This article is pretty much crap, IMO. While the author makes good points about millenials being self-deprecating and irreverent, she also mistakes that for disengagement. Brooklyn, Detroit, Portland, and other "hipstery" areas are actually pretty cool places where people do pretty cool things. She mistakes the rejection of traditional ideals for the rejection of ideals completely, which was more grunge-90s style (to make an REM reference, since we were on that topic the other day, "...withdrawl in disgust is not the same as apathy"). I know a lot of hipster-types who have opened businesses, worked for politicians, studied serious academic subjects, created brilliant art, etc. These aren't the acts of an apathetic group; they are the acts of a group who rejects modern suburbia, and wants to create a better world in their own vision. How can the DIY movement, for example, be considered devoid of value and culture? Every group has annoying poseurs, who partake only for superficial reasons (think hippies who were in it for the LSD, or in today's terms, teenie boppers flocking to Urban Outfitters), but I think on the whole the young generation has a lot to offer, so long as they can do it in their own way. The over irony is a reaction to main stream values; that is what is being rejected. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Look at your clothes. What parts of your wardrobe could be described as costume-like, derivative or reminiscent of some specific style archetype (the secretary, the hobo, the flapper, yourself as a child)? In other words, do your clothes refer to something else or only to themselves?

How to even respond to this? Is this a cry for conformity? Everyone's clothes are a costume. I typically wear plain t-shirts and jeans. Its an anti-costume, but it still says something. To suggest there's a way one can dress that is void of cultural signals is wrong, plain and simple.

Hipster is one of the most bullshit words in common usage today. As soon as someone isn't mainstream in a way different from the user of the word they become a hipster. Hipster is useful as it's a formless word, waiting for someone to label. Anyone can use it to apply to almost anyone.

The bar I work at is a "Hipster" bar to many, it's a "Gay" bar or even a "Fag" bar to others. People just need to see that which is unlike them and they eagerly slap the label on.

Maybe this guy has a point, it seems like he does, but using hipster is just a load of shit.

Hipsters do not exist. Once you accept that, the world comes into sharper focus.

Think about it - I'll bet you know people who self-identify as goths. I'll bet you know people who self-identify as candyravers. I'll bet you know self-described geeks, self-described metal-heads, self-described cowboys. But I'll bet you don't know any hipsters.

This is because "hipster" is a label we apply to someone we don't like. Is it "ironic?' No, simply derogatory. And it cuts to the very essence of cool, and it displays exactly what is wrong with mainstream society today.

A "hipster", as viewed from the outside, is someone who thinks it is cool to like things that are uncool. However, a "hipster," as viewed from the inside, is someone who thinks things are cool but lacks the confidence to believe they are cool.

"Irony" is the wrong word. "Frailty" is better. Find me a "hipster" standard and I will find you reasons to adore it above and beyond its "kitsch." Fixies would never have made it out of the velodrome if they weren't damn handy for scooting around the city. Big black glasses frames make you look smart but the lenses that go with them often make you blind. A trucker cap keeps your hair out of your face and if it falls in the street it gains panache, as opposed to that gawdawful fedora Jerry wears. But these are explanations you do not get out of "hipsters" because if they plant a flag in something they show a weakness.

Imagine Fonzie. Imagine Fonzie likes everything he likes. Now imagine him with Richie Cunningham's confidence, instead of Fonzie's.

BAM. Instant hipster.

The difference between a "hipster" and "anyone else" is the "hipster" lacks the courage to believe his values are worth fighting for.

In other words, the hipster can frivolously invest in sham social capital without ever paying back one sincere dime. He doesn’t own anything he possesses.

The opening description of the hipster, playing the trombone, is something I have encountered many times. I found myself laughing out loud.