>went way beyond imitating silk

Yes, but the use in the article is specifically to imitate silk, and that's what we're discussing.

>Like what? virtually every "hipster" product is the same mass produced consumer "garbage" with an added Apple commercial twist to it

As I write elsewhere, I'm not actually a hipster but my tastes could be described as very hipster. I don't know who told you about my habits but they must have deceived you. The only clothing I buy that is advertised at all is 501s, and I buy the precisely because they are common, as a kind of hyper-hipsterism. Other than that I mostly wear cashmere and wool sweaters from small unknown Italian makers.

Most of my shoes are handmade and bespoke from Budapest and my first suit was bespoke from a Savile Row tailor, I got it with my last savings while at university, to prepare me for getting a job. This may seem extravagant but long term it's very good value for money. The shoes cost less than 2 pairs of sneakers but last 20 years easily, the suit will probably last forever and cost about 3 weeks of wages at my first job. Most of all they look amazing and the feeling of wearing something that is essentially the pinnacle of human sartorial achievement is priceless. I'm sure the confidence that brings helped me land my first job, so they paid for themselves straight away.

And because I buy extremely high quality stuff my annual clothing budget is actually smaller than for most. The name of the game is long term thinking.

>Beyond that you have some silly brands that somehow convinced you that buying a 20$ jar to drink from because it was handmade is better or more authentic than buying a 20 cents jar made in a factory.

Not at all. Nobody needed to convince me that handmade is better, especially not some "brand". I've always preferred things that were made with skill and care, it's just my nature. For example, when it was time to change the floor in my house I bought traditional solid hard floor boards from a guy I found that had an estate with an oak forest and a two-man saw mill. I drove there and picked them up myself, then went home and laid the floor. It took me two weeks but it was well worth it, every time I saw that floor I was reminded of my work and that man's forest. I got a polished piece of decorative stone for my cast iron wood stove from the same man's forest by the way, seeing that slab next to its wooden brethren every day was priceless. Those boards cost about twice as much as mid-tier veneer floor boards, but they will outlast the house.

>If you want authenticity there's the Amish lifestyle

Yes there is, and I think it's absolutely amazing. If I didn't have a family that doesn't entirely share my views (heating the house solely with wood is about the limit of household hipsterdom) there's a real chance I'd be living in Amish country, at a monastery or some mountain top. That's definitely were things were heading. I don't think you quite appreciate how hipster my taste actually is, you must have been gravely misinformed. One last example: while studying I lived in a cottage without indoor plumbing or heating, on an island outside Stockholm. I used a row boat to get to town.

So no, to be honest it's not really about "living the lifestyle of those who would never have to worry about their personal and familial finance".