Misshapes Ends, Hipsters Divide

All I know is that Leigh Lezark is hot!

Um...is Brooklyn all that cheap to live in? Relatively speaking, maybe, but far from "poor and troubled."

I'm a regular commenter on DCist who finds this thread hysterical. Just last week someone had this to say about DC hipsters and I think that applies in NYC as well:

what people refer to as "hipsters" in DC are a subclass of indierock adults who are wealthy and overachieving but are intelligent enough or are urbane enough to have tastes beyond mainstream popular culture but are not culturally aware enough due to their economic status to be truly aware of underground culture.

Everyone needs to belong to one or another group. People who identify as hipsters are fundamentally no different than those who identify as anything else (yuppie, preppie, jock, worker bee, etc). There's nothing inherently wrong with hipsters. Most of them are just young people, often involved in visual and musical creative pursuits who have been indoctrinated (somehow) into a culture that places the almost completely incompatible values of creating high-art and making money (at least enoguh to support one's self) at it on a pedestal, yet most of them realize that they are not cut out for that musical or high-art stardom (or even if they are, chances are they will not achieve that success), and further realize that will probably end up feeding the machine that they have grown to detest (the machine being general society and industry/corporations which are largely dominated by individuals they view as enemies of art and personal expression).

Dressing in the style of a hipster and putting on airs of meekness is an expression of solidarity with fellow artists and of social rebellion against the mainstream, which seems to value loose khakis, physical strength (football), and loud, obnoxious people. It is also a means to emulate some of the stars of contemporary NYC rock music scene. Now that the most recent culture of "hipsterdom" created by artists has begun to pervade youth culture in general, many former hipsters (who are actually still hipsters but not in the old sense of the word) have simply traded in their black jeans for less traditionally "artsy" duds. Its an endless and organic cycle of creation, adoption, and abandonment of styles. Eventually the contempo hipster style will morph due to some intersection of events and conditions -- such as the collective realization that tight pants hurt one's testicles, or a hot new band that wears overalls or nicely tailored suits (not just on stage).

In any case, something will happen, and the haircuts and clothing styles will change. It is during this time of change that the new "hipster" or whatever they're called at the time will be the least maligned -- they'll be a much less noticeable population block to non-hipsters and media types, and at that point much less likely to provoke immature, insensitive, and uninformed comments such as the ones left in this comments section. These remarks seem more likely to be heard in the hallways, lunch halls, and playgrounds of a middle school or high-school. To the hipster haters, from a definite non-hipster: Grow the f@&k up. Same goes to the hipster yuppie haters. All of you people need to get laid. To be honest, so do I. So I'm goign to wrap this up soon and get me to a hipster party (hipster chicks are easier and cuter -- sorry yuppies and hipsters).

Now, Brooklyn hipsters vs. Manhattan hipsters? I live in Manhattan and can honestly tell you that it is near impossible to be a hipster and live in Manhattan. It is almost an oxymoron. I mean, certain people who LOOK like hipsters or ACT like hipsters may live in Manhattan, but it really seems definitive that a hipster MUST live in Brooklyn, Jersey City, or LIC... maybe even DUMBO. Other metropolitan areas are also possible (Chicago, San Fran, LA, etc.), but as far as I'm concerned, Brooklyn is the epicenter of hipsterdom.

Hipster death? We'll hipsters as we know them might die out. And hipsters in general might get bored of NYC if it continues to get covered in these boring yuppie-housing units called "condos". But god help the Yuppies if there are no hipsters here. That means their property values will sink. Fast. That means the ethnic minorities will move in, property values will continue to sink, and then the Hipsters will finally move back in. Though god knows where they'd end up since I doubt many of them will want to live in condos. Anyway, its the only way property prices will go back up -- the presence of a vibrant art scene. Okay, maybe there's more to it than that, but you gotta admit hipsters bring a sense of hipness to a 'hood that helps property values.

