Just how common is the 'hipster' look?

[Kyriakos]

I think that the 'hipster' look (eg out of the ordinary clothes, not-groomed beard/facial hair, maybe a hat) likely falls in the category of 'schizotypal' (not to be confused with utterly unrelated, and magnificent 'schizoid') personality. Schizotypals are argued to tend to dress in ways which are very atypical, as a statement about themselves. They also are (iirc) diagnosed due to having very little social contact.

I rarely see anyone here with the trilby/fedora + beard look. I think i saw two people like that, in the previous 2 months or so. Is it more common in other parts of the west/planet?

Schizotypal personality disorder (STPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a need for social isolation, anxiety in social situations, odd behavior and thinking, and often unconventional beliefs. People with this disorder feel extreme discomfort with maintaining close relationships with people, so they avoid forming them. Peculiar speech mannerisms and odd modes of dress are also diagnostic signs of this disorder. In some cases, people with STPD may react oddly in conversations, not respond, or talk to themselves.[1] They frequently misinterpret situations as being strange or having unusual meaning for them; paranormal and superstitious beliefs are not uncommon. Such people frequently seek medical attention for anxiety or depression instead of their personality disorder.[2] Schizotypal personality disorder occurs in 3% of the general population and is slightly more common in males.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizotypal_personality_disorder

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I don't see what one has to do with the other. People can enjoy nonconformity without being mentally ill.

 

[azzaman333]

For a start, you're missing the fact that hipsters are extremely conscious of their fashion choices and how they'd be perceived.

Secondly, fedoras and similar hats tend to be worn by neckbeards more than hipsters.

Thirdly, a hipster beard is extensively groomed. Again, it sounds like you're thinking of neckbeards.

Finally, you are not a hipster, if that's what you're trying to get at with this thread.

 

[Luckymoose]

The best way to dress like a hipster is to not dress like other hipsters. It is, by definition, super hipster to wear a five dollar t-shirt and some cheap jeans from Walmart. You won't look so conformist at your slam poetry night in those.

 

[Borachio]

I thought that was normcore.

 

[luiz]

There are a lot of "stereotypical hipsters" in any big American city. It's a fashion fad just like any other, that is, a lot of people dressing the same in an attempt to be different. It's stupid, but not particularly stupid.

 

[bhsup]

The best way to dress like a hipster is to not dress like other hipsters. It is, by definition, super hipster to wear a five dollar t-shirt and some cheap jeans from Walmart. You won't look so conformist at your slam poetry night in those.

*Looks at his Faded Glory jeans and shirt and realizes he's apparently a hipster*

 

[warpus]

Not very common here. I think a lot of hipsters have gone underground.

I think they figured it out. They didn't want to dress like everybody else and hated the mainstream, so they started sporting beards, black rim glasses, silly looking hats, vests, and other similar attire.

I think they finally figured out that they're all dressing the same, so they stopped doing that. "OH crap you guys, we have a dresscode.. and it's MAINSTREAM". This lead to a panic and possibly a schism and now.. anyone could be a hipster. You just don't know. A hipster could be wearing anything. Be vigilant.

 

[EgonSpengler]

A French neuroscientist used hipsters as a model for a paper he was writing.

Recently, though, Touboul has been thinking about hipsters. Specifically, why hipsters all seem to dress alike. In his line of work, there are neurons that also behave like hipsters. They fire when every neuron around them is quiet; or they fall silent when every neuron around them is chattering.

Because he is a mathematician, Touboul began to look for a way to explore this idea using equations. In other words, he constructed a mathematical model. His key insight is that people (and neurons) do not instantly perceive what is mainstream. There’s a delay. And in situations where the delay is large enough, the contrarians can inadvertently synchronize with each other.

[cont.]

 

[Traitorfish]

Isn't "hipster look, singular" a contradiction in terms? The purpose and definition of hipsterism is constant motion.

 

[NovaKart]

This reminds me of the term basic b****. I only recently heard of it. It looks like the criteria are wearing ugg boots, going to starbucks a lot, drinking skinny margaritas, abbreviating words to silly things like froyo instead of frozen yogurt, very frequent and non-literal use of the word literally, and overly frequent texting and facebook status updates. If most of these apply then you're basic. I get the feeling it's used for really materialistic but unsophisticated girls.

