Wow, you left NO stone unturned. Hipster fashion is so much more understandable once you have the entire context and history of its origins on the table.

I’m a millennial who grew up in Portland. I started seeing what is being defined as the “hipster” aesthetic around 2003 at house shows as a teenager. I remember thinking it was refreshing seeing young men wearing well-fitting and tailored outfits compared to what boys were wearing at my high school- mainly polos, baggy jeans, and basketball shorts. In my mind they were like modern newsies, which signaled to everyone else they were…different. Counterculture as it goes. It only took a few years for it to become mainstream and seeing ultra skinny jeans go from a punk silhouette to the norm.

Sis - every time you say 'hipster' I feel like one of the animals from the Planet Earth documentaries. I can't believe we're so old that our teens/twenties items are now being deconstructed in video essays. It's crazy how detailed you've gone. I've always found it so interesting as someone from the global south / a developing nation how trends from America / the western world came to us - also funnily enough we would buy clothes that were made here but were meant for export for the western market - they were called 'export rejects' - there were whole markets where we could buy oversized tees, leggings, boho dresses, keffiyahs, fucking fedoras (of which I had a sad phase), short dresses with tights (functional for a place where you can't really go out showing much leg safely). We had our own versions of gentrified neighourhoods and small businesses - that then got a second and third wave of gentrification and mainstreaming. For me as a punk/grunge/indie kid - to be obsessed with music and even somewhat stupid tumblr pages, seeing those represented and our own tiny bourgeoning scenes - it's kind of fun to look back at it all.

I looovveeddd the pretentiousness and weird vibes of hipsters. They really did put me on to so much good music that I had never heard before.

Gotta love the unspoken, but consistent visual references to *Alexa Chung as the ultimate example!*

I'm 28 now and grow up with the hipster aesthetic as a teenage art student. Alot of my friends still dress this way and partake in "hipster" lifestyle choices. While a lot of people will call it ironic and in some ways it can be, I think the appeal was simply to appreciate and enjoy what we had and give it new life. Hipster fashion was celebrating a lot of things from the last and saying "let's not let go of this" and I notice alot of modern trends simply dont feel like they want to honor the past. Alot of my hipster friends actually became closer to their grandparents or parents wanting to wear their old hand me downs or learned a lot of history and skills from this aesthetic. I learned DJing, photography, repurposing, how to kiss a girl (lol), and even some mechanical work.

I'd just like to point out that most people I knew during peak "hipster" era, who they themselves could have been labeled as such, preferred smoking cheap cigarettes (or "splurged" on American spirits) to vapes and jokingly refereed to it as "analog" smoking.

One thing I think this video would have benefited from is some sort of discussion about the music scenes associated with hipsters. I understand your focu is on aesthetics, but as with most subcultures and counterculture movements, music is an extremely important component.

i rember how much this style had a urge to push back against mcbling and the rise of "not like other girl"

Wow you really hit it on the head with this one. The gentrification and fast fashion. The social media making it less authentic and more diluted then previous countercultures, and even the appropriation of ethnic fashions with the top buttoned plaid shirts. Very well researched. You forgot about the Wolf t-shirts everyone wore tho lol

Hipsters got a lot of hate (I may have been one of those haters.) But looking back at it now, it all seems so innocent, compared to the styles and trends that have come after it.

I still wear many of these separate items like the vintage pattern button ups and also still loooove a tight on the bottom, chunky on top moment. The 2010s were when I first started considering fashion, so my taste will I think always be at least a little influenced by that era :')

This is literally just all of Portland. I can see why Portland grew so much bc a lot of people were attracted by that mythos.

36:29 Okay, _there_ it is! You talked about androgyny as the main reason for skinny jeans, but I'd argue they're functionally linked to the bike trend, because your hem can't get caught in your gear chain. And the bikes tie into the recession, because you don't have to pay for gas, and the simpler a bike is, the easier it is to fix it yourself.

I wonder how many hours - days - weeks it costs to make a video like this one... Well done 👍🏻

I feel old now that most hipsters are in their 40s and having kids. The hipster trend was awesome and I miss it. Neighborhoods were so relaxed when they moved in but what sucked was that neighborhoods became so expensive due to the racist part of the real estate industry. I was a hipster in 2014 til 2017 when it went out of fashion. I pray the hipster movement makes a comeback though.

