It wasn’t very long ago that just wearing glasses labeled you as a ‘nerd,’ but now there is a trend of ‘geek chic’ that is hitting the streets, and girls are getting swept up in it.
‘Geek chic’ can be described as a very stereotypical way of dressing that would put you into the nerd category; black-rimmed glasses and graphic t-shirts depicting a favourite super hero are usually staples in this fashion trend.
Elize Morgan, the creator of the web series Pretty in Geek, says geek style gives girls more variety in choosing who they want to be.
“I think we really are seeing this normalized everyday girl, who can be a gamer, coming back into vogue or coming into vogue out of nowhere which is really nice,” Morgan said.
“Geek chic has been a nice thing for giving you a variety of types for how ladies can look; you can be sexy, you can be fun, you can have a Kermit the frog shirt.”
At the Wizard World Toronto Comic Con, held over the weekend, girls were out in force, dressed up in full costume or sporting their favourite graphic tee from their favourite video game to their favourite super hero.
With more and more girls opening up to this trend, the fashion world has been taking notice and is acting on it.
OPI, the popular nail polish brand, just released their Spiderman collection that will be coming out because of the movie release and stores like Hot Topic are full of movie paraphernalia for you to buy and wear with pride.
Morgan says that this is because the industry knows that girls want these things and are willing to spend money on it.
“I think people realize that girls will spend a lot of money,” Morgan said. “At the end of the day this is actually a demographic of people who are really willing to out there and say, ‘this is what I want to do,’ and marketers said, ‘okay, let’s play with this.’ It’s just become so prevalent that people just can’t say no.”
The internet, according to Morgan, has been one of the main reasons that this is happening. She says that because of the internet you are able to find groups, or fandoms (a group of people who follow a certain television show, movie, book series, etc), that you belong to instead of only talking with the one or two other people who you know are interested.
Shannon O’Neill, a self-professed ‘geek’ says she is happy that geek chic becoming big because it’s showing that girls are becoming more confident with themselves.
“I think everyone has finally given up on trying to fit into a specific idea of cool,” O’Neill said. “Now everyone is openly saying ‘I think this is awesome.’ It doesn’t matter what other people think. It’s all about expressing your true self even if it doesn’t get you more Facebook friends.”
But even though O’Neill thinks geek chic is great, there is one thing that she hopes doesn’t stay: “Fake glasses! I can’t stress this enough. This isn’t you being geek chic, it’s you pretending! Geek chic to me is about taking everything about yourself that might seem lame to others and saying ‘yeah, I love this. What of it!?’ Not just throwing on some glasses and a t-shirt that reads ‘speak nerdy to me.’”