Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Meet Joey Roberts, the Pretty, Nerdy Girl. She’s a writer, graphic designer, Harry Potter nerd, and consignment store business owner.
Living in sunny California, Roberts has been blogging since the 7th grade. She describes her blog, Pretty, Nerdy Girl as the place “where nerdism meets life, dresses up pretty, and stuffs it’s face with delicious foods.” In other words, her blog is pretty amazing.
Our favorite posts? Geek Chic: Hair Bow Love—our vote goes to the adorable Eeyore bow. Although, unlike the gloomy donkey, your bow will always stay in place. Nerd Cave: Harry Potter Inspired Living Room—check out that exploding skull and the octopus chandelier. Nerd Cave: Loot this Storybook Home—Roberts details how to have a “once upon a time” themed home to live happily ever after.
Keep reading for our interview with this Pretty, Nerdy Girl, and be sure to follow her on Twitter, @thejoeyroberts.
Q: How did you discover your passion?
A: My passion for gaming started with the NES when I was a little girl. My elementary school (which was brand new) started us out with Mac basics and Animation Studio 1. Soon after we got our first computer, friends I made in AOL chat rooms introduced me to personal websites, the blog before the blog. It was my gateway drug to GeoCities, then Livejournal, then Blogger. Now I run my own website, blog, and fledgling YouTube gaming channel which allows me creative freedom to share my interests with others. If it hadn’t been for AOL and the NES, I don’t know where I’d be today.
Q: When did you discover you were “geeky”?
A: I really had no idea I was “geeky” during elementary school. If anyone else thought so, they didn’t tell me until my circle of friends in high school discovered that I was super into anime, Power Rangers, superheroes and gaming. This was the first time I realized that my interests weren’t “mainstream”. Though I was bullied a bit for it, I never let any negative comments sway me from my passions.
Q: Where do you find inspiration in life?
A: Life inspires me. It may sound lame and overused, but it’s the truth. Sometimes just living, walking around, listening, seeing, and experiencing can inspire the craziest ideas. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. I feel that if you let your imagination run wild and crazy, you’ll see things in a different perspective and find yourself drawing inspiration from it.
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
A: Fred and George Weasley. I know that’s cheating because they’re twins, but I can’t help it. I can just picture us now in the Leaky Cauldron throwing back a few Firewhiskeys. We’d eventually get thrown out for something the boys would’ve done and continued the party back at the WWW.
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: “Look at me. Since you believe in magic and time travel, you’ll trust that I’m you and you’re me, and you’re going to listen. The next 15 years are going to be a roller coaster of happy memories and extreme heartache. Don’t forget the root of your happiness, because when you do, that’s when it all hits the fan. When you remember, you’ll be the happiest girl there ever was. Also, anime gets really huge when you’re an adult so stick with it. And lose the butterfly clips. Oh! And finish your fan fiction stories already!”
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
As a single geek girl, I tend to do three things every weekend: hit up a hip bar with my fellow lady geeks, listen to music very loudly and dance with my girls and then brunch at the best spots in town. We put so much thought into our dancing outfits, but my brunch outfits are always my favorites. Why? Because there’s something about an excuse to sit on a patio and drink coffee for hours on a Saturday that never gets old.
To me, there are a few key tenants of a perfect geek girls brunching outfit: it should include hip accessories. A fun fedora. A great jewelry piece that harkens to your nerdiness. And of course, a chic, but comfortable outfit that will take you from brunch through the rest of your weekend.
Here’s what I’m wearing to brunch this weekend:
Now that I’ve got the perfect concept for an outfit, I’m excited to check out a new brunch spot. The biggest question now is whether to go for a breakfast burrito or a pancake flight. Yum, yum, yum! Happy weekend!
This post was brought to you by our sponsorship partner: Scoop NYC! We love our sponsors because they help make Being Geek Chic happen through financial support. Being Geek Chic content is written and produced by real geeks and never comes from content mills. Scoop NYC’s iconic fashion boutiques offer a highly edited selection of the season’s best styles for women and men.
Meet Amy Roiland, A Fashion Nerd. She’s a fashion blogger, designer, tech lover, and CEO currently thriving in L.A.
We adore Roiland for her quirky yet sophisticated maximalist style. She oozes with West Coast coolness. Take a look at Roiland’s blog—her stylish shots in the sunshine will make you smile, guaranteed.
And yes, you read correctly: Roiland is also a CEO. She’s the founder of FashionTap, a fashion social network app that connects professionals in the fashion world with their audiences, and each other. The app makes the fashion you see on your favorite blogs instantly clickable and purchasable. Download the app and check out how Roiland’s tapping into the fashion world here.
Read on for Roiland’s interview with Being Geek Chic, and be sure to follow her at @afashionnerd on Instagram and Twitter.
Q: How did you discover your passion for fashion?
A: At the age of 14 I became obsessed with fashion, before then I was more of a tom boy farm girl skater chick, weird I know. I became obsessed with fashion because I turned into a Jennifer Love Hewitt fan and loved her style.
