Indie sleaze
Etymology
A retroactive coinage, from around 2021, for the hipster party aesthetic of roughly 2008–2012: overexposed flash photos, American Apparel, and the blog-and-MySpace nightlife documented by photographers like the Cobrasnake. The nostalgia trend named the moment after the fact.
noun · /IN-dee SLEEZ/
A revival of the grungy, flash-photography party aesthetic of the late-2000s hipster era.
What it names
It names the look and feel of roughly 2008–2012 nightlife — harsh camera flash, smudged makeup, skinny jeans, blog-era chaos — repackaged as nostalgia. It gives a name to a scene that never had one while it was happening.
Example
The party was styled like peak indie sleaze — disposable-camera flash, messy eyeliner, and a warehouse.
Related idea
Where normcore prizes deliberate blandness, indie sleaze is its messy opposite: overexposed, chaotic, and trying to look like it isn’t trying.