Girls is a sitcom phenomenon because it nails the 20-something urban experience so perfectly: bad sex, good sex, love, jobs, apartments, being between apartments, getting drunk, getting high, getting fired, parents, friends you love, friends you hate, friends you've grown out of, haircuts, bosses (the strict kind and the sleazy kind), red lipstick, STD tests, badly fitting vintage dresses and hipsters.

Yeah hipsters. It really gets hipsters. In all their many hipster guises.      

Like the Knows-Photoshop Hipster (Joy Lin, appears in series one's The Pilot) 

When Hannah asks her boss for a paid position at the publishing company she interns at, she cites Joy Lin (played by Elaine Chun) as an example of an employee who has worked her way up. 'Joy Lin knows Photoshop ... now in this economy ...' her boss answers, before confirming that he cannot give Hannah a job.
The look: Grey sweatshirt, glasses, slightly nerdy.
What it means: Joy Lin is a hipster with skills. Hannah has none. Joy Lin has a paid job. Hannah doesn't.  

It gets the Ditzy Hipster (Alexi, appears in series one's The Pilot)

Ray brings this hipster, whom just he met that day, as his date to the dinner party Marnie throws to mark Jessa's return to New York. She is under 25 and has been penetrated by a drummer, we learn. Played by Alexi Wasser, she says: 'I don't mean to be rude ... I'm just not into eating this week.'
The look: Plaid clothes, fresh-faced, full fringe.
What it means: Ray (pre-Shoshanna) has bad taste in women.   

It nails the Whimpster Hipster (Morgan, appears in series one's Vagina Panic) 

Morgan, played by Morgan Krantz, is an innocent caught up in the whirlwind of Jessa, who is on her way to get an abortion, which he inadvertently discovers she doesn't need. He doesn't seem to have a mobile phone, borrows Jessa's to call his mom and when Jessa asks him to put his hands down her pants, he says: 'Now? Okay. Like that? Is that okay?'
The look: Earnest.
What it means: Morgan is a classic whimpster, as defined by Rachel Elder in 2004.

Girls pillories the Good-Looking Intern Hipster (Julian, appears in series one's All Adventurous Women Do)

Julian, played by Julian Osti, works with Marnie in a Manhattan art gallery. He appears in the background of Vagina Panic but has a line (about crooked paintings) in the third episode of series one. He keeps his job when Marnie loses hers not because he is competent (he once spilled Yoo-Hoo on a print) but because he slept with the boss.
The look: Transparent-framed glasses, facial hair, scarf, tall.
What it means: Julian is the type of foppish hipster who trades on his looks. His outfits are better than Marnie's and he knows it.

There's the Generic Grumpy's Hipster (girl with glasses and 'bangs', appears in series one's Hard Being Easy)

Grumpy's, the coffee shop where Ray, and later Hannah, works, is a haven for hipsters, like this unnamed women Ray flirts with in series one.  
The look: Classic hipster.
What it means: Ray's relationship with his hipster customers (his disdain, his flirting, his rudeness) reflect Ray's specific personal problems (his aimlessness, his commitment-phobia, his dissatisfaction). Plus, Grumpy's is based on a real place full of real hipsters.  

The Literary Ex-Boyfriend Hipster shows up (Jessa's ex-boyfriend, appears in series one's Hard Being Easy) 

Jessa's ex (played by Daniel Eric Gold) is the one who broke up with her and now he is seeing a woman called Gillian (pronounced with a hard 'G') who works in publishing and is in her late 30s. When Jessa inevitably sleeps with him, she proves herself to be 'unsmotable'. 
The look: Hat. Waistcoat. The kind of hipster who spent a summer working in Shakespeare and Company.
What it means: The literary hipster is the type of passive-aggresive guy who lists out an ex-girlfriend's flaws before sleeping with her. Nobody wins with this dude: not his ex, not his his present girlfriend, not himself.

The Party Hipster is well represented (numerous, appears in series one's Welcome to Bushwick A.K.A The Crackcident) 

When the girls go to a warehouse party in Bushwick, they encounter various and innumerable hipsters. Hannah makes a joke about finding her 'fixed gear bike-riding friends', Marnie discovers that Charlie is dating a 'tiny Navaho' hipster (Audrey) and somebody gives Shoshanna crack. 
The look: Every type of hipster is represented at the party at Bushwick: the topless hipster, the grungy hipster, the classic hipster. All of them
What it means: If you live in an urban environment in the present day, then you are unable to avoid hipsters. Especially if you frequent warehouses.

