For this project I wanted to focus on the Hipster youth subculture that seems to be infiltrating the mainstream and minds of culture today.
The whole Hipsterism world isn’t something that just came around in the 21st century, but is actually a re-occurring style and culture that has seen its share of “hip” since the 1940’s. So, what is a Hipster? Well, way back when, a hipster was someone associated with a subculture that considered itself hip (encyclopedia). Used to describe white aficionados of jazz in the 40’s, it also described Bohemians and the Beat Generation (group of American writers who celebrated non conformity and spontaneous creativity). With a laid back attitude, many made popular the use of recreational drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines and heroin (Hipsters such as bebop musicians like Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis). So, the music that generated this sub-culture was that of Jazz, Swing and Bebop music of mainly black performers with a grand audience of white aficionados. The styles that were popular for this subculture were that of the Bohemian; beret wearing, frequently in black, Kool cigarettes, sunglasses at night, frequenting jazz clubs and coffeehouses in New York’s Greenwich Village.These were the O.G’s of those times, the Original Hipster.

==image is comprised of Billie Holiday, Maila Nurmi, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis==

Jazz and bebop Hipsters Miles Davis and Charlie Parker

So what about the Hipster subculture that we know about now? In the 90’s and 00’s, Hipsterism became a slang term used for urban middle class and upper class adults with liberal and non-mainstream (yet mainstream) fashion and cultural interest. Mostly associated with alternative, “indie” culture and living, the Hipsters we see today follow a varying array of vintage styles mixed with “campy’ manners. These hipsters still have a niche for coffeehouses (mainly starbucks yet some low key places like Dark Horse in downtown Toronto), DJ clubs and thrift-stores (Value Village ftw!) with the addition of NME magazine and radio. The term for Hipsters isn’t the same description of those in the 40’s but “ hipster usually refers to young people who may have an appreciation for independent rock, a campy or ironic fashion sense, or an otherwise "bohemian" style. They are typically associated most closely with alternative culture, particularly alternative music, independent rock and independent film” (encyclopedia). We all know of this trend/style/subculture, as its so prominent in our Western Culture. Some deem it as the demise of Western Civilization, since it so accessible and malleable and flaky; one day its in, one day its out. Hipsterism as we know it today is generated with the indie, alternative and rock music we hear on the radios, mtv, much music and magazine culture around us.