Its an endless cycle. Don't get dizzy, people.

i'm surprised you can read. your comment is grey because EVERY guest comment is grey. take the extra 15 seconds to register.

why was my comment greyed? there was nothing overtly offensive here. geez. i remember one reason i stopped reading this blog.

non-native here. what bugs me the most about MANY new people I've met in the city - whether Manhattan or BK, is their utter lack of sensitivity to the existing ethos in their neighborhoods. While I suppose the same could have been said about any immigrant group, one would expect a lot more consideration from people who have come from a little bit more (more = education, wealth, etc.) and who share the commonality of being Americans. I've lived in various neighborhoods throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn since moving here some years ago. In each place, I find people willfully ignorant of the context in which their neighborhood exists. This seems to be increasingly the case in the "gentrifying areas." That very obliviousness actually ruins much of the vaunted "charm" in the neighborhoods in the same way that the higher rents force out some of the legacy neighbors. I see a lot of the so-called hipsters as guilty of this as many of the so-called yuppies and other varieties of transplants. There is only one visible commonality among them, which I will fail to mention lest I be blocked. Anyway, people - just learn to respect and appreciate your surroundings a bit more.

when did staten island get into this fight??

HOMOSEXUALS, not "hipsters". That's what Misshapes parties were. I'll keep saying it until you get it, cuz the article and most of you people are just plain wrong and are too caught up in yourselves. (PS the brooklyn vs manhattan vs staten island thing is old and tired).

make fun of what hipsters are wearing all you like. you'll be wearing it two years from now!

(cases in point: dominicanas in leggings and skinny jeans. spring fashion collections producing graphic prints like it's something fresh. and everything at "suburban outfitters.")

it's pretty fruitless to write off an entire group of people by what they wear or listen to or where they live. you're missing out; believe it or not, people who dress similarly or ride the L can actually be quite different when you get to know them! the people that need to GET OUT OF NEW YORK are the ones so eager to stereotype and hate. i don't care if you're "native," you don't belong here if you can't see past stereotypes, or, if you simply can't let people be and refrain from flaming on a message board. GO STEP ON ONE OF THOSE METAL ZAPPER PLATES, thank you con-ed!

This entire comments section=double win.

Hipster-on- hipster hate is the best.

I am no hipster (more like a Geek sometimes mistaken for a Hipster).

I have no problems with them, I even find some of them hot and sexy.

Hipster Sex is the Best!

Just a quick answer to the question no one is answering, ie. "why are they so hated"

I'm personally sick of hipsters because when I get out of work a little early and walk from the Bedford L stop back to my apartment the street are full of people who obviously didn't have to bother working that day, dressed "ironically", and when I walk by dressed in "work clothes" people look at me and sneer like I'm a fascist or something.

Hatin' goes both ways.

Are you kidding? You actually posted this? Brooklyn Hipsters v. Manhattan Hipsters? I can't believe you actually waste your time on this complete bullsh*t!

Jen Carlson - there is a whole other world that exists outside of the LES. I just want you to know.

[2] Posted by: guest | September 10, 2007 3:39 PM

WORD UP.

 

The haters are full of shit.

Like any of you would kick Leigh or Geordon out of bed.

Everyone conforms in one way or another. Whether it be by wearing second hand 80s grandma clothes or shopping at abercrombie and fitch or wearing only adidas warm up suits. So I don't think anyone should pull the hipsters are conformists/nonconformists card. They are a subculture like any other subculture.

I'm not here to say anything meaningful; I just want to contribute to the noise.

that some biting, original commentary, #49.

Can we send the hipsters back to mom and dad in the suburbs?

(sp) Then the toxic air caused the Lower East Siders....

Then the toxic air,, cause the Lower East Siders to mutate and evolve superior artistic and fashion skills, able to supersede people of all income brackets and artistic ability. With only a single glance, they could render Williamsburgers angry and insecure, causing them to write entire blogs about how the LES is "full of it." Upon daybreak, the Lower East Siders simply return back into their dark caves of apartments, to be hidden from society, ready to do it all again the next night.

The history of the Williamsburg-Lower East Side split:

'90s: People moved to Williamsburg because it was close to the East Village.

2000: Williamsburg got too expensive. So they spread to Bushwick to be close to Williamsburg which was close to the East Village.

2001: Terrorists attacked Manhattan. Poisonous gaseous dust cloud lingered for months. Rents in Manhattan dipped for about 5 months.

