Jill Haney

Cincinnati

About a month ago my husband and I were dining at a new hipster restaurant in Hyde Park. Yes, I know using the word “hipster” with “my husband and I” in the same sentence seems incongruous, but there we were dining at the bar on a cold, wintry night. We had prime seating, which allowed us to watch a host of millennial hipsters out for the evening.

As I observed the scene, I was astounded at the number of guys with beards. At one point, while sitting in this small bar, I counted 11 bearded men. A few were well groomed, but most were bushy and unruly, which surprised me. As an image consultant, I expound on professionalism and dressing for the job you want, not the job you have…blah, blah, blah. All these hipsters with beards didn’t match up with my message.

A bit of research ensued and I am happy to report that hipster beards are out. So hipsters pay heed! In fact, hipsters are so 2015. This year is all about the yuccie: Young urban creatives. The yuccie culture appreciates a more sophisticated and clean-lined look.

According to David Yi, from the website Mashable, and fashion blogger and model Joel Alexander, “the big beard trend is over and done”. Yi’s article on Mashable describes how “the hipster was all about being anti-establishment and doing everything that was against corporate culture. But now we’re seeing that the new millennials, these “yuccies” are working in non-traditional environments where they can wear what they want and truly express themselves. Now with tech becoming so big, it’s affected how people want to look: clean, minimal, crisp. The beard has no place now.”

In other words, just like technology being fast paced and ever changing, so is what is cool and trendy. And it appears that the cool and trend setting millennials, have ditched the man bun and unruly beard, for a more traditional clean-lined and minimalist look. They feel this more streamlined look better represents their brand.

The next time I dine at the local Hyde Park hipster eatery, I’ll be on the look out for the well-dressed, sophisticated and clean-shaven yuccies, reinforcing that Cincinnati is indeed a cutting edge city.