Style Breakdown: Classic High-School Nerd

Most people think of "nerds" would be the last group to appear on a fashion blog. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say that a defining characteristic of nerdiness is being out of style. Nerds are a group of people that are blissfully unaware that they are poorly dressed or look down on you for thinking its important to care about something like that.

Looking at it that way, nerds aren't so much different from the other stylistically deviant highschool stereotypes like punks or goths. If you changed "blissfully unaware" to "aggressively resisting the fact", the definition would be pretty spot on.

When I think of a nerd, I think of this guy...

 

And if I were to think of an archetypical nerd, it'd be my man Steve. m-effin. Urkel.

 

So looking at these pictures, a common theme is oversized glasses, oversized, patterned button-downs, and poorly-fitting pants whose shortness is exacerbated by suspenders.  

1. Oversized Glasses

[Via Urban Outfitters - $14]

[Sorry in advance to all my hipster friends reading this.]

These damn hipsters have ruined everything. I really searched everything I could, but couldn't find anything I liked unless I searched hipster glasses... and then I got angry. [the end]

A touch I see more on Halloween than anything is the tape around the middle of the glasses like they've been broken a couple times due to jock-on-nerd violence, clumsiness, or unwillingness to give up old glasses and buy something newer. I think this is more a cinematic thing and that that didn't really happen terribly often, so I'd personally advise against it. Wearing these glasses to begin with is extra enough already.

2. Oversized Patterned Button-Down

[Via Total Vintage -  £9.99] 

You can really find these anywhere, but if you want my opinion, I'd suggest the clearance racks at Macy's, Marshall's, or TJ Maxx. The pattern doesn't even really have to be this crazy, just very bold and obvious, like Urkel up top.

Also, always tuck that bitch in. It makes the outfit.

3. Poorly Fitting Pants

 

 

[Via Dockers $24.99] 

 The pants should be a simple pair of carpenter's jeans or unmarked khakis. Like the button-down, you can find these anywhere. I'd personally suggest Walmart. Note that the particular pants aren't remotely close to as important as the fit and how they're worn.

The cuff of the pants should not go below the top of the shoes, allowing the pants to be pulled up high, showing most of the sock.

4. Suspenders

 

[Via Duluth Trading Co. - $16.50]

These aren't completely necessary, but they're usually a nice touch. If you wear suspenders with an outfit like this, make sure they pull your pants up nut-bustingly high or you might inadvertently look [i]less[/i] nerdy. 

5. Athletic Shoes

In my opinion, one of the easiest ways to make a fool of yourself in public is mixing athletic shoes with dress clothes. Nerdy clothes are generally considered "dress" clothes- the only reason they don't look it is the fit. 

And though our archetype, Urkel doesn't do it in the picture I selected, I see enough engineers and old professors doing it on a daily basis to prove my opinion.

As for suggestions, I have a religious hate for new balances, but if you really want to go balls out, buy a pair of shoes that look like the ones above from Payless. You're looking for something with a lot of texture, patterns, and random ugly stitching, 10 extra points for velcro.

And there you have it. I wouldn't suggest you wear this, but I think, like the hipsters, that taking bits and pieces from a relatively shitty style can help you make something new.

Test Post

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque at facilisis justo. In luctus sem sit amet felis vestibulum vitae venenatis purus sagittis. Etiam erat mauris, vehicula porttitor lacinia at, tristique et tellus. Etiam tellus eros, rhoncus id fermentum ac, viverra in est. Duis tempor elit tincidunt purus malesuada dignissim. Donec pulvinar cursus hendrerit. Suspendisse sed diam justo, at adipiscing libero. Quisque non felis eu justo pretium cursus ut ac lectus. Suspendisse nisl neque, ultricies sit amet laoreet id, luctus ullamcorper dolor. Donec pharetra condimentum justo non scelerisque. Fusce ut diam non ipsum hendrerit malesuada. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Duis et velit felis, nec porta lectus. Sed fermentum fringilla scelerisque. Aenean sollicitudin purus vitae nisl molestie commodo id eu est.

Suspendisse ultricies porttitor velit, non rutrum tellus ultricies vitae. Donec orci augue, aliquet sit amet cursus nec, dapibus non purus. Proin nec risus nec ligula euismod feugiat et id dolor. Nullam ullamcorper sem eget ligula fermentum feugiat. Cras malesuada ornare orci, rutrum rhoncus velit sollicitudin eu. Aliquam arcu nulla, elementum non dictum eget, tempus non felis. Quisque viverra dictum neque quis egestas. Donec semper, mauris eu malesuada viverra, neque tortor consequat magna, at vestibulum nibh odio vel turpis. Duis a est mi, a aliquam lacus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Sed posuere volutpat lacinia. Integer porta, lorem vel tincidunt auctor, augue est faucibus nibh, sed ultricies orci neque ut purus. Donec eu enim et sapien rutrum egestas at ut mauris. Donec et leo magna. Etiam et velit nibh. Vivamus iaculis nisl a nisi malesuada ac consequat felis sodales.

Mauris mollis, nisl quis fringilla imperdiet, mauris nibh suscipit arcu, feugiat consectetur diam lorem tempus risus. Praesent ac metus mi. Suspendisse eu augue porta justo ullamcorper dapibus a eu eros. Suspendisse neque odio, ornare sed vestibulum ac, tincidunt id dui. Aenean in urna eget neque dapibus feugiat. Donec faucibus sagittis quam, in fringilla ligula ultricies ut. Mauris consectetur ante et turpis auctor tristique. Donec dolor massa, volutpat eget sollicitudin at, semper at mi. Donec nisl nisl, placerat nec tempus eu, lacinia sit amet urna. Nam interdum sodales purus eu semper. Integer quam mauris, sagittis ut pretium eget, pellentesque quis urna. Aenean laoreet metus a neque vulputate non hendrerit odio pharetra.

Ut tincidunt dolor et nisl rhoncus convallis. Sed consectetur est velit. Praesent semper, sem at vehicula commodo, elit orci fringilla risus, sit amet egestas mauris augue luctus mauris. Ut quis tortor non lacus suscipit placerat. Pellentesque viverra nisi nisl, a luctus purus. Duis varius tempor ante, at pretium sapien suscipit et. Duis sagittis faucibus diam, ut condimentum libero fringilla vel. Nunc eu risus a neque feugiat sodales nec mattis velit. Phasellus euismod elementum elit, non dictum leo ullamcorper in. Duis eu elit nisi, et scelerisque erat. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Integer sed orci ante, sed cursus dui. Ut consequat ligula vitae dolor feugiat accumsan. Vivamus malesuada blandit feugiat. Nam risus sapien, tincidunt eget bibendum ut, adipiscing sed odio.

Nam quis dolor orci. Maecenas bibendum suscipit dui, vel tempor sem facilisis sit amet. Proin fringilla elementum porttitor. Nunc nec placerat ligula. Vivamus pharetra leo eu velit commodo volutpat. Curabitur non metus vitae eros ultricies tincidunt posuere in libero. Mauris sit amet dolor magna, in tempor velit. Duis accumsan tortor id lacus venenatis quis eleifend magna pulvinar. Mauris condimentum ipsum vel lectus accumsan ultricies. Vivamus ut sapien nec ligula viverra volutpat.