Q: Where do you find inspiration in life?
A: My inspiration mainly comes from reading and watching Wes Anderson movies. I also feel very inspired when I go to San Francisco, I am obsessed with that city and the colorful houses. I can always shoot the best blogs when I am there. I am originally from there but more in the country area.
Q: If you could take anyone out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
A: Jack Dorsey 100% , he is the creator of Twitter and Square and he is my hero in tech. I would love to sit down with him and show him my app and see his thoughts on it and where I should go with it.
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: Don’t date boys anymore. Focus on yourself and your creativity, don’t get into acting and focus 100% on fashion and open your EYES up because the universe will show you all the signs you need to see to get ahead.
I did acting stuff for over 10 years and the entire time it wasn’t for me, it wasn’t my passion. Fashion kept coming up and I kept pushing it away. The minute I focused 100% on fashion I became a bigger blogger with a TON of amazing opportunities. I got the opportunity to create this incredible app FashionTap with the help of a friend and hyperion360.com.
Q: What’s the title of your memoir?
A: Persistence is the key to success
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
I’m having a girls weekend this weekend and I’m jazzed. It’s long overdue and probably more likely to be filled with cocktails than serious fashion, but a girl can build up the anticipation of the whole deal by planning out her tee shirt wearing routine a little more aggressively than the usual person.
There is no doubt in my mind that there will be sparkly skirts and high heel shoes, but there’s nothing more epic than a woman that can rock a tank or a tee with a bit of sequins. That’s how I do around here.
So, here’s what I’ve got on tap:
Thou Shalt Get Her Own Money Tee (Tees in the Trap): $30
Margot by Nan Lawson (Society 6): $22
Epic Weekend Tank (Target): $12.99
Here’s hoping you have an epic weekend that is less dramatic than Margot Tenenbaum’s lifestyle, but seriously Beyonce-esque and paid for your with your own damn money.
Emily Ong (@embiguous) is a cosplay queen and a high (and low) fashion devotee with a penchant for video games. She graces the California Bay Area with her fashion-forward looks injected with a generous dose of geek culture, and she blogs about it over at The Stylish Geek.
We love her for her Gotham-inspired outfit, perfect for brunches and daytime dates, her super chic and work appropriate Stormtrooper look, and her night-on-the-town ensemble that has more than a hint of Spidey.
And oh my gosh, she crafted her very own Baby Groot in a pot.
So check out Ong’s interview with Being Geek Chic and discover why you shouldn’t be a trend follower, her early interest in Magic the Gathering, and her not-so-secret obsession with Chris Pratt. Read on!
Q: How did you discover your passion?
A: I was into clothes while growing up, but was pretty much a tomboy until my 20s. Then one summer, I took a trip to Tokyo followed by another trip to New York. At that point, I started getting really into fashion - from low end to high end and even really over the top styles, especially the fashion in Tokyo. I was really intrigued by how extreme Japanese girls dressed - school girl, goth, lolita, gyaru, and even ganguro girls . All of it was really fascinating to me, which is probably why my style is a bit all over the place! I think appreciation for extreme fashion also led to me wanting to try cosplay. I started cosplaying about 7 years ago and now I’m addicted!
Q: What geeky fashion trends can we look forward to in the fall?
A: The thing about geek fashion is that it’s pretty much on it’s own path and doesn’t follow typical fashion trends. I mean, we may see some trends carry over in terms of style, but in the end, geeks will dress however they want and that’s the best part! There really is no “trendy” way to dress geeky. You just wear what you’re into! I know for me, I’m not sick of Guardians of the Galaxy yet and have yet to find a cool GOTG tee. And with WB’s fall TV lineup of new DC shows, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a rise in DC popularity.
Q: When did you discover you were “geeky”?
A: I think I realized it when I was around 15. I started playing Magic the Gathering for a few months with some friends and not that gender has anything to do with it, but in a way it does because I was the only girl I knew who played MTG. At that point, I started questioning why I wasn’t into the same things other girls my age were into, almost asking myself “What’s wrong with me?”, but then eventually not really caring what other people thought. I guess by me realizing I had slightly different interest than a lot of my female peers, I mentally put myself in a different category, which I later realized was what you might call “geeky”. This happened quite a lot throughout high school and instead of pushing it away, I embraced it and never looked back. Now that I’m older, I realize how lucky am that I was still accepted by my peers instead of getting bullied or teased for my interests.
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
A: Star-Lord, but only the Chris Pratt version b/c it’s CHRIS PRATT! I’d buy him a boba since that’s my favorite thing to drink.
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: I’d tell my 13 year old self to take more risks in life and don’t be afraid to follow your passions. People always say “it’s too late to do xyz…” but it’s never too late! I wish I learned that at an early age. I would also like to give my 13 year old self some hair and make up tips. I really didn’t learn much about those things until I was in my mid-20s!
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
