Back when ‘hipster’ still had some value as a descriptive – we’re talking back in 2011 or so here – Melbourne slid into its rightful place as Australia‘s hipster capital. Sydney had the harbour, but Melbourne had coffee. Sydney had glamour, but Melbourne had street art. Sydney had Bondi, but Melbourne had a delightfully thriving barbershop industry with the handlebar moustaches to prove it.
Fast-forward to 2016, and the so-called ‘hipster’ things that made Melbourne ~unique~ (if they ever were exclusive to Melbourne) are now found literally everywhere.
And this is important. Melbourne is a bloody fantastic city in so many ways (no lockout laws, all night public transport, and a pro-LGBT premier to boot), but it’s shaken its ~peak hipster~ vibe.
Samuel Davide Hains, 24, is a web developer / mystery blogger / jazz kitten. On the day The Age’s Tara Kenny interviewed him, he was wearing a pair of Osh Kosh B’Gosh overalls (worn backwards) he found in a vintage store in Tokyo, a blush-coloured beret given to him by “my dear uncle”, a black turtleneck from Uniqlo and a tote by feminist provocateurs Ladies of Leisure that says ‘Feeling Myself’. And Nike shoes.
“My style is bucolic socialist with improvised elements (like jazz),” he says. “Sometimes I just wear something random, like a lab coat.”
“I admire the style of Trotsky in leather, Albert Einstein, John Coltrane. I’m not only inspired by people, but places and ideas. I spend a lot of time down at the docks and source inspiration from the architecture.”
You cannot make this shit up.
This is fucking glorious pic.twitter.com/FzBJnrjXAh
— Nicole (@pickle2401) July 4, 2016
His favourite place to shop? K Mart. Biggest fashion mistake? Lensless Wayfarers. What would he never be caught dead in? Neo-hippie ‘bush-doof’ couture or a small inefficient beanie.
Read the full interview here.
Source: The Age.
Photo: The Age / Tara Kenny.
