Every January 1st, the Old Yorker publishes its annual “in and out” list for the year to come. While other publications often use the “in and out” list as a way of reassuring their readers that the people they envy and the things they covet are now “out” and the dull routine of their own boring lives is now somehow “in,” the Old Yorker dares to demand more.
We respect our readers enough not to coddle them, not to shield them from the discomfiting reality of the world as it actually is rather than how we all wish it might be. Our subscribers are not children. We know that if we tried to tell you that wearing your stupid old clothes was somehow more fashionable than buying expensive new ones, you would hold us in justifiable contempt. Some time in the future (we predict it will happen at the turn of the next millennium), being rich and powerful will be out and being thrifty and imaginative will really, truly be in. But not this year.
Here then the real, honest In and Out List for 2008.
In: Expensive dinners at fashionable restaurants with influential people
Out: Homecooked meals at your place with good friends
In: Mercedes hybrid
Out: Old beater
In: A used Hermes Birkin bag that looks like it belonged to your grandmother
Out: The dumb handbag your grandmother actually gave you
In: Chateau Petrus
Out: Mojitos at that bar you go to with everyone after work
In: Exclusive celebrity-filled nightclubs
Out: Friendly neighborhood places
In: Yachting on the Riviera with some bimbos
Out: Car camping with the family in a National Park
In: Cocaine
Out: Pilates
In: Cosmetic surgery
Out: Proudly looking your age
In: A big house
Out: Colorful throw pillows
In: $51 million Mark Rothko painting
Out: Something your kids made
The Old Yorker 