However, this is my setback; my big, huge, I-refuse-to-believe-that-I’m-the-only-one-who-notices-this setback: I cannot, for the life of me, figure out the difference between hipster fashion and redneck fashion. This may just be that I’m from the South and most people are not, so maybe they don’t know they’re dressing like rednecks. But, people! We have the internet, we have television — this is the age of communication. What are you doing???
See, I moved to Los Angeles as a bright eyed, Southern girl. I have an “Uncle Bubba,” which is the equivalent to having a Ph.D. in redneckology. So, imagine my surprise when I relocated to my awesome apartment on the edge of Silverlake and everyone looked like everything I’d spent my entire childhood avoiding.
photo credit: istolethetvAnd I gave in, believe me. At this very moment, I am wearing snake-skin cowboy boots with a lace dress. I think I look pretty adorable, cool even. But, I could NOT have worn this growing up. Even now, if I wore this “back home,” I’d probably get invited to go line dancing and then to someone’s trailer to hang out, and not in an ironic sense. So, how’s a girl supposed to navigate? Is there a line I can cross that would make me too redneck, or does it just make me “more awesome?” For example, is it cool that I was baptized in a lake? No? But I can totally wear cut-off jeans and a fringed Minnie Mouse T-shirt?!
I’m trying to break it down to basics. From what I understand, the hipster lifestyle/fashion is broken down like this: nonconformity, distrust of the government, PBR, handlebar mustaches, mutton chops, T-shirts with no sleeves, T-shirts with no sleeves and beer logos, and mullets. On the other hand, redneck lifestyle breaks down as: nonconformity, distrust of the government, PBR, handlebar mustaches, mutton chops, T-shirts with no sleeves and beer logos, and mullets. See my confusion? The only difference seems to be that to be a hipster you are supposed to go to a boutique and spend $50 on a T-shirt made to look like it came from a thrift store (rednecks use real hand-me-downs); also, true hipsters are funded by their parents. On second thought, a lot of grown rednecks still live with their parents … another similarity?
Eff it. I’m just gonna invite Uncle Bubba to the next bathtub PBR party. Maybe I’ll get bonus points when he takes out his teeth.
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I’ve been trying to figure the difference out for years!!! Thank you for putting my confusion into words. 🙂
Brilliant. Just brilliant. I am so forwarding this to my husband. We always suspected as much, but have hipster friends, so couldn’t *say* anything about it 😉
lovely my dear. and don’t forget the ever elusive onesie. How that made it from myrtle beach to silver lake I’ll never know…
Wow Random_Tangent, thanks for the awesome breakdown. I feel like you have a Ph.D. in hipsterology, no joke. Love it! Especially this whole analysis of the connection to living a poor lifestyle. I can totally see that tie-in and the reclamation of the fashion and turning it on its head to make it “cool.” It speaks volumes.
I do hope someday my plain sneakers, jeans and t-shirt combo becomes cool. 🙁 … 😉
It’s because the Hipster (which is not a term I particularly like) fashion/culture movement largely sprang from the punk rock and indie music scenes. First there were the poseurs who just dressed like punk rockers, but didn’t really commit to the lifestyle, then there were scenesters who were basically just there to be seen (and screw around. Lots of screwing).
This led to the subculture placing a high value on appearing poor. Most punk rock and indie kids at the time were pretty poor. Those that weren’t dressed that way to fit in.
Hipsterism emerged as the Poseur/Scenester groups split off from the main bodies of Punk Rockers and Indie Kids. But they didn’t have a new group to attach themselves to. So they attached to each other. This led to a massive insulated feedback loop where styles of dress grew more and more ridiculous (and the ridiculous became more and more normal).
Eventually Hipsterism will collapse under its own weight and people will find a new way to look very silly to themselves 10 years down the road.
Hipsters co-opt the authenticity of other groups.
They are like hermit crabs scuttling about looking for the best cast-offs to adorn themselves with. Only, in this case ‘best’ is very subjective. As is ‘hygiene’ and ‘taste’.
I also confuse them sometimes with homeless people…homeless people with trust funds….
I never knew! The world looks so different to me now! Thank you, Amanda, you’ve changed my life!