Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

7 Reasons Thrifting is worth it With Noa Deane and Brendon Gibbens

Brendon Gibbens thrifting what youth
NXT /

No one just hands you Looney Tunes sweatshirts and vintage mom jeans to wear to Dane’s Loaded premiere (as Noa Deane did). You have to dig, scrap and hunt — sucker in mouth — battling hipsters, crazy aunts, aggro pickers and cigar-smoking old men at thrift stores and swap meets to find those types of treasures. And while many will write this off as a “hipster” pursuit (again, good luck with that bitter existence), the simple reality is that you can find rare, authentic, well-made things for really cheap. Noa debated a black velvet blazer for 20 minutes before passing and then moving on to a $150 original Nirvana shirt which he ultimately passed on as well (it helps to have some restraint too). And while you’ll see a heap of worthless consumerism gone stale, sometimes, buried deep in the graveyard of bad purses, stained Ninja Turtle tee shirts and broken mirrors is a magical piece worth giving a new home.

7 reasons to get to the swap meet, starring Brendon Gibbens and Noa Deane.

1. You can find good denim: Denim ages well. And I swear to God you can find a pair of jeans pulled straight off Kurt Cobain’s thrashing knee at these stores.

film-8

2. Frames and mirrors: A good frame or a good mirror should look like it’s already lived through at least one medieval period. Home Depot and modern furniture stores can’t come close to offering a mirror that the wicked queen once spoke to.

film-12

3. It goes great after a few beers: Truth be told, it’s hard to convince yourself of buying some of this shit without a cold beer to get your wallet out. Your negotiating skills will greatly improve as well.

4. Girls love it: If you’ve exhausted all your local bars, annoyed every hostess in town, it may be time to change your approach. And much the same way finding something rad in all the clutter, there’s a good chance you’re going to see some of America’s hottest hipsters strolling the aisles looking for vintage sunnies and rings. Say hi, ask for some advice. Buy them a beer.

film-4

5. The cameras: We get asked a lot about what cameras we use, and truth is, most of them we find at swap meets and thrift stores. They all fire off unique things. They break. Come back to life. Ruin film. And then every once in a while, they shoot a photo that means something. “I always look for cameras and gear at these markets,” Brendon said. “High end and cheap end, it’s all there.”

6. You’ll get inspired: Brendon spent about 15 minutes going through bins of random family and vacation photos from the ’30s that some vendor had been collecting and got psyched to do a project with them.

7. It makes you hungry: Noa finished the day with a 4×4 with cheese from In ‘n’ Out and a hail Mary before his 13-hour flight later that day. Successful day in the shops.

Cilantro Margarita, What Youth Drinks, Paul Brewer, Herbs

WY Drinks: Herbs in our cocktails Herbs plus booze to raise your cocktail game

When you think of herbs, you generally think of food. And when you think of cocktails, you generally think of booze. That is, the spirit: gin, vodka, tequila, and so on. But combining the two, we don’t see that a lot. I heard of herbs in drinks long ago, but wrote off the idea. (Except…

the what youth guide to cuba

The WY GUIDE: Cuba Now that the red tape is mostly gone, should you go? Well, we did, here’s what we found.

It’s hard to have a conversation about traveling without someone bringing up Cuba. It’s long been the Holy Grail of American travel because, well, we couldn’t go there. But before heading out on his global kite surfing mission with Richard Branson, President Obama restored diplomatic relations with the Cuban government for the first time in over 50 years. A very…

Radical Class: Layover in Paris A guide to 48 hours in an overwhelming city

A lot of times when we travel, we’ll try to tack on a bonus location. A quick layover somewhere just because it’s the right thing to do. And during a recent trip to Amsterdam we tacked on 48 hours in Paris, just because. We happened to be with Adam Warren who writes the What Youth food…

what youth mexico city scott chenoweth

How To Drink Mezcal in Mexico City “For every ill, mezcal — and for every good as well.”

When you go to Mexico City, don’t order tequila. Or a margarita for that matter. Order mezcal. It’s the drink of choice and will earn you immediate respect from the locals. Mezcal is smokier than tequila, but with similar effects, and it pairs nicely with the spicy food and the flavors Mexico City is known…

what youth radical class book review alison gibson

Another What Youth Reading List This time with no dead white guys!

After checking out (and nodding along with) Travis’ recent fall syllabus featuring the literary heavy-hitters many of us have returned to again and again for inspiration, I had the urge to put together another reading list for you guys, made up of authors you maybe haven’t yet read or even heard of. With two Pulitzer…

What Youth Syllabus, Books

The What Youth Syllabus The books we’re assigning for the fall semester

If you go to school, or went to school or tell people you go to school, you’ve seen a syllabus. A paper full of shit you’re supposed to read. You get it the first day of class and when you do you feel jazzed and promise yourself to read them all. Get A’s. Participate. Get…

what youth playlist for back to school

When morning comes too soon A playlist for the final dawns of the summer

Maybe it’s on the hardwood floor of a living room in Santa Cruz. Or the front seat of a tour bus, a towering New York hotel with a view, or a log cabin surrounded by mountains covered in snow. Or maybe it’s the backseat of a Volkswagen van in Venice. Or in the sand covered in fog. Mornings like these…

8 Jazz Albums To Make It A Little Better For more inspired and relaxing times

The other day, I heard someone say something about how if you’re white, and you are just saying now, amidst what is perhaps one of the darkest points in American history, that “the world is on fire,” then you have been ignoring the racial problems in this country for way too long and you should…

what youth guide to airports dane reynolds

The WY Guide: Airports How to expertly navigate the world’s transportation hubs

A necessary evil of being a venerable youth on the run is the time spent in transit. The hopscotch between your destinations. It can be exciting, but mostly it is a pain. But it should not be time wasted. Because with a little guidance, these stopovers in purgatory can actually become some of the most memorable moments of…

WHAT YOUTH EATS AND DRINKS this weekend Your guide to a delicious and multi-cultural Fourth of July

The Fourth is meant for equal parts fireworks, food, drink, babes, waves, and bad decisions. Cases of beer, they appear. Food, it arrives at the right time. America at its best! Do we want to eat and drink well on the Fourth? Yes! But do we want to work hard for our food on the…

what youth the wedge radical class

WY Guide to Surfing the Wedge Local standout Spencer Pirdy and how to navigate social media’s favorite wave

​​​​​​The local news trucks have arrived. There are sharks everywhere. People are crashing Jet Skis into the rocks at the Wedge while on Tinder dates and all the signs of viral lunacy and chaos inspired by a California summer are here. And no wave finds itself more in the spotlight than the Wedge. It’s come back in…

WHAT YOUTH DRINKS: BITTERS Throw some stuff in a jar, walk away, and come back to a great cocktail

The makings of a great cocktail: good booze, ice, and not much else. It’s an equation that keeps the Martini going strong.  And it’s the reason why the Old Fashioned is a good thing. The “not much else” is where bitters come into play. Bitters alter the flavor profile of a cocktail in a subtle…

Sign up for letters from What Youth


By enabling this page, you are acknowledging and accepting our privacy terms and conditions.