Writes the New York Times' Guy Trebay,

Too pronounced to be blamed on the slouchy cut of a T-shirt, too modest in size to be termed a proper beer gut, developed too young to come under the heading of a paunch, the Ralph Kramden is everywhere to be seen lately, or at least it is in the vicinity of the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene, the McCarren Park Greenmarket and pretty much any place one is apt to encounter fans of Grizzly Bear.

It's a fun piece, but I'm not quite sure what's given anyone the idea this is a new phenomenon: I'd go so far as to declare that the Grizzly-Bear-listening population, much like that of the general population and, indeed, members of the band itself, represent a wide range of physiques - and in any case were not those who were most prone to the overblown metrosexual orthodoxy in the first place. But some quoted in the piece suggest that this embrace of the gut could, in fact, be the hipster's contrarian response, not just to the pre-recession tyranny of Men's Health-style abs, but to the svelteness of the Commander in Chief. Being rebels sans causes, you see, these hipsters - who would, presumably, otherwise be hitting the gym between concerts? - have decided to develop guts. But why stop there? Maybe the gut - "the Kramden," to use the piece's term - is a response to the Recession, a sort of means of storing up supplies for the long winter, bear-style?

I'd be more inclined to point to the increasing acceptability of the shlub-with-hottie phenom in pop culture, something which we've detailed at some length in these digital pages. (And no, women have not embraced the Kramden; a letter in today's Wall Street Journal asking how to camouflage "flabby upper arms," and the tip we just received on combatting "the Stubborn, Unbeatable Bulge" is a reminder that insecurities are always in.) But even this would presuppose that this avant-garde gut is some sort of deliberate letting-go, or even subconscious rejection of norms. In fact, I think the phenomenon's a lot more straightforward: the hipsters who used to be really scrawny are now older, and can't drink as much PBR without it showing. And being women, we're nice about it.

It's Hip To Be Round [NY Times]
Youthful Blouses To Hide Arm Flab [Wall Street Journal]

You totally would be conned into paying $19 for a bow tie made of whatever was lying around the factory, a bow tie you might wear once, to Barcade, and then feel faintly embarrassed of for the many years it stubbornly subsequently persists in the midden of your closet, like all garments do in inverse proportion to their wearability/cuteness, according to the frustrating law of the sartorial universe that also dictates that your favorite T-shirt always be dirty, after being mesmerized by full-frontal not-even-trying-to-hide double-trouble nipple ad action, wouldn't you? Hypnotized by the naked lady, you'd buy what she was wearing? No? Okay then. New strategy.

Unisex Bow Tie [American Apparel Store]

The line, if you're curious, stretches down Broadway to Broome St., down Broome, around the corner to Crosby, and then back around onto Grand St. That's this far:

It isn't moving very quickly.

The girls from the Madewell store are handy with coffee and donut holes, and there are roaming Topshop operatives handing out gift cards (inevitable value: $5. Validity: today only. Likelihood of making it inside Topshop by the end of today: as slim as the pants on the hipster in front of me).

What's more, the store seems to be nearly empty. I think they're keeping us all in line to build the hype, so somebody can go write about how OMG long the line is (which I suppose is what I just did — good strategy, Topshop!) But whatever, it's nice outside. I'll leave it to you to judge whether it's exciting or depressing to see New Yorkers, a breed which is ordinarily jaded about any number of things but perhaps especially about shopping, put on carefully selected outfits and brightly colored sunglasses, and muss their hair up just so, all to go see a chain store which probably charges too much money for what it is throw open its doors. (Very slowly.)

Oh, Kate Moss was here, but she left already. That's about it.

Can I Be A Schoolteacher AND A Slut? from Pot Psychology on Vimeo.

• Many facial plastic surgeons are turning away potential patients because their expectations are too high. • The ACLU is helping a woman from Pennsylvania fight for her right to get a permit to open a pole-dancing workout studio. • More on the Indian Vogue scandal: Turns out fashion people are tasteless when it comes to stirring up sales. • The Spanish government's Socialist Party is forming a panel to amend its restrictive abortion law, which only allows abortions to be performed in the first 12 weeks in cases of rape, 22 weeks in cases of fetal malformation, and at any time if a psychologist deems pregnancy harmful to the woman. • The level of acceptance of transgender workers is growing in top companies, with 125 of the Fortune 500 currently including "gender identity" in their nondiscrimination policies. • Infant abductions are increasingly rare in the U.S., with most of the abductions taking place at the mother's home or in public and the average kidnapper being an overweight woman who feigns pregnancy. • The house and museum of Edith Warton in Massachusetts (called 'The Mount') is facing foreclosure. • Author Ruth Butler chronicles the muse-wives of famous painters in her new book, Hidden in the Shadow of the Master: The Model-Wives Of Cezanne, Monet and Rodin. • 2channel and Komachi are two of Japan's largest anonymous online forums for women, where women talk about their personal lives, troll, and get into arguments.

Chloe Sevigny [Style.com]

Nike For Feminists [CityRag]

Where a typical sentence in the last issue of Jane goes: "The conversation was our normal patter—cremation versus burial, a friend's recent abortion and the convenience of peeing in the shower," a typical Nylon sentence goes "Stockholm isn't just a music capital — it's also home to some of the most exciting fashion anywhere" — accompanying a fashion spread in which every single model is wearing a T-SHIRT. Berlin! Peter Bjorn & John! A story on Dani Stahl's trip to Seattle to customize Microsoft's "cool new media player" the Zune! A four-page ad spread for Zune! A clothing line called "Illionaire"! In our favorite feature, wherein the magazine attends a party at Cinespace and interviews some attendees, "Sam" is quoted saying he is there "To see Steve [Aoki] and D.J. A.M. spin. So talented." Are you a hipster? the magazine asks. "I don't know. I haven't been defined yet." Well Sam, actually, the Nylon marketing department probably has defined you, and though they're smart enough not to put their media kit online we'd bet they have a douchebaggy corporate term they use to sell the fact you like CocoRosie and wear American Apparel slim slacks as some sort of evidence you are a "tastemaker" to the Microsoft guys. Too bad all those tastemaking classes never taught you to read!

*Oh no! Missbehave must have found our poll cause now they're totally winning. Um, we'll hate on them next. Though we actually sort of like them.

With whom we wouldn't have so much of a problem if it seemed like they knew how to have fun WITHOUT the fanatic documentation of party photographers? Well-trodden territory, we are aware, but like the meaning of life, we're still working it out. Thoughts, sage commenters?

Red Carpet Or Rehab, It Sells [NY Times]