This Is Nerdpunk

Picked them out already? Going to throw something together last minute? Going nerdy, sexy, or just plain cool?

I'm a big Halloween person. It's my favorite holiday. I love it so much I dress up all week in various costumes (today I'm a steampunkish can-can dancer). Sometimes it involves me sewing, sometimes it's stuff I buy from crappy temp Halloween stores, and sometimes it's all normal clothes put together inventively. However you can costume, I've done it. This has given me something of a reputation as "the costume person" with my friends and colleagues, so it's not too surprising for me to get a call before some Halloween party, with someone asking how to look like a robot, or if I have a pair of devil horns they can borrow (yes, and they have sequins).

So I figured I would offer my best advice, for those of you thinking about costuming this glorious holiday.

( cut to save your flists )

Just a few techie fashions.

But the gem is I really want a LilyPad Arduino now. It's actually rather economical, and conductive fibers?! FUN. This would be interesting for some of my sewing/costume projects.

Happy back to school time for those that are! Spot the theme.


Watch out, rayguns!

( let's spam )

Old school game room brought to you by saucydwellings

So, my 25th birthday is coming up next month, and this usually means my windowshopping increases. Thankfully I have enough self control with most things, but I figured I'd share some of my favorites. Click on the images to go to the site where it's sold!

( putting the nerd in nerdpunk )

Figured it was about time I compiled some things I watch to keep nerdpunkish. Clothes/fashion focused, I may do a not clothes one, but I don't follow a terrible lot of those... so maybe someone else should put that together. XD

Personal Style

- Academic Chic
Three chicks that prove you can be smart, and stylish. E is of particular interest to the minimalist set as she manages minimalism without looking like a robot. Yay for that!

- Advanced Style
Because I think that only looking at what young people wear is silly.

- Fashion for Nerds
If I lived in San Francisco and made about twice the money I make now....more on the smart and stylish route, but a lot quirkier than Academic Chic.

- Gala Darling
Extremely glittery almost cartoon of a person, fun to watch because she obviously lives in a completely different dimension from the rest of the world. Like her because she tends to be rather positive, even if I really want to feed her (honey "raw" foods will not sustain you, eat a hamburger please).

- The Glamorous Grad Student
Another of the "academics that don't look like they dress in the dark" blogs I follow, this one has a few features I've become fond of, particularly the "City Chic" series, which interviews people that live (and presumably go to school) in different cities around the world. This is refreshing to me, as the majority of style bloggers either live in New York or LA, and tend to forget about the rest of the world because of this.

- Wicked Whimsy
Has an eye towards alt fashion (and obviously doesn't work in an office XD) but has some fun discussions, good links, and one of the few articles that talks about tattoo etiquette. Breaks most fashion rules, and I think that's fun.

- Blue Collar Catwalk
Adorable chick who also lives somewhere in the midwest area, is short, and has to shop at Target much like I do. Gets props for looking stylish with limitations a lot of the other style blogs don't have or address much.

General Style

- Put This On
Mens-fashion focused, covers anything from stuff on eBay to reader questions, to funny little tidbits. Blog for what is supposed to be a show, they have one episode so far, about jeans.

- Metro Style Men
There really aren't a lot of mens fashion blogs out there, and this one is pretty decent, and at the very least, POSTS REGULARLY. Like the name suggests, is aimed at the more metro type guys, and tends to have stuff that I, as a girl, would wear as well. Pretty solid "look at the pretties!" type of reporting.

- {this is glamorous}
Shamelessly pretty stuff. Really, it's just fun to look at, and tends to be in cute little themes. Not just clothes, either!

- The Midwasteland
Dedicated to Midwestern fashion (based in Chicago) and the fact that yes, it does exist. Also talks about fun events in the Chicago area, if you're anywhere near there (I sort of am). I am particularly fond of the fact they don't ignore winter like a lot of other places do (I used to live much closer to Chicago, so, I feel them). XD

Street Style

- Swagger 360
Tired of pale hipsters? This is pretty much the opposite of pale hipsters in street fashion. What I like most about a lot of these people are they look like they could kick my ass as well as dress interestingly. New York focused, I believe, shows men and women.

- The Sartorialist
There's a lot of polarization with The Sartorialist; people either find his subjects boring and his choice of them to be highbrow and snobbish, or they think he's the best thing since sliced bread. All I know is that when I think I may be bored, he pulls out someone interesting, and since he's an older man taking the pictures, his aesthetic tends to appeal to me anyway, as I am an old man deep down. Your mileage my vary. Has men and women.

- The Streets Walker
Isreali street blog, part of a search I did when I was fed up with seeing the same three hipsters in another street fashion blog. Somehow they seem to be able to pull off things that are looking fresh to me right now. Shows men and women.

Sustainable Style

- Wardrobe Refashion
Take a pledge not to buy new stuff and post about it. Or just watch what other people do. Can have an artsy craftsy vibe sometimes, but I've seen some really cool stuff done on here before. Good place if you're trying to find crafty people with blogs as well, as a lot of these people also post at their own places.

- t_shirt_surgery
Livejournal community dedicated to doing crazy stuff with t-shirts. The younger, funkier version of Wardrobe Refashion in a lot of ways.

Fashion Criticism/Discussion

- Project Rungay
In addition to their wonderful recaps of several reality shows (and a couple non-reality ones now too) they have some great stuff on runway shows and what famous people are wearing. Not monotonious like a lot of other ripping sites can get, and usually really freaking hilarious too. Mostly focuses on women's fashion, with the occasional dip into men's.

- The Demoiselles
Big into the body positive issues, they look at fashion with an eye at how it would affect those that aren't a size 2 and 6 feet tall. Female-focused.

- Rip It to Shreds!
Most heavy on the criticism side, is rather entertaining and seems to talk about a lot of the other things I don't "get". Not afraid to point out with something is ridiculous, and favors a sort of glam 70s meets Kelly Bundy aesthetic herself, which I think is fun (if not MY taste). Just started watching, so we'll see!

I probably forgot something (I process a fuckton of information each day... really) but this is a fun set of links, eh? I didn't even get into the tumblrs I follow. XD Edit: Whoops, almost forgot Put This On...

I have to be honest. Anytime I see something that essentially recommends you create a uniform for yourself, I sort of want to gnash my teeth. Granted, this sort of thing can apply to any part of your life, but when simplification and unclutteredness get to the point of sterile and boring, I just can't get on board.

I say this because for much of my early working period of my life, I had to wear a uniform. Sure there is a bit of simplicity to it, but lord, it gets boring. In fact, I loathe wearing black pants now because of this boring.

Where is the line between simple and easy and boring?