I was more scene kid then hipster in the late 00s early 10s but I remember the transition out of scene and hipster around 2015-2017 as the internet and social media became more accessible world wide

Just watched a documentary about a trend I was a part of in my teens/early 20's. Of course I would never admit it. Like a any real hipster, you never admitted you were a hipster. I guess it really is all over if I am admitting I was one, or at least wanted to be.

The colorfull makeup make so much more sense now. When kylie jenner drop her nude makeup, it was the conterpart of this style. Honestly i'm super exited for the next videos, i hope you will touch upon swag era, with miss Zendaya as the representativ, the rise of street wears and all. To me the cultural reset that changed everyting was miley cirus we can't stop so like 2014 to 2016 and evolved in the kardashion style, more nude than red color palette.

Polyvore now would be a niche fetish site

I mean it's cool that you mention some of the cons at the end of this video but not the pros and that most hipster trends were started by poor to lower middle classes (not white middle class - they likely made them more mainstream). I'm 37 and as kids my single mom working 2 jobs would take us to thrift shops to buy our clothes. She allowed us to pick out our own clothes which helped us to express our creativity and resourcefulness. Even though I wore hand me downs to high school (2000-2004), I was considered a best dressed with an unusual aesthetic combining many different styles. Some people criticized me demanding what box I fit into when really I just liked a bunch of styles and could only afford thrift so that's why I mashed them together. Hipsters broke down the barriers to only having to wear and be classified as one group (skaters vs punks vs surfers vs cholos, prep etc). So I'm very much proud to be of a minority race who developed a hipster aesthetic because it was born out of creativity, resourcefulness, and poverty (and do not consider it an appropriation of other cultures but yet an acceptance and influence by them which is of the highest honor). This was back when "thrift" actually was reflected in the prices and things you'd find for free on the street. Some of the pros is that despite the recession brought on by greedy capitalists putting people out of work, the hipster era sparked the surge of coffee shops and food trucks (originated by Hispanic food/taco trucks which was not mentioned here) which helped to employ people. This is a pro. Also, appropriation of wearing items from other cultures is a made up thing that white liberal people perpetuated. In the case of wearing tattoos and native/black/hispanic clothings helped to break down the stigma that if you dressed or wore certain clothes, you were a criminal. This is a pro that meant people who wear certain clothing and tattoos can be seen in a different light. When we speak of appropriation today, we speak as if it's 1999 again and people want to know what box you fit in and why you can't fit in other boxes... that's contradictory. Not to mention, thanks very much to capitalism (sarcasm), our broke out of work a55es helped spur the economy by purchasing homes in these low economic neighborhoods (which happened to be in my own neighborhood) and we've also helped dismantle crime ridden neighborhoods by doing so. You can buy a house in Compton for $700k now. It's still ghetto but not as bad as it used to be which is also good because it helps to improve the schools children attend and improve property maintenance so the houses can be passed to next generations. But nonetheless I still really enjoyed and appreciated watching this! Thank you.

Millennial here. You nailed it. I miss the hipster days a lot. Edit: As to the gentrification problem: Don't forget that the 2008 crisis left many millennials financially disenfranchised as well, which led to taking up space in historically poor neighborhoods. The rise in small and bespoke businesses was our way to keep afloat in an otherwise unfriendly economy. This culture and alternative economy was majorly wiped put during Covid, and has yet to recover, leaving the now 30 and 40--something millennials disenfranchised yet again...

If you ever visit downtown Toronto you will see everyone still dresses alot like this. Pretty sure they always had and they always will look just like this.

i love 80s fashion but the 2010s did such a bad job at recycling 80s trends. I do feel nostalgia for that era but I remember even then thinking the fashion looked bad

As a teenage during the late 00s and early 2010s, I related so much with the hipster trend 😂 I used to have every single items in this vid

Wow this was so accurate! Lol I was in high school and college from 04-13 and this style really got big in 08, the year I graduated high school, the year I started college, and the year the recession started. I remember going to a college party wearing this fedora that had one side longer than the other and a feather and leather string around it. It sounds ugly but it was actually really cute lol and I LOVED shopping at thrift omg did I love it and I still do! But I remember buying 80s shirts, Ray bans, the beanies, the acid wash. Yup yup. I still have my oversized acid wash jacket. I can seem to let it go. I started wearing it again recently. Honestly I think I dress like this still but with more “updated” pieces.

