Hipster Toronto

Hipsters are members of a modern subculture, most often young white people who live downtown, in parts usually in a phase of urban development. A hipster is someone who does not conform to conventional fashion, and listens to indie and alternative music. He or she is often a vegetarian, a champion of healthy eating, a pacifist, and a follower of the green movement.

HIPSTER FOOD

Hipsters are champions of organic, locally grown, and authentic food and a balanced diet. They often know about baking and healthy flours. They like to drink locally brewed beers, locally roasted coffee, and organic teas in bulk. For dessert— besides organic, pesticide-free, and local fruit—they also enjoy dark chocolate, provided that it is fair trade (that is, not the product of exploitation).

Organic fair trade chocolate

Don’t forget – by buying fair trade products, we support the lives and working conditions of families in developing countries.

HIPSTER FASHION

Even though they are opposed to the idea of a conventional fashion style, young Toronto hipsters are very recognizable for their personal style and way of dressing. Men have a well-groomed beard and often have at least one small tattoo on a visible part of their body. They wear tight, cropped pants, and this season, plaid flannel shirts. They often do not wear socks, but when they do, the socks have bright colours and designs. Hipster girls are less easy to label than their male counterparts. They vary in dress and fashion details, but in general, they do not wear glasses, they have tattoos, and they like clothes from the brands Babaton and Wilfred, as well as unconventional shoes.

HIPSTER NEIGHBOURHOODS

 Queen West, west of Spadina Rd., is still the most hipster part of Toronto. Along Queen West, one can find the shoe stores Heelboy and C Squared, pizzeria Terroni, butcher shop The Healthy Butcher, furniture store CB2, and record store Cosmos. Towards Ossington Ave. one comes across Trinity Bellwoods Park—a hipster park that, in summertime, is filled to the brim with the new inhabitants of the city centre: couples and families with small children and pets. Other neighbourhoods favoured by hipsters are the Distillery District, Leslieville, and Roncy. Liberty Village is filled with young professional hipsters, and the Beaches and the Junction with young hipster families.

HIPSTER CHURCH

Various things and places become hipster over time, and recently one religious institution popular with Toronto millenials has received this epithet. This is a modern church called C3 Church, of the Christian City Church denomination, whose mass with billboards is lead by a pastor in skinny jeans in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto.  

 HIPSTER PLACES

 For nightlife, one of the hippest parts of town is the string of bars on Ossington Ave. in the West End, where one can find Reposado Tequila Bar, The Ossington, Sweaty Betty’s, Bellwoods Brewery, and others. Other hip places are the bars Cold Tea in Kensington, The Black Hoof, and Bar Isabel on Dundas St. West. For daytime amusement, popular places include Pizzeria Libretto on Ossington Ave., White Squirrel Coffee on Queen St., and ice cream at Ice Cream Junction. A large selection of organic teas can be found in Tealish on Roncesvalles. Hipster beards are groomed at Town Barber, and cosmetics can be purchased at spa stores such as Saul’s Beauty Shop on Dundas St. West.