I recently posted this on my fashionjunkee.wordpress.com blog and am interested in this audience’s take on Hip vs Cool!

Have you ever stopped and really thought about the words we use to describe what we see or how something or someone makes us feel? Take for example the use of the words hip and cool.  These two small words are used often to describe attitude, style, feelings and actions.

When asked if we’re okay with something it’s, “Are you cool with that?”, and the reply is something to the effect of “Yeah that’s cool” or “I’m cool.” If questioned about someone who we know and like, we respond “So and So? He’s cool.” People are described as being “cool as a cucumber”, being “totally cool”, “keeping their cool” or thinking their “too cool for school”. So what does it mean to “be cool”?  Cool is best described as an attitude – a personality trait that has varying degrees. And what those key traits are, change as our perceptions change. What was once cool can be looked back on as lame. Ever revisit your high school yearbook and cringed at your pictures, lamenting “but it was so cool back then!” Determining if we think someone is cool depends on whether or not we relate to their mannerisms,  interests and social interactions – because cool is in the eye of the beholder.

Okay so we know you’re cool… but are you hip? We generally use the word hip to describe someone’s sense of style, their fashion and expression of themselves. You can be “hip to the style”, “hip with the kids” or even Tragically Hip! (Gotta plug those Canadian bands!)  Hip is about being on top of the latest trend – fashion or otherwise. But it’s also about putting your individual stamp on things and keeping up with the times without looking ridiculous. Wanna always look hip? Here’s some advice: Be selective on the trends you choose to follow. If you wore a trend the first time around, ya’ might wanna skip it this round. Can we say legwarmers anyone!? If you rocked these in the 80s, skip this round. You won’t be hip, just ridiculous.

So friends… Is it better to be cool or to be hip? Can you be both? You tell me. Hip is a sense of style, and as we all know styles come and go. But cool is a state of mind.