this is the channel i have been WAITING for

so mcbling turned to hipster turned to hypebeast which was just mcbling 2.0

I never realized how many influences hipsters took into to make their own, very interesting, and I love the way the video referenced both men and women’s usage of the style

I don't think that the hipster aesthetic is truly gone. First, I think many men in their late twenties-fourtys are still dressing like that. Probably because gen z fashion feels too young or too materialistic. Second, alternative (left) spaces are not changing a lot. We even saw it in your comparison with 60s hippies, 90s grunge, 80s punk etc. They are always wearing what the mainstream considers unfashionable: old shirts, work gear or military inspired clothes, ugly sweaters. They may have ditched core hipster items like the moustache motif, galaxy print or the bowler hat, but combat boots, leather jackets, workwear, the nose piercings or ugly glasses are not going anywhere. And they have and (probably) always will appropriate other cultures. If it's not native american pieces, it is indian or middle eastern stuff. But I noticed the pants getting bigger: As gen z enters alternative spaces, they bring their silhouette (big on bottom, tight on top). But other than that, politically left or alternative spaces have not changed at all, fashionwise.

Love its adoption of the best parts of many different eras. Agree that there was a few faux pas and massively agree it resulted in the rise of gentrification (as someone who lived through hipster peak 2004-2010 in my youth and uni days and is now priced out of housing market because of my own participation in the cool coffee scene and books store vibe I am a little bitter).

Hipster fashion will never end, thrift stores are just cheap and super convenient, i live in LB hipster fashion is more popular here than it has in awhile

All I remember hipsters wearing were flannel shirts, skinny jeans, and lots of hats.

I noticed the term ‘appropriated’ is only used when talking about people of color, and terms like ‘adopted’ and ‘inspired’ by for non poc’s. Great video

Just blown away by the care and time you put into this video. Well done

big beards are going to be associated with millennial men and short curly hair on men is going to be associated with gen z men

Let's not forget Toms shoes! Such an important (and somewhat naive) expression of hipster conscientiousness :P I rocked toms for like 5 solid years...so much sweat XD

“who sings this song?” “oh….. you’ve probably never heard of them 🤭”

The"rasta cap" was a beret, which is from the beat style of the 50s' and traditional Scottish styles.

I lived in South Philly in the aughts. If it wasn't the hipster capital, it was at least the hipster second city. Unlike the people in Brooklyn we didn't have trust funds. It was mostly people that grew up in lower middle class white suburbs and moved to the city. I can sum up the zeitgeist with a quote from Hemingway: "...we were very poor, and very happy." Warm summer nights, bike rides to punk shows, dive bars and house parties. I feel very sad for twenty somethings now.

They’re called harem pants. Not Harlem lol. Look up what ‘harems’ are and you’ll see why. Think of Aladdin/middle eastern pants.

Galaxy print and mustaches. Galaxy print and mustaches EVERYWHERE. I so wanted a pair of galaxy print leggings tho😭

I'm 32 and absolutely rocked hipster vibe! I loved the muscle t with a flannel and beanie and shorts with tights underneath. Omg, and those terribly uncomfortable toms shoes with everything hahaha

this is so well-research and well presented... the way you went back and forth between direct and indirect style influences is really great!!

I feel proud of denying being a hipster back in the 2010s and wearing second hand boots and frame glasses...gosh I miss those times, back when having a tattoo was cool and not mainstream. Once a hipster, always a hipster

In 2014 if you had skinny jeans and an iPhone you were a hipster. Now that’s just every normie. Interesting how stuff crosses over.

I appreciate you talking about fast fashion and environmental impacts of fashions. We should pay attention to this....then again I'm a old hipster so what do I know 😅...I was tumblr famous once! I still have a record collection too 😆

Hipsters were a neoliberal answer to disillusionment with neoliberalism, one that appeared progressive and pro-working class, but could be easily folded back into the status quo. Unfortunately, capitalism is really good at recuperation like that. Many good things did come out of the hipster era though: an appreciation for the crafts, the popularity of reusing clothes (Tbf it's a double edged sword), popularity of bike-riding in the US (in my own country it was always already a common way of transport), the repopularization of social movements (even if imperfectly so), the informalization of the workplace, focus on sustainability etc. And while some elements have become incredibly cheezy, I genuinely still see elements of the aesthetic that look incredibly cool and will probably be revived in ten years or so (I mean, the "indie sleaze" thing is already kinda having its moment I've heard).

