Hipster Holiday Gift Guide 2008 Edition

What a long, strange year this has been. From Bush to Obama, 13,000 to 8,300 Dow points, boom times to bailouts … man, oh man.

The economy’s in a recession, our government is in limbo until January, and overall, everyone’s in a state of uncertainty. Sure, sure, we’re all sick of kvetching about it. But it’s there, it’s the elephant in the room, gnawing at our subconscious.

We here at NickyDigital.com understand that this holiday season is going to be weird. Obviously, most will be spending less and with that in mind we’ve kept most items on this list under $100. We’ve created a list with a few of our favorite things that are sure to make your girlfriend, boyfriend, mom, dad, step mom, weird cousin Al, or over-achieving intern super duper happy. So break open the piggie bank, pick up an extra shift, or pawn some of your untouched bling and turn yourself into the coolest santa in town:




LOMOGRAPHY ACTIONSAMPLER FLASH CAMERA

PRICE: $60
WHERE TO BUY: Lomography.com; Amazon.com

NickyDigital.com may not be the right place to mourn the soon-to-be passing of Polaroid cameras and muse about whether film can be compared to print, given that both are enduring a painful struggle with technology in today’s digital era. So I won’t.

But for the experimental film-phile in your life, might we suggest the Actionsampler camera from Lomography? Four lenses and a uniquely-timed shutter design exposes a quarter-frame of the image 1/4 a second, giving you pictures that resemble moving images in a single shot. The powerful flash makes it ideal for shooting at night. It comes with a 35mm roll of film, wrist strap and AA batteries.




TRAVO IPOD GLOVES

PRICE: $19.95
WHERE TO BUY: TavoProducts.com

It’s freezing outside. Walking is torture, any exposed part of your face is on its way to drying out faster than an actor at Betty Ford, and thick gloves mean retrieving coins out of your wallet and working the little buttons on a Nano is nearly impossible.

Enter these: thermal gloves with special PlayPoint technology in the fingertips that works with the iPod touchpad, so you can scroll all you need to while trudging to work in 30 degree weather. Put these and your Happy Music Playlist on and that frosty morning commute just got a little easier.




TOO LATE WATCHES

PRICE: $29.99
WHERE TO BUY: Too2Late.com

Get one of these Italian watches for your favorite little scenester to bop around in at Studio B. They’re light-weight, waterproof, and come in an array of bright colors. You can color-coordinate them to match your iPod!

The branchild of a 27-year old Italian dude, the design is minimal and straight-forward – the only features displayed are date and time and all they come with is a MODE and SET button – which is nice, because the main function of a watch is to tell time, right? Not wake one up, play music, radio Mars, blind people with billions of Swarovski crystals, etc.

If you order online, the shipping’s free and they come with a 2-year warranty.




THE NEW YORK TIMES: THE COMPLETE FRONT PAGES 1851-2008
PRICE: $36.00
WHERE TO BUY: Amazon.com

Not to play Scrooge and go back to the crappy economy and sad state of print, but it’s been a really tough lately for the Gray Lady. In a year marked by some high points in its reporting – including breaking the Spitzer prostitution scandal – nothing, it seems, has been able to save it from plunging stock prices, drastic cost-cutting measures, huge lay-offs and rumors of a sale being mulled by its long-time publishing family.

Let’s hope that one thing doesn’t get lost amidst all this down news: that, say what you want about some of its columnists (for every article penned by Paul Krugman, there’s one by Maureen Dowd), the New York Times is still the standard bearer of print. This hefty tome is a reminder of its venerable history and what it has contributed to journalism over the course of a century and a half.

The book features over 300 reproductions of some of the most important, historical front pages since 1851, from the assassination of Lincoln to September 11, 2001. But the real treat for any hard-core news lover, is the accompanying DVD volume, which consists of all 54,000-plus covers from the past 157 years.

It’s a bittersweet love letter to the Times and to the print medium. Keep in mind, there probably won’t ever be a book like this consisting of Politico and Drudge home pages.




LESPORTSAC 9726 EQUILIBRIUM TOILETRIES KIT
PRICE: $46.00
WHERE TO BUY: LeSportsac.com

At 5" x 10", this men’s travel kit is well-sized, aesthetically pleasing and features "three interior bottle holders." We assume they mean three bottles of travel-sized Kiehls , but you could just as easily pack it with three nips of Belvedere to ease any flight jitters or pass time on the airport tarmac when your holiday flight home to Cleveland is delayed two-and-a-half hours. It comes in two shades of grey, brown and (personal fave) blue (pictured above).

And while we’re on the subject of LeSportsac, you may want to peruse their special collaboration with Dutch artist BFREE. There’s a whole line of crazy bags he designed for them, ranging from $75 to $148. The Runaway Duffle ($108) is particularly cool, functionally and stylistically-speaking.




TOPMAN BURGUNDY VEST
PRICE: $50.00
WHERE TO BUY: TopMan.com

The delayed opening of the SoHo TopShop has been one big fashion blueball: everyone keeps getting excited, then going soft as it keeps getting pushed back. It’s now set to open in March 2009, but us Yanks got a consolation prize in September when a U.S. site launched.

There’s a lot of nice things online you can get for your favorite downtown dandy, from metallic skinny ties for $20 to a red-and-white tartan checked shirt for $60. But this burgundy vest caught our eye, priced at a nice 50 bones (fyi: shipping is free on the first order). It’ll be perfect on those nights when you’re hanging out with the Nylon crew at Chloe, having managed to escape the unseemly swaths of Joe the Plumbers trying to follow Steve Rojas in.




