Are you planning on taking up ‘vaping’? That’s the name given to the smoking of e-cigarettes, which according to the New York Times, is what all of the cool kids in Brooklyn are doing right now, and as we well know, what happens in Brooklyn, most certainly doesn’t stay in Brooklyn. 

The brand of choice among the plaid-squad is Bedford Slims, whose website alone, with its old-timey design and crass moustache favicon, stinks even more strongly of hipster-baiting than a bearded guy in an Incredible String Band t-shirt, handing out pulled pork tacos at a pop-up cassette exchange in London Fields, so it’s clear that companies are trying to make this more of a ‘thing’, than simply a clinical aid to kicking your smoking habit. Indeed, a representative from fellow e-cigarette company, Smarty Q, a brand once sold in Parisian cool-hub, Collette, noted to the NYT that ‘we’re trying to bring back the chic attitude, the sexiness in smoking’.

Because you have to admit it, smoking looks cool. Probably not cool enough to make it worth burning out your insides, but there is a lot to be said for the nonchalance a cigarette lends a person’s vibe. The ciggy hanging out of Hepburn’s long, slim holder in Breakfast at Tiffany’s adds the necessary edge that prevents Holly Golightly from being the original Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and Kate Moss’ Marlboro habit is as integral to her appeal as skinny jeans are. Plus, Helmut Newton knew the best accessory to a Yves Saint Laurent tuxedo was, le smoking, when he photographed the famous suit. 

But if it’s the necessary devil-may-care attitude required for puffing on a toxic stick that makes it look so cool, wouldn’t any of its appeal be obliterated when replaced with a plastic nicotine distributor? The answer of course, is most definitely. You can keep your fake fags Brooklyn, we’ll stick with a sneaky rollie outside the pub.