I want to commend you for calling the movement what it actually was called especially taking reference from history which is both historically accurate and the correct terminology. Not slapping a new name for it like "indie sleaze". I do however take issue with the fact that you completely missed the mark from the emergence of the hipster from 2001. A post 9/11 world created a very nihilistic zeitgeist. Everything you mentioned about the ideology is accurate but it happened way earlier than the late 2000's. The music is what pushed the culture. There was a void in the music scene for "rock" music. The natural response to this was to go in the opposite direction and that's why emo music became so popular. The transition from emo to indie was really quick and most young adults who gravitated toward indie music didn't want to be associated with emo culture because it got too popular and mainstream. By the time the indie music scene had made a huge impact there was Myspace and smartphones and digital cameras and making it easier to be able to share one's life online and all of a sudden strangers were following people's digital diaries. The culture was formed from having no money and being creative. Finding clothes at swap meets and thrift stores. Buying $1 shots and beers and living every day like tomorrow may never come.

Wow massive study of hipster’s era. Thank you so much ❤ I’m a fan of your channel now

I love your videos! Thank you x

absolutely AMAZING job on this!!!!!

I recently found an oversized free people army jacket at the thrift that I remember wanting back in like 2013. Funny enough I was interning for the same concert promoter that does Coachella, AEG live. And I wanted this jacket so bad lol but of course because it was free people it was $200 😵‍💫 I’m pretty sure if I go back far enough on my Pinterest board I’ll find it saved there. Well I found it at the thrift store for $30 bucks (still pricey for a thrift store) but damn I felt good wearing it 😂😅 honestly, I’ve gotten so many compliments already when I’ve worn it out. Except now I wear it with workout leggings. Anyways it’s crazy how fast trends come and go. It’s why I love shopping second hand. Even for my kids. And I take pretty good care of my clothes.

I binged all of your content, this is seriously good. The only thing that makes me cringe a bit - is the constant refrain of cultural appropriation. While it is sometimes absolutely true, like, the trend of feathers, fringes, all refering to native american culture, it would be good to aknowledge other influences, including european influences. Large vests ? Definitely asian/japanese. Tattoos ? The oldest piece of tattoo we found was actually on the body of a cisalpine celtic man who died 5000 years ago. I encourage people not to take everything they read / watch online for gospel truth - including this comment. ✨🙏

Notice which culture attire is labeled "incorporated" and which is labeled "appropriated"

most in depth and fire channel atm going cRazy

This is a great video!! Please do more❤

Appreciate this illumination of my college experience and coming of age!!

I’m fascinated by Afropunk which is basically a Black version of hipster, mainly done by left wing middle class people of African descent living in urban metropolises of the US, London, and English speaking African cities like Nairobi… in many ways this trend has far more in common with the hipster aesthetic than more established Black aesthetics in the diaspora (hip hop etc) or traditional African cultural attire. It also takes the negative aspects of white hipster culture which is a very narrow and elitist definition of what counts as ‘cool’ which relies on being constantly on the right social media platforms to get style inspiration, and spending a lot of money on trendy outfits which is way out of the budget of most Africans

i love how u edit ur videos based on the aestheticc

Don’t forget the Minnetonka moccasins and fringe boots, they had a chokehold on hipsters back in the day

The rasta cap is similar to a hat called a tam here in the Uk and has been worn for hundreds of years originating in Scotland. As a 2010s hipster myself, i wore knitted tams not rasta caps. . It is similar to the beret style. Not every thing you think is appropriated.

I cannot express enough how happy it made me to see an X Ray Spex t-shirt in these pics! Polly Styrene was my hero way back in the day

Very well done! the details and overall presentation are stimulating. I learned a lot! Now I feel a bit melancholy! Ha!

THE WAY POLYVORE OPENED UNLOCKED CHILDHOOD MEMORIES FOR ME

love your videos! please don't stop making them you r great!!!! wish u could do them for the new aesthethic of this era (coquette, office siren, quiet luxury...)