 

[Borachio]

It's a new one on me, too.

 

[luiz]

This reminds me of the term basic b****. I only recently heard of it. It looks like the criteria are wearing ugg boots, going to starbucks a lot, drinking skinny margaritas, abbreviating words to silly things like froyo instead of frozen yogurt, very frequent and non-literal use of the word literally, and overly frequent texting and facebook status updates. If most of these apply then you're basic. I get the feeling it's used for really materialistic but unsophisticated girls.

Heard about that one two weeks ago, I'm ashamed to admit.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Do we need a new term? Has vapid somehow been removed from the English language?

 

[Borachio]

Does "vapid" cover it, though?

(Oh, now! That doesn't link to what I wanted at all! Oh well, interested readers will have to make their own search.)

 

[sophie]

This reminds me of the term basic b****. I only recently heard of it. It looks like the criteria are wearing ugg boots, going to starbucks a lot, drinking skinny margaritas, abbreviating words to silly things like froyo instead of frozen yogurt, very frequent and non-literal use of the word literally, and overly frequent texting and facebook status updates. If most of these apply then you're basic. I get the feeling it's used for really materialistic but unsophisticated girls.

Basic [female dogs] a primer:

NSFW: language

Spoiler :

Link to video.

You have to be careful with the term "hipster" because it means a lot of different things and can refer to totally different people, depending on who you ask. The stereotypical hipster look which took off 10 or 11 years ago in Williamsburg has been played out for awhile and that is a rather basic look these days. If the "look" can be purchased at an H&M or Forever 21 it can no longer logically be considered hipster.

Basic, if you can't make it through the Kreayshawn video, is a term that refers to people who buy things based on brand or store name. They are people who go with the flow and buy clothes in the interests of looking "normal". Fashion is the ultimate, or at least, most ever-present form of self expression. Every time someone looks at you they make a judgment or assumption about who you are based on how you look or how you dress. Therefore how you dress is important, and is an excellent way to declare to the world upfront who you are and what you care about. What your tastes are. If you dress "basic" you are declaring to the world that your primary interest is conformity.

Hipsterism, in a general sense, is about being subversive, especially in an ironic sense. It's not just about having a beard. It's about having an eccentric, unusual beard that might have been popular in the 19th century. Through this they are declaring not just that popular (read: basic) fashion is bull[feces], but retro-hip (read: retro-hip du jour) is also bull[feces].

 

[Hygro]

The best way to dress like a hipster is to not dress like other hipsters. It is, by definition, super hipster to wear a five dollar t-shirt and some cheap jeans from Walmart. You won't look so conformist at your slam poetry night in those.

More or less, however...:

I thought that was normcore.

and it's been a thing for a while. I suspect that normcore, already a bit dated, is the last of the hard-irony fads of the 2003-2013 era. I think we're past that and doing things we just think are fly.

The "hipster" look is pretty ubiquitous. It's definitely the mainstream and it's not worn by active hipsters. This schizotypal classification is a bit strange: hipsters are very prosocial by definition. Indeed their label comes from being aware of what is hip.

 

[Borachio]

If you dress "basic" you are declaring to the world that your primary interest is conformity.

It could be, though, that your primary interest is in passing largely unremarked through the world.

There might be many more reasons for that than a desire to conform. A terrorist, for example, doesn't want to attract attention to themselves before the temps juste.

Not that terrorists constitute a significant proportion of the population, of course.

 

[warpus]

That or you don't really give a crap what the world thinks about what you wear.

In which case I might actually be a goddamn hipster.

 

[Traitorfish]

It seems like deferring to convention means that you care on some level. You might not be actively seeking approval, sure, but you're still in the orbit of popular opinion, which is as legitimate a place to be as any other. There's nothing ruggedly individualistic about a polo shirt, and that's fine. So far as my experience goes, the only people who really do dress exclusively for themselves are either highly eccentric or just plain slobs; few people have the charisma to pull off the former, and nobody has the charisma to pull off the latter.