RICKY POWELL LIMITED EDITION PRINT
PRICE: starting at $100.00
WHERE TO BUY: SugarHeadquarters.com

They’re not technically related, but Sugar Headquarters is like the crazy sister to Rivington street neighbor Alife. In addition to a solid assortment of hoodies, t-shirts and dresses, this Lower East Side boutique’s got an curation of art, jewelry, books and all sorts of eclectic knick-knacks. It’s run by two sisters who are so far ahead of the curve, they’re practically in 2010. And helping them man the shop is Shiner, their precious pit bull. He is the perfect canine embodiment of the place: cheerful, laidback and bad-ass.

Dogs aside, check out the Ricky Powell prints for sale at SHQ for someone special on your list. Powell is a renowned street photographer who extensively chronicled those glorious early days of hip-hop when Run D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys were trailblazing. Each one is signed and numbered by Powell and features the aforementioned artists and their crews doing their thing against the gritty, vibrant backdrop of 1980’s New York City. If you don’t have the scratch for an original ($1,000), there are digital prints ranging from $100 to $250.




MORPHOS DEIDAMIA D.
BUTTERFLY IN BLACK LACQUERED FRAME

PRICE: $109.00
WHERE TO BUY: evolutionnyc.com

Gawd, this store is soooo cool! Whoa, Mom – look over here! It’s an owl skull! Bones and fossils and weird animal teeth and craaazy taxidermy, oh my! Seriously, though. Just one stroll into the Evolution Store in SoHo on a Saturday afternoon and this is what you hear coming out of the mouths of everyone, from Alabama tourists to hungover hipsters. It’s all pretty breathtaking and fascinating and brings out the science buff in everyone.

Depending on who you’re shopping for, there’s something for everyone at Evolution. A bear skull for your brother, some strange yet cool medical map for Dad, you get the idea. For a hip sister or female friend, the framed butterflies are simple, pretty and unique. If you’re worried about being ethical, maybe this helps: all the insects come from farms and U.S. Fish & Wildlife-approved sources. There are over 40 different types you can choose from, but IMAO, the tropical butterflies known as morphos are the prettiest.




SAFE JET JACKET
PRICE: $150.00
WHERE TO BUY: safeclothes.net

For guy or gal, this is one of those nice tweener pieces of clothing – somewhere in between a hoodie and jacket – that’s basic in structure, cool in design and smart in function. It’s water and stain repellant, rolls up and packs nicely, and there’s only fifty available. Plus, it was co-designed by the lovely Miss Rebecca Turbow, so you’re showing support for some Lower East Side small-biz entrepreneurship.




ROCKSTAR GAMES
MIDNIGHT CLUB: LOS ANGELES

PRICE: $40.00
WHERE TO BUY: RockstarGames.com; Amazon.com

Know someone who’s been laid-off, sitting around in their pajamas, and desperate for an outlet to unleash some pent-up rage and aggression? Get them this game and tell them to channel it into furiously racing pimped-out cars around a shiny Los Angeles. After they finish sending out resumes and calling temp agencies, of course.

And since video games are the new music blogs and Xbox is the new iTunes store, there’s a nifty little feature that allows you to directly download songs featured in the games. And what songs there are! Songs by Chromeo, Nas, Justice, Nine Inch Nails, Digitalism and good friends of NickyDigital.com 33Hz, just to name a few.


BONUS: more sex; that’s right, an adopted pup is called bait (note, this usually works best for your male hetero friends). So give the gift of sexy time without having to put out!



AN ADORABLE DOG
PRICE: Adoption Fees Vary
WHERE TO BUY: PetFinder.com

If you’ve got a friend who wastes away the day squealing at that puppy cam online and think they’re mature enough, consider adopting a dog for them. It may seem impractical, but it’ll be good for them. Dogs keep people centered (no more staying out all night when there’s a pup that needs walking). No matter what kind of day you’ve had, they’re always happy to see you. Now there’s the gift that keeps on giving!

As far as finances go, keep in mind that the lucky recipient needs to have the dough for food, toys, grooming, etc. (As the proud owner of a rescue dog myself, I’ll tell you that this usually comes out to about $40-$50 a month). Vet bills can be a bitch (har har, no pun intended, really), but depending on breed and size, you can get pet insurance for around $25 a month. These kind of costs may mean cutting back elsewhere – like on, oh, say, clothes or dining out – but trust me, the return on this investment will be so worth it.


» 2007 HIPSTER HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
» 2006 HIPSTER HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
»


A very special thank you to NickyDigital.com contributers Cornelia Rowe who wrote this years Hipster Holiday Gift Guide (and many of the great interviews you’ve read and watched on NickyDigital.com) and Shantz who drew the awesome illustration for this year’s gift guide as well as our covers for our weekly Pre Party Jamz.

Still looking for that special something? Check out our previous gift guides!

» 2010 HIPSTER HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

» MUSTACHE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE!

» 2009 HIPSTER HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

» 2008 HIPSTER HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

» 2007 HIPSTER HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

» 2006 HIPSTER HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

9 thoughts on “Hipster Holiday Gift Guide 2008 Edition”

  1. all i want for christmas is a puppy and the ricky powell print! thanks for bringing that to my attention. xo

  2. A puppy should never be a gift without consulting the recipient first. Getting a petting is adding a new member to the family. You wouldn’t go out and adopt a kid for someone, right? Okay, so that’s far fetched to make a point. I volunteer at a no-kill animal shelter. Every January, we take in more unwanted pets than any other month b/c of “surprise” pet gifts during the holidays. A pet is a huge commitment, both with time and money, so don’t adopt just b/c you think it makes a cool gift.

  3. i bought the iPhone gloves for my man!! They were actually more like $40, but TOTALLY worth it.

    now he can text me without freezing his fingertips! yippeeeeee!

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