Help me find the best "hipster" costume for halloween.

October 23, 2006 6:58 PM

I'm going as a "hipster" this Halloween. This seems normal to some people on here, but I'm typical a very very preppy guy. I'm not looking for what's "in" as hipster today, but what is more stereotypical.. and sometimes my mind goes blank since none of my friends dress this way. I'm not making fun of anyone, but really just going totally against my typical style. This is what I know I need so far:

-Black rimmed glasses
-Non baggy, short short sleeved shirt
-Dark hooded "sweatshirt" (not baggy or thick)
-Dark cordoroys
-converse type shoes
-colored socks

My mind goes black on:
-headwear (hat style?)
-any other accesories?

Does anyone have links to pics? Thanks so much

posted by sandmanwv to clothing, beauty, & fashion (43 comments total)

This might be of use to you - if dressing like a mac is your idea of what hipster looks like.
posted by bigmusic at 7:01 PM on October 23, 2006

You need an iPod with white headphones.
Use wax in your hair to make it look very bedhead-y.
Use foundation or something to make yourself look pale.
Grow some patchy, ungroomed facial hair.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:05 PM on October 23, 2006 [1 favorite]

A Pabst Blue Ribbon can.
posted by blueneurosis at 7:05 PM on October 23, 2006 [2 favorites]

Do you have any collected concert/club wristbands? Wear as many at many as you can.
posted by Lillitatiana at 7:13 PM on October 23, 2006

Oops - as many as you can.
posted by Lillitatiana at 7:14 PM on October 23, 2006

Echoing blueneurosis, definitely a PBR can.

Your clothes for this costume will likely be a little more snug than your typical preppy gear. A fitted (not baggy) tee-shirt from a current hipster band (see Pitchfork for ideas) or from Threadless. A white belt and Rivers Cuomo-esque glasses would complete the look.

And maybe rock these indie rocker pickup lines? #13 is my personal favorite.
posted by awegz at 7:15 PM on October 23, 2006

And I'm writing as a quasi-hipster gal myself (for as much as hipsters label themselves), so I speak from a place of hipster love.
posted by awegz at 7:16 PM on October 23, 2006

White belt.
posted by ruby.aftermath at 7:20 PM on October 23, 2006 [1 favorite]

The shoes should match with another piece of clothing, besides the socks.
posted by Camel of Space at 7:24 PM on October 23, 2006

Oh, and a bandana around your neck. Or is that still "in" and not passed into cliche yet? I can't tell.
posted by ruby.aftermath at 7:25 PM on October 23, 2006

If it's not "in" anymore, it would work for irony!
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:32 PM on October 23, 2006

Trucker hat.
posted by xo at 7:35 PM on October 23, 2006

Try browsing Blue States Lose, if those are the style of hipsters of which you speak.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:36 PM on October 23, 2006

Myspace. A place for hipsters.
posted by oxford blue at 7:40 PM on October 23, 2006

Vice Guide to You

Any more hipster and you'd be a big ball of energy floating in ethereal fashion.
posted by geoff. at 7:41 PM on October 23, 2006

May I direct you to this comic strip for what a certain breed of hipster tends to look like. The My Chemical Romance breed of hipster.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 7:42 PM on October 23, 2006

You need long sideburns. I recommend a moustache as well.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:49 PM on October 23, 2006

Not a bandanna. A black-and-white scarf, I think they are traditional Arab scarves called kaffiyeh, but it might be something slightly different. Wear it around your neck, as per ruby.aftermath.
posted by anjamu at 7:52 PM on October 23, 2006

Oldie but goodie: hipster bingo.

I love it that "hipster" is already a Halloween costume-worthy cliche. The world is a funny place.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 7:57 PM on October 23, 2006

You need your ironic t-shirt. (Self-link. That shirt's from my CafePress store.)
posted by MsMolly at 7:59 PM on October 23, 2006

Moleskine
posted by kimdog at 8:07 PM on October 23, 2006 [1 favorite]

Anything from American Apparel. Old school Puma gear.

