^Is
parlouramongst even a word? I thought
emoborg just forgot the comma and space between
parlour, and
amongst (two more everyday words).
Hipsters are bringing back 19th century and even older archaic words. Words like bespoke, dapper, smitten, peruse, perchance, mayhaps, parlouramongst, amidst, whilst and unbeknownst.
Uh, I've been using every one of those words, except for parlouramongst, since the 1960s. I have however, used the words parlor and amongst in conversation.
I just don't have people writing articles about me, because I grew up somewhere not fashionable.
Seriously. None of those words are archaic.
Mayhaps is a bit dated, but these are all pretty much common use, far as I'm aware.
As to hipsters -- I guess maybe I'm kind of one. Or does acknowledging thus automatically disqualify me? I mean, I live in Bushwick; though I have for nearly a decade, so I was there before the hipsters came (you know, before it was cool). I wear almost exclusively thrifted clothes (everything but socks and underwear), I have plastic framed glasses, my style is pretty funky, I have tattoos, colored hair, I eat kale, etc, etc. I know people will associate me with that group whether or not I like it and whether or not it's accurate. The truth is that I have mixed feelings about the whole subculture and what it represents. These observations are limited to American, and specifically NYC hipsters, but here we go:
People often mock the whole "artisan/handcrafted/blahblah" obsession associated with the subculture. I think this is wrong. It is a logical response to the societal shift we have seen over the last twenty years. There were a few solid decades of a strong middle class, and a very clear direction for the children thereof, i.e. go to college, earn a degree, get a job, shop at huge chain stores, buy a house, retire, however, that is clearly collapsing. With the exorbitant cost of education, outsourcing of jobs, and redistribution of wealth to the top 1%, many of today's young adults are responding by attempting to turn back the clock, as it were: focusing on entrepreneurship, quality of product and service, and an old fashioned small business model. I think this is positive. (Still ain't paying $11 for a jar of mayo from a specialty mayonnaise shop, tho -- mixed feelings.)
The obvious downside to this is gentrification. Gentrification is a rough issue for me. I don't want to be part of the problem, and as a mixed race individual from a very poor background, one might think I wouldn't be. However, I'm also passing, have a degree from a top university, and when I moved to Bushwick ten years ago I probably appeared very much the One Woman Gentrification Operation. As Manhattan is monopolized the middle class is pushed out, "hipster" entrepreneurs set up shop in the boroughs, gentrifying along the way. I'm sure this phenomenon is echoed in cities around the nation.
In NYC specifically there's a class and culture blindness that is often associated with hipsters. I felt slightly nauseated yesterday as I passed a new mural in my hood, a huge, three story painting of a very bland looking white girl, so bland in fact, her only distinguishing feature was her whiteness, sporting hip-hop style and a tank that read "GIRL BROOKLYN". It was just so damed obvious. It might as well have read, "Hey, colored people, we're gonna price you out of the hood, but leave your cool fashion behind, K?K?"
I felt thoroughly annoyed one evening as I stumbled home drunk behind an obnoxious white girl telling her obnoxious white boyfriend, "I don't
see race," right as we passed the (all black and Latino) projects on my block.
But I also benefit from the hipster invasion. I have always thrifted. When I was a kid it was because we were to poor to buy anything but Goodwill, as an adult it's because I have a genuine passion for unique and vintage clothes, I have ethical issues with buying new (sweatshops? no.), and I'm on a budget. There are a half dozen great thrift stores within a ten minute walking radius of my house now, which is awesome. The gross grocery store near my apartment was remodeled a few years back and is no-longer rat infested. There are new bars and restaurants and shops opening practically every week, and they do make the quality of life in the hood better. So, yeah, mixed feelings.
I don't think I'm a hipster. But I guess that makes me one.
