Geek fashion can be a tricky field to navigate. There’s a fine line between something that lets your fandom flag fly and that also works in, say, a business casual setting. There are mainstream brands such as Her Universe that are making steps towards making geek brands fashionable and accessible, but there are plenty of indie brands that are making their own way in the world of fandom fashion.
Among them is the stellar Jordan Ellis, founder of Jordandené. If you’re looking for something subtle yet stylish, Ellis’s fandom shirts and tanks are your best way to wear your geeky side proudly when full cosplay would be a bit much.
Ellis’s shirts, sweatshirts, and tanks all have a phrase from the latest pop culture event, such as “Hey big guy, sun’s getting real low” from Thor Ragnarok, “I have journeyed farther” from Moana, or even “Nolite te bastardes carborumdum” from The Handmaid’s Tale. Recently, she even launched a magazine to tie into her brand, called The Sartorial Geek; essentially, it’s a magazine for geeky women to gather together and share their interests, from cosplay to STEM and everything in between.
“The idea behind Jordandené was to create well-designed, feminine, and geeky products. Through running our clothing company, we found so many other corners of the geeky community that we loved, but we couldn’t find a way to incorporate them into the same brand,” Ellis said in an interview conducted over email. “The Sartorial Geek was our way to bring all parts of the nerdy community together. We want to connect fans with cool brands they’ll love, work with all kinds of writers and artists, chat about our favorite TV shows, dissect fashion in pop culture, meet up at local events, and celebrate all kinds of wins in the nerdy community.”
Ellis is creating an inclusive environment for geeky women too. Oftentimes, her models are not just thin, able-bodied, white women; her shirts are designed to be worn by all kinds of women to rep their nerdier sides. She has created a community for women to share their passions that’s open to all members of the community, not just ones that fit a certain mold.
“Female geeks have way more resources now than I think we’ve ever had before, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need more! Jordandené is the place to go for feminine, comfy, and geeky shirts you can wear in your everyday life,” said Ellis. “The Sartorial Geek is an inclusive geeky community where people can talk about their favorite things, connect with other fans, and find out about the latest in nerd culture. So many of us grew up without having brands or spaces we could relate to or where we felt like we belonged, and we’re hoping to change that with Jordandené and The Sartorial Geek!”
Ellis also uses sustainable methods to create her products, which is something that’s important to her:
“I hate the idea of producing something wasteful. We try to only create things that people will actually love and enjoy and do it in the most eco-friendly way possible. We keep our extra packaging to a minimum and use the most eco-friendly printing process we know. Maybe our company would be more profitable if we made some different decisions in this area but, to us, having a company that doesn’t focus on sustainability isn’t even worth doing.”
Ellis has partnered with Quirk Books to create merch for Ashley Poston’s Geekerella (something for which, when I found the shirt at Geek Girl Con last year, I did an embarrassingly enthusiastic fangirl dance), but she has dreams of partnering with other brands to create merch. “Right now my ultimate dream is to team up with the creators at Image Comics. I love that brand so much and have so many ideas for cool products we could create together!”
Currently, Ellis is running a Kickstarter to campaign for funding for future issues of The Sartorial Geek. Rewards include print and PDF versions of the magazine, as well as one of their shirts and other fun items. She said of the campaign,
“We’re really proud that we were able to self-fund the first two issues of The Sartorial Geek magazine, and we think Kickstarter is the perfect place to launch issue three! Because we’re just getting started and want to make sure to always pay our contributors first, we don’t have many extra resources at the moment to expand our readership. We think this magazine is perfect for anyone who enjoys geeky things, and we’re excited to spread the word with our Kickstarter campaign! “
Ellis’s shirts are available here, and you can check out their Kickstarter through this link. If you’re a fan of women-led businesses and cute geek fashion, check the store out or support the magazine, because supporting awesome female-led geek ventures is the best way to make sure that we have more female voices in this space.
(images: Jordan Ellis)
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