Also, remember to misinterpret anything you know about the sciences and pretend everything you know about the arts is of your own mind and not something you gleaned reading Wikipedia.
posted by Loto at 8:12 PM on October 23, 2006

Oh man this is a case for BLUE STATES LOSE! Study the pictures herein and you will be on your way to complete hipster douchbaggery!
posted by The Michael The at 8:21 PM on October 23, 2006

Replace the black sunglasses with plastic framed sunglasses in some random colour - red, or white, or bright blue. In a weird shape that doesn't flatter your face.

A 'polo' shirt thats too small on you and hopefully striped.

A leather jacket from goodwill/salvation army.
posted by Kololo at 8:24 PM on October 23, 2006

Ripped jeans. A messenger bag (sort of like a half-briefcase half-backpack). A scarf. Maybe a saucy hat, or a baseball cap. Piercings, tattoos, other jewellery.
posted by PercussivePaul at 9:01 PM on October 23, 2006

Heh. Get on the "cutting edge" and hit up the costumes on Last Night's Party. Straight up NYC and LA hipster coke-head 21 year old trash.

I mean, if that's what you want.
posted by Ufez Jones at 9:27 PM on October 23, 2006

I've always wanted to date a hipster. They seem so high maintainance, though. But man, when they zoom by on their track bikes with their Chrome bags, I just go gaga.
posted by rbs at 9:34 PM on October 23, 2006

Just an aside. This Halloween I was considering going as Zombie Ian Curtis with a rope and my ipod loaded with only Iggy Pop's The Idiot.

Back on track. As a (I guess what you'd call the above-referenced) scenester/"my chemical romance breed of hipster," I will nth that you def need girl jeans, vans/chucks, a plain fitted t, a molskine (preferably in a manpurse), camel lights, any copy of something written by Chomsky, PBR, and an ipod (or at least headphones). A shitty early 90s import with dated political stickers will complete the package.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 12:20 AM on October 24, 2006

Any chance you can come up with a trust fund by this weekend? Very Williamsburg hipster.
posted by witchstone at 6:51 AM on October 24, 2006

Star tattoo.
posted by antifuse at 7:01 AM on October 24, 2006

All these suggestions are secondary to the most realistic hipster costume of all time.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:09 AM on October 24, 2006

Totally agree with Sara, especially the vans and girl jeans. Also, here are some tips on faking being an indie rock expert
posted by Maia at 8:15 AM on October 24, 2006

This might help: "How to dress emo"
posted by ro50 at 8:23 AM on October 24, 2006

Ted Rall on hipsters. I;ll second/third the PBR and trucker's hat. Sideways trucker hat.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:29 AM on October 24, 2006

You're going to want to ditch the cords for a pair of black skinny jeans. Stick detritus in your pockets so that you need to pull all of it out when you need something: guitar pics, matchbooks, ticket stubs, wrist bands, etc. The idea is that you mustn't look like you have any of your shit together. Shove a moleskine in your back pocket.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 8:54 AM on October 24, 2006

FAKE GOATEE
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 8:58 AM on October 24, 2006

Great link, damn dirty ape. Clarifies my confusion about what sandmanwv's looking for. So definitely, glasses with very small lenses. Plus earbuds, one of which keeps popping out.
posted by Rash at 10:18 AM on October 24, 2006

here's my take:

-black skinny jeans optional: bandana in back pocket (more rock n roll), or tied around a pant leg

-carbiner with your keys on it, stuck on the back belt loop (directly opposite your fly button).

-fake neck/sleeve tattoos (any trad. sailor flash will probably work -- no lame dragon/chinese character bullshit. ironic fake tattoos even better -- ie, guns n roses, etc)

-either A) black tee, B) black band tee, C) black button up shirt (but black for sure). It should fit you, meaning if you normally wear a large, you should probably either get a small or a vintage medium.

