GonzoCircus » Fashion

The Hipster’s guide to Berlin | part 1 | [pics]

The Grand Douche of York — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:27:25 +0000

Prenzlauer Berg

Looking at Berlin one realizes the power behind neo-liberal ideas and city planning. The city has reinvented itself many times and is quickly becoming the new fashion spot of the world. Marked by vast territorial “white-space”, urabn-art, old industrial compounds, green parks, architectural styles combining nazi-era “you-are-nothing-but-an-ant” block housing with new, contemporary developments such as the Bundestag building, Berlin is surely popular with the young folks.

Berlin sets itself apart by its remarkable affordability. The city manages to stay cheaper than other metropolitan areas in western Europe, thus creating an influx of youthful individuals. Germany’s capital is home to a huge and diverse population of personae; metrosocialists, cake eaters, yunts, faux bisexuals, sceenie teenies and hipsters just to name a few. The last entity is a case in itself. Defining a hipster is a tedious task, many have tried, many have failed.

Taken from urbandictionary.com:

| Listens to bands that you have never heard of. Has hairstyle that can only be described as “complicated.” (Most likely achieved by a minimum of one week not washing it.) Probably tattooed. Maybe gay. Definitely cooler than you. Reads Black Book, Nylon, and the Styles section of the New York Times. Drinks Pabst Blue Ribbon. Often. Complains. Always denies being a hipster. Hates the word. Probably living off parents money - and spends a great deal of it to look like they don’t have any. Has friends and/or self cut hair. Dyes it frequently (black, white-blonde, etc. and until scalp bleeds). Has a closet full of clothing but usually wears same three things OVER AND OVER (most likely very tight black pants, scarf, and ironic tee-shirt). Chips off nail polish artfully after $50 manicure. Sleeps with everyone and talks about it at great volume in crowded coffee shops. Addicted to coffee, cigarettes (Parliaments, Kamel Reds, Lucky Strikes, etc.), and possibly cocaine. Claims to be in a band. Rehearsals consist of choosing outfits for next show and drinking PBR. Always on the list. Majors or majored in art, writing, or queer studies. Name-drops. May go by “Penny Lane,” “Eleanor Rigby,” etc. when drunk. On PBR. Which is usually. |

Generalizing is a bad habit but the description given comes very close to illustrating the image of a hipster. Another very pronounced characteristic of a hipster is his ability to invade urban-space and flip it towards his needs. Hipsters tend to migrate into formerly abandoned areas, areas oozing with crime and torture and low-cost regions; or so it seems. Usually a bunch of artists move into the area described above. Haunted by high living costs an artists does not have another option but to move into an area that, mildly speaking, is not the safest one in town.

The government, city planners, urban-scientists and other governmental and non-governmental officials realize the potential of the place after the creative stream has established itself. Shops begin to open, streets are cleaned up, some more officers get introduced, etc… All in an effort to maintain and enrich the creative force inside the zone. That’s when the area becomes ‘hip’ and yea, you guessed it, hipsters move in. A perfect example of the above is an area called “Prenzlauer Berg” in Berlin. To read more about the “Berg” follow this link.

More to come in Part 2

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Of Japanese fashion magazines and “mook” publications [media+links]

The Grand Douche of York — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:33:01 +0000

A “Mook” (Magazine+Book) is a Japanese publishing phenomenon. The practice of merging magazine with book, mooks target and obsess over a specific topic such as a fashion trend, a persona or any other topic you can think about. Rather foreign to the western ideal of thin, weekly, all-around publications, mooks, which are at least 150 pages thick, have found a stable place in the heart of the Japanese public. Here are some mook covers for you to drool over.

~wanna buy a mook or just want to browse around, check out this site.

1960’s fashion trends and the communist manifesto [fashion]

The Grand Douche of York — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:57:44 +0000

: “The Twiggy doll is out!”

The 1960s, a time of liberation and freedom. A time of sexual discovery, acid trips, great hippy gatherings and… have I mentioned acid trips yet? The decade was also marked by a heightened sense of fashion awareness. Its like everybody became French for a couple of years. Icons of the fashion industry and other socialites became household names all around the world. Twiggy, Verushka, Catherine Deneuve, Natalie Wood, Julie Christie, Anna Karina, Peggy Moffit, Penelope Tree and Talitha Getty just to name a few.

Freedom of expression, a great vehicle behind the 60s movement, was not equally pronounced everywhere though. In case of the Soviet state, it was non-existent. You know something is wrong when the government decides what you shall wear. The Soviet idea of fashion was your only choice, to make it as a fashion designer (I’m not even sure if that was an option at all) you would have to be approved by the government.

