While hipster culture has already been around for quite some time, that doesn’t mean it’s gone anywhere. The original hipsters might have moved on to other things (walking around in scuba gear and kilts probably, who knows?), but almost everyone has a bit of an inclination. We’ve put together a list of gifts to satisfy anyone who has a little voice inside them that makes them want to take black and white pictures of old doorways.
Casio F-91W
Before Nokia set the benchmark with its 3210/3310 family of phones, the Casio wristwatch was one of the enduring symbols of indestructible electronics. It’s even the unofficial timepiece of the mighty men of the Singapore Armed Forces.
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Dehumidifiers
From medium format cameras to vinyls, your hipster undoubtedly owns numerous vintage objects. With Singapore’s merciless humidity however, anything made of leather is reduced to a mould plantation and anything metallic is quickly converted into a pile of rust. Humidity control – a gift that keeps on giving.
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Disposable Cameras
For the hipster who has neither the cash to invest in a film camera nor the time to build a pinhole camera, there are trusty old disposables. Who doesn’t miss the joy of collecting your photos to find that only half of them could be developed?
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Erasers
Country erasers were great for entertainment back in the day when imagination and actual physical activity were required for children’s games, but they are mostly useless as actual erasers. You might want to throw a Pentel Hi-Polymer into the mix as well.
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Fake Moustaches
For those not blessed with the ability to grow out a scraggly tract of upper lip hair (or who are limited in that pursuit by gender), fake it! Of course, you’re not going to wear this out in public apart from Halloween or themed parties, but great Facebook profile pictures don’t make themselves.
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Good Morning Towels
For drying off sweat from a long afternoon at the flea market, mopping up spilled cocktails or cleaning eyewear, a Good Morning towel has no equal. All those respectable labourers and kopitiam table-wipers can’t be wrong.
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Heavy duty duffel bag
Practicality never gets in the way of style for the committed hipster, and this is true for large, cumbersome bags; never mind if you have to spend half an hour digging through it for your hair cream.
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Jotter Books
Lines suck. Who knows how many dreams have been crushed by the tedium of foolscap paper? Help your hipster run free and go on a no holds barred artistic odyssey with something straight out of their carefree kindergarten years.
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Just For Men moustache & beard dye
It might be tough to keep up appearances once age begins to grey facial hair, but fortunately, Just For Men is a step ahead. They make an easy to use dye in gel-form made just for beards and moustaches (available in 11 colours from “sandy blonde” to “jet black”).
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Old School Coffee Cups
If your hipster enjoys coffee – heh, just kidding, you probably know precisely which organic, fair trade Ecuadorian blend they enjoy – then you can’t expect them to drink from Starbucks mugs like some kind of moron. Depending on their degree of hipsterism, you can go enamel, stainless steel, “ancient” Chinese porcelain or classic coffee shop ceramic.
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Nail Care Kit
It’s a no brainer for hipster girls, but for guys, this is probably across the border in metrosexual territory. Then again, if someone is willing to empty their wallet for a haircut from a man with a Dali moustache they should care about their nails too. There’s a fine line between looking unkempt and actually being unkempt; always err on the side of caution.
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Pencils
When it comes to really channeling your inner genius, pens just don’t cut it. Nothing gets the creative juices flowing like some wood and graphite. A tin of Staedtler Mars Lumographs would do the trick, or for something more vibrant, there’s the classic Stabilo colour pencil set with a free sharpener.
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Sewing kit
There’ll come a time where every hipster needs to patch up a ratty jacket or tighten/loosen the legs of their jeans, so sewing is a good skill to keep handy.
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Shoe deodorisers
Hipsters tend to have eclectic tastes when it comes to lower body garments, and many of them don’t look good bookended with socks. The solution then is to go commando with footwear, but that doesn’t end well for anyone who sweats. A pair of these will ensure that your hipster doesn’t have to be embarrassed when they take off their loafers.
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Skipping rope
There aren’t really many ways of keeping fit that suit the hipster lifestyle (some kind of dance or hopscotch perhaps), but skipping ropes have just the right mix of nostalgia and plain wood finishing that make them ideal.
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Padlocks
Combination locks are convenient, but they can’t compare to a chunky padlock with keys. So whether they’re securing their bicycles or locking their aforementioned duffels, they’ll be able to count on their Tri-Circle, Yale or Abloy.
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Snake Brand and Sam Fong Hoi Tong powder
With their timeless designs alone, having a tin of Snake Brand Prickly Heat powder or a box of Sam Fong Hoi Tong powder around your home or work space would be enough to tell everyone that you’re serious about your culture. Keeps you fresh/beautiful too.
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Amazon, The Smiling Star Groceries
Magnifying Glass
There’ll come a time when reading poetry anthologies and Murakami will get a little more difficult, so make sure your hipster is prepared for their later years with a flimsy, primary school science class magnifying glass.
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The best part about this hipster shopping list: you can find most of these items at your neighbourhood convenience, hardware and stationery stores.
Top photo: Pinterest
