-Hipster: What comes next? (a conversation)

0 Boost Score Anna Gilkerson (7,000)
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All photos from Vice Magazine

I’ll admit it, I am an avid Facebook user. Some even may call it chronic. This morning I boldly added a pop cultural question to my current status. Basically I was thinking about “Hipsters” and how mainstream the whole idea of anti-mainstream has become.  What will be the next big cultural fashion overhaul in the dawning age of Obamaism?

I left it open for debate, thinking “ah no one will reply it’s not really that important…” and moved on with my day. A little while later I received a few comments, I wrote back and then the conversation just blew up.

Anna is looking for the newest thing. The ANTI-HIPSTER…so what is that exactly…well it can be many elements… 8:35am

– 20 Comments
Josh Webb at 8:40am November 18
My friend Liam is the Anti-Hipster.
Anna Kristina Gilkerson at 8:44am November 18
what IS an ANTI-HIPSTER though? Cause…
Jonathan McKeever at 9:55am November 18
Well, I’m no fashionista but HIPSTER seems like a combo of: irony, (subtle) quest for the new ‘formal’, and the carefully cultivated appearance of not caring a bit. Fundamentally cynical, but revel-rous nevertheless. With an optional dash of nostalgia. The literal opposite might be: earnest, guileless, veering on the side of traditional, … thirsting for ‘casual’, and the oblivious belief in ‘modern.’ That goes two ways, both bad: Abercrombie and Fitch may be the polar *opposite* of hipster. The other would be a sort of Martha Stewart mom’s wear: white khaki pants and an “oh look at me you caught me pruning” vibe.
Acknowledged that OPPOSITE and ANTI are not the same. If you are looking for the POST HIPSTER (ha ha this sounds sooo banal, sorry), then I daresay you’d be looking for someone whose beliefs and vision significantly outweigh their vanity, even to the point of naivetee. Think Che Guevara, Frida Kahlo, Trotsky. Visionaries. Socialists. Lovers marching….
Josh Webb at 9:56am November 18
well for starters he doesn’t own a mac…
Josh Webb at 10:00am November 18
people in thier teens to 20s who generally listen to indie rock, hang out in coffee shops, shop at the thrift store and talk about things like books, music, films and art, ride fixed gear bikes and wear snowboard/ski/hockey helmets while doing so.
Brooke Gray at 10:09am November 18
sure she owns a mac, if it’s the best tool for the job. she just doesn’t wave it in your face.
Brooke Gray at 10:11am November 18
but probably not an ipod!
Anna Kristina Gilkerson at 10:22am November 18
I think you all have good points.
I think Jonathan explained it really well by incorporating my actual question. What happens AFTER the hipster? I mean it seems like the end all and be all of existence no??
Behind every trend there is another one lurking. The lurking trend is first seen on street kids or artists and after about 10 years Walmart sells it in the 2 dollar bin.

I had my first experiences near Bedford Ave. In Williamsburg, Brooklyn. All these beautiful rich kids would go thrift shopping for avocado cardigans and 80’s band t-shirts. All the boyfriends drove shit brown chevy’s and all their girls wore fake eye glasses. It was all about embracing the feeling you got in school when everyone hated you because your locker smelled like bananas and couldn’t afford new Nike Jordans so you wore the ones from your dad’s 78′ graduation year. I think hipsters are nerds that never got to experience being a true nerd or they were nerds that found other like nerds and they banked on it

Anna Kristina Gilkerson at 10:24am November 18
Is it being the true ARTIST? Or is it about intelligence and culture? Or is it about being yourself? Individuality can only be mustered through the absoluteness of oneself. If we all copy each other in an ironic way it may work for a while but then that is just becoming another trend. As soon as we copy each other it becomes a trend.
Anna Kristina Gilkerson at 10:27am November 18
Maybe the last statement is so obvious it isn’t. I have learned a lot from the hipster era, and it’s to be myself.
Anna Kristina Gilkerson at 10:32am November 18
I also think the computer comments Brooke are somewhat valid but in this day and age it is not so much a trend to have a mac or an i-pod. These items go beyond trend because they work with any type of person. My brother is the biggest yuppie-Techie (Obama supporter who could very well be the opposite of hipster) and was a PC guy forever, now he owns a mac and an i-phone and this and that – all Apple products. I think he switched sides because Apple products were more innovative and generally worked better for his needs.
Brooke Gray at 10:50am November 18
exactly – we still say “he switched sides”.
while these kinds of tool options are still viewed as “sides”, there will continue to be trends of choice between them.anti-hipster would avoid the ipod on purpose in favor of something more “out there” , probably visually representing their otherness, to illustrate their clear distinction from … hipsters.
(when we self-identify as “anti-something” we generally try to brand ourselves in opposition to it…)

apres-hipster, if considered to be intelligent and authentic in character, would identify the dichotomy as an economic (marketing) construct and ignore it, choosing their own equipment based on their individual needs and wants. (they may very well have an ipod! or both a mac and a pc; or a little unknown-make laptop filled with open-source software.)

Jonathan McKeever at 10:53am November 18
Brilliant! !! !!! What is the difference between individuality and originality. Sounds like we can agree that HIPSTER is not exactly originality (though it may yield some fun new combinations), but its still about individuality, no? Embracing the inner nerd, as you said. VAIN sounds pejorative, but it doesn’t have to. I see the POST HIPSTER as original, grounded, aware, and collectivist. Visionary. More original. Less individual. ??
Josh Webb at 11:09am November 18
To be an Anti-Hipster or a Post-Hipster you have to know if Hipsters define themselves as Hipsters and then why they define themselves as hipsters. Does originality exist in our modern world? I believe that individuality can, but really when it comes to being original, it’s all been done before.
Anna Kristina Gilkerson at 11:09am November 18
Yes!But is it the other way around? More individual less original? Or can you truly be an individualist and not be original? Brook points out that true individualists don’t care if they are being original or trendy they just be (themselves) and take what they want from this world and use it how they need to use it. I think we can look at like people who try and people who don’t. I bet I can find a lot of people who don’t try that are not that original but then you find that one individual who doesn’t care at all about anything and therefore is the ultimate trend setter. so maybe you are right Jonathan maybe we have gone as far as we can go with the whole “I don’t care” routine. Is it now the time for the intellectuals out there? the ones that care about deeper issues. Maybe it is anti-I don’t care.

Anna Kristina Gilkerson at 11:12am November 18
Less self-intended vain and more intellectual gain… maybe we will all realize it is an illusion… but then again it’s so fun to play a role. It’s human nature to copy others in light of our own individuality.
Josh Webb at 11:27am November 18
absolutely, and it’s when we take bits and pieces from “hipsters” , “trendsters”, “artists” etc and create our individual that fits and feels right. I think the fundamental of the whole situation comes down to: Are you doing it because you like it? Or are you doing it because others will like it? Defined by self? Defined by others?
Josh Webb at 11:28am November 18
ps. Holy superdebate over a facebook status. lol.
Leitha JU Haysom at 1:01pm November 18
Wouldn’t a hipster not even use an ipod cause it’s too mainstream? I guess I’m not a hipster then…. but not the anti-hipster either.
Anna Kristina Gilkerson at 1:55pm November 18
I suppose being anti-anything will make you a conformist of your own ideas instead of allowing the outside environment to influence you. So then is it ok to be a quasi-tech-goth-hipster that listens to Paul Simon? I think that those combos are the most interesting. Like people who totally surprise you. I think the element of surprise and humour will be the next big thing.
Some more photos…
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