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Have we reached peak hipster? Have we reached peak hipster?
(about 2 months later)
An article by our sister paper on the purported end of the hipster attracted scores of comments and no end of scorn. "Asking Vice magazine about hipsters is the same as talking inequality with a member of the Royal Family," complained one anonymous wag.An article by our sister paper on the purported end of the hipster attracted scores of comments and no end of scorn. "Asking Vice magazine about hipsters is the same as talking inequality with a member of the Royal Family," complained one anonymous wag.
So we decided to ask our readers for their take on the supposedly waning hipster phenomenon. Were they hipsters themselves, or had they spotted them in the wild?So we decided to ask our readers for their take on the supposedly waning hipster phenomenon. Were they hipsters themselves, or had they spotted them in the wild?
Let's start with those who claimed to be part of the hipster tribe. The first step to recovering from hipsterism is admitting you're a hipster. But, in fact, only one person was willing to put themselves on the record, which doesn't say much for the enduring strength of this movement. The mods, skaters and emos of days of yore were more than happy to admit to their allegiances. But hipsters, you have let us down. Shame on you all. With one exception:Let's start with those who claimed to be part of the hipster tribe. The first step to recovering from hipsterism is admitting you're a hipster. But, in fact, only one person was willing to put themselves on the record, which doesn't say much for the enduring strength of this movement. The mods, skaters and emos of days of yore were more than happy to admit to their allegiances. But hipsters, you have let us down. Shame on you all. With one exception:
"Now this is the second time in as many weeks that I have noticed the little hipster-creature on my shoulder messing with me," writes Amy Brickhill, I hope, metaphorically, going on to describe a trendy but unrealistic outfit for a trip to Sweden. "After many years of resisting the hipster in me, I have decided to embrace it. Although apparently now hipsters are no more. Typical. Anyway, my name's Amy and I'm a hipster.""Now this is the second time in as many weeks that I have noticed the little hipster-creature on my shoulder messing with me," writes Amy Brickhill, I hope, metaphorically, going on to describe a trendy but unrealistic outfit for a trip to Sweden. "After many years of resisting the hipster in me, I have decided to embrace it. Although apparently now hipsters are no more. Typical. Anyway, my name's Amy and I'm a hipster."
East London: the epicentreEast London: the epicentre
While Amy wanders off to found Hipsters Anonymous, let's hear from the social anthropologist Guardian readers who have been observing the group in their natural habit: Hackney. Once a byword for grit, oddness and social deprivation (as well documented by its modern bard, Iain Sinclair), it is now known for its spiralling house-prices and the friction caused by gentrification, most recently exemplified by an unfortunate tweet by Clapton gastropub. And if gentrification could be imagined in avatar form, it would look an awful lot like a hipster.While Amy wanders off to found Hipsters Anonymous, let's hear from the social anthropologist Guardian readers who have been observing the group in their natural habit: Hackney. Once a byword for grit, oddness and social deprivation (as well documented by its modern bard, Iain Sinclair), it is now known for its spiralling house-prices and the friction caused by gentrification, most recently exemplified by an unfortunate tweet by Clapton gastropub. And if gentrification could be imagined in avatar form, it would look an awful lot like a hipster.
"Hipsterism isn't a style, it's a uniform," says Simon Elder, who seems to know the local terrain well. "Venture into certain pubs in Hackney on a Friday night and it looks like an Allen Ginsberg convention – but without the poetry. No room for variation, no space for creativity, only a checklist of conformity ticked off by the virtual doorman in your head." "Hipsterism isn't a style, it's a uniform," says Simon Elder, who seems to know the local terrain well. "Venture into certain pubs in Hackney on a Friday night and it looks like an Allen Ginsberg convention – but without the poetry. No room for variation, no space for creativity, only a checklist of conformity ticked off by the virtual doorman in your head."
The hipsters have also headed north, beyond the heartlands. But not too far north. "I moved away from my shitty area of North London for 8 months," says Sophie Smith. She means Haringey. "Moved back: it's gone trendy. There was a man in tweed plus fours ahead of me in the queue at Tesco Metro yesterday. We've got a new local cafe too (you know the kind - industrial light fittings against bare brick)."The hipsters have also headed north, beyond the heartlands. But not too far north. "I moved away from my shitty area of North London for 8 months," says Sophie Smith. She means Haringey. "Moved back: it's gone trendy. There was a man in tweed plus fours ahead of me in the queue at Tesco Metro yesterday. We've got a new local cafe too (you know the kind - industrial light fittings against bare brick)."
But here comes the pay-off.But here comes the pay-off.
