Is there such a thing as a geek dress code?

The last day of PAX East, I was exhausted. I didn’t feel like putting on a dress or pantyhose, so I went with something simpler: my bright pink cardigan, jeans, and an I <3 Steampunk shirt my awesome friend and artist Brigid Ashwood gave me. Then I put my glasses on, turned to my husband and asked, “How do I look?”

“Like a geek girl,” was his response.

I stared at him for a second. I wanted to argue. But you know what? He was right. For the last few days I had noticed there was a certain… well, dress code among the women at PAX (to say nothing of the men, of course).

I’ve always considered myself something of a fashion stand out. I don’t tend to buy to trends. I like wearing glasses and cardigans, with hints of punk rock here and there (and the occasional corset), as well as some dresses. Not much has changed since I started picking out my own clothes. I also love thrift stores and vintage clothing, as well as curious shoes and jewelry.

But looking around at PAX, I realized many of us had come to the same fashion conclusions: dark rimmed glasses, red lipstick, hair often dyed a shade of auburn or red. T-shirts, cute shoes. (In other words: impeccable taste, ladies.)

Wait a second! How did we all come to this same conclusion?

Now, I’ll preface this with saying that I don’t hang out with a lot of girl geeks that dress like I do. I’ve noticed the trend among guys, which has only been exacerbated by the presence of Splitreason and other t-shirt companies (how I wish we could get them to dress in something other than t-shirts!).

But being at PAX made me feel part of something, sure. As Wil Wheaton said, I felt like it was home. Still, a little part of me kind of squirms at the idea that we’re becoming so recognizable, we geeks. Is it subliminal media messages? Have we come to a point where we need to recognize our own by dressing alike? Am I over-reacting? Is this just coincidence?

We geeks tend to approach the mainstream with trepidation, and that’s understandable. They cancel our shows and ruin our franchises. But as we are becoming larger and larger, are we homogenizing ourselves?

I’d love to know your thoughts. ?

[Photo CC by Zitona]