

Dressing for nerds - seshagiric
http://www.nerdboyfriend.com/

======
blots
I'd love some dressing tips for nerd women. All I ever wear is jeans, polo
shirts and knitted pullovers. No glasses though, I prefer contacts. I don't
even know how to dress otherwise or how to use make-up.

~~~
Mz
I don't use make-up. I'm allergic to everything. So no tips on that from me.

As for clothes: Pick up a copy of David Kibbe's "Metamorphosis". Learn what
clothing shapes, patterns (stripes, polka dots, etc) and colors work best for
you. Get a good hair cut for your hair type and face shape. If you have any
health issues, work on those. Healthy people look better, regardless of what
they wear. Once you have some idea of the shapes, colors, etc you need to
focus on, try on lots and lots of clothes but only buy those things that are
both very comfortable to wear and are also flattering. (With practice, it gets
easier to shop once you know what works for you. You can eliminate most
clothes in the store without trying them on once you have this knowledge.) If
you are physically comfortable in your clothes, it helps you pull off a sense
of "style" in the eyes of others. Elegance is not just about the clothes you
wear but about how you move and that is enhanced by being physically
comfortable. If you have self image issues negatively impacting your clothing
choices, the best solution to that is probably having a positive intimate
relationship with the right person so you Get Over It.

If you want to learn about power dressing, there is only one book that I know
of which is based on actual research into what works: "Dress for Success" by
John T. Malloy. It's apparently been updated a few times. Searching for it on
Amazon brings up "New Women's Dress for Success".

I've read a lot of clothing books over the years. A lot of them don't have
much value. If you want good results without investing a lot of time and
effort into it, those two books are must haves and most of the rest can be
ignored.

~~~
blots
Thanks, for some reason it didn't occur to me that there could be books on
that.

Honestly, I can't stand shopping for clothing, you can waste an entire day and
not find anything that's "both very comfortable to wear and [...] also
flattering" and making people take you seriously.

~~~
Mz
Most of the time, I spend very little time shopping for clothes. I have been
known to pull something off the rack and buy it without trying it on and have
it work out fine. Get "Metamorphosis" and figure out what shapes, colors, etc.
work for your coloring and body type. Expect to spend some time up front
trying on a lot of clothes so you can develop a mental model. Afterwards,
shopping will get easier. You will be able to look at a rack of clothes and
say 'wrong color', 'wrong shape', 'no..no..no..yes, I will try this one thing
on'. Most of the time, the first thing I try on is the best thing for me to
buy because I can pick it out so well.

With regards to comfort: For me, cotton, nylon, and silk are good materials. I
am okay with rayon. I avoid polyester like the plague, which is hard because
so many things are a cotton-polyester blend. I wear a lot of knits, something
men generally can't get away with for a business look but something I find is
wonderful in terms of comfort and a woman can it wear to work. I'm just
careful to get the right weight of knit material that works for me/my look.
That will differ from person to person.

I don't get your remark about making people take you seriously. Do you mean
the sales people?

~~~
blots
about the "making people take you seriously". I got some comments about me
looking like a sixteen year old schoolgirl while I'm about 25. Well, I'm not
particularly tall. But thinking about it, it's probably more about self esteem
than a dressing issue.

~~~
Mz
There are some things you can do to "dress older". My sister dressed in very
"serious" clothes in her twenties and people often didn't fully realize how
young she was. But I still have people think I am about 5 years younger than I
am. Given that I get viewed as younger than I really am even on the internet,
I think it has a behavioral/attitudinal component and isn't just about looks.
I have read of examples in various books of taking a cute, petite woman and
dressing her much more seriously in order to overcome the cuteness factor and
get her taken seriously.

On the other hand, my 22 year old son gets misread as being a lot younger than
he is and he doesn't hesitate to take advantage of such assumptions. Just
tossing that out there as food for thought: Maybe it isn't only a problem.
Maybe there is also an opportunity in there.

------
Mz
Can someone tell me what the point of this is? Are they poking fun? Giving
advice on how to replicate "the look"? Something else I haven't thought of? It
seems lame and pointless to me. I don't understand why this was posted to HN.
If anyone can enlighten me, please do.

Thanks.

~~~
olavk
It is just pictures of really cool, well-dressed personalities, and then (in
the small pictures) information about what they are actually wearing and where
you can obtain the items.

I suspect it is mostly interesting for fashion-nerds who appreciate the
detective works gone into finding what kind of shirt John Huston is wearing on
that particular picture taken 40 years ago. It is probably _not_ that useful
as a general guide to fashion and for dressing sharp, since it is clearly the
personalities that makes the clothing items cool, not the other way around.

It may be pointless for people who aren't obsessed with style, but I don't
think the site is poking fun of anyone.

~~~
Mz
Thanks! I missed the tiny type with the names. The only one I readily
recognized was Robin Williams (listed as "Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Awakenings)".
That makes more sense.

I actually like "fashion" (dressing well), but my personal relationship to the
topic has changed a lot over the years. I still find the topic fascinating and
I still exercise my skills in that regard, but to a somewhat different end
these days.