- black hoody, perferably zip up, worn under a jean jacket (any wash is ok, but i'd go with grey if you're wearing black jeans). You could go sports jacket, but i doubt you'll be able to pick up a good fit.

- either a small 'castro' cap, a trucker hat, or good hair. not 'sideways' per se, but cocked. (put it on straight, grab the bill right in the middle, and then pull down and over until it's centered on one of your eyes).

- i like the idea of a bandana around the neck. black scarfs are good too -- you can pair them with fingerless black gloves (get some cheapie one size fits all gloves and cut off the fingers).

- sunglasses (cheap 80s shit) or, sure, black frame glasses.

-fine, PBR or Tecate 12 pack. It's always good to include alcohol in costumes.

-chucks are fine for shoes. high tops preferably. if you go the sports coat route, i'd get some nice vintage wingtips.

to be honest, it's hard to really get the right fit and look together. good luck though.
posted by fishfucker at 11:15 AM on October 24, 2006

I'm typically a very very preppy guy
In that case, wear the vintage striped polo shirt and pop the collar like a true brooklyn hipster. You'll hit a pitch of irony so high that nearby dogs will howl eerily at the moon.

Roll up your right pant leg, since you've just arrived on your beat up vintage bike, and you don't want the grease to mess up your skinny black jeans.

Make sure your visible calf has some kind of kitschy tattoo from the greaser era, like a heart framed by flames. Sparrows, owls, anything with the word "vegan," skulls and robots are also good.


I nth the aviator sunglasses, the white belt, chucks, and facial hair (half beard, goatee, soul patch, insane side burns, muttonchops, etc).
posted by zoomorphic at 11:47 AM on October 24, 2006

Your pants (cords or jeans are both good) must be too tight and flared. They should be thrift-store ratty, and as someone mentioned above, crammed with matchbooks, scribbled-on scraps of paper, cigarettes, more matchbooks, a hipster PDA (stack of ohsoimportant scribbled-all-over notecards bundled together with a rubber band), and yes, a roughed-up, sticker-and-scuff-mark-covered Moleskine in the back pocket. The pants should ideally be tight to the point where you can just barely keep them almost all the way over your ass using one of those oversized metal stud-covered rock 'n' roll belts.

(The belt is ironic, see, 'cause it's so punk, yet not, 'cause it's so cliché.)

Then yeah, the tiny hoodie layered over a tiny, skintight shirt (or two), the chunky plastic emo glasses, and the pomade-covered bed-head hair...you also need a messenger bag with some obscure label name/store name printed on it, plus a few well-placed tiny round buttons, and perhaps a few older band stickers or patches.

Shoes: old-school Pumas, "chunky" Skechers, or Adidas Gazelles. Or those colorful '80s-looking Reebok-type gym shoes with the soles that resemble the striped foam from flip-flops.

And yeah, the hat suggestions above are good, if you go for a hat.
posted by limeonaire at 9:50 PM on October 24, 2006

If you can't get the right hat take a light zip up hoodie and throw the hood up. Like so.
posted by sophist at 2:10 AM on October 25, 2006

I tried this last night:
- 7 for all Mankind jeans
- Converse low-tops
- Schoolhouse Rock t-shirt (size small)
- Fred Perry jacket
- messenger bag w/ band pins
- PBR
- CDs to lecture people about (e.g., CYHSY, LCD Soundsystem, MIA)
- Black marker smudge on hand / concert wristband
etc.

I went to a party where dudes were wearing inflatable naked-fat-lady costumes. After 15 minutes of trying to explain my ironic hipster doucebag costume, I changed my story to "I didn't have time to put together a costume." People seemed much less bemused by that answer.
posted by subgenius at 6:57 AM on October 28, 2006

- CDs to lecture people about (e.g., CYHSY, LCD Soundsystem, MIA)

That would've been great if it were last Halloween.

BURN WARD, INCOMING
posted by ludwig_van at 8:27 AM on October 29, 2006