Over the past few years I’ve become more invested in my personal style and fashion, part of this has included integrating gaming and/or nerdy fashion into my wardrobe. This ranges anywhere from a black T-shirt to tanks and accessories.
What are your favorite items of gaming or nerdy fashion that you own?
Do you have any favorite places online or physical stores that you prefer?
I wrote ‘magneto was right’ on a white t shirt in pink sharpie.
I used to own (and wear) a lot of sherlock-related fan shirts until I fell off that show big time ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I mostly got them off teefury.
I also have some Bioware merch. Their store is pretty good, if expensive because official.
The Deus Ex HR scarf.
It’s a completely pedestrian blue cotton scarf with a nice pattern on it and unless I really bungle wearing it I can hide the game logo.
does it count as nerdy if it isn’t actually nerd merchandise but you totally bought it to look like a shadowrun mage?
I know the black T shirt trend gets a lot of guff, but as far as I am concerned black T shirts are great. Not only does it mean I don’t have to think about matching the color, but a black T shirt, especially with things printed on it, also means I don’t have to wear additional restrictive underclothing mandated by societal double-standards despite the fact that there is absolutely no physical benefit for me as an individual.
That being said, my favorite individual piece is probably the Laputa seal necklace that I “made” (i.e., got the pendant part printed on Shapeways and only actually made the cord part, using a fingercrochet-esque technique whose name I don’t know). It’s fun to have had a more direct hand in causing a physical object to exist in its desired configuration, so maybe I will say that Shapeways – as an enabler of this – is a favorite? Although I don’t own any 3D modeling software, nor have any such experience – it’s basically all been MS Paint + fiddling with their pendant creator wizard.
(I’m hoping to be able to make the Reader’s cloak from Pyre, but I hand-sew at a glacial pace and haven’t yet figured out how to use the sewing machine my father left me.)
It totally counts as far as I am concerned!
I have a Fahrenheit 451 shirt from Out of Print of which I am extremely fond. And I always get a little boost in my mood when I wear my Spider-Man t-shirt. I find that I am happier when I think of the geeky wear as being something I do for myself more than as something I do to communicate a specific cultural affiliation.
I have a pair of leggings from ME3 that I really like. I think my only other thing would be the shirt Razer gave me when I bought a mouse from them that I use when I’m cleaning.
I have a keyboard cat t-shirt that I never wear because it’s fucking embarrassing. I had a Nintendo t-shirt once where the print was so stiff that it chafed my nipples.
Completely understandable! For me it’s more that there are so many that it can hard to find cute gaming shirts that aren’t black or other dark colors
This is my favorite shirt to wear on weekends
@CureWiki oh I kinda sorta designed that shirt? I made the meme and Aurahack made it beautiful. I’m glad you like it. The Sonic Yorha shirt is also great–I feel like NieR’s aesthetic makes for decent style that doesn’t look obviously “nerdy”.
See, what I’d like to do, if at all possible, is take more inspiration from the characters in the nerdy stuff I like rather than just wearing images of those characters. I have little to no fashion–I’m usually just wearing a button-up or a sweater and jeans or dress pants–but ideally, I would like to look more cool. Like, go out on some limbs, be more colorful and daring. I’ve just been so nervous to branch out. Does anyone else feel this way?
I completely admit the stigma around gaming is partially the reason I don’t rock shirts and stuff related to it but also I don’t really see a lot of merch that looks particularly nice? It’s either over the top for my taste like those old assassins creed hoodies or the design is kinda boring, just a triforce thrown on the front of a low quality t-shirt.
My usually go-to outfit is some variant of desert boots, jeans and like a button up or bomber jacket. I kinda moved away from graphic tees over the years as I tried to be a bit more style conscious I guess, but I would still seriously jump at the opportunity for a good one to mix things up a little, something with a cool, subtle design that could be appreciated even if someone else didn’t know what it was from/inspired by.
