Showing posts with label Style. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Style. Show all posts

Monday, December 9, 2013

Further Thoughts On Hipster Atheism


Hipster culture to me is kind of like the fetishization of fashion itself. Fashion and beauty have been around for centuries, but what hipster culture does is it takes image and style and fetishizes it to the point where it becomes the only thing that matters. And living in New York, I can't help but pay attention to this subculture because hipsters are everywhere. They're unavoidable. If you're a relatively young person like myself in New York, you're going to feel a lot of pressure to be stylish and you will indeed be judged by how you dress, not only by hipsters, but by New Yorkers in general.

Hipsterism I suppose is the primary cultural phenomenon of our day, as was the hippy subculture of the sixties, and the beatnik subculture of the fifties. I guess you can say that I too am a hipster, but I don't fit all the stereotypes. Yes, I do care about how I dress. I do wear skinny jeans. I do have a beard. I do wear a lot of plaid. I do listen to a lot of indie rock and a lot of classic rock. I do like many things that are somewhat obscure. I do like art and film. And, I am an atheist. But - I'm not a trust fund baby pretending to be poor. I care more about science and philosophy than I do about style and looks. I sometimes wear things that aren't cool. I don't keep up with all the trends. I like many things that are mainstream and commercial. I don't wear thick rimmed glasses. And I fucking hate PBRs!

I do however, have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with hipster culture. Once you get into it, you start looking down at people who have no style. This is why hipster culture has so many haters. I've noticed myself numerous times insulting people behind their back who I thought had no fashion sense. But then I also despise people who take that attitude to the extreme and judge people only by what they wear. I don't go that far. I judge people by their personality. If you're interested in the same things I am, like science and philosophy and can carry your own in an intellectual conversation, then I don't necessarily care about how you dress. And conversely, you can be the most stylish mother fucker in the world, but if you're a purely superficial, lame ass douche bag who only cares about fashion and pop culture, then I will have little to no interest in hanging out with you.

Monday, May 13, 2013

If it's possible that there's a greatest conceivable being, is it also possible that there's a coolest conceivable hipster?


It just occurred to me...

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Sunday Morning Hangover Post



Last night a friend of mine convinced me to go partying in the Meat Packing district in Manhattan. I was originally in the city just enjoying a sunny, relatively mild Saturday afternoon absorbing the sights and sounds. I hadn't been out leisurely in quite a while since I'm not really a friend of the bitter cold, but the weather seemed like a prelude to Spring and I didn't want to waste it.

I had on a vintage jean jacket and my black Levis skinny jeans, advertising the rediscovery of my rock and roll roots. While chilling in Union Square park soaking up the Winter sun, a few people approached me due to my style. It's always complimentary to the ego when your looks alone get others interested in you. This one group of people wanted my picture because I looked similar to one of the men in the group. Then later a woman who was researching information on fashion came up to me and wanted to interview me about my style, on camera. Since I had nothing to do I decided to give it a shot. So she asked me about how I describe my style - which was a topic already on my mind. I told her my style is kinda vintage rocker with a little modern hipster thrown in, and that I've gone through many phases in fashion over the years, some of them very embarrassing. Then she asked me what I'd change about my body - a slight curve ball of a question that I didn't quite expect, and so I told her that if I could change anything I'd probably want to be more muscular. It's hard to admit one's bodily shortcomings, especially for a man, but for me I've always wanted more muscle definition, without actually having to work out of course.

After the interview we talked a little about the reasons behind fashion - like what motivates us to dress how we want to. For me, fashion and style are a way to express to the world visually how I want to be thought of. I've always wanted to be in a band, but was never able to commit myself to the amount of practice it takes to actually be in one, so with fashion I can at least look like I'm in one.

Anyway, after the interview I called my friend who wanted to meet for drinks at a bar in the West Village. He knows the owner of the bar and so it was free beer all night - no complaints from me. Since I hadn't seen him in a while, we had to catch up on things. He told me he's actually giving up Facebook for lent. I didn't even know he was a practicing Christian, and so it got me asking him about religion. It turns out he doesn't actually believe that the Old Testament is the true word of god, which explains why he supports gay rights. The variety of Christian belief is astounding. But since my friend isn't exactly the deep thinking intellectual type when it comes to his beliefs, my probing didn't evolve into a lengthy discussion. And so after his girlfriend showed up and another friend of mine came through, we all decided to go to the Meat Packing district.

Now I'm not a huge fan of the Meat Packing district to be honest with you. Sure it's trendy and full of really hot women, but at my age, I'm just not into that scene anymore. Most of the clubs and bars play that kind of in-your-face techno that I lost interest in before I ever even had it. When it comes to electronic music I generally prefer chilled out house or electro. The crowds in the MPD draw the usual assortment of Jersey Shore guidos and Latino thugs that I'd prefer not to acknowledge the existence of. My entire time there I was really just observing the Saturday night rituals of a crowd and a culture that I've left behind years ago. I used to be a club promoter, and every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, I was surrounded by the Manhattan club scene in the MPD and Chelsea. Now there's no amount of alcohol that could make this scene tolerable and it's too bad I didn't drink enough to black out and forget it all.


Monday, April 26, 2010

Image

When I don't shower for a few days and my hair gets messy and my body starts to stink, and I sit home in my house clothes, I start to feel ugly. I start to get the urge to shower and get all styled up to feel attractive. As a man I am not immune to the need to feel exceptional from time to time as women have been for many years. I guess it's a product of the metrosexual culture we live in. Maybe it's just me. I know how good it feels to be all fixed up in a nice outfit, with hair done all styled up, and a hint of cologne maybe to top it off. It immediately gives us a little boost of confidence when we look our best. When there are days when I don't shower or maintain myself I look in the mirror and see my unkempt self and think, "damn, I look horrible."

I hate that, and we live in a culture consumed with looking good all the time. Even celebrities often look good, when they're suppose to be looking average. Maybe they spend a lot of time to look good when they are suppose to be pretending to not care about how they look. I am a high maintenance person by nature. I wish I was one of those type of people who naturally has great hair and skin and can just jump out of bed looking awesome with out having to do anything. On rare occasions I can do that but usually not due to my oily skin and hair. Instead I almost always have to shower or at least shampoo my hair and style it to look good. I hate it and I blame my bad genetics for it. But what can I say, that's how I am. I don't want to be high maintenance but I just am.

As I've gotten older I've slowly gotten turned off from the whole fashion thing, not completely, but it isn't as big a part of my life as it once was. I still have a sense of style but it doesn't rely on current trends as it once did. I am the type of person that constantly changes my style anyway. I am now styling myself more as an intellectual because that's how I've become. Pretty soon I'll be wearing dress shirts and blazers everywhere.

I haven't given up on style. I plan on being stylish throughout my 30s just like my 20s. However, I want to resist the temptation of the evils I see (corporations) that want to put pressure on all of us into thinking like teenagers until we're 45 (or later). That is a big scam I see that's very profitable: Trick everyone into thinking they can feel young and cool if they obsess over their looks and image way past high school.

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