Look at This Fucking Hipster

About

Look at This Fucking Hipster is a single topic blog that specializes in curating snapshot photographs of people dressed in stereotypical hipster fashion. Launched at the height of media obsession with hipsters in 2009, the Tumblr blog quickly established itself as an early trendsetter of anti-hipster humor and single topic blogs on the web.

Origin

Look at this Fucking Hipster^[1] was created by New York City-based stand-up comedian and writer Joe Mande in April 2009 as a way to help his dad in understanding the concept of a hipster. According to Gawker’s interview, Mande initially thought of starting a blog called IsThatAHipster.com after being asked the question “is that a hipster?” by his dad during his visit to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a Brooklyn neighborhood well-known for its indie music scene.

Precursor

Similar critiques of wacky hipster fashion have been explored prior to the creation of Look at this Fucking Hipster, with the most notable example being the “DOs & DON’Ts” series run by New York-based arts and culture magazine VICE. The first compilation of the DOs & DON’Ts was published as a book on September 1st, 2004.

Spread

Throughout the months of April and May in 2009, the blog was featured on various New York City-centric news sites like FREEWilliamsburg and The Gothamist, music news blogs NME and Absolute Punk, as well as internet culture sites BuzzFeed and Laughing Squid among many others. On May 8th, Gawker published an interview with Mandes on his thoughts on the viral reception of the blog. In June 2009, Mandes announced that the Tumblr blog has acquired a book deal with St. Martin’s Press. After a year of compiling and acquiring rights to the images, the book was released on March 30th, 2010.

Notable Examples

Derivatives

Mande’s blog also went on to inspire a series of spin-off sites based on the snowclone “Look at This Fucking X” and typically centered around other subcultures and fandoms that may be perceived as obnoxious. Some of the most notable examples include Look at this Fucking Juggalo, Look at this Fucking Teabagger and Look at this Fucking Bro.

Styleblaster

In October 2012, New York City creative agency employee Jules Laplace launched Styleblaster, a website that provides real-time image feed of random pedestrians in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. According to Gawker’s article, Laplace and his roommate Jack Kalish set up a webcam pointing out the window of their house and programmed the camera with a motion sensor to take a picture whenever someone pass by and upload to the website. Similar to other beauty and fashion rating sites, Styleblaster features a voting function that allows its visitors to upvote any image of their liking and a collection page showcasing the most popular images on the site.

Search Interest

External References