From the Garbage Heap

At work a friend and I were discussing hipsters. We both knew where to find them on a Friday night, where they lived, what they looked like, and how they tended to behave. Wikipedia's definition of a modern hipster seems to confirm our ideas.

Since the late 1990s, the word hipster has resurfaced as an often derisive label for individuals or stereotypes of individuals devoted to retro fashions, independent music and film, alternative comics, and other youthful forms of expression outside the mainstream. The term is sometimes used as a blanket derogatory descriptor for fans of indie rock music.

Some stereotypical accessories of the modern hipster include Vespa scooters, Buddy Holly-style glasses, white belts, indie-rock band membership, Converse style shoes, and vintage clothing. Neighborhoods such as Northeast, Minneapolis; Wicker Park, Chicago; Williamsburg, Brooklyn; The Mission District, San Francisco; Capitol Hill, Seattle; Hollywood, Los Angeles; Pearl District, Portland and other, smaller concentrations across the country have become popular living and recreational destinations for hipsters. Cheap, alcoholic beverages such as Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer are sometimes associated with hipster culture.

But that doesn't answer a question we both raised. Where did hipsters come from? What brought about the hipster as we know it?

My current working theory is three-fold.

1. Hipsters were quiet, somewhat geeky high school kids from predominantly suburban middle class homes. I am using the IRS definition of middle class which means a household income of at least $100,000 a year but less than $500,000. This of course can be adjusted to local economies since it really has to do with living with privilege without realizing you are privileged. These kids were sent off to college where they first started to think of themselves as individuals. There they hooked up with similar suburban refugees and they all became 'individuals' together. Being privileged, educated individuals they naturally felt a certain degree of superiority to those who did not display the obvious signs of individuality, meaning, did not act like them.
2. Factor into this the tech boom of the 1990's. Very young and geeky kids of privilege had access to home computers growing up. They were either stuck in the suburbs where parents feared the influences of an outside world or were turned off by the society around them based on their experiences in the public school system. So they started to tinker with the computer, learning not just how to use it, but how to make it do new and interesting things. In their 20's and early 30's they found themselves in important positions and with lots of disposable income. Being geek was chic.
   
3. The people who tend to really set subculture styles are the artists. They tend to do it without trying. Poor, willing to spend all their money on more art supplies or band equipment while hitting the Salvation Army for clothes. But they have an eye for aesthetics. So they make interesting outfits from the leftovers of previous fashion trends. With faded jeans and old flannels being sold for a premium because of the grunge scene, they move on to whatever else they can find. Knit knee length skirts. Polyester pants. Old suit coats and leather smoking jackets. They pieced it together into something interesting. The consumers of fringe culture ate it up, wanting to be individuals just like their favorite artists that nobody had ever heard of.

Overly simplistic of course. Full of sweeping generalities that certainly do not apply to all hipsters. Just trying to figure out the origins of this subculture. Because while most subcultures have some fairly obvious origins and at least some redeeming qualities, they seem to be missing amongst the modern hip. While I am certain there is a beauty to the irony and banality of the hipsters, it is lost on most people including myself. I'm fairly confident it is lost on most of them, too. But unlike me, they are too hip to care.