Monday, February 13, 2012

Magfest Geek Chic pt 4 - Personal Fashion

A few preliminaries:

First, this is the penultimate post on this topic. The last one goes up Tuesday (yes, two Geek Chic posts back-to-back this week), and then we are off to Katsucon. I have yet to decide what I am going to write about, but suggestions are welcome.

Second: All you vintage lovers should check out Modcloth. You'll thank me later.

Third, you should check out this article on Slate about dressing for work. The take away is this:
"The ultimate solution to the conundrum of office attire circa 2012 [is] Looking Like You're Going Someplace Better Later. As I struggle to concoct a new roadmap for office attire, balancing the need for a little self-expression with the need for decorum, this phrase floats back to my consciousness. Avoid the gruesome pitfalls of over dressing or underdressing. Simply dress like you are going someplace better later. 
For gals this translates to a few sequins here, a fake lash there, an oversized bejeweled cuff here. For men it means a new suit with a more fitted jacket, a pocket square or a nifty iPad case. Are you freakishly fabulous? No. But neither are you turgid and dreary. When your mantra is to look like you're going someplace better later, then you have permission to add that signature flourish which sets you apart."



Wait... vintage clothing? That signature flourish which sets you apart? That sounds like the perfect lead into...

WEEK 4! Personal fashion

I love people with a strong personal aesthetic, people who look great without letting their decisions be dictated by any self-appointed fashion authority. Given their existence outside of the mainstream, you only really find these people in subcultures. Think artists, anti-establishment types, and luckily for us, geeks.



8. Pharaoh

Pharaoh at MAGFest

Pharaoh embodies the idea that you can look great without conforming to fashion norms. Let me tell you how much I love his ensemble. He describes it as a blend of “Visual K,” gothic aristocrat, and Egyptian. I see it as a tremendous interpretation of John Lennon gone goth. 

It is a bit difficult to see in the photo, but the black jacket he is wearing has the loop and braid with brass button detailing of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band era Beatle fashion. Even the glasses are shaped like John Lennon’s signature glasses. The entire outfit draws from four decades. The detailing and cut is very 70s, the goth influence is very late 80s or early 90s, and the cross and hair styling give it that 00's Harajuku street style.


On putting together his personal wardrobe, Pharaoh describes it as time intensive. In his own words, when he hits the racks he’s “looking for that 1%.” But it has paid dividends. Just look how he’s posed. Man is the epitome of cool.


The biggest crime is that Pharoah here is one of the only gentlemen dressed even remotely well at the con, and the only one with the courage to go ahead and defy the norms and be himself. Knowing who you are is one of the hardest, yet most valuable things you can learn in life. The tragedy is that it is a listen most of don't learn until it is to late. Pharoah here could teach a course.



9. Crystal

Oh, Crystal. Truly, she was the greatest victim of my lack of auto-focus. I took about 8 shots of her and this is, no joke, the best. It’s a crime too, because Crystal is gorgeous. She also has this killer southern accent that melts you like butter in a hot iron skillet. She was the original inspiration for this blog article. Friday night, I checked into the con around 8 pm and everywhere I looked it was just schlubbery. And then I saw Crystal. Crystal was wearing bright red plaid pants, a black t-shirt, the leather jacket in this photo, and had put on a truly epic amount of black eye makeup.

Fuzzy, but gorgeous Crystal
Sadly I didn’t get a photo of them, but her tight red pants emphasized her proportionally long and shapely legs. Meanwhile, she is tiny (5 feet if I had to guess), and the large oversize jacket gives her the image of bulk. Punk is a visually aggressive style, and by wearing the larger jacket, she broadens her shoulders and creates an image of larger, more physically powerful individual.

This was probably a good choice considering she was working security at the con... Hey boyfriend was also working security and looked to be about 6 feet tall and 300 lbs of pure muscle, so let's all hope he doesn't object to my describing his girlfriend's voice as being like "buttah."

The punk movement has much in common with the hippie movement. Both were essentially responses to an establishment that was seen as corrupt, drowning in excess, and overly commercialized. The difference was that the hippies approached the problem with a sense of optimism and hope. Punk really took off in 1979, a decade after the Summer of love, and could see the hippie movement's failure in its rear-view mirror. So punk as a political and philosophical movement was far more cynical. The attitude was less “change the system” and more “fuck the system.” Consequently, they emphasized individual liberty over collectivism.

The music itself was stripped of the excesses of 70's glam rock, and was often produced in basements by the artists themselves. Indie before it was indie, so to speak. The clothing style moved along similar lines. The punk fashion aesthetic took damaged or ratty clothes and patched or repaired them, eschewing excess and embracing do-it-yourself repairs. They then began to modify their own clothes, added zippers, rivets, studs, chains, you name it.

The jacket you see Crystal wearing is a perfect example of the do-it-yourself fashion. She says it’s her boyfriend's jacket, and he modded it himself. He added each of the metal pieces, painted the white parts. Notice how the white and black alternate in a visually pleasing fashion. Nothing says “personal style” more than customizing your own articles of clothing.

Dressing well does not mean dressing to conventions. It means dressing in a manner that says something about your personality. Good fashion choices emphasize those aspects of your physical appearance that are strengths, and minimize the weaknesses. Nobody, including super-models, actually look like super-models. But a few good clothes choices can make you really stand out. Crystal is a perfect example of this. 




Tuesday is part 5, interviews about great single items and thrift-store shopping. I interview DC Geeks founder Scooter about a broad range of topics, including how to build the confidence to go from a blender to a head turner. Should be good.

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