Gamer or geek fashion isn't discussed much in general in this community, but I thought it would be interesting to talk about it. Like Holly Nielson had said in her Guardian article from almost six years ago most just wear plaid shirts, jeans or khakis, and graphic t-shirts. There is not much variety. You can take those game, anime, or comic book shirts and make them look more interesting. Styling geek clothing is much the same to styling fashion in general. The only difference is given the nature of how niche gaming apparel is and the wildly varying quality of said pieces we have to take a little more time and effort in making them look good.
So first thing, make sure whatever you're wearing matches. This is should go without saying, but knowing how the male nerd community is go I feel I should mention this, but make sure your clothes fit. I've heard a lot and it took some hindsight for me to recognize that a lot of us aren't wearing clothes that fit our bodies. In this case it's usually things that are too big for the smaller folk or too small for the bigger guys. Just make sure your pants fit properly and go past your ankle to not look high water and for your shirts to be form fitting as to not look like your drowning in it or suffocating in it as in the case with it being too small. This is the most important aspect here. Now, there is a case where clothing being too big is part of the style, but I'll get to that in a moment.
So, as far as the graphic tees you can make them look a little more interesting with what you pair it with. Let's take this Okami T-shirt. If you wear a black blazer over it with a wide brim hat it goes from basic to chic.
Persona 5 Phantom Thieves Logo shirt from Insert Coin
For a punk rock look I've paired this Phantom Thieves logo tee with ripped jeans with a chain, striped finger less gloves, and a spiked choker. Mixing it in with an existing fashion is a good way to integrate it. There are also some two piece sets where you don't have to worry about matching or styling like these Mass Effect and Sailor Pluto jogger sets from Insert Coin and Naughtee. Both of these also fit into the streetwear aesthetic and to touch upon a point I made earlier oversized clothing is a trend in the streetwear game, but the key to that is balance. In oversized fashion, sweatshirts are popular. Oversized just means something that's a little bigger than what you normally wear. This usually regulated to shirts and sweaters. Some sites make clothes exclusively with that in mind with oversized being somewhere in the title of the clothing piece, but in most cases pick something that's one or two sizes above your actual size. It's important to pair something that's oversized with something that's not oversized. You can create a asymmetrical look by tucking in one side of the shirt. It shouldn't be hard to find a gaming or anime sweatshirt out there for this style.
Jewelry can be overbearing or enhance your look as well depending on how you use it. In my last article I did not touch on any video game jewelry out there. They exist, but good quality to me is even harder to find than the apparel. Instead of bringing in game inspired jewelry here just use any good pieces of your own that you have or buy some decent, but simple silver or gold. A necklace stack over a simple design like a graphic sweatshirt can bring up your outfit. Jewelry can become overbearing in your outfit if you put too much on where it drowns out the rest of your outfit and also you shouldn't mix metals. That refers to wearing silver and gold together. It comes across tacky and should be avoided in most cases.
Sailor Pluto Jogger set from GetNaughtee worn by cosplayer/professional stylist Chibithot
The exception here however, is when you have them distanced. For example you could have a gold necklace stack on top, but a silver anklet on. Since they're not seen together immediately at a glance there's no between the two colors.
Also, me personally, I feel like you can't mix your video game brands in your fit and by that I mean have something like a PlayStation shirt on with Pokemon leggings. The art styles clash with each other and then it bothers me since Pokemon isn't a PlayStation game. Now, I have worn a black Kojima denim jacket with a black DOOM hoodie before. It looks fine, but I still find it weird myself wearing two different gaming brands on. I wouldn't do it again. I think having a PlayStation game with a PlayStation logo branded piece works fine together. Same goes for a Nintendo series clothing with a Nintendo logo piece. The rule for me is wear a console brand with a game that's available on that console, just the console brand, or just a game with no corresponding gaming brands. Same regards in wearing two different animes or superheroes in the same fit.
Another route to take is to take inspiration from the fashion of your geek media. There are some fictional characters out there that don the drip and you can look like them without looking like a straight up cosplay. Fashion YouTuber StealTheSpotlight, demonstrates this best.
A good collection of how not to wear fedoras Vs A good example of how to wear one.
I remember for a while there were discussions in the geek community a lot about guys who would wear fedoras and how they would say shit like "M'lady," and how awful they look. While those guys looked bad and came off as annoying there's a misconception that nobody looks good with a fedora which is just flat out wrong. It's just most of these guys that are wearing fedoras are wearing them terribly. You can't just slap on a fedora with any outfit. It doesn't go with every outfit. For one, fedoras were made to be worn for more formal wear like with suits. You can wear them with casual wear, but there has to be more thought put into it.
If you're wearing it with the typical gamer look of a graphic tee or plaid shirt and some jeans a standard fedora will look weird. This is where I opt for a wide brim fedora, but where it to the back of the head instead of flat on top like with most hats. It adds a bit of classiness to the casual outfit without it looking awkward.
That's all the styling tips I have for right now. What are your thought about styling geek clothing? And let me know if you'd like me talk about more specific parts of gamer fashion.
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