The show doesn't forget the Theatre Hipster (Gavin, appears in series one's Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too)  

Gavin, played by Henry Zebrowski, is a writer/director/actor who is devising a play with Adam until Adam falls out with him over artistic differences (Gavin's 'wigger' joke). He's a weak pushover who has invested $2,000 in the play while Adam has just invested 'his time'.  
The look: Plump, pathetic, bearded, baseball cap. 
What it means: Gavin is the type of overweight and under-confident theatre hipster who becomes a slave to his more talented and better-looking friend. Sorry Gavin.

The Goes-To-Readings Hipster gets a look-in (unnamed, appears in series one's Leave Me Alone)  

When Hannah attends a sophisticated reading at the invitation of her former writing teacher, she self-sabotages by reading a piece of work she wrote that day on the subway. All around her, however, are hip people who regularly attend readings trimphantly.
The look: Hip but together. Well-groomed. Smart.
What it means: This unnamed hipster in the background is in stark contrast to Hannah. He is composed and grown-up. His cardigan is probably worth more than everything she is wearing put together. He probably didn't read something he wrote that day on the subway.  

There's a Republican Hipster (Sandy, appears in series two's It's About Time and I Get Ideas)

Hannah has a hip new Republican boyfriend, Sandy played by Donald Glover, at the beginning of series two. Hannah breaks up with Sandy because he is Republican didn't like her essay. 
The look: Gorgeous.
What it means: That hipsters, and young good-looking black hipsters specifically, can be Republicans. 

Don't forget the iPad/Brand Consultant Hipster (AndrewAndrew, appears in series two's Bad Friend)

When Hannah does cocaine for the first time as part of a piece she is writing for JazzHate.com, Elijah takes her to a club where AndrewAndrew – 'A couple of gays who dress alike and dance alike and both changed their name to Andrew,' he explains – are DJing.
The look: Matching, obviously.
What it means: AndrewAndrew is actually a real thing. Lena Dunham did not make them up. While many of the Girls cast members had been recruited from the Downtown or Brooklyn scene, this marks the first time that the show features a cameo appearance in this way. So it means a lot. Expect more cameos where that came from. 

The I-Slept-With-Him-Too Hipster features (Soo Jin, appears in series two's Boys)

Soo Jin, played by Greta Lee, quits her job as an assistant for Booth Jonathan after he tells her off for eating some of his rosewater ice-cream. When she goes to join her boyfriend, who is currently doing the lights on the Carly Rae Jepsen tour, Marnie picks up some of her duties. Marnie thinks she is Booth Jonathan's girlfriend but she is, in fact, just the new Soo Jin.  
The look: Pretty. Skinny. Topshop-y.
What it means: Pretty hipster-y girls are interchangeable to people like Booth Jonathan. In fact, they're interchangeable to a lot of people. That comes as a shock to Marnie. 

There's the Knows-Ryan-McGinley Hipster (guy at Booth Jonathan's party, appears in series two's Boys)

Booth Jonathan has recruited an array of NYC hipsters, with names like Sketch and Strider, for his party. One such hipster corners Hannah and asks her if he met her at Ryan's shoot. 
The look: We are talking serious hipster here. Overalls, glasses, beard, cravat, the works. 
What it means: Do Marnie and Hannah actually want to inhabit this hipster-filled art scene? Do any of us?

The Is-It-A-Nerd-Or-A-Hipster Hipster makes an appearance (Frank, appears in series two's Video Games)

Frank, played by Nick Lashaway, is Jessa's 19-year-old stepbrother. Hannah asks, 'What do you think of Frank? I guess I can never tell if guys are attractive in a loser-y way or just losers?’ Jessa answers, ‘Hannah he had camel toe.’ Hannah has sex with him.
The look: Awkward. Curtain fringe. Polo-neck.
What it means: Sometimes you have to sleep with someone before figuring out whether they are genuinely nerdy or hipster nerdy.

Of course there is a Web Developer Hipster (Laura, appears in series two's On All Fours)

Laura, played by New York writer Alice Gregory, works in Charlie's hip office, developing apps and doing all sorts of internet activities that baffle Marnie.
The look: J.Crew clothes. Warby Parker glasses.
What it means: Laura represents a 20-something hipster who has got her life in order. Marnie, by contrast, is flailing.    

And last but not least, there's the Work-In-A-Local-Brunch-Destination Hipster (various, appears in series two's Together) 

Certain brunch destinations are staffed by a certain type of hipster and when Charlie and Marnie thrash out the status of their relationship one morning, there is a panoply of them at work in the background.
The look: Tattoos. Beards. Caps. 
What it means: Charlie and Marnie have each other, safe from the vagaries of hipness and style and Brooklyn and 20-something angst. Love can protect you from hipsters, at least until the end of the episode.   

Series three of Girls starts on January 12 on HBO in the US and on January 20 on Sky Atlantic in the UK and will, no doubt, feature a wide array of new hipsters.