Very good video, well done work.

So detailed and thoughtful

Loved this video, you really summed up the era so well. Not many Plus Size females could fit into those skinny jeans. The Palestinian scarf seems to have made a comeback in 2024 though.

I still own each one of these 😭💕 except the harem pants.

Finally… someone who understands what the Hipster Aesthetic actually looked like. Lol

paige reifler’s hipster urban outfitters era was my bisexual awakening ✨

I was born right between the millennial and gen z years, and this style still influences my fashion sense. It was always ironic that the 'counterculture' styles were the ones I couldn't escape in stores and media.

I feel Viberg was huge part of bringing in service boot style that came with hipster. Great video

I saw Agyness Deyn in here a few times, she was a hipster IT girl for sure. I just looked her up and she goes for a more quiet luxury look now

Remember… to appropriate is to appreciate. 🥰

I loved this video! It brought back so many memories, I had to search the name Agyness Deyn because her face was so familiar from the 2010s. Also I realized that I still love several of the trends. I finally bought myself a Wayfarer last fall after wanting one for yeaarrsss. Guess we millennials are finally having enough income to buy nice things now?! :D

I remember this look being huge when I was in college. I was definitely trying to emulate the soft grunge tumblr side of things back then. At the time I thought of myself as unique and original but watching this and seeing that I was just like everyone else at the time 😂

To me all of these trends just seem like what was mainstream fashion back then… am I missing something? Was everyone a hipster back then? 😄

Hipsters are like anti-hipster, yet hipster. What are they lol.

As someone who was in my 20s in the hipster era, there is something fun and rebellious about it that was only heightened because of youth. I still appreciate the understanding of layering clothes and the willingness to adopt more vintage styles like skirts. The idea of rebellion makes a lot of sense due to the pressures of the baby boomer generation.

I see nothing wrong with “””culturally appropriating””” stuff and fashion It’s always been that way The ancient Roman Empire “appropriated” the Greek art of sculptures… so what?

I love how appropriation was mentioned every two minutes but of course not when Scottish plaid/tartan was mentioned despite it being culturally worn as formal wear for weddings, funerals etc.

my youth is getting broken down. ahhhhhh!!!

As someone who lived through this time I applaud you for your coverage of unisex and 80's and 90's influences, however I think you may be mixing up boho dressing of this time with hipster and they are not the same. Boho and hippie new age revival (festival wear) was its own thing. Hipster less likely to wear fringe and long necklaces and more likely to wear artistic earrings or imported jewelry from a local shop. Also the movement was in full swing by early 2000 to 2004 and even earlier in spots like Portland Oregon.

When I was in middle school, it was the party rock era. I feel that 2012 was the death throes of the genre before it became the deconstruction of the late 2010s.

I feel called out on the carpet for this. I have so many hipster staples in my closet. But don't take my bangs and kanken bag. 😂❤

Good god so many hats

This is my era, period!! Hope it will come back together with Indie/Alternative Style and Music. Damn it I am old 😂

The term "Hipster" was a slur in my country imo. You could just spot the man with the beany and generic vintage looking clothing (but still bland) from miles away :P Even though the look portrayed some kind of "art-scene" vibe, the people usually weren't creative or open-minded whatsoever.

I'm 35 😭

I like hipsters, sure the aesthetic can be pretentious and hypocritical but there's a lot of fun hobbies associated with it that I myself really like today and it's just people who were having fun at the end of the day. They got a lot of hate but they didn't deserve it all.

Skinny jeans/skinny chinos were the absolute worst. I bought a pair of skinny chinos back in 2012 because I noticed all the "cool kids" at my college wearing them. That was the first and last pair of skinny pants I ever owned. Truly terrible to wear. Relaxed fit is where it's at.

27yr old here, you really really got it down

Please do the 2014 Tumblr "soft grunge" aesthetic!

I credit so much of my taste to Tumblr

I always thought of the Beatnick culture as the spiritual predecessor to the Hipster.

Hipsters don’t go to Starbucks. They pay $8 for a “smoking gun”. Or craft drip coffee under a smoke dome. :)

Commenting for the algorithm

Lookbook? Was it lookbook? Invite only ultra hipster ootd site