Artists figured out that living just below Delancey Street in early 2002 was the same exact price as living in Bushwick in early 2002. Just a little bit of toxic air, no big deal.

Hipsters, hipsters EVERYWHERE!

Are you people f'ing stupid, the majority of the people at these parties are HOMOSEXUALS (not saying there's anything wrong with that). Times quote: "It’s the end of an era, darling,” said Jonny Makeup! They're playing Cher, another guy's name is "Tommy Hottpants"! When did "hipster" transform to mean "gay"?!!? It's just 80s tranny druggie club kids you knobs!

..but hey, you guys got the thee click-throughs you wanted from me by posting this, so who is the real idiot here?

while i have to like jeff baum because a quick googling of his name showed me that he, too, is a huge Friday Night Lights fan, i'm going to go out on a limb and say that his little quote is possibly the most ignorant, misguided thing i've ever read on this website...and that's really saying something.

So....yuppies who have jobs are bad, whereas hipsters who just have cash but no jobs are better?

It still makes me laugh that the people who used to make fun of the worker bees by calling us bridge and tunnel now are B&T themselves.

It's all sad posturing till they need to get a real job. People will always come to NY, but usually they add something other than smugness to the mix.

Us natives have never had a problem with people moving here, ever, because we know 95% of people move here and then bounce back home to where they came from in a few years. We actually love it because then we take all your expensive possessions you abandon out of the garbage and keep them! Ha Ha! That's the real secret!

So, they are following a trend. let them, who cares? We all follow a trend at some point. I bet you most of the guests here own an iPod, does that make you brainless sheeple too? Want, got sucked into, enjoy, whatever it is, shouldn't they be able to do it?

"Because they wear whatever the hell they want, and no one should ever be given that right. They should buy some regular clothes and fade in with the rest of the normal population."

That statement is amusing. Why? Mostly, it is amusing because once the trend is no longer to wear skinny leg pants and off the shoulder 1980's reject shirts in bad patterns, you really think half these hipsters will STILL be dressing like that? They are slaves to the trend of this little scene and they will most likely float on to the next crappy clothing trend du jour. If you want to say that is somehow wearing what they 'want' then I don't know what to say to you.

why are they hated??

umm, did you see the NYT slideshow? Batman didn't even want that gay couple Green hornet and kato around. I've heard Green Hornet is a rice queen.

"...there is a reason why they are so hated."

Because they wear whatever the hell they want, and no one should ever be given that right. They should buy some regular clothes and fade in with the rest of the normal population.

Or at least look happy like the rest of New Yorkers in the subway do. Or move to a neighborhood they can't afford.

Why do people that hate hipsters give so much attention to them? Or talk like they regular check hipster bank statements?

hey #31 you are a dope. i am a native new yorker and i never told people to go back to where they came from ever - until the hipsters came to town. there is a reason why they are so hated.

quoted for truth,

you come here full of ignorance, ruining everything in your wake.

why don't you get your hipster shit over with now then move back into your lily white gated community with your private security force keeping out the undesirables.

I don't mind people moving here. I embrace it. What I don't embrace are self-indulgent 'scene' kiddies from elsewhere who spread their ignorance about NYC in general (like for example all the rumors about big, bad, expensive Manhattan *laugh*).

Brooklyn gets to be the Sharks

All the "native New Yorkers" who are constantly screaming "go back to X state where you came from" need to realize - NYC is ALL ABOUT people migrating here from elsewhere and always has been. Perhaps if you are sick of people coming to your beloved city and "ruining" it for you, you should move somewhere else, because people are not going to stop coming here.

#26.

Wrong.

This debate is consistently fueled by people so ignorant of Manhattan in general (read: people who have moved to Brooklyn from elsewhere and have pre-conceived notions about Manhattan that all their similar roots friends agree with ignorantly).

I laughed very loud at that quote ""Brooklyn hipsters are about the whole lifestyle. They have their own parties and events. Anyone who can afford to live in Manhattan these days and has the audacity to act poor and troubled is doing it for show." especially considering that most of the 'hipsters' I know in Brooklyn are trust fund brats shopping at Beacon's Closet for the kitsch factor, NOT because they cannot afford Barneys. Please.