Yet, some individuals were able to make it, even in a repressive society. Slava Zaitsev, for example, became a somewhat prominent fashion designer of the Soviet pre-perestroika era. His creations were used in a range of industries, he was highly regarded by the western press and he was the first Soviet couturier permitted to put a label on his clothes. If you are interested in finding out more about Zaitsev and other Soviet fashion houses, please have a look at this article by the New York Times. Here are some pictures out of a Soviet fashion catalogue.

~get the catalogue over here

Hobo Fashion and the “Gutter Punk” subculture [fashion]

The Grand Douche of York — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:49:51 +0000

A Gutter punk is a homeless or transient individual, often a juvenile, who is in some way associated with the punk subculture.

~wikipedia entry

Fancy mixing up your life style a little bit? Fed up with your boring hipster friends? No need to invest in new clothes, spend money to trim your 3-day beard every now and then or waste time looking for that special gig nobody knows about. Stylish looks and a turbulent life style mustn’t be a blow to the budget, be inspired by the gutter punk movement. Here, in tune with true “punk spirit”, everything is DIY. Get yourself a mohawk, quit your job, choose to become homeless take a dump on financial stability and you are set to a life style of gutter punk. Don’t forget that employment, even partial employment is considered your last resort; charms and wits that’s where it’s at.

~credit to the original photographer and who-sucks.com

The fellowship of the BRAH [theattractionforums.com fashion edition]

The Grand Douche of York — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:48:33 +0000

While working on my new look i’ve found out that if I want to start going for caucasian between the ages of 18-24 I’ll need to develop an identity that they will easily be romantically interested with. which leads me to begin looking for the positive african american appearance that white girls can identify with and be attracted to.

~random virgin board user

Visiting the attraction forums can be a rather haunting experience, comparable to paying a visit to auntie Elizabeth, before puberty has given you the final hit. Interesting, shameful, great, disgusting and a whole range of other emotions. Reminds me of my first shag actually… Well nevermind. Picking the hive-mind of a board full of sexually deprived individuals can be lots of fun, work hours just fly by while you are browsing through the sea of vainness that is the virgi-, sorry, I mean the attraction forums.

Let me introduce you to the PUA (pick up artist) subculture, if you happen to be unfamiliar with it. Wikipedia defines a PUA as:

[A pickup artist, commonly abbreviated PUA, is a term used to describe a man who is or who at least strives to be skilled in meeting, attracting, and seducing women.] ~wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickup_artist

PUAs employ a range of techniques to get into the target’s (woman’s) pants. Techniques as refined as “negging” (making “semi-negative” comments on the target’s appearance in order to lower her confidence) or “kino escalation” (progressive touching, if you like. You start with some friendly strokes and end up cruising through the no-no regions in mere seconds). The concept of “peacocking” is particularly interesting. “Peacocking” involves dressing up in ridiculous ways in order to grab the attention of the opposite sex. The mastermind behind this innovative concept of mating goes by the name of “Mystery”. “Mystery” is a man of gigantic proportions, a social scientist, a mating wizard, a man whose dressing sense is so refined and exquisite that we, mere mortals, won’t ever understand it…

I wonder if you can spot “Mystery” over here on the left… Tip: Its not the bald guy. “Mystery” as you can see has successfully incorporated a range of styles into his wardrobe. I believe he’s rather found of the “BDSM” and the “Cyberpunk” communities. But, oh well, I don’t wanna bash on “Mystery”, and I don’t want to pick him as a target. The man has done good for himself, despite everything, and I guess he’s some sort of living messiah for the sexually frustrated. No need to bash on the prophets.

However, the concept of “peacocking” is a truly ridiculous art. “Mystery”, as great as he may be, will be remembered as the initiator of the most idiotic fashion craze to have ever hit the metropolitan areas. The attraction forums (”http://theattractionforums.com“) and their respective “fashion” board stand on the forefront of the “peacocking” affair. Now some might be thinking “Hey BRAH, what’s your beef with the place? Just a bunch of BRAHS trying to sort out their sexual love life”, well please don’t get me wrong. I’m in no way a hateful individual but evil must be combatted whenever it seeks to posses the minds of the masses. The attraction forums board is evil, it advertises dressing up for the sake of dressing up. It advertises the development of fashion sense for the whole purpose of getting laid. It advertises vanity and complete delusion, a case of the blind leading the blind. It stands for everything that our forefathers have fought against… Well ok, its not that bad, but its rather disgusting. The results speak for themselves.

I really do appreciate your attempt, but take my advice “attraction board”, take my advice before its too late. Drop the silly outfits, put yourself together and tuck in those goddamn shirts of yours. You are not “Mystery”, its not working out, we are not blind, we can see through your façade of doucheness. Just drop it, you look darn ugly while attempting to look somewhat decent. Take it in stride though, no need to stalk and subsequently kill me, we can all be BRAHs. Its up to you.