Much like former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart and obscenity, most people can’t define a hipster but they know one when they see one.
Austin has been called ground zero for the hipster explosion. If anyone ought to know what a hipster is, it should be us. Therefore, the Austin Post asked ten people to define “hipster.” Interestingly, 8 of the 10 people who replied were over 30. It makes you wonder if the people being defined as hipsters think of one another as “people my age.”
Ruth B. Kaplan:
I'm baffled by the "hipster or homeless" fad--is it about how the definition of "hip" has become so anti-fashion that it's retro grunge?
Wendy Zdrodowski:
People who wear glasses with dark-colored plastic rims and drink PBR.
Sue Freas:
Hipsters are ironically cool and wear eco-friendly clothing (second hand, retro and/or sustainable fabrics). Less emphasis in glamour; more on comfort, so less fussy hairdos and accessories. More likely to live in lofts or shotgun homes than in suburbia and tend to avoid malls & chain stores.
Greg LaRose:
White middle class males in their mid 20s to late 30s that try to be the "alternative" to mainstream but end up being the mainstream due to popularity in current counter culture. They say they are against the "Man" yet they come from well-off families and commonly work in a corporate environment while claiming to be independent of society and not a part of the rat race. Yet one finds these douche middle class trying so hard to be cool yuppies. They’re the same people who wore flannel shirts in the 90s and listened to grunge music, but 10 to 15 years older, and no longer cool because grunge music is not cool.
David Wulatin:
People who wouldn't go to Lolapalooza but must go to Pitchfork.
Jenna Ess:
I don't know if there's a set definition of a hipster. It's more like, you know them when you see them. Like yesterday I saw a guy at my local coffee shop who was wearing skinny jeans and a giant fashion scarf, in 90 degree weather, outside drinking hot coffee. Hipster Alert. A joke sums them up for me: "What did the hipster say when he walked into the bar?" "Ugh, this bar is full of hipsters!"
Clay Taylor:
Someone who appreciates thrift store fashions, emerging indie bands, things that aren't quite popular yet and irony. Loads and loads of irony.
Christopher Murphy:
1) To borrow and paraphrase the Supreme Court, I don't know how to define "hipster", but I know it when I see it.
2) Much like musical styles (or for that matter any fashion / lifestyle trend), it's tough to define: what's country? OK, then what's western? Bluegrass? Southern rock? Folk rock? Honky tonk? Psychobilly? Christian rock?
3) Since it's become a somewhat negative label, everyone who exhibits hipster traits is hipster - except you.
Hope Clark:
Neck beard, ironic glasses, PBR, skinny jeans, mesh hat, sitting at a coffee shop with a book but not actually looking at said book.
Heather Nelson:
One word: Douchebags.
What do you think of their answers? Spot on, tragically off course, too mainstream, or something else entirely? Tell us in the comments.
