Building the Ultimate NBA Hipster

The Urban Dictionary roughly defines a hipster as a young person between 18 and 30 years old who drinks cheap beer, smokes cigarettes, claims to be ironic, etc.

Regarding the group's dress sense, the dictionary cites "a mixture of thrifted clothing and items bought at American Apparel and Urban Outfitters" before naming each piece of clothing in detail.

Being a New Yorker who lives just a subway ride away from Williamsburg, Brooklyn—known here as Hipster Central—I often deal with or see these people on a regular basis.  Being a basketball fan, I've noticed how hipsterdom is starting to make its presence known in the NBA, particularly in the wardrobes of players like Russell Westbrook.

That said, it's time to play virtual dress-up and build the ultimate NBA hipster!

Smart and Obvious Glasses

Remember how Urban Dictionary mentioned that hipsters claimed to be ironic?  I'm guessing that's what Dwyane Wade was going for here in wearing these glasses.

Not only do they not have any lenses, but Wade looks as though he's about to go perform with an Elvis Costello tribute band.  As over the top as his specs are, there's something kind of awesome about them!

A Sophisticated Scarf

In keeping up the irony trend, we next have Kevin Garnett and his professorial scarf.  In this case, he has quite a few hipster garments on.  The glasses are there along with the pullover sweater, capped off by the wool scarf.

I have to give the man credit for this one.  If I were to wear a scarf in June, I'd probably go crazy from sweating so much in 10 minutes or less.  Garnett, on the other hand, rocks it like a champ.

The Quirky Shirt

Particularly in New York, hipsters are known for wearing shirts that can either be worn out in public or used as a pajama top.  Russell Westbrook has knocked this one out of the park as he has his loud glasses accentuated by the now infamous fishing lure shirt.

Personally, I think the shirt is hideous and looks like it was purchased at Steve Urkel's garage sale.  However, since we're building an NBA hipster, there's no better choice than Westbrook's shirt.

Hat, Vest and Skinny Jeans

I've come to discover that there are two types of hipster wardrobes: the three items that I just mentioned, and the one that Amar'e Stoudemire is wearing.  Sure, most hipsters wear skinny jeans, but not all use the glasses, scarf and shirt approach.

Stoudemire, as you can see here, has the skinny jeans put together with a hat that looks like it should be worn by someone in a jam band. He also dons a sleeveless vest worn with nothing underneath.

Though most hipster wardrobe combinations annoy me, I'll admit that Stoudemire looks pretty badass here.  It's as though he's taking an Isaac Hayes Halloween costume out for a test drive, but he pulls it off so well that he can wear it year-round.

Converse Chuck Taylors

I'm not sure how many NBA hipsters wear these shoes, but in New York City, hipsters aren't complete without Chuck Taylors.  It's practically a rule that Converse sneakers be worn by them at all times.  Seriously, out of all of the hipsters I've encountered in my life time, I've found that they only wear Chucks or flip flops.  I can only think of maybe two or three who didn't wear either.

Regardless, the fact of the matter is that these shoes have become quite popular in the hipster community, and if we're building an NBA hipster, it should be required that they wear these on their feet.