@2Mello I was typing this before I saw your post and realized we are in a very similar boat, glad I’m not the only one struggling for some variety
The sort of games stuff I actually want to wear is more Games-Adjacent stuff than actual branded stuff. I’d rather not wear something with a big peice of key art on it. Like, for a recent example I encountered, there’s a very nice Zelda BotW Switch case in GAME stores now(I know, not clothes, but it’s the same problem). It’s got a lovely runic pattern in a great dark color, with the logo in gold in the corner in a way that’s stylish, it’s even textured. Lovely thing. At least it would be if the other half of it wasn’t just some art of Link and his bow, which just kinda ruins it for me.
What I wish there was more of in this scene was streight-up recreations of fashion from in the games themselves. Nintendo could open a whole chain of stores selling exclusively reacreations of all the clothing from Splatoon. Or even simpler than that, just good clothes that take from the aethetics of games, like Blackie’s scarf. More stuff styled on Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s Neo Victorian brilliance would be killer. Let me wear Jensen’s coat with it’s fancy shoulder-pads.
Oh yeah, definitely, it’s just like… if there’s gonna be an excess of one color, it’s convenient for me that it’s black :P
Yes. Generally speaking, I don’t find “shirt with a picture of the main character on” as interesting as like… closet-cosplay-adjacent stuff, I guess? Which might be a little further than you’re thinking. But even all the way back on the other side of the scale, with plain old shirts and sweaters… imagine a sweater knit in the patterns of the Fez cipher, for instance, whether just in order or telling a story. A polo with the Cloudbank symbol embroidered where companies would normally embroider their logo.
Yes, exactly! That’s the good stuff 
It’s super overpriced and kind of high fashion, but Musterbrand has really good actual fashion that is more inspired by games. I dress up fairly often, and that’s when a nice tie bar with a more obscure icon or rings and necklaces doing kind of the same thing. Sometimes though I just want a cute tank with Zangief on it or a hoodie with Katamari art. Yetee has great stuff and gets different artists to do their daily designs which allows for a wider range of style.
One of my favorite hoodies is the Hyper light drifter from Fangamer
I love nerd fashion that’s subtle, yet stylish. Preferably something that isn’t immediately obvious about what it’s referencing. Though I have rocked a Commander Shepard shirt before. And a Godzilla one that had a headshot of every iteration of the big G before the 2014 movie. But absolutely no memes or gimmicky novelties you’re “supposed” to wear to “prove” your nerd or geek cred.
So, like, a striped tie in the colors of House Ravenclaw. Unless you know HP, it just looks like a nice tie.
My favorite piece of nerdy fashion that I own? This Black Mountain Radio t-shit.
Most people who’ve commented on it haven’t picked up the Fallout New Vegas reference. Instead, they ask questions as if it’s a totally real radio station out west.
Here’s some nice movie/game/anime shirts I own that are nerdy as shit. Some more blatant than others, but I think all of them have a pleasing visual style that helps them avoid screaming “I’M A GAMER AND YOU WILL RESPECT ME” or whatever.
https://www.amazon.com/GODZILLA-FIRE-BREATHING-FITTED-JERSEY-TEE/dp/B00BGAY1EY
https://www.outofprintclothing.com/products/ulysses-mens-tee?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=g-US-shopping-products-nb&utm_content=55402897962&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpMLOBRC9ARIsAPiGeZCVplM4pDO62-D6MgeQVDrGZ_Dhb_bDAUFvKq0ZC0BMfat7ig5Vc5gaAsoUEALw_wcB
(Can’t find link for this one sorry)
https://store.giantbomb.com/collections/tees/products/giant-bomb-throwback-tee?variant=64658362
I think the key is finding stuff that will turn heads, but in a good way.
I’m also trying to this year to get some sort of personal fashion I’m happy with that will probably just end up being plaid button ups. Besides that though some shirts I’ve been looking to buy.
https://www.amazon.com/Thrasher-magazine-Frasier-shirts-Black/dp/B01JS0FZFM?th=1&psc=1
To be honest though I’m having a hard time getting into the mindset of buying clothing besides cheap plain colors
