ReadysetDC A CREATIVE URBAN ENTERPRISE

Look At This F%$*ing Hipster?

A Follow-Up to “Hipsters” in Columbia Heights and U Street

A large influx of business and new residents have migrated to different neighborhoods of the District, which has provided a shift in demographics.  Like other cities, gentrification has reshaped the culture and characteristics of DC’s neighborhoods. The crime rates are decreasing while the value in real estate goes up. Along with the positives, a few negatives can stem along as well.  The WaPo recently ran an article addressing Columbia Heights and the neighborhood’s negative transformation into a haven for DC “hipsters“.

The New Columbia Heights blog posted a response to the article, which sparked a huge debate about the definition of “DC Hipsters” and their local hangouts (Wonderland, DC9 and Marvin to name a few). ReadysetDC’s Chris also coined in on the commentary. As we scanned the commentary, Andrew’s response raised an interesting question:

JrWorthy, about Marvin, that’s my point — some people see young people dressed well (like in Marvin) and think “hipster.” Some people think “douchebag” instead. Some people see Wonderland in each way too. It’s too vague for me.

Plus how is the subculture defined? Jobs? Fashion? Music? A lot of the fashion and music that are supposedly for hipsters are mainstream or trendy — you see 13 year old African American kids in Columbia Heights in skinny jeans and American Apparel t-shirts — are they hipsters? Radiohead and Wilco sell out Nissan Pavillion — are there that many hipsters? Maybe 10-20 years ago it was a defined thing, now it’s not.

But that’s only part of my problem with the article, as I tried to point out, there were lots of other generalizations.

They’re not the only ones to make generalizations about “hipsters” in the city.   An article published in W Magazine in 2008 also referred to the U Street corridor, more specifically Marvin, as a “hipster” hangout:

Despite the social dominance of Republicans for nearly a decade, a liberal network also exists. Oddly, it’s referred to as the “hipster scene”—in D.C. the term is synonymous with non-Republicans, not artsy types in tight pants and Converse sneakers—and predictably it’s much more low-key. Being conservative won’t get you banned from hipster hangouts, though they do have their own brand of exclusivity. On a Friday night, Marvin, a nightclub on U Street, is packed with a diverse group of characters, but the tattooed bouncer denies a guy in khaki shorts and a pink polo shirt entry, saying shorts aren’t allowed. A few minutes later a patron wearing artfully distressed shorts exits the bar.

The W Magazine’s take on Marvin is false as we frequent the place weekly. Marvin attracts  people of diverse backgrounds and demographics. The misconception of  “artsy/creative” locals are humorous to us well. A Google search for “Hipster Washington DC” linked to Yelp.  Whether or not we agree with this list, we noticed that Marvin was not included:

• The Wonderland Ballroom (Columbia Heights)
• Black Cat (U Street Corridor)
• The Red Derby (Columbia Heights)
• Rose’s Dream (The Atlas District)
• The Raven Grill (Mt Pleasant)
• Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar (A new bar that just opened in the Atlas District)
• POP (U St Corridor)
• DC9 (U St Corridor)
• Portico Restuarant (U St Corridor)
• Rock & Roll Hotel (The Atlas District)

How are subcultures defined or perceived in the District? Do Washingtonians make assumptions on others based on appearances, occupation, favorite music and fashion?

In 1940, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hipster as a person who is unusually aware of and interested in new and unconventional patterns (as in jazz or fashion).

• Main Entry: hip·ster
• Pronunciation: ˈhip-stər
• Function: noun
• Etymology: ⁴hip
• Date: 1940

The ReadysetDC team decided to ask a few locals about their thoughts and views on “hipsters”:

What is your definition of a “hipster”?

Allyson Behnke, 24, Adams Morgan, Real Estate Agent: “Someone who doesn’t brush their hair often, speaks in their own intellectual witty dialect using phrases like ‘in vogue,’ probably in a band, listens to non mainstream music, probably works at American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, an Art Gallery, dive bar, or coffee shop. They ride a bike. Majored in some sort of art related studies, wears skinny jeans and/or other people clothes, might make their own clothes or just wears vintage clothing. Wears framed possibly fake glasses or ridiculous brightly colored sun glasses. They refuse everything mainstream and deny being a hipster. Oh and *duh* they value and have an appreciation for culture, art, music and independent thinking”.

Tracy Clayton, 32, Shaw, Public Affairs Manager: “There’s no such thing as a hipster. There are, however, tastemakers and trendsetters. Hipsters are extinct and I question if they ever existed, just like the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. Show me a hipster and I’ll show you Bigfoot in low-rise jeans or better yet the Loch Ness Monster. Did you know there are mermaids in the Tidal Basin?

The only thing the Washington Post article accomplished was now double-decker tour buses will make their way to Columbia Heights packed with tourists, wearing FBI t-shirts, cruising by Wonderland Ballroom to get glimpse of the hipster in their natural environment, very National Geographic”.

