|
The
popularity of contrived geek chic looks — thick-rimmed
glasses, marching band jackets, argyle sweater vests,
plaid shirts — among the fashion set might be a little
silly, but it seems to be a curious side effect of the
new era of geekdom.
Smarts
are making a comeback in the too-cool-for-school world
of fashion lovers.
Fast
fashion shops such as
Charlotte Russe
and
Forever 21
are offering up fashionable geek specs for the
non-visually challenged.
Saks Fifth Avenue's
online store is promoting a music video featuring the
latest looks from Marc by
Marc Jacobs
for men and women that look oddly reminiscent of the
wardrobe for the geeky 1980s TV show "Square
Pegs" (trivia points for anyone who knows which
"Sex and the City" star was featured in the
short-lived series).
The new
television series "Glee" about the triumph of
dorks has already established itself as one of the
coolest shows after a successful viral campaign, and
geeks of all ages are being avenged and celebrated on
film.
Rumer Willis
, daughter of
Demi Moore
and
Bruce Willis
, plays a studious and therefore geeky sorority girl in
the new horror flick "Sorority Girl," and
Sandra Bullock
embodies a goofball cruciverbalist — that's what they
call people who construct crossword puzzles for those of
us who are not-quite-geeky-enough — in the latest
contender for most dreadful romantic comedy, "All
About Steve."
The
unabashedly dorky
Charlyne Yi
stars in the much better geek-love story, "Paper
Heart."
President
Barack Obama
has been openly called a "policy geek." MSNBC
personality
Rachel Maddow
has been commended for her geek-appeal.
Emma Watson
and
Daniel Radcliffe
of "Harry Potter" fame proved that geeks can
thwart evil.
This
month, the
New York Times
declared, "We're all gadget geeks now," citing
a recent study documenting the gotta-have-it technology
fever of cell phones, high-speed Internet,
high-definition television, MP3 players and video game
consoles.
So it
shouldn't be a surprise that people have decided to wear
their inner nerd on their sleeves, literally. There's
something about imitation and flattery that comes to
mind.
"I
like to be called a geek," said
Marina Orlova
, who operates a "Hot for Words" video blog
and has a new book from
Harper Collins
of the same name exploring the etymology of some of her
favorite words. Orlova was named Wired.com's Sexiest
Geek of the Year in 2007 and garnered the No. 2 spot in
2008. Orlova has been described as a "busty
wordsmith" and hailed as the "world's sexiest
philologist" by The New Yorker.
She made
a video explaining the origin of word "geek"
and says that "it's never been sexy until
now." She said that it hails from a German word for
foolish person but was employed in the early 20th
century in Mutt and Jeff comic strips as an insulting
way to describe hardworking people.
She said
that perhaps "geeks" became truly sexy
starting in the '90s when many became overnight
millionaires with billion-dollar corporations.
Speaking
by phone from her
Los Angeles
penthouse, Orlova said that she didn't expect to make
such a name for herself discussing words for the last
two and a half years, but she said she really is the
geek she plays on
YouTube
.
She said
intelligence has always been sexy, and so it's not a
surprise that people are adapting the look of geeks.
What's
more interesting is that geek chic is accompanied by a
new acceptance of geeky pursuits of literature, the arts
and technology. That's a fashion trend I think we can
all appreciate.
———
|