"I have to say, they do make a nice flat white.""I have to say, they do make a nice flat white."
Further afieldFurther afield
They've made it to Manchester. They've even made it to Bristol:They've made it to Manchester. They've even made it to Bristol:
"Stokes Croft has long been home to many dubious types - from crack heads to trustafarians to accidental architects and kebabis. The rise of the hipster is upon us. I have seen a few FB statuses bemoaning the sudden preponderance of 'enormous beards and tiny shorts'. They've finally breached the city's defences," writes the catchily-named ID984795."Stokes Croft has long been home to many dubious types - from crack heads to trustafarians to accidental architects and kebabis. The rise of the hipster is upon us. I have seen a few FB statuses bemoaning the sudden preponderance of 'enormous beards and tiny shorts'. They've finally breached the city's defences," writes the catchily-named ID984795.
Swedish hippies are hipper than London hipstersSwedish hippies are hipper than London hipsters
Another social anthroplogist was lucitex, back in Copenhagen after a week in London, where she was "surprised at the lack of visually interesting people to look at.Another social anthroplogist was lucitex, back in Copenhagen after a week in London, where she was "surprised at the lack of visually interesting people to look at.
"Perhaps I am used to the Scandinavian hippy types and hipster types or maybe people just dress up more here and dress out according to mood. I noticed this in Helsinki recently, too: more visually interesting people. I think that the whole way of life in Scandinavia encourages people to be individualist and try to express themselves in their dress and actions. Saw a man with a suit and tie on yesterday with dress shoes but no socks. I was riding by on my bike and said, 'I love your no socks!' Inventive dressing is hip.""Perhaps I am used to the Scandinavian hippy types and hipster types or maybe people just dress up more here and dress out according to mood. I noticed this in Helsinki recently, too: more visually interesting people. I think that the whole way of life in Scandinavia encourages people to be individualist and try to express themselves in their dress and actions. Saw a man with a suit and tie on yesterday with dress shoes but no socks. I was riding by on my bike and said, 'I love your no socks!' Inventive dressing is hip."
But not hipster. Let's finish where we started, in an east London pub, attempting to identify what is so troubling about the hipster aesthetic.But not hipster. Let's finish where we started, in an east London pub, attempting to identify what is so troubling about the hipster aesthetic.
"Hipsterism doesn't express an identity or attitude to the world, it is that identity, argues Simon Elder, whose full anti-Hipsterism manifesto can be read on GuardianWitness. "It's the triumph of the signifier over the signified, the simulacral over the real. Like gym-honed muscles that have never done a day's labour, or tattoos that have never been to sea, hipsterism is the horse pushing the cart, the tail of pose wagging the dog of action. Devoid of cultural origins for its shopping-cart of symbols, from African earplugs to Maori tattoos, Hindi inscriptions and Kabbalah wristbands, hipsterism instead seeks precedence in its allegiances – to the band that nobody has heard of, the film no-one has yet seen.""Hipsterism doesn't express an identity or attitude to the world, it is that identity, argues Simon Elder, whose full anti-Hipsterism manifesto can be read on GuardianWitness. "It's the triumph of the signifier over the signified, the simulacral over the real. Like gym-honed muscles that have never done a day's labour, or tattoos that have never been to sea, hipsterism is the horse pushing the cart, the tail of pose wagging the dog of action. Devoid of cultural origins for its shopping-cart of symbols, from African earplugs to Maori tattoos, Hindi inscriptions and Kabbalah wristbands, hipsterism instead seeks precedence in its allegiances – to the band that nobody has heard of, the film no-one has yet seen."
He goes on.He goes on.
"It is a consumer identity for a generation of consumers who create nothing but an image of alterity, offer no opposition to the status quo, present no alternative to the suffocating blanket of consumer culture, and entertain not the slightest concept of rebellion. In this respect hipsterism, far from being an alternative lifestyle, floats along in the mainstream of our culture, which seeks to gather all the energy of youth and channel it into an aesthetics (and more importantly, ethics) of consumerism. And like all marketing strategies, behind the facade of plurality and choice there is only the monolith of a vast and all consuming homogeneity.""It is a consumer identity for a generation of consumers who create nothing but an image of alterity, offer no opposition to the status quo, present no alternative to the suffocating blanket of consumer culture, and entertain not the slightest concept of rebellion. In this respect hipsterism, far from being an alternative lifestyle, floats along in the mainstream of our culture, which seeks to gather all the energy of youth and channel it into an aesthetics (and more importantly, ethics) of consumerism. And like all marketing strategies, behind the facade of plurality and choice there is only the monolith of a vast and all consuming homogeneity."