Chris Dickerson, 26, Park View, (Sub)Urban Planner: “A hipster is anyone who likes things that are bad (and knows said things are bad). If you grow a mustache or get a mullet because you know they are ugly but you want to show the world that you can make ugly hip, then you are a hipster. The female counterpart to the mustache is bangs. Every guy knows that bangs on a girl look terrible, but hip girls get them anyway to flaunt that they are immune to the opinions of unhip guys. Hip guys like girls with bangs, again, because it’s hip to like ugly things.

Another example is when riding a hip bicycle, hipsters carry their bike lock. Whether they drape a 20-pound chain over their shoulder like a beauty pageant sash, loop an oversize cable lock around their hips, or force a miniature u-lock into the back of their waistband, hipsters know they are doing something stupid/painful all for the sake of looking hip”.

Harry Dixon, 33, Glover Park, DJ: “A hipster takes something cool and exaggerates it until it’s annoying”.

Patrick Kigongo, 27, Bloomingdale, Guitarist for Ra Ra Rasputin: “A hipster is a person who is keeping track of rising trends and at same time being selectively disdainful of anything that can be see as mainstream. mainstream in the sense that it’s something that anybody can pick up on. Hipsters pride themselves on being in the know”.

Ashley May, 27, Mt. Pleasant, Makeup Artist: “A “hipster” is anyone who looks like they’re trying too hard to be cool. And I am pretty sure that is subject to interpretation. I’ve been called this word many times and I sort of relish it. The word in and of itself is simply a buzzword that is so overused by squares like the girl that wrote that article that at this point it’s lost it’s power as an insult and just makes it’s user sound like an uninformed hater”.

Khaleelah Po Rome, 20-something, Cleveland Park, Chemist/Scientist Assistant: “It is funny that if you are into the arts, are economical and decide not to pay a gazillion dollars for rent on a condo or apartment, you are considered a hipster. The word hipster is more of a subculture and I don’t really think it applies to people that live in Columbia Heights.  There may be a few hipsters that live in Columbia Heights, but I wouldn’t consider it a “hipster” neighborhood. People have convoluted what the term hipster comes from. There is a hipster subculture but its just not really that existent in DC. I’ve been to the bay area and NYC and they have the true definition of a hipster. I think that people think if you were skinny jeans, v-neck tee”s and like arts you are considered a hipster instead of an individual. There should be more thought put into trying to categorizing people based on minor details. Lots of people enjoy the arts, and have their own opinion but it doesn’t mean your a “hipster” because of it. If i didn’t love my own neighborhood so much I would move to Columbia heights so I could go shopping at Target every day too and have access to the metro but I live in Cleveland Park. I have bars and restaurants; and my neighbor is a panda, Mei Xiang, you can’t beat that”.

Joel Rosado, 26, Mt Vernon Square: “A hipster? Haha, I have no clue, that word has come to mean anything counterculture. Its just a horrible word and lazy journalists”.

Nikolas Schiller, 28, Shaw, Artist + Blogger: “The word ‘hipster’ is a meaningless catch-all term that highlights the postmodern nature of our contemporary society. In lieu of being able to properly define a genuine counter-culture, which is simply & laughably based on a rebellion against normalcy, the term hipster can be used to describe anyone who does not fall into the predefined counter-cultural niches of dress, decorum, and ideology”.

Brandon Schmittling, 28, Bloomingdale, Graphic Designer + Contributor for All Our Noise: “Before I was told what a “hipster” was, I knew there were people my age interested in Art and Music in the same way that kids in High School were interested in Magic the Gathering and Starcraft. So to me, it was only natural that people with the same interests would coalesce and prefer to present themselves in a way that help to define an identity – not to isolate themselves, as everyone assumes, but to relish in their chosen (and shared) pursuits. People always use fashion, language, demeanor and other characteristics as short hand to get across how they’d like to be socially engaged, and the so-called “hipster” wants you to know that they get what’s going on around them but chose to be disconnected from it. Scratch a “hipster” and you’ll usually find just below the surface a decent education, a highly developed media literacy, a whole slew of opinions, a socially competitive nature, a lot of potential and a love of certain mediocre tendencies that are easy to label as “lazy” but exist mostly because they often represent the path of least resistance. And they like to hang out with each other, big deal.

I think the lazy, stereotypical “hipster” (and I loathe what I’m about list) is described as wearing tight-fitting clothes and thick-rimmed glasses, riding a fixed-gear bike, enjoying Pabst Blue Ribbon, and judging anyone based on their music or art tastes. But I’ve never had anyone that fit that ridiculous description treat me hostilely if I didn’t deserve it, and by that I mean, come at them with chip on my shoulder, assumptions at the ready”.

Do you agree/disagree with the above statements? More importantly, how “hipster” is Columbia Heights or the U Street Corridor?