Talk Nerdy to Me: Beauty and the Geek

When you’re trying to make a good first impression — or a good general impression — it’s always nice to look your geeky best. In my very first Talk Nerdy article, I mentioned that dressing nicely is a good way to make a better impression; after all, would you personally rather be seen in public with someone who wears clean clothes, or someone wearing something that’s covered in Cheeto-stains that looks like it’s been crumpled into a ball a million times and never washed? Let’s take a look at some geeky fashion accessories to help you look your best and still proudly display your geek badge.

Get some new t-shirts.

I know you love your “No, I will not fix your computer” t-shirt, but black shirts with witty white text on the front are so last season. By now, you should already be stocking up on a few great Woot! shirts; they’re inexpensive ($10-15 depending on when you buy them), and they add a little bit more style to your ensemble than ye olde black-with-white-text shirts. Of course, Woot! isn’t the only place to get great shirts. There is, of course, Threadless, which has a wide variety of t-shirts for around $20 — and they always have great clearance deals for $10, too; and I don’t even think I have to mention Think Geek. Another great t-shirt site I found is Glennz Tees, which has all sorts of funny pop-culture reference t-shirts, such as the one seen on the right of this paragraph.

Over all, it isn’t really that hard to add some fun and geeky t-shirts to your ensemble to replace those old, worn-out t-shirts that you’ve been wearing for years. Consider donating old t-shirts to a place like the Salvation Army, or else save them for when you’re going to the gym or lounging around the house.

 
Accessorize.

Accessories, like t-shirts, can be worn by guys or gals. As mentioned by Jason in our Holiday Gift Guide, the NanoWatch is a cool accessory that turns your new iPod Nano into a wrist-watch. Flash drive bracelets are also a great and functional accessory.

If you’re going somewhere that requires you to wear a suit, why not add on some Star Trek cufflinks to your ensemble?

As you can imagine, there are a lot of ways to add geeky accessories to your wardrobe. You can also look for things like belt buckles (my friend has an awesome R2D2 belt buckle that he loves to wear!), earrings, necklaces, glasses, and even socks. Hats and scarves are also a great way to accessorize.

 
Add some layers to your clothes.

Speaking of hats and scarves, layering is a great way to add a little pizazz to your wardrobe, especially in the winter time. If you’re willing to invest in hand-made scarves over store-bought items, there are a lot of creative hats and scarves to be found on Etsy. For instance, this Super Mario Bros. piranha plant scarf is a fun and clever design. Of course, if you’re looking for something that’s still geeky but a little more subtle, a Tom Baker-era Doctor Who scarf might be more of your style. If you’re into knitting yourself, check out Witty Little Knitter, where you can find a bunch of knitting patterns to make your own Tom Baker scarf.

Of course, when layering, you can’t forget about outerwear such as jackets and vests. These awesome outerwear pieces from Scott eVest are a fantastic must-have for the tech geek. With anywhere from one to two dozen pockets, these vests, jackets, hoodies and pullovers let you carry all of your tech will you easily and conveniently. It’s a pretty smart and good-looking way to keep your gadgets organized and on your person.

 
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to add a little bit of fashion flair to your geeky wardrobe. With some of the different clothing and accessory options mentioned here, you’re sure to look your geeky best and impress not only potential dates, but also your fellow geeks!

What are some of your favorite geek clothes or accessories? Sound off in the comments below.