The geek has had a glow-up, says Sarah Macken with brainy influencers rocking a prim, trim look with particular style signatures …
“Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks.” This is not advice on how to master the clutter-core trend – rather it’s Dr Seuss. It feels apt, too, because right now it’s never been so hip to be square.
Nerds, geeks, dorks; whichever the moniker, being brainy has a new appeal. “I don’t care if [college] ruins my career,” Natalie Portman once said. “I’d rather be smart than a movie star.” The actress juggled Harvard and acting in Star Wars, graduating in 2003 with a degree in psychology (with a dash of neurology and Hebrew on her transcript).
Before she became the Emmy-nominated writer and star of the hit HBO series Insecure, Issa Rae penned the New York Times bestselling memoir The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl and used her YouTube channel to champion black-created content – after graduating from Stanford, of course.
Poet Greta Bellamacina nails the Geek Chic look.
Subcultures like Dark Academia (which focuses on the aesthetics of literature and self-discovery) are trending. Online communities like Introverts Are Us (@introverts.are.us), a place for “the quiet, the nerdy, the shy, the reserved, thinkers, observers and the misunderstood” are gaining cult status, one awkward meme at a time. Odds are, if you’ve gushed about the latest Sally Rooney at 2am on Goodreads, invested in a pair of Atticus Finch tortoiseshell glasses “for screen use” or spent your evenings hard-relating to slowburn, cerebral dramas on Netflix, you’re one of the gang…
And the look? Geek chic 2022 reboots the classic tweed two-piece, knits, XL collars and prim Mary Janes. A bookish look that couldn’t be further from the bluestocking Bloomsbury version of baggy skirts and even baggier tights. It’s demure, but never dull; it’s even kind of sexy.
Engaged, intelligent, serious, geeks wear their hearts on their sleeves, literally – thoughtfully supporting inclusive brands, planet-friendly products and causes that matter too.
She is the queen of no makeup makeup and even manages to make a smokey eye look subtle. When everyone else was going for heavy contour and laminated eyebrows, she continued to promote enhancing your natural features with simple tricks and smart product placement. If you have seen any of her videos, you will notice how little product she actually uses. Even Victoria Beckham commented how surprised she was when she went to remove her makeup after a shoot with Lisa on how little product was applied.