

Nerds, it's time to up your fashion game. - jordynclee
http://140stitches.com/2012/8/2/nerds-its-time-to-up-your-fashion-game

======
invalidOrTaken
Logged in just to comment here. Whoever's behind 140---STOP. Your copy SUCKS.
Your alpha-ness or cool girl-ness or whatever wannabe intimidation factor
oozes off the page, and you know what? Fuck you. Being "cool" wins you no
points here. And here matters, at least to you, because you've apparently
chosen it as your target market.

You want to know how to win friends and influence people here? Take a page
from the book of OKCupid pre-acquisition. OKTrends was _amazing_. That stuff
is crack to your target market. Look at the data. Figure out the principles
behind the stuff. Figure out the Laws of Fashion. If there _aren't_ any, and
it's completely...well...fashion-driven, then drop down to the data _again_ ,
and cut your advice to, "shirt x has been selling 30% more than comparably-
priced shirts, and female focus groups rated it significantly more attractive
than the rest of its cohort."

Without data, you're just a fashion blogger who thinks they're among easy
pickings.

~~~
jordynclee
My target market is any guy who wants some advice when it comes to fashion.
There will be some guys on HN who do want advice, and apparently some that
don't. I understand that and I'm okay with it. I would agree that OKTrends is
an amazing site. However, it's not what I'm going for. I'll let them handle
the data. I'll stick with what I know.

------
roguecoder
So I understand that this is the kind of copy that is frequently used to sell
clothes. "Thou art insufficient! Accept my wisdom and I shall lift thee from
thy ignorance!" It's just like every crappy teen movie, make-over show and
magazine cover.

It's also not appealing. Your vision of "nerd" seems to be nothing but "young
white guys who don't work out much": who thinks of themselves that way? It is
possible to be a fashion nerd, approaching the topic from a scientific, data-
driven, rules-based or technology-incorporating point of view. An article
about the history of pants got a bunch of upvotes a while back. MIT has
clothes that strip pollution out of the air. That's nerdy fashion.

When talking to nerds, I wouldn't don't assume the audience will be sold by
being told that there is something wrong with them that you can fix. Instead,
be passionate and apply a nerdy lens to whatever that topic might be. Most of
us are perfectly capable of doing the research to look good, and most of us
don't bother. We don't need a savior; we might use some automation to lower
the effort involved.

~~~
jordynclee
Thanks for your input. I enjoyed your thoughts on approaching things in a
"fashion nerd" sort of way and was intrigued by the ideas of date-driven and
scientific research to back up a point of view. However, I'm here to give
simple fashion advice to guys who are willing to take it. They are perfectly
capable of doing the research to look good; my hope is they'll find 140
Stitches to give it to them.

------
garethsprice
I'm definitely interested in learning more about fashion but your copy rubs me
the wrong way.

Also, linking to blogs like <http://www.theurbangent.com/> is like linking a
"first programming tutorial" to a CPU instruction set reference.

Things like [http://www.theurbangent.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/patte...](http://www.theurbangent.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/pattern-print-mens-trend-urban-gentleman.jpg) are
baffling and incomprehensible to people who are not "into" fashion and are
likely to make them reject the whole thing as a game for weird androgynous
alien children.

As a nerd, what I would _love_ to see is:

How to identify quality clothes - how are they made, what makes them awesome?
Designer/brand name hacks - what's a huge bargain for the quality and when am
I just buying a brand name?

Color/pattern theory - still not sure what colors go together and how to mix
patterns.

Some sort of system for building a wardrobe where I can easily select stuff
that works together when my mind is busy thinking of building stuff and not
what to wear.

How things are supposed to fit. How to care for stuff so it doesn't shrink or
fall apart.

Hope this helps...

~~~
jordynclee
Thank you so much for your great advice. You are the epitome of the guy that I
want to help, because I understand you're busy building amazing products and
don't have time to think about clothes. I will definitely take your advice and
write posts regarding each one, so keep a look out! And for the record, I
think those guys on The Urban Gentleman look awful. Please don't leave the
house in that. ;)

------
bps4484
From her about me section:

If you think I'm just your average fashion obsessed girly girl, think again. I
know my fair share about the interwebs and my favorite movie is The Social
Network, in which I may or may not know every line. TechCrunch is one of my
daily reads and Jack Dorsey has my heart. Jack - if you're reading this - I
love you.

Basically what I'm trying to say here is, I understand your language.

[end quote]

Sigh.

------
sjn
Dear Jordyn of 140stitches.com.

Thank you for your fashion advice! I'm one of the guys that organized the Perl
6 hackathon you so gracefully commented. I can inform you that we had
absolutely no dress code requirements for this event, so your unsolicited
advice is quite appreciated.

Obviously, failing to consider fashion issues when attending a Perl 6
hackathon was a mistake. We had no idea that more girls would show up to this
hackathon - if we only had worn our best garments! I'm sure we'd all have Perl
6-hacking supergenius awesomely beautiful girlfriends had it not been for this
single omission in our program.

You see, we've found out through several years of field testing, focus group
sessions, long-form questionnaires and cross-section polls, that being
"fashionable" has absolutely no effect on a practitioner's ability to write
good software. If we only had known better!

We know now that we were mistaken. Thank you for enlightening us!

This is why I'd like to formally invite you to attend our next Perl 6
hackathon. I think it's reasonable that you get an opportunity to bring your
expertise and garments to this venue, and show us all that your well-honed
fashion sense can help us reach our (admittedly secondary) goal of bringing
more girls to the Perl 6 community.

Thank you for your constructive critique, I'm looking forward to see your work
at our next hackathon!

Kind regards,

\- sjn (hackathon organizer)

------
perlgeek
I happen to be one of the folks on the image in the middle.

Going to a hackathon with a conference t-shirt seems to be quite appropriate
to me.

And jordynclee, if you read this, please take that picture off that blog. I
don't think you have permission to use it, neither from its creator, nor from
the people on that image.

------
unimpressive
The author misses the point. The bad looks and ill fitting clothes _are a
fashion statement_.

They're a huge middle finger to the status quo, like punk rock or braid (The
video game.).

I don't think any of the people in those photos would tell you they looked
good.

