The following was originally posted on GeekPinata.com and has been republished here with permission.
If someone had told me around five years ago that there would be such a thing as Geek Fashion Shows – runway and all – I would have been skeptical. I’ve always loved geek fashion, but there traditionally hasn’t been a whole lot of variety for ladies – let alone an entire show dedicated to it. Fast forward to 2015, and we now see the Geek Fashion Show (produced by Douggary Grant) at tons of conventions, and the Her Universe Fashion Show has been held two years in a row at SDCC.
And this past weekend at PAX Prime, I was invited to witness the very first BioWare Fashion Show. I was thrilled to attend, but I had no idea what to expect. Before the show started, I met several members of the Think Geek team, who shared some inside information about the new line they were debuting.
Three designers worked on the majority of the new BioWare line: one with a geek background and two that come strictly from a fashion background. My initial thought upon hearing that was “Shouldn’t all designers for this kind of show be into geek stuff?!” – but then I thought about it more, and when it comes to wanting more fashion-forward pieces, you definitely want to have people with their hand directly on the pulse of the fashion world. This strategy is something that I really have to commend ThinkGeek and BioWare on, as it was very successful. So many of the new pieces are wearable by both geeks and non-geeks alike. The description “secret handshake” came up a lot, and it truly was a perfect way to describe what we saw in the show.
This is a very photo heavy post – I took a picture of almost every single outfit they shared for women at the show, and we’ve also got some additional photos send over They also showed several men’s pieces at the show that were fantastic, but since I focus mostly on women’s fashion I am sharing only women’s pieces in this blog. But guys, keep an eye out for a really amazing Grey Warden jacket coming soon. I want that jacket for myself.
Dragon Age geek fashion
The Dragon Age pieces were the big stand-out to me. I already have heard people say they have never played Dragon Age but would wear several of these pieces. The styling was fantastic as well – I would wear just about every ensemble shown!
Cassandra Believer high-low dress
Cassandra Believer classic asymmetrical tank & Maker’s Will infinity scarf – The leggings I recognize as a pattern from fabric seen in the game, but I do not see those items in the store yet.
Cassandra Believer plate hoody
Maker’s Light leggings – I saw these leggings shown in several colors. Looks like right now the only pair in the store are the black and white versions.
Morrigan top – the gold detailed looked to be printed on the top.
Templar hoody – love that detail in the back. I believe it was embroidered.
Seeker hoody – if I recall correctly I believe this logo is embroidered as well. The small silver portions you see on the arms are studs, and near the wrists are faux leather straps. This outfit also includes the Maker’s Light leggings in another color.
Morrigan’s Wicked Hearts skater dress
Morrigan necklace – sorry the photo is not sharper, but the necklace looked fantastic in person. I need this BADLY!
Mass Effect geek fashion
The Mass Effect pieces were very Tali-centric and looked great! Some discussion at the Q&A included suggestions for characters to be incorporated to future fashions, so I’m sure we are going to see more.
Tali pattern infinity scarf & skater dress
Tali draped hoody & leggings
Tali hoody & leggings – I’m not sure if these leggings are the same as the previous outfit since the pattern doesn’t look to go as low, so I am linking it here only. Also, this hoody in person was lovely. The piping is gold, the shoulders have faux-leather detail and the arms include thumbholes for comfort.
Kaidan hoody
N7 onesies – !!!!!
N7 skater dress & N7 cardigan
N7 logo scoop neck tee & Commander Shepard leggings – even the back of these leggings are amazing. Most of the time I want my bottom to be covered in leggings, but I want to show it off in these!
N7 activewear jacket, top & leggings – I’m not sure of the official name for each of these but each piece looked great, especially that jacket!
N7 armour stripe tee (also comes in a tank) & N7 armour stripe messenger bag – there’s also some pretty awesome N7 armour stripe socks but sadly no link yet.
N7 coat
Paragon & Renegade reversible hoody – yep, these are reversible and the crowd went WILD when the girls reversed them at the end of the runway. Very cool! Also, you can spot yet another pair of socks on the right.
I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was to see a show like this! GeekPinata.com is something I’ve been running for a few years, and prior to that I was always scouring the web for anything geek fashion for women I could find (that usually came up as DIY or items from other fans that they would create and sell on eBay or Etsy). Finding those items and sharing them via social media is what led me to create my blog, because I saw how many women there were out there like me that absolutely adore geek fashion.
By far the stand-out to me of the entire show is that Cassandra Believer high-low dress. As I mentioned before, so many people – geeks AND non-geeks – commented that they desperately wanted to buy the dress. Once again, I applaud BioWare and ThinkGeek for bringing in designers with a such a strong background in fashion. Applying those designers skill-sets and knowledge of the fashion world and influencing them with the geek stuff we love resulted in that dress. That’s where I see geek fashion going and it’s a testament to how universal geek fashion can become.
The other wonderful news to come from this show: they hear the demand for extended sizes. I have heard from several people how much they love geek fashion but that the lack of extended sizes prevents them from buying and participating in wearing it. There are people on the team at Think Geek pushing for extended sizes and we were told that they will be coming soon.
I also enjoyed the fact that several of these pieces are items that I can wear to work. The Cassandra Believer tank, the infinity scarves, the Tali pattern tank, the N7 cardigan and even the skater dresses can be styled in such a way that would be appropriate for work. I’m hoping to see more items “ready for work” items in the future – perhaps more pencil skirts, pencil dresses and button-up tops?
The BioWare Geek Fashion definitely showed that companies are hearing us: t-shirts are great, but there is more to fashion than just t-shirts. They are hearing and seeing that there is a demand for fashion-forward geek clothing for women. They are also starting to address the desire for something more fashion-forward for men. This is a really exciting time for geek fashion and I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Some items are available for pre-sale through the BioWare store and ThinkGeek Solutions here for $20 to $60 USD now. Other items from the PAX fashion show will be made available in two releases this fall.
Crystal is a designer/front-end developer and geek fashion blogger. You can find more geek fashion and outfits on her blog GeekPinata.com.
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