This country has an incomparable talent for labeling social groups that emerge for various reasons and providing detailed identifiers for each of them. The American “hipster” became a colloquial term for almost any young person who stands out — particularly in fashion. 
Plaid, flannel shirts, uncomfortably tight skinny jeans, mustaches and hip flasks help to define the hipster phenomenon. But lately, the terminology has been unfortunately applied to any experimenter in the fashion realm. 
“Look at that hipster,” is uttered by fashion-illiterate naysayers or more conservative members of society who tag a helpless passerby as a subscriber to the rebel or edgy lifestyle when, in reality, they just like the way slim pants and tweed ties look. 
Like many past generational or social identifiers like beatnik or hippie, the word “hipster” often carries a slightly negative or laughable connotation. And being labeled in a certain capacity can impair someone in a professional or even personal way. 
Columnist Eva Wiseman said in an editorial in The Guardian last month that the hipster trend is “no more” and claimed “hipster fashion companies” define the demographic ,and whatever they do is an expression of the entire hipster movement — though the only two major examples cited in the piece were Urban Outfitters and American Apparel. 
Really? 
“The hipster look is dying because of the failures of the fashion brands that supported it,” Wiseman said in the article. “It is dying because the things the companies do has crept too far from the lifestyle they sell.”
These two mainstream brands don’t exactly define the hipster lifestyle. They’ve just tried to market it by creating edgy, sometimes offensive
pieces. 
Wiseman even alludes to the idea American Apparel founder Dov Charney is a leader in the hipster community though he has been widely critiqued for his sleazy human presence. She portrays him in such a light but uses him as a major example throughout the article, making it slightly confusing as to whether or not he is actually a bad person or just a pinnacle
hipster. 
The important and explicable point to grasp is that the word “hipster” should not be solely synonymous with those who experiment with their wardrobes and take risks with the fabrics in which  they choose to drape themselves.
Smaller lapels, thinner-cut pants, bold colors and innovative patterns are not and should not be requirements of the hipster checklist, and society needs to recognize the distinction between following notable trends and being another rebellious millennial. 
A successful, young financial adviser who wears olive suits and the occasional American Apparel button-up is not a hipster for his choice in clothing. His political, social or cultural attitude should not be instantly defined by his wardrobe, and neither should those who follow high-fashion trends in the U.S. and abroad. 
Fashionistos and fashionistas should resent being checked in the restrictive box confining the hipster fashion community. 
Before passing judgement, society should educate themselves in notable fashion trends and high-fashion influence instead of using a blanket term for anyone making a change in their otherwise normal closet. 
Michael Tarver is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Houma, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @michael_T16.