Let me begin by saying that being a “hipster” isn’t all about listening to 50s music nobody else listens to, watching foreign movies nobody has even heard of or knowing about something “before it was cool.” It’s a lot more than that; it’s about not being a clone of the mannequins in Abercrombie, doing something that nobody would expect and trying things that people don’t usually try.
One way that I stay true to the hipster life is with my clothing choices. The biggest problem with the “hipster clothing style” is that it has got- ten to the point where there are stores dedicated to making people appear “hipster.” For example, we all know Urban Outfitters has amazingly at- tractive clothes and they are different than the rest. But when you buy that sweater with all the kitties on it or a really rad pair of socks with bacon strips on them, you and probably half of American teens are also buying that exact pair of bacon socks and that exact kitty sweater. So you really aren’t different anymore. What I tend to do is go to lesser-known thrift shops or even a Goodwill around the corner to find clothes that people aren’t wearing or don’t want, and I revitalize them with my own fashion.
Another thing I want to talk about is the com- mon misconception that all hipsters go around telling people that they listened to artists like Lorde, Lana Del Rey or Bastille before they were popular. You might have heard the infamous phrase: “I listened to them before they were cool.” In all honestly, it really depends on if you are even looking for new music to listen to. Yes, some people catch on to new artists before they become famous, but it doesn’t mean that you’re the only one who can truly like them. Share the good music!
My biggest hipster confession is my addiction to the website Tumblr. I probably spend most of my time on there. I love it! I know that Tumblr is becoming increasingly mainstream and it’s becoming known to more people but I can’t find a way to stop checking my dashboard, making idiotic text posts and posting shameless selfies. Tumblr is just such a great way to express who you are, and all your inspirations and favorite things in life by putting it all on an easily acces- sible blog.
My creative confession about being a hipster is my use of photography and drawing. Whether it’s using my dads old Canon AE-1 to shoot pho- tos in black and white or shooting with a digital camera to get those crisper shots, I’m always tak- ing photos. My favorite things to photograph are people, not food as most of you probably would have assumed. I have been getting many of my friends to model for me and I am always trying to get more people. One of the biggest struggles of wanting to photograph others is that I see someone I really want to photograph but since I don’t know a lot of them personally, I don’t want to just ask them to model for me.
Lastly, as someone who is called an “artistic hipster,” I tend to look for guys or girls that are artistic in some way to go on dates with. I love to mesh my talents with others to create bigger and better things. Currently, I’m seeing a guy who’s really into music and has written two songs about what we talk about and how we connect. It inspires me to bring my emotions out in my drawings or photography. We have plans to go to a park sometime, and do some collaboration of my drawings while he writes lyrics; we just inspire each other to create some amazing stuff.
—Keech, a senior, is a guest columnist.
