Typical hipster from Budapest wears thick-rimmed glasses, skinny jeans and v-neck T-shirts. It takes him way longer to style his beard than his hair. Most of them have skinnier legs than an average girl does, (are you looking at your thighs now? I know you do) and of course a day without soya latte in some happening coffee bar in the city center is considered as a lost one. Actually Hungarian hipsters have their hands full. It’s not so easy to stand out of the crowd as competition here is pretty massive. There are several factors which can decide how much hipster are you and how much you still need to improve.
Rule nr. 1 Beard
Every one out of three Hungarians has a beard and the shape and tidiness depends on its owner. Some beards are big and bushy, other ones trendy and nicely trimmed. If you are a foreigner and a hipster and you don’t wish to stand out of the hipster crowd with your not so fashionable beard, you should visit Gellei Barber Shop, located at Dob ut 11. Their service is really impressive! First sign of aging by grey hair on your beard? Not to worry, Gellei is gonna color it! Or maybe you wish to feel a bit of thrill on your skin? Choose “a hot towel shave in the old school way with a cut throat razor”, actually good luck with that!.
Rule nr 2. Glasses
Every self respected hipster needs to wear glasses. Geek look is a must (as simply as that). Even if you don’t have any sight defect, you would have to choose some fancy pair of eye wear. We all know that Ray-Ban was pioneer in thick-framed glasses. Now a lot of hipsters tend to say ” I was into it, before it got too mainstream”. Well you need to find some alternative then and I strongly suggest you to peep through your grandfather’s closet.
Rule nr 3 Accessories
There are several things without which a real hipster shall not leave his house! Iphone, bike, MacBook, Ipod, old school bag, a Polaroid camera and some fancy notebook. Right after that you would need to take: a skateboard (or a scooter), pipe, hatchet, headphones and razor. Basically you need to carry a small luggage every time you are going out!
Rule nr 4. You wear very decent clothes but actually, you are jobless.
From variety of sweaters made by your grandma to numerous scarfs (which you know how to wear in multiple ways), your closet is just full. No matter if you have Naomi Campbell legs or they are rather just two fat sausages – a pair of skinny jeans is a must have. I just hope that they are a bit loose somewhere between your legs. You know, too tight jeans can easily suffocate and crush your balls, and that might cause sterility (and we all wait for new hipster babies!). Hat and cap with some funny print or inscription is another thing, which you should not leave your house without wearing. Then we have some old school vest and trousers with braces and frilly shoes, preferably tons of them. From some old school Adidas superstar to New Balance ones. To complete the look, you need to wear a bow (does not matter if you are not a best man on your friend’s wedding).
The best type of shoes/hat/bows/crazy socks can be found in Cargo Moda locatd at Wesselenyi ut 33. Any type of retro clothes are offered by Szputnyik and Retrock. If you are a rich foreigner then you need to visit The Garden Studio or MEI KAWA showroom. The most old line backpacks can be found only in YKRA store.
Rule nr 5. Coffee – gallons of it
“Deciding which shoes to wear actually comprises 30 minutes of your morning routine. And then, when you’re finally suited and booted, you jet off to work—which is actually the coffee shop down the street, where you divide your time between applying for odd jobs on Craigslist and writing “freelance” (because you don’t get paid)” articles for some very underground portals. Soya latte is your water and you are drinking it 24 hours a day in some downtown hot spot. Since you have so many cool gadgets, you need to have a lot of space to show them off. In Budapest I can recommend you a Madách Imre tér. This is one hipster mecca! You start with small espresso in Castro Bistro, then you are going for cappuccino to My Little Melbourne Coffee, right after some latte in Központ and you end up with Irish coffee in Telep (which has a very decent wooden toilet and you can feel like peeing in forest).
Rule nr 6. Accommodation
If you are local, you live with your parents until they kick you out (then you have to build some eco – friendly shutter or find some empty space, next to Keleti railway station), but if you are foreigner, there is no other place you can stay in but Hipster hostel located at Barros utca 3.
I hope this short guide would allow you to find yourself in Hungarian hipster rally, which is like 51st shade of grey – unpredictable!
If you don’t want to feel like one of those lame tourists, who visit the most douche (just because they were described in a guidebook) places in Budapest, just drop me a line! I will make sure that you seep into Hungarian hipster reality, as smoothly as possible!
