Logan Mullen
Resident Hipster
I’m not really a hipster.
And if you know me to any extent, you know that I pull the “I’m a hipster” card pretty quickly, which means that this admission should not be taken lightly.
But from an appearance perspective, I really don’t find it difficult to stand out at Springfield College. Our school has become well known for sweatpants, Timberlands and backwards hats, or as I perceive it, complacent with looking lazy.
I’ve been guilty myself of wearing sweats to class when it has been a bit more than maybe two weeks since I’ve done laundry, but that is an absolute last resort, not a standard.
And to me, presenting myself like that just shows my professor that I don’t care. One day I may have to ask someone to write my recommendation, and I want to be known for more than just the kid that just sat there slouching in his loungewear.
And with this idea, I took on the role of what I self-identify as “The Springfield College hipster.”
I know, however, that I don’t fit the prototypical description of a hipster. I don’t have a scraggly beard (can’t really grow extensive facial hair), I drink Dunkin Donuts over Starbucks, and I bathe daily.
But the standard here is just so low when it comes to appearance that I feel like an outcast. In fact, in a conversation I had with a friend, I devised a theory that all it takes to be a hipster at this school is to be a male and wear a scarf.
The only hipster qualities I can really add to my resume are that I wear flannels and v-necks, like indie rock, wear tighter, colored pants and I like a soccer team from Portland, Oregon. That’s really about it.
But whenever I walk down Alden Street in an H&M jacket with a scarf, red, straight-legged pants and Vans, I’m turning heads left and right.
And everyone has the right to embrace their own fashion choices, but the looks I get really speaks volumes about the diversity (or lack thereof) on campus.
When I walk down my hallway to my room, all I see are Timberlands lining the hallway, and whenever I make eye-contact with neighbors of mine, they usually end up just eyeing up and down this (apparently) mythical creature that has more than just Springfield College football shirts and jackets in his wardrobe.
If the way I present myself to go to class and live day-to-day is so away from the norm, does that not just speak volumes about our student body?
I certainly know I’m a little eccentric (as I like to put it) but I prefer to think of it as holding myself to a higher standard.
And that’s not to say there are not outliers in every situation, but we really should go easy on the judging.
We are all here to do our own thing. Whether that focus is athletics, academics, or anything else, we all have our own purposes being here. Let’s just try to be a bit more open-minded in the sense that we all may carry ourselves differently from one another.
In the meantime, I’ll keep doing my thing, identifying as a hipster, wearing tight pants and watching the MLS.
I’m all for dressing the part and dressing appropriately, but I think this isn’t truly looking at the whole picture of Springfield college. This isn’t a liberal arts school, this is a school of health sciences and physical education majors and of course computer science and criminal justice and psych. But when you look at what the majority study here, daily classes require to be in gym wear, you have to be able to move and participate. Also, students may go to the gym to workout mid day. I have to dress professionally every afternoon off campus but what I wear during the day does not represent me that way. So, I applaud you for your style and I am happy that you appreciate how you represent yourself, but don’t be closed minded based off of other people’s appearances as well. Everyone probably eyes you because you look good too
You are telling people to stop judging you for “dressing up” (I use the quotations because I don’t think that your definition of hipster clothing counts as dressing up). But you are judging people that wear sweats. You assume that because they aren’t dressed like you that they must be lazy and not care. You do know that you go to a school that REQUIRES you to take physical education classes, right? How do you know that the person next to you who is wearing sweats or yoga pants isn’t going to or coming from one of the many classes at Springfield College that REQUIRES you to dress in that fashion? You are just assuming, and you know what they say about those who assume….