So You Think You're a Hipster?

Book excerpt: 50 musings on the self-appointed cool kids taking over your towns. 50 musings on the self-appointed cool kids taking over your towns. Skinny jeans? Check. Thrift-store clothing? Check. Non-essential prescription glasses? Check. Beanie hat balanced artfully on the back of your skull? Check. These items have become the uniform for a new breed of young people—hipsters—determined to take over cities with their “alternative” ways while overloading on irony and striving to be original and creative. So You Think You’re a Hipster? examines what it takes to become one of this ever-growing tribe of young urbanites, just as desperate to be accepted by their peers as they are to receive the next rent check from mom and dad. A series of hilarious case studies will identify typical examples of the subculture, helping you to avoid any future encounters with them. Take the vintage store worker who, at 35, still works selling worn sneakers and threadbare t-shirts for extortionate amounts and still dreams of one day getting his latest album reviewed on Pitchfork. Or the aspiring author who lugs around an old-fashioned typewriter to write down her inspirational musings at a moment’s notice. Then there’s the bearded urban hunter dressed head to toe in workwear and outdoor gear despite the fact it's the middle of summer. Basically there are nearly as many hipsters featured here as you would find at an LCD Soundsystem concert.