- Native New Yorker glad to see this silly 'scene' die.

a handy thing about headlines: if you don't feel like reading a particular post, you don't have to. apparently some readers haven't figured this out...

p.s. don't forget to send reactionary emails bitching to the NY post and NYT while you're at it!

if you think you're not getting ripped off by your landlord, you live in bushwick.

hipsters are less anoying than the pointy shoes girls with the front of their hair pulled back, and short enough skirts too see hair. It's better to act poor than to act rich - if you have to act.

Anyone who says it costs just as much to live in Williamsburg as it does to live in Manhattan is WRONG. There are more spaces, and bigger spaces to be found for cheaper in Williamsburg than in Manhattan (unless maybe you live in Morningside Heights). Sure, if you live in one of the new condos it's gonna cost you as much as in Manhattan. But most of us live in Williamsburg because it IS cheaper than living in the city.

that's cause you're not one of them. do you have a kato mask? is green hornet your sidekick?

I hear a lot about these "trust fund hipsters", yet I've never met one in person. I'm not entirely sure they exist.

Dang right, Guest #21, I'm a Bronx hardcore Clocktower hipster, so all ya'll can just suck it.

Or something like that...

and an old time louisville slugger under the seat.

I'm glad they're getting mugged in billyburg. Now we know who has money.

I'm all about the Bronx hipsters these days. Hair chests and Yankees caps are the new ironic fashion.

Perhaps Gothamist missed the article in The Times last year that stated "parents or children with trust funds are buying about 25 percent of the inventory in Williamsburg," if you ask me that means its pretty pathetic if people in Manhattan and Williamsburg are trying to look poor and troubled. Perhaps the poster lives in Brooklyn and therefore is defensive?? Manhattan Hipsters: 0 Brooklyn Hipsters: 0

oh, this is totally my favorite quote from the ny times article - it's from the 2nd photo in the slide show: "Since 2002, Misshapes has worn its mantle as the ur-hipster party."

ur-hipster.

HA HA HA.

Wait a minute, I just got my trucker hat, ironic t-shirt, skinny jeans and big sunglasses. Also I haven't bathe nor shave for a week, and has been drinking PBR all month. What type of hipster am I?

Is a "hipster" like a "fanny pack?"

why so much hate against gothamist? think what you want about new york "hipster" culture, but the fact that it exists is noteworthy. look at it as a sort of metropolitan sociological field of study.

How is making a trend your whole lifestyle winning?

Willie hears ya .... willie don't care.

Dear 'guests',

Lighten up.

k?

k.

That slide show in the times is pretty hilarious. What a weak, lame-ass (sort of)subculture. They're still better than meatheads and yuppies though.

Is this like the East Coast vs. West Coast rap wars?

"Anyone who can afford to live in Manhattan these days and has the audacity to act poor and troubled is doing it for show." Brooklyn Hipsters: 1, Manhattan Hipsters: 0."

Last time I checked, it cost just as much to live in Williamsburg as it does in Manhattan. But I guess you're more like to get robbed or stabbed in BK, which makes it alt.

buy them all guns so they can kill themselves

what is this dogshit? who the fuck cares about these assholes? get a fuckin life Carlson.

Charting the hipsters?!? Do I smell a Gothamist flowchart?!?! WOOHOO!

tried to care.

failed to care.

"Are you kidding? You actually posted this? Brooklyn Hipsters v. Manhattan Hipsters? I can't believe you actually waste your time on this complete bullsh*t!"

This story is VERY relevant to Gothamist since Hipsters make up the majority of the readership

Thank god for Williamsburg. Otherwise where would the poor people go?

Are you kidding? You actually posted this? Brooklyn Hipsters v. Manhattan Hipsters? I can't believe you actually waste your time on this complete bullsh*t!

Jen Carlson - there is a whole other world that exists outside of the LES. I just want you to know.

The Misshapes are the biggest non-story to ever captivate the blogosphere. I dont know one person who gives a shit about them, outside of bloggers. Good riddance.