Chi Town Hipsters (Chicago, Cary: 2013, bars, eat)

[Warsie]

Originally Posted by RarelyOffended

They are ruining the Chicago nightlife scene by Wicker Park that is all I know so far

Explain, I think I know what you mean but I am not sure.....

[Aleking]

Originally Posted by RarelyOffended

They are ruining the Chicago nightlife scene by Wicker Park that is all I know so far

they are the reason why Wicker's scene exists and have long since moved on to Logan. WP is almost strictly yuppy these days.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by NearWestSider

The hipsters of today are neither hippies, hipsters, nor hep-cats.

In my opinion, their closest bohemian bretheren are to oft-forgotten beatniks, the group that embraced art forms (free jazz, abstract art) that they knew would never be popular with the masses and wore their allegiance to "doomed" art forms (Indie rock, in the case of the modern hipsters) as a badge of honor. This TOTALLY sets them apart from the hippies, for example, who wanted the public to adopt their taste in music and art.

So if I were to construct the great American bohemian evolutionary tree, I would construct it roughly as follows:

Big Band-Era Hipsters
----Hep-Cats (aka, Greasers) (1950's)
--------Punks (1970's)
------------Modern Punks(1980's)
------------Goths (1980's)
------------Emos (1990's)
------------West Coast Grunge(1990's)
----------------Brasilenho (1990's)
----Beatniks (1950's)
--------Hippies (1960's)
------------Modern Hippies (1970's)
--------Hipsters of today (1990's)

This is how I'd score it, anyway.

So what is a 2010's Emo person? Retro Emo? SOL?

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

So what is a 2010's Emo person? Retro Emo? SOL?

Is that even still a thing? I thought emo went away nearly a decade ago.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by andrew61

You forgot "BoBos" -- the rather unlikely marriage of "Bohemian" and "Bourgeois" that has taken place in recent years.

Bobos in Paradise

This is neither unlikely nor recent. Many of the 60's hippies were from upper-middle and upper class backgrounds, as were many of the beatniks before them. We used to call the 90's version "trustafarians" (dreadlocked, tie-dyed, baggy-clothed kids who took daddy's BMW on road trips to music festivals while on break from elite private universities).

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by RarelyOffended

They are ruining the Chicago nightlife scene by Wicker Park that is all I know so far

The fact that anyone would accuse hipsters of "ruining" WP illustrates exactly how meaningless the word hipster has become.

Originally Posted by Aleking

they are the reason why Wicker's scene exists and have long since moved on to Logan. WP is almost strictly yuppy these days.

Exactly.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

Is that even still a thing? I thought emo went away nearly a decade ago.

If they're gone, knock on wood...

[pnwmdk]

I still don't understand what a current "hipster" is. Though having had it explained to me a couple of times, having read a few descriptions, I still don't "get it".

All I can come up with is: Self indulgence, but lacking the money to be be truly wanton.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by pnwmdk

I still don't understand what a current "hipster" is. Though having had it explained to me a couple of times, having read a few descriptions, I still don't "get it".

I don't think you're missing anything. There's not much to "get." I agree with nearnorth and marothisu that it seems to be applied to just about any middle class young person in the city who doesn't fit some perceived norm of frattypreppyyuppybig10jockmidwestsuburbanwhatever.

"Oh, you like old things? You like music slightly outside of the mainstream? You read books? You like bars that don't have 47 TV screens showing sporting events constantly? You wear glasses? You ride a bicycle? You like art and literature? You must be a hipster!"

If it means anything more specific than that, I haven't figured it out, either.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

You like bars that don't have 47 TV screens showing sporting events constantly?

I don't like those joints but sometimes on road trips we eat in them because they often have good chow close to the interstate. Anyway I bought a device online called TV Be Gone. It's a keyfob with a small remote control built in that runs through TV turn off codes when you push the button. I use in in waiting rooms like at oil change places and such, just use it surreptitiously. Never used it in a bar though.