~~~
jordynclee
I understand that for some, the ill fitting clothes are a fashion statement,
and that's great! I could talk all day about personal style and wearing
clothes that make you feel good. However, there are guys out there who
actually want some advice because they really don't know what to wear. That's
what I'm here for. If you're one of the guys saying fuck you to the status
quo, then more power to ya. :)

------
StavrosK
Am I the only one insulted by this?

> Well, because I seriously love you guys and believe your inept fashion sense
> is holding you back. It's holding you back from getting the girl.

I can get girls just fine with my v-neck shirt, thank you.

~~~
jordynclee
If you're wearing v-necks, then you don't even need my help. :)

~~~
StavrosK
Then I think your target audience is rather small, I can't imagine many guys
wearing _only_ hackathon t-shirts!

~~~
jordynclee
I can't imagine guys wearing only Hackathon shirts either; that was just an
example. My target audience is any guy who wants some fashion advice.

------
andrewcooke
eh. i was thinking about this the other day. about how i'd like to tell people
what style is. and how hard it is to tell anyone anything about such a
personal choice.

i'm a nerd. i'm also someone who ended up in a completely different culture.
one where, i realised, i looked just plain stupid. i changed. now, i think, i
dress pretty well.

but it was a very personal journey. and i had to think hard about a lot of
very important things on the way. i didn't wear a t-shirt and jeans just
because i was clueless. it was also a statement about what was important to
me. which certainly didn't include brands.

balancing that _and_ finding my own style took a lot of time. it was also very
interesting. and i now enjoy thinking about clothes (in a broad sense - it's
all about context and culture; it's only about money in the sense that culture
and class are deeply linked).

i'm not sure how much of that you're going to get in an "advice column"
format. and i'm not sure if you're expecting the kind of deep emotion behind
"anti-fashion" that a lot of people have. i think you may be surprised at
people's (negative) reactions...

~~~
jordynclee
Your comment made me very happy, as I'm sure you've noticed the negative
comments that you predicted. :) I would definitely agree with you that style
is a personal choice. Good job finding a style that makes you feel happy and
confident! My goal here isn't to tell people that they aren't dressing well.
My goal is to help those guys who truly want some fashion advice. At the end
of the day, some people will love it and some will hate it. If only one guy
takes my advice and appreciates honest help, I'll be a happy girl.:)

------
gaelian
> I'm here to let you in on the little secrets of fashion so people think
> you're more awesome than you truly are.

I hope that came out wrong, I really do.

The copy on this site comes off as pretentious and kind of annoying to me.
Maybe it's just the groups I associate with, but am I the only one who thinks
that the stereotype of the fashion-clueless nerd really isn't as pervasive in
current reality as it once was?

~~~
punee
_I'm here to let you in on the little secrets of fashion so people think
you're_ even more awesome _than you_ already _are._

That's how this should read. That would make unprofessional copy look like
lazy professional copy, although I suppose there's a more general issue with
tone throughout the post. Needless to say a lot of work still needs to be
done.

As for the idea itself, I would probably try to appeal to qualities that nerds
value. For example, they sure spend a great deal of time making sure their
code is _elegant_. Maybe you could try to see how you can translate the rules
of elegance as they apply to code into fashion parlance.

~~~
prodigal_erik
That's really no less objectionable, it's still suggesting self-serving
dishonest manipulation of people vulnerable to it.

------
daimyoyo
This post identifies a "problem" and then offers no solution whatsoever.
Previews that offer no meaningful information at all belong in a movie
theater. Not on HN. Flagged.

~~~
jordynclee
The intention of this post is to introduce 140 Stitches. Solutions to the
problem are what you'll find by reading through previous (and future) posts:
[http://140stitches.com/2012/6/23/45dkoigztqz7m44e2xeach68214...](http://140stitches.com/2012/6/23/45dkoigztqz7m44e2xeach68214caw)
and <http://140stitches.com/2012/7/1/bloglovin-raises-1m>. Hope this clears up
any misunderstanding!

------
EiZei
Nerds are always viewed as condescending towards "normal" people but imagine
if somebody actually went and wrote on a technical subject aimed at a non-
technical audience in this style.

------
leeny
I'm not clear on the mission of 140 Stitches. Are you just going to be
blogging? Is the goal to offer consulting services? Will you be selling
merchandise on the site?

~~~
jordynclee
The mission of 140 Stitches is to provide fashion advice to guys who are
looking for it. I do provide consulting services, but the main portion will be
giving information to guys who don't know a lot about clothes or fashion. For
example, I wrote a post about different ways you can wear a hoodie sweatshirt.
I also hope to dive into how to spot quality clothing, when it's a good time
to splurge on certain items, etc. Hope this helps!

------
RicRoberts
This isn't fashion advice for nerds. Becoming traditionally fashionable will
render nerds un-nerdy.

There's nothing wrong with fashion blogs, but this feels like it's aimed at
what the author perceives as being low-hanging fruit / easy pickings. It feels
a little bit condescending.

There might be a market here, but I don't think this site has the tone quite
right (yet).

------
markyc
"because nerds can be trendy too"

of course they can. who said they/we want to be?

------
wherewhenwhy
"If you're relating to these pictures"

... what pictures?

