Last week, New York magazine published an article on “hipster sexism,” picking up where Jezebel and Gawker left off last spring when they coined the phrase “hipster racism.” The essential idea is this: the new generation (i.e. us), in its (our) effort to be hyper-liberal and self-aware, mock the old-school actual racists/sexists, but in a way that actually perpetuates stereotypes. Thus, it is the hipsters that are accidentally holding progression back. As you know, us Brown students are up there as the most hipster kids around, which begs the question, are these unnecessarily analytical always-looking-for-something-to-complain-about sophisticated publications worried about us?

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Among the stuff Brown students like: words ending in “-cycling.”  Recycling, bicycling… and now upcycling.

The Vault, a student-run thrift program started by Hannah Winkler ’13 and Tara Noble ’12.5, provides Brown students with the opportunity to buy gently used clothing (and other items, too) – and their first sale is being held today, in the lobby of J. Walter Wilson, from 10 am to 2 pm.  If you’re out of short-sleeved shirts thanks to the weirdly warm temperatures of late, or have put off doing laundry almost as long as you’ve procrastinated that stats problem set, you’re in luck.

There’s no need to fret if your pockets are still empty from textbook purchases – The Vault will also conduct clothing exchanges, and you can get store credit for those grandma sweaters you wore before they were cool or the jeans that fit before you discovered Ivy Room mac and cheese.  They’ll be holding more sales this semester, so you can stop by whenever you’re feeling the need for some retail therapy (or, in tomorrow’s case, a free cookie with your first purchase)!

Image via.

The word ‘hipster’ appears rather frequently on BlogDailyHerald. Is it merely a style of dress? An attitude? A way of life? We would venture to ask a hipster about this but they all seem to be too busy zooming around on their fixed-gear bicycles to stop and chat. So, until then, we’ll just have to observe them on another one of the several blogs dedicated to their kind. ‘Dads: The Original Hipsters’ is one of the more inventive hipster picture websites out there. The site compiles photos of dads from the ’70s and ’80s in fashions and positions that weren’t hipster at the time, but, in retrospect, certainly seem fit for Bedford Avenue ca. 2011.

If you wanted to be the first of your friends to discover the lovely lo-fi bluesy/folk stylings of The Low Anthem, you’re already too late. The four-person band — which includes  Jeff Prystowsky ’06 and Ben Knox Miller ’06 — has been blowing up all over the interwebs recently. Though the group’s been around for a while — they played at Bonnaroo in 2009 — their latest album, Smart Flesh, was just released Feb. 22, and it is pretty excellent.

Even cooler, on Saturday you can go see them perform in the abandoned pasta sauce factory where they actually recorded Smart Flesh.

They’re supposed to be super awesome live. Saturday’s Central Falls, RI concert starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are only $10, so get on that.  Especially since they’re headed to Europe after Saturday’s CD release show!

We don’t know where Central Falls is exactly, but isn’t everywhere in Rhode Island just 20 minutes away from everywhere else in Rhode Island? Someone at Liquid told us that once…

Max Heiges's masterpiece "The Juggler"

A frat’s Saturday night dilemma: after many rounds of beer pong and shotgunning, empty Keystones cover the sticky basement floor. What to do? One Dartmouth student’s answer: turn it into art.

Max Heiges, Dartmouth art intern and football player, incorporated the classic frat beverage into his installation piece “The Juggler.” Much like anyone who supports themselves on Keystone, the sculpture seems like it is about to collapse from too much alcohol intake. But the precariously balanced sculpture stays afloat,  incorporating a couple of seemingly floating chairs and a lot of cases of empty Keystone, all of course donated by Dartmouth frat members. Who knew a Saturday night’s worth of beer could become a contribution to the art world? And, like with any other serious work of contemporary art, we must ask what does it mean? Heiges’s answer: “Nobody rages anymore.” Hmmmm. Right.

What we want to know: why hasn’t some hipster vis art student already done this with PBR?

One of the top-ranked hipsters, via hipsterboxing.com

You help decide who the hipsteriest hipster is on Hipster Boxing. Two images of hipsters are pitted against each other, and you become the ref to determine the winner of most hipstery. You can also use a Facebook connecting tool to enter pictures of your hipster friends into the hipster tournament.

Is that the most times you’ve seen the word “hipster” in a short paragraph?

As if you didn’t already have someone constantly telling you what you are.

Hipster.

Starbucks: Prepsters willing to wait in a line 8 men deep for their “signature” drink. It is a complicated combination of sugar, mocha, less milk, more cream that they started ordering in the 7^th grade. When asked about it, they’re quick to respond, “I always get this drink.” Also can be a businessman talking loudly on the phone taking up couch space.

Blue State, Blue Room and more after the jump…

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One of the tamer American Apparel ads

American Apparel, the LA based clothes manufacturer known for its multi-colored basics and racy ad campaigns, has been providing hipsters world wide with retro classics, ironic leggings, and lacy undies for the past 20 years. However, hipsters might soon need to search farther for patterned fishnets. The company has recently had some financial trouble and is said to be heading towards bankruptcy. The manufacturer’s stock plummeted last month after a series of dubious business decisions by outspoken CEO Dov Charney (a hipster in his own right). Hipster, fear not! Charney says that he can turn the company around. Until then, better stock up on all of your leotards and classic V-necks while American Apparel is still around.

Tired of all the sweatpants and pajama bottoms, super-skinny jeans and plaid shirts? Ready for a return to a more classic, preppy style?

Take your inspiration from Take Ivy, a Japanese book featuring candid photos of people (okay, men) on Ivy League campuses, originally published in 1965. It became a big hit in Japan in the ’60s, as people started to imitate the Ivy League preppy style. The book was reprinted at the end of August, and may be seeing a bit of popularity. There certainly are a lot of people writing about it. Jack Spade is even creating a Take Ivy Kit, featuring a preppy shirt, a book strap, and a copy of the book. (Don’t worry, we secretly want one too.)

Maybe we’ll see a resurgence of the preppy style? Let’s hope so.

Shopping suggestions? Insistence on continued hipsterism? Tell us in the comments!

In a glaring omission, HuffPo left Brown off of its list of the “Top 10 hipster schools.”

Granted, the list is pretty respectable. Hampshire doesn’t even have standard concentrations and Bard was so ahead of the curve that it rejected Bob Dylan years before he went electric.

Even our artsy friends down the Hill got a nod. Shouldn’t HuffPo know that Brown is where RISD kids come to drink their PBR anyway?