Fixed gears and tattoos go together better than hipsters and PBR. This is a great look into Edu De Leau life, both tattooing, and riding his fixed gear. I think fixed gear riders have evolved a lot over the last decade. It used to be hipsters soldiers of the thrift store Gestapo, that adhered to a set of standards and tastes that appeared to be determined by an unseen panel of hipster judges. They knew nothing about art or sex that you couldn’t read in any trendy New York underground fashion magazine; Prototypical non-conformists (sounds like a song) really. I think about it every time I go to the Natural History Museum. Have you ever seen the evolution of man chart? You know the one; it starts with a monkey and then slowly works its way up to a man. I wish there was one of these for fixed gears and hipsters. Because like the monkey to man chart, we would get to see the differences and the similarities between the two. I feel this hipster chart would contain an over the top hipster in the beginning, the ones that don’t wear socks with leather dress shoes, and cuff every pair of pants they own; and then end with a semi normal looking man, only he would still have the ever so popular hipster uniform haircut. What is the hipster uniform haircut? You have seen it a million times before I bet without full on knowing it exists. It involves a nice clean fade up into a side part (see visual aid below).

Prime Example

You have seen this hair style before, celebrities are now dawning it…

Joe Jonas, and Zac Efron LOVE this haircut.

it’s really easy to spot; and the more ego they have, the more gel they use. Look for the wet shine from the overuse of gel, it’s a dead giveaway. “Super Hipsters” or “Shitsters” if you will, also include a beard. The beard is warn by the upper crust of hipsters, the 1%ers if you will. It signifies, “I will not shave to look presentable at work,” or “I have found a career where shaving is no longer required.” Usually the only jobs that allows beards are reserved to loggers and truck drivers. But now in modern society, beards have become acceptable. Usually these jobs consist of taking photographs, or some other form of artistry. Beards signify that although a hipster might only own a single black pair of skinny jeans, he is still a man. Seeing the transformation is unbelievable, like a caterpillar turning into a hipster butterfly

Notice how the classic buzz cut also turns into our hipster uniform cut.

I went back in history and the oldest person I can find that rocked this haircut that I am sorry to say was…

Yeah, I went there…

Luckily we are starting to get away from these looks, but if you look closely you can still see the remains of this haircut in hipsters that have forgone this evolutionary process. Usually these are the ones that were never really hipsters in the first place. Imposters! Who the hell would want to pretend that they are a hipster? Sneaker Heads. Sneaker Heads were first seen in NYC in the early 2000’s. These kids went even further than hipsters, sporting limited addition Nike SB’s. They would wait in line for hours, overnight if needed, at NYC skate shops for Nike SB’s. I worked at two different skate shops during this era in NYC. Nike SB’s (example below) cost a skate shop around $40. Yes, even the limited addition ones.

Nike SB Dunk High “Send Help”

Nike SB Dunk Low “Tiffanys”

These shoes would be sold for up to $200 a pair when they first dropped, and some have even reached several thousands of dollars after they were no longer available. Sneaker Heads mixed limited skateboarding shoes (even though they didn’t skate) with other cheap slave labor made trendy items. Normally dawned by African Americans, these styles were taken over by Sneaker heads who were mainly middle/upper class white kids and Asians. Example…

Prime example of a Sneaker Head

Sneaker Heads didn’t have a uniform haircut from what I could tell, because their hair was always covered by a hat; most commonly in Teal, Purple, or Camo. Eventually Sneaker Heads had to grow up, as they became the laughing stock of NYC, and the fact that Nike is shutting down it’s SB department. So these sneaker heads were left with a choice, either become a normal human being, remaining plain and ordinary; or continue on with some form of “I am better than you” thus evolving into hipsters. Sneaker heads live in the shadows of the hipster community really. Because if their past life as a sneaker head comes out, they lose all of their hipster street cred. Unfortunately the statement, “I liked Nike SB’s before they were overpriced and cool” or “real men wear turquoise and purple” sound even stupider spoken out loud. Luckily, like I previously have said, before the long, written, educational rant, the fixed gear sub culture is developing it’s own style. The sub culture is finding it’s place in the world, rather than borrowing it’s styles from other popular subcultures. Hipsters in NYC don’t even ride fixed gears anymore. Now it’s all about older road bikes from the 60’s – 80’s. Preferably Peugeot’s. Now is the time when we as fixed gear riders get to decide what the future holds for us, and I like where it’s going.