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Hipsters. Whether you love them, hate them or have become one of them, hipsters are vital visionaries in the worlds of culture, fashion and music. In fact, through hipsters, we’ve seen glimpses of future trends that they will have moved on from by the time mainstream society joins in.
Although the term “hipster,” didn’t really become popular until the late 2000’s, hipsters have existed since the turn of the century. Want to know who the first hipsters really were? And in what forms have hipsters appeared since? Take a ride with ENTITY as we explore hipster history from the 1940s to today!
So who were the first group of people to decide “uncool” was cool? They were actually men and women connected to the jazz scene in the 1940s. Much like hipsters today, they focused on embracing an alternative or subculture compared to the traditional status quo. Instead of following in their parents’ footsteps of getting a job, starting a family, 1940s hipsters wanted to find a deeper meaning in life.
Because many white hipsters embraced the jazz music culture – from learning the songs to mimicking young blacks’ fashion sense – the hipster scene also involved a fusion of races.
While we were all listening to Britney Spears and Alicia Keys, the hipsters were first to claim pop-punk bands like Green Day, Death Cab for Cutie, Fall Out Boy and Evanescence, and to proudly proclaim their allegiance to these groups with band tees.
Other trends from this time period include tons of eyeliner (and even guyliner!), studded belts and shoes like Converse. These trends didn’t die with 2001 either. According to Bustle, several of 2001’s top fashion hits – ranging from striped tights to oversized hoodies to iron-on patches – are rolling back into style.
If you have a flashy tattoo on your leg, back, chest or arm, you were probably a member of the hipster community during these years. Those flannels that people started wearing in the late 2000’s? You’ll find them on the bootcut jean and converse-wearing hipsters of the Scene Lite period, wired in to their iPods or portable CD players.
You can’t say that hipsters don’t have a sense of humor either. Hipsters in 2003 loved to play around with fashion typically worn by blue collar folks in order to be “ironic.” One of the their favorite? Trucker hats with vintage logos like John Deere. Ashton Kutcher is one hipster celebrity best known for rockin’ plenty of trucker hats.
Over a glass of cheap wine, we encounter the hipster of these years, clad in light, cashmere sweaters, ill-fitting dress pants and boots. Years before Urban Outfitters began selling vinyl and record players over CDs, hipsters only listened to music through this barely-retro medium. Japanese and Chinese characters that allegedly say “peace” or “love” make their appearances on ankles, wrists and necks at this time.
Even if they had 20-20 vision, hipsters also began showing off some spectacular spectacles. Perhaps looking smart balanced out wearing a scarf in the middle of summer?
When it was new and fresh to buy old stuff, the hipsters fled to vintage shops and garage sales to save barely-functioning film cameras and clothe themselves in housewife dresses and cat-eye sunglasses and displayed their tattoos elaborate sleeve tats. Female hipsters seemed to have embraced the throwback era more than their male counterparts, who often stuck to flannels and jeans accented by plenty of facial hair.
If you need a celebrity example to symbolize this era, you might want to think of Taylor Swift. You can’t go wrong with floral or lace dresses, high-waisted shorts, a colorful bandana around your hair and, of course, a fresh coat of red lipstick to finish it off.
Although it’s a sin in hipster culture to involve oneself in anything mainstream, hipsters were running low on creative juices. They lost their senses and started flaunting fedoras and shutter-shades (credit to Kanye West), and shaving their mountain-man beards down to mustaches. Slip-on shoes struck the scene once again popular, except they were called TOMS instead of Vans. Before it was illegal to drive and text, hipsters were also sending off messages on their iPhones from their beach cruisers.
If you’re a fan of rapper Pharrell Williams, you might have also noticed the emergence of “Rap Hipster” at this time. Hello skinny jeans, plastic-framed glasses, and leather vests. According to NYMag, Williams look was “a cumulation of what Pharrell had always been growing up in Virginia Beach – a jazz nerd, a skate rat and a punk rocker.”
With their copies of Omnivore’s Dilemma in one hand and canvas bags overflowing with leeks, kale and wheatgrass from the local farmer’s market in the other, the hipsters of this period have embodied their newfound sense of authenticity. Men once again find comfort in their face fur while women fit straw sun hats atop their heads. Gaudy tattoos are overthrown by minimalist designs on insides of arms and outsides of ankles. Triangles become the identifying mark of a hipster.
Basically, hipsters in this time period can be summed up in a few words: cruelty-free and DIY.
Don’t worry, we didn’t forget 2012 (see below). For now, though, let’s dish about 2013 and 2014. Back then, hipsters wanted to subtly embody pieces of their ancestors in a contemporary, trendy way. Men grew out the gnarliest beards from the mountain men of the Old West, women donned flower headdresses and flowy dresses of Woodstock and the precious flannel that hipsters have long treasured throughout the years appeared once again.
Intentionally looking away from the camera – and subsequently calling the pictures “candids” – also became a trend at this point. (And by the state of Instagram today, that trend is still alive and [camera] clicking!)
That’s right, hipsters liked the style of 2012 so much that they reclaimed it in 2015 and 2016. Hipsters are rocking simple, streamline designs or basic monocolor, and the only coffee shops they go to serve $7 French press lattés that are the size of a kiddie cup. “Man buns” are popular, men wear dress shoes without socks and everyone with less than 20/20 vision wears the same glasses as 80 year-old Woody Allen.
Besides fashion, hipsters of this time are also associated with a love of wood furniture (talk about being classy, vintage style), craft beer, lots of gardening (“organic” is the word) and the ultimate hipster companion: an equally scruffy (but perhaps even more adorable) dog.
What will 2017 add to hipsters’ complex and color-coordinated history? Only time can tell, but you can bet that you’ll find out soon enough – and that you’ll probably be wearing the same trends a few months later!
