The Metropolis

Whatever You Do, Don’t Feed the Hipsters

Chuck Ansbacher | Friday 11 March, 2011 10:06

Discovering new cultures is so enriching! But ouch. In this economy? Unaffordable! Or, at least, was unaffordable. Until a few weeks ago, when the final expansion of the Ginger Line (as in kick a ginger… has MIA heard about this?) was completed, and that all changed. Now, all the fun of traveling abroad is available to all — the less familiar locale of East London is accessible, interesting, and crawling with cool. And you can get haircuts there too!

Soooooo, yeah. Pardon the sarcasm? But honestly, my tongue practically burst through my cheek reading this Evening Standard field guide. For exhibit A, I present their description of Dalston:

Word on the street is that Dalstonites are a bit miffed that their trendy turf is now being invaded by the not-so-cool west and the arguably cooler south. Home to the studios of fashion designers Christopher Kane and Gareth Pugh, it’s no surprise that it attracts an edgy crowd. But, with bar/club/café venues and live music spots such as The Nest, Dalston Superstore, The Alibi and cafe Oto, all twentysomethings – even unfashionable ones – have a reason to spend all night in Dalston. Just take a pair of lensless glasses with you.

Hey, doesn’t that sound tempting? A bunch of angry youths dressed in all black sneering at you from behind a pair of faux nerd specs? Weeeeeeee.

But don’t worry — if that sounds like your personal version of hell, there are other less pretentious, equally cool, more exotic, sometimes practically foreign neighbs for you to peep along the Ging. After all, the word “cool” does appear half-a-dozen times in the article.

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