by Briana Leong What have you been listening to lately? Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj or Rihanna? Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were a directioner and a belieber too! Well, congratulations on being the most unique human being on earth. Forgive my sarcasm, of course it’s totally fine and normal to refer to Billboard for music and shop at billion-dollar franchise stores like Zara, Forever 21 and Topshop, not to mention coffee at Starbucks and sandwiches at Subway. But honestly, normal is just a term nice people use to justify those who are totally boring and unoriginal. Well, here’s good news for those who’d like to try out a new way of life this summer. If you’re up for spicing up your image, scouting heavenly bands, exploring new hobbies, being different for once in your life, or just having tons of fun by forgetting the world, read on as I try to enlighten you on how to be a hipster. First off, as a perspective hipster, one has to know how the lifestyle first came about. The term ‘hipster’ was first used about 70 years ago during the jazz age, it was a time when middle class white teens wanted to imitate the ‘hip’ lifestyle led by black jazz musicians. But the rise of the hippies in the 1960s and their focus on community rather than individuals saw the weakening of hipsters. It wasn’t until recently that hipster culture rejuvenated. I’m sure by now you’re very curious to know exactly what being a hipster is all about. Personally I think that Wikipedia gives a very accurate definition, it says that hipster is a subculture associated with independent music, a varied non-mainstream fashion sensibility, liberal or independent political views, alternative spirituality or atheism/agnosticism and alternative lifestyles. Now I know that sounds very vague, like what is that supposed to mean right? So I’m going to use some examples to explain further how you can be a hipster. Let’s start with fashion because hipsters are distinctive when it comes to their outer physical appearance. The essentials of a hipster wardrobe is fairly simple, it only consists of five things:
For girls, remember to own plenty of rompers and high-waisted shorts or skirts. Great brands for hipster clothes are H&M, Urban Outfitters and American Apparel. But since I’m pretty sure that these brands don’t have outlets in Taiwan, I’m going to tell you the real places where you can get your hipster stuff. You see, shopping in branded stores like the above mentioned is for rookie hipsters, and advanced hipsters would never do that, instead we make new clothes out of our mum’s or sister’s throwaways or we dig for treasures in second hand shops. Because it’s a double plus if you’re style is vintage or if your outfit is thrifted. If you need my help in recommending where to do that, I would suggest Weekend Fever for scouting really unique clothes and the apparel store next to The Truth Lutheran Church along Xinsheng South Road for second hand goodies. If you think we’re done with ‘the look’, boy you’re wrong. I still have a few tips to share before we end this section. First, if you’re a guy, you should have a lot of facial hair, be it the classic moustache, goatee, sideburns and beard (stubbles are hot too!), or advanced stuff like a chinstrap beard, friendly muttonchops, the Fu Manchu, or a handlebar moustache. Guys and girls should also opt for piercings, tattoos, having less than 2% of body fat and crazy hair (the dip dye thing, or dying-your-hair-into-a-silvery-aquamarine-color-like-the-color-of-a-unicorn’s-hair could work too). Next up, we have music! Now you don’t have to drop Demi Levato or Black Eyed Peas if you want to join the hipster community, but you do have to upgrade your playlist with a wider variety of alternative music. Indie (short for independent) bands are the awesomest. To get you started, these are musicians that you have to know in order to join the club: Arcade Fire (duh), Noah and The Whales (frequent use of glottis induced sounds), Joanna Newsom (voice like a creepy 10 year old), Iron and Wine (loud breathing and loads of whispering), Bon Iver (for hipster breakups) and Band of Horses. Note how most of these male musicians have very sexy facial hair, hipster eh? And although I know that artists like Mumford and Sons, Foster The People or The XX will probably jump into your mind when it comes to Indie bands, but honestly those are for hipster wannabes. The essence of being a hipster is when people tell you ‘oh, The Royal Sons are so good’, you get to say ‘I listened to them before they were famous.’ Check out 8tracks, Grooveshark, The SixtyOne and XFM to explore more Indie beats. I gave you the key, now start using it.
Right, now we’re going to talk about the hipster lifestyle and more importantly, the hipster attitude. Hipsters eschew public transport and opt for bicycles (Hey NTU students, now that’s a good start for you guys! :) Hipsters are mostly vegan (gawd, how can you put a piece of meat into your mouth, swallow it then digest it for nutrients, don’t you know that animals are living things and have feelings, can’t you see the agony that poor chicken went through as it takes its last breath in the slaughterhouse!), insist on organic products, care for something unheard of (like how the TVs in MRT stations should be muted or else that’s forced advertising), and are totally about recycling and saving the world. Hipsters are mostly existentialists and against consumer culture; they also openly display their love for art, literature and drink way too much coffee. Being hipster is having style, taste, opinions and attitude that is deemed cool by the cool (btw, the word cool is not acceptable to hipsters, the new way to say cool is ‘deck’, like that’s totally ‘deck!’). Hipsters are also sarcastic and ironic most of the time. Last but not least, if you want to be a hipster, you’ll have to wear the hipster attitude. And the hipster attitude can be summed up into four miraculously arranged words, “I CANNOT BE BOTHERED.” Some people call that ignorance, some people call that heartlessness, but I’d like to see it as being true to oneself and not succumbing to peer pressure or the unnecessary responsibilities inflicted upon us by society. Being a hipster is being able to jump out of this whirlpool of media influences, have a different opinion about something, and celebrating that opinion. Being a hipster is being yourself, celebrating your individuality and really just pointing your middle finger at the world when it tries to confine you with rules or shun you because you’re ultimately different from everyone else. No one should ever restrict themselves on how or who they should be. I personally see being a hipster as celebrating the diversity of human behavior and culture, the alternative way that one can live one’s life in this seemingly globalized world. By now, you should realize the irony of “hipster fashion” or “hipster music”, because that’s actually a process in which hipsters are being labeled and stereotyped by the media. The moment you acknowledge in any way that you are a hipster is the instant when you lose your hipster status, because remember, you’re not supposed to be bothered. Now that’s the real challenge. So how do we deal with the fact that being a hipster is becoming more and more mainstream each day? Well, armed with what I’ve told you in the previous paragraph, you’ll find peace knowing that even when being a hipster is “the new cool”, you’re ultimately just celebrating your fantabulous self. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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