Today I realized that I need Gnarlitude to live.
Nothing worked to shake off my lethargy and depression until I clicked on her blog.
“Uh, seriously, with my black motorcycle boots this would just be beyond fucking hot. Lanvin S/S”
“JLP is such a great photographer and really nails these motoshoots. An older friend of mine has been wearing the Harley hat below since he was a teen and that shit is vintage now, it made me smile to spot it in this shoot.”
YES! OF COURSE your friend has been wearing that “Harley hat” long before anyone else! Duh! I love you, never stop!
I don’t know what works for you, but when I’m depressed, my escape route is usually indignant rage or in this case, perverse humor. Hipsters parading their hipness isn’t always funny, but Gnarlitude raises the bar to beyond parody.
Let’s create the ultimate Hipster and get it over with. I’ll begin, and when I run out of ingredients, you can throw in the rest:
Bukowski, Iggy, The Misfits, vintage motorcycles, opiates, Max’s Kansas City, CBGB’s, Velvet Underground, leather, denim, taxidermy, skulls, spikes, swastikas, Patti Smith, Chuck Palahniak, old band t-shirts, skateboards, cigarettes, dope paraphernalia, bad poetry, Nick Cave, Converse, cowboy boots, stupid hats, Godard, Hells Angels, serial killers, Death Metal, tattoos, vintage guitars…
Did any of us say “weird piercings?”
A Cramps t-shirt.
Lark – We need you here. I’m glad you spoke up!
diana – You too.
James – YES, thanks!
Redheadfashionista – Docs are key, how did I forget!
TheSHoeGirl – Sofia Cuppola, right, and so inexplicable too.
Don’t forget an obsessive need to show off one’s knowledge and/or possession of all the things listed. I feel like that’s paramount. After all, if someone knows about serial killers AND owns Converse AND listens to Nick Cave, but keeps quiet about it, I think they should be let off the hipster hook.
I quote Susie Bubble on this: “As samey as Sofia’s films are she does get the sport of young, lost girl psyche spot on..” (from a comment on my blog a long time back)
Kids have always liked alienation/being a little lost and disconnected from the rest of the world. Sofia’s appeal isn’t really so inexplicable in light of that fact.
Katya – If you buy a fair isle jumper but for the right reasons (i.e. it has reindeers on it) does that make you a hipster or ………. oh shit
The Raisin Girl – Absolutely! My friend Romeo pointed out the other day that “There’s a performative aspect to hipsterism.” If you liked all that shit but stayed home and shut up about it, you wouldn’t be a hipster.
Scabs
In my extensive cultural studies, I’ve identified several tribes of hipsters. Apologies for the lack of parallel structure…its 4 am here.
The first is the literary/art school hipster: Lucky Strikes; chest-baring male v-necks; thick-rimmed glasses; obscure french music; post-post-modern meta-fiction; annotated David Foster Wallace books; self-aware moleskins; single malt; thrifting as a verb; subletted apartment in Brooklyn; bad haircuts; foreign films; trip abroad to “immerse oneself” in the culture; a habit of mixing in French with their English; pescatarians; dogfish beer; warehouse performance spaces
The second, the “Cobrasnake” hipster- sheer, nipple-baring tops; S&M bras over ratty t-shirts; American flag bikinis; crop-tops; white hair, neon streaks; excessive use of the kissy-lip and middle finger pose; limp cigarette in mouth; On the Road- the only book that matters; faux homoeroticism; persistent trucker hats; Juergen Teller/Terry Richardson love; “inspiration board” of Kate Moss, Bianca Jagger, Anita Pallenberg; jizz nailpolish
The psuedo/pseudo hipster- collection of Vinyls that Rolling Stone deemed ‘must haves’ (see: Exile on Main Street, Blonde on Blonde); purposefully dirtied converses; “cute” ugly dogs; chipped black nail polish; slam poetry applause (regardless of it’s dreadfulness); mentioning Taoism of Buddhism casually; worn in shirts from the Salvation Army; crotch-hugging pants; an exaggerated love of micro-breweries; possesion of Vampire Weekend concert tickets; shopping at Whole Foods as a see-and-be-seen experience; raw food; radical self love
Is Nick Cave hipster in America?! That saddens me, I’m pretty sure he’s not here. My mum loves him!
I agree that there are plently of different subcultures of hipster. What unites them all are tattoos and feelings of superiority
I don’t know if anyone mentioned this but “claiming they are communist”. I have encountered many a hipster that has done just that.
There are a bunch of ‘subcultures’ of ‘hipster.’ Some guy took time to make a website out of it. It just so happens to be HILARIOUS. http://yourscenesucks.com/
I dig a lot of things mentioned in this post, but that video is the best thing I’ve seen in a while.
thanks for sharing .:)
Terrific work! This is the type of information that ought to be shared close to the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!