Everybody knows jocks, cheerleaders, nerds and goths, and it is fairly easy to watch them and catch on to what you would need to do to blend in. Transforming to mesh with the hipster stereotype is an entirely new challenge. This group of people that have been around for decades more recently took on a new meaning. It is hard to keep up with the way they act and what they represent, but if you want to be part of a mold that some people find mysterious, endearing, cool, and you don’t mind being a bit pretentious, the hipster stereotype might be a good one to master. But be warned, being labeled as a genuine hipster can be a difficult goal when one must hide how hard they are trying.

When you are trying to blend in with a certain stereotype, you must make sure you are giving off the right vibe at first glance. While learning to act and speak like the cool cats are essential steps, it will not matter if you do not have the right look to begin with. Let us start with hipster headgear. A nice motto to follow is that the more things you have on your head, the more hipster you will be. The most important piece from a hipster’s ensemble is a pair of glasses. It is recommended that you get the biggest, thickest, and darkest plastic frames that you can find. If you want to be more adventurous, tortoise shell frames have also been increasingly popular throughout their community. But wait! You have 20/20 vision? This could be the first battle with hiding that you are trying too hard to fit in. If you come across this problem, make sure that you find glasses that have clear, fake lenses. It would be devastating to blow your cover with such a simple step. Continuing with this headgear motto, it will be beneficial to purchase a nice, quality beanie, or two, or ten. If you’re feeling a little more daring a flower crown would help you make the cut as well, but do so with caution, you will not want to look like a phony who is just trying to blend in at Coachella. Last but not least, a few piercings should complete this portion of the look; nose piercings tend to be pretty popular but eyebrows and an excessive amount of earrings can help you pull off the look also. Some of these can be pretty painful, but that’s the price you have to pay. While you can find most elements of the hipster style at any store, a good place to start looking for the rest of your ensemble is Urban Outfitters or American Apparel. Oversized sweaters and contrasting patterns are must haves, as well as vintage everything and anything. The challenge with hiding that you are trying too hard is to never admit that you might have actually gotten these clothes from a chain store. Make sure to brag about how you found your ugly sweater at a resale shop around town, even if you actually spent $80 on one that is two sizes too big. Nobody can find out your secret.

While transforming into a hipster, you have to stay fit, whether you're a couch potato or not. The majority of hipsters take an immense amount of pride in eating healthy. If you go out with some of your new hipster friends, you cannot be caught with anything that is not vegan and gluten free. You must hide the disgusted look on your face as you eat like a rabbit and swallow the cardboard like food that is in front of you. You must continue your dietary habits while alone so you are always able to start a discussion about all the organic products you found at an overpriced grocery store. You are also going to need to acquire a taste for every kind of tea and coffee imaginable. Some of them can be absolutely repulsive but in the hipster world coffee and tea are put together to create one of the three basic food groups. Hipsters also have to be incredibly pretentious about how they are staying fit with exercise. Many choose to do yoga and meditate daily. To really show off your stuff, buy an expensive yoga mat and find a park and do your tree pose among the ones with leaves. While this may sound beneficial to some, if you are trying to blend into the scene quickly it can be hard to get limber fast. You must hide your cramps, your heavy breathing, and the fact you might feel like dying. In order to be a hipster you have to exercise not only your body but also your mind.

Now that your body has been nourished by the hipster culture, it is time to turn it over to your attitude. If you think that you can just look and behave like a hipster, you are sadly mistaken. You must also think like a hipster. Throw all your old opinions out the window because they do not matter anymore. Never again will you go see a blockbuster film. Never again will you pick up the Barnes and Noble novel of the week. Never again will you turn on your radio and jam to the newest hit single at a red light. Starting with movies, the only ones you will be allowed to watch are foreign films and indie dramas, and God forbid that anybody ever knows the actors’ names. This can be difficult because it makes it impossible to watch a movie while multitasking; subtitles have to become your best friend. It can also be harmful for your computer because the only place you are going to find the majority of these movies are on some shady downloading websites. It is time to invest in some expensive anti-virus software if you want to stay cool. For books, however, it is necessary you read all the novels and short stories that everybody knows about but nobody ever wants to read. Your personal library needs to only be filled with the classics as well as some dark, beautiful poetry. Hemmingway, Salinger, Fitzgerald, and Robert Frost are good authors to begin your new literary adventures with. Carry these books with you at all times and always casually set them down on the table in plain sight so everybody can see how smart and insightful you are, but never be caught with an e-reader. That would be too modern of you. While it is important to get familiar with books and cinema, it is also important to familiarize with the hipster music.

Hipster books and films are easy to fake interest in alone, but when it comes to hipster music, this is much harder to accomplish. Music is one of the most uniting and public elements of being a hipster. It can also be the most confusing part about moving in with this crowd. Indie rock and unknown singer-songwriters are probably the safest bet when it comes to your new listening pleasures; in this case, the less unknown, the better the music. The biggest confusion that comes along with this is that once an artist you like begins to gain popularity, you need to make sure the entire world knows that you heard them first. Claim these musicians as your own; own them as if they are on your personal record label. This can only work for so long, however. If they continue to climb the charts there is no avoiding abandoning them, even if you’ve spent money on their vinyl (the preferred medium of the dedicated hipster fans), tickets, and merchandise. When somebody tries to listen to that music again you have to claim that you liked their old music better and that they became too “mainstream” for your liking. If you get caught with any mainstream media you can kiss your hipster status goodbye.

Now while you are getting rid of the old you, there are infinite ways you can screw up with your style. The only way out of this confrontation is to swear that you did something out of irony. You were caught listening to Taylor Swift while making dinner? How ironic. You were caught watching the newest Nicholas Sparks movie with the book sitting on your coffee table? You were only trying to be ironic. Nobody will ever question you further. If you succeed in the previous steps, people will begin to make fun of the person you have become, which will bring us to the number one rule of being a hipster: never admit that you believe you are a hipster. While you may want to be proud of your accomplishments, instead always be offended about the label, because remember, you cannot be caught trying to be cool, you just are. Being a hipster nowadays it is incredibly confusing and can cause you to lose some of your favorite things and become a person you never thought you would be, but by taking on these stereotypes there might be a portion of the world that will think you are an interesting, unique individual, and maybe that will make it worthwhile. Always remember, stay hip, stay rad, and stay cool.