The Lonely Hipster at North Atlanta

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Grace McCaffrey

Outnumbered hipsters are getting lonely in button-downed North Atlanta where Sperry shoes and Georgia Bulldog sweatshirts predominate.

Picture this: A singular hipster, clad in cuffed straight-fit khakis and a cropped button up collared shirt, desperately searching for a companion with an ear for Mac Demarco, retro hits and aviator lenses. Alas, this is the sad reality for the few hipsters who roam the halls of North Atlanta.

This is the heartbreaking and unfortunate lack of retro-loving trendy hipsters situation here at our school. Some would say there are virtually none compared to the bustling hipster capital, Grady High School, the longstanding rival of our school in Buckhead. But what does this mean for our beloved school? Without an appreciable mass of hipsters we instead have large congregations of Chocos, leggings and the all-too-familiar Georgia Bulldogs sweatshirts.

Sophomore Leah Overstreet, a self-proclaimed hipster connoisseur, said there has been a distressing shift in North Atlanta’s hipster culture. “I don’t claim the hipster aesthetic,” she said. “But I feel like so many people here are going for that vibe that it’s almost become tainted. It’s like when everyone does it, is it still really cool?”

However, she feels that the term “hipster” is being reclaimed by an alternate group of people. “The hipsters have evolved into Tumblr girls,” said Overstreet.

A “Tumblr girl,” as defined by Urban Dictionary, is “a person who wants to build their ego by taking pictures of themselves in modern day ‘mainstream’ fashion.” For example, a 14-year-old in extravagantly priced “Mom Jeans.”

Sophomore Samantha Stewart feels that there is a need to increase the school’s hipster population, due to her own obsession with the trendy look. “I don’t consider myself a hipster, despite how cool I think they are,” she said. “I believe we should have more hipsters at our school, simply because I like looking at them.”

However, she believes that the lack of trendy teens makes those who are undeniably retro stand out more.

Hipsters are people, too, and like anyone else they get lonely. They need more companions, so they offer to all of us this heartfelt plea: North Atlanta students, please consider ditching your Birkenstocks and your Sperrys. Instead, put on some turtlenecks and jean skirts and join the growing hipster movement.