Synopses & Reviews
hip•ster - \
hip-stur (s)\ n. One who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed cool by the cool. (Note: it is no longer recommended that one use the term "cool"; a Hipster would instead say "deck.") The Hipster walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them and shuns or reduces to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream. A Hipster ideally possesses no more than 2% body fat.
Clues You Are a Hipster
1. You graduated from a liberal arts school whose football team hasn't won a game since the Reagan administration.
2. You frequently use the term "postmodern" (or its commonly used variation"PoMo") as an adjective, noun, and verb.
3. You carry a shoulder-strap messenger bag and have at one time or another worn a pair of horn-rimmed or Elvis Costello-style glasses.
4. You have refined taste and consider yourself exceptionally cultured, but have one pop vice (ElimiDATE, Quiet Riot, and Entertainment Weekly are popular ones) that helps to define you as well-rounded.
5. You have kissed someone of the same gender and often bring this up in casual conversation.
6. You spend much of your leisure time in bars and restaurants with monosyllabic names like Plant, Bound, and Shine.
7. You bought your dishes and a checkered tablecloth at a thrift shop to be kitschy, and often throw vegetarian dinner parties.
8. You have one Republican friend whom you always describe as being your "one Republican friend."
9. You enjoy complaining about gentrification even though you are responsible for it yourself.
10. Your hair looks best unwashed and you position your head on your pillow at night in a way that will really maximize your cowlicks.
11. You own records put out by Matador, DFA, Definitive Jux, Dischord, Warp, Thrill Jockey, Smells Like Records, and Drag City.
Review
"The Hipster Handbook...proves that behind every goatee, shaggy hairdo and baggy blouse, there's still a lot of preening." The New York Times
Review
"The Hipster Handbook is your official guide to the language, culture and style of hipsters young and old....There's even a dating guide for various hipster combinations." Los Angeles Times
Review
"Describes everything coolthe slang, the dress code, the career path, greetings and (of course) taste in music kids from the Inner Mission to Williamsburg ascribe to in pitch-perfect detail....[T]his guy clearly has some insider information himself. Gently teasing and hilarious." Philadelphia Weekly
Review
"The Hipster Handbook is The Official Preppy Handbook for people who wear Atari T-shirts." Esquire
Synopsis
No matter where you live, you've seen them before. They dress in vintage clothing, keep their hair strategically mussed, and regard the world detachedly from behind blue lenses or hornrimmed glasses. At night they frequent clubs with one-word names and unlisted addresses, and by day they read obscure biographies in non-franchise coffee bars. You might see them earning a living mixing drinks or serving your food (although they themselves don't appear to eat much), but a great number just live off their parents. They trace their lineage back to Gertrude Stein and Jack Kerouac, and set the standard for what is hip today.
From its descriptions of hipster style now and in the past to its knowing dissection of the cool facade, The Hipster Handbook is likely to become a phenomenon as big as the classic Official Preppy Handbook -- but for a very different crowd. Whether you know a hipster, are a hipster, despise the whole scene, or are an aging hipster concerned about your depreciating hipster status, you'll find this a smart, hilarious send-up of a culture that has spread across the country and around the world.
Synopsis
A hilarious book that will teach you everything you need to know to be too cool for school: Your official guide to the language, culture and style of hipsters young and old. --Los Angeles Times
hip-ster - \
hip-stur (s)\ n. One who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed cool by the cool. (Note: it is no longer recommended that one use the term cool; a Hipster would instead say deck.) The Hipster walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them and shuns or reduces to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream. A Hipster ideally possesses no more than 2% body fat.
Clues You Are a Hipster
1. You graduated from a liberal arts school whose football team hasn't won a game since the Reagan administration.
2. You frequently use the term postmodern (or its commonly used variationPoMo) as an adjective, noun, and verb.
3. You carry a shoulder-strap messenger bag and have at one time or another worn a pair of horn-rimmed or Elvis Costello-style glasses.
4. You have refined taste and consider yourself exceptionally cultured, but have one pop vice (ElimiDATE, Quiet Riot, and Entertainment Weekly are popular ones) that helps to define you as well-rounded.
5. You have kissed someone of the same gender and often bring this up in casual conversation.
6. You spend much of your leisure time in bars and restaurants with monosyllabic names like Plant, Bound, and Shine.
7. You bought your dishes and a checkered tablecloth at a thrift shop to be kitschy, and often throw vegetarian dinner parties.
8. You have one Republican friend whom you always describe as being your one Republican friend.
9. You enjoy complaining about gentrification even though you are responsible for it yourself.
10. Your hair looks best unwashed and you position your head on your pillow at night in a way that will really maximize your cowlicks.
11. You own records put out by Matador, DFA, Definitive Jux, Dischord, Warp, Thrill Jockey, Smells Like Records, and Drag City.
Synopsis
Tom and Lorenzo began blogging in 2006 with a fansite for the show Project Runway. In response to demand from their readers, they expanded to cover celebrity fashion, couture, red carpet commentary and other TV shows and TLo (as their "bitter kittens" call them) has become a household name, reaching more than 4 million visitors a month.
Thanks to their biting, insightful commentary on celebrity style, they started getting sweet missives from pear-shaped ladies who needed a boost of confidence more than fashion advice. and#147;Every day, before you leave the house,and#8221; they instructed Lady Pear, after giving her some standard style recommendations, and#147;look in the mirror and tell yourself, and#145;Everyone wants to be me or do me.'and#8221; In this book, they explore the celebrity image and style culture with their trademark acerbic wit, from starlet meltdowns to publicity seeking pregnancies to red carpet disasters, along the way offering readers funny but inspiring takeaways and advice on understanding what consitutes great style and confident self-image: Know the venue, know the image you want to project, and sell it, sell it, sell it.
Brimming with insight, humor, and takedowns of the myths of the celebrity culture, this book offers the best of the friends readers want picking out their clothes every morning and gossiping over the newest issue of Vogue.
About the Author
About the Author Robert Lanham is the author of the romantic series known as The Emerald Beach Trilogy which includes the works Pre-Coitus, Coitus, and Aftermath. This collection of novels was recently called “a beach towel classic” by Redbook. Robert has a great body and often drives shirtless in his Camaro. He brushes his teeth several times daily, but is nevertheless prone to cavities. He is currently the Editor of FREEwilliamsburg, which can be found online at www.freewilliamsburg.com. He lives in Brooklyn, New York and works at Foot Locker on the weekends.
About the Art Director
Bret Nicely's theories linking artistic practices with sandwich making buttressed much of the cultural output of the early 21st century. His work "Post-Structuralist Beer n' Brat" won the 2002 Turner Prize and was named a "Best One Dish Meal" by Gourmet Magazine. Bret began working with Robert Lanham through their shared interest in falafel, and in 1999 became the Chief Creative Officer at FREEwilliamsburg. He lectures widely around the world and currently lives in Brooklyn.
About the Drawer
Jeff “J-dawg” Bechtel grew up on the cruel streets of Richmond, Indiana. As a teenager, he battled an addiction to glue and took up drawing to escape the thug life. He was recently called "the greatest Drawer of his generation" by Phil Donahue. His work has appeared in Dutch, Maxim International, and Family Circus. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn.