And while in days gone by the standard-issue nerd uniform mostly consisted of clothes your mom bought for you until you were 40, today you can still be a nerd and look cool at the same time with any number of stylish T-shirts that celebrate your inner geek.
Though nothing screams “Love me, I know cool stuff” than a super hero shirt, you may want to avoid logos associated with the Caped Crusader or Dark Knight lest anyone think you’re wearing an oversized pajama top. However, a rather hip alternative that shows you still have comic store cred is the distressed Green Lantern Tee by Junk Food. Sure he’s a guy with Dolphin mind control and can shoot death rays from an fancy class ring but the Lantern’s cool logo probably gives you the best chance to use your superhero attire as a conversation piece with the opposite sex without them wondering if that’s actually an action figure in your pocket.
For those of you who have ever stood in front of your closet wondering what to wear to the next LAN party or a night out for beers with the guys you can never go wrong with a solid nod toward retro video games. The Space Invaders Tee Shirt by T-Shirt Bordello. There are perhaps some tribesmen in the rainforest who won’t recognize this on sight but you can bet everyone else will and you can regale those in attendence about that one warm summer night back in 1981, armed with only a handful of quarters, you lost your videogame cherry to the Invaders of Space. Plus, you can share your favorite strategy of sitting below one of the bunkers and shooting through it to create a single pixel wide sniper shield so you can pick off those smug, arm-waving bastards one by one.
Now if something more cerebral is your flavor of choice and you want to send out a tantalizing hint about your Scrabble ninja skills or you’re trying to get the attention of that cutie in the glasses working on her screenplay at the coffeshop you can’t go wrong with Damn Funny T’s Word Nerd shirt. Let the world know that your passion is Boggle, Crosswords or anything else that involves tongue-twisting and letters. Unfortunately, this shirt doesn’t come with a disclaimer that wearing it in the presence of bikers could get you atomic wedgied like you haven’t been since junior high but if you’re really a master of language skills you can talk your way out of anything, right?
Finally, it goes without saying that you can never go wrong in a Big Lebowski shirt like the “I Don’t Roll on Shabbas” Tee featuring John Goodman as Walter Sobchak.
The knowing nods you’ll get from those hip to this Cohen Bros. classic will make you feel like you nailed that 7-10 split without breaking a sweat. However, don’t bow to the pressure of trying to look too cool and buy yourself a Jeff Bridges “Dude” tee shirt. It may seem like a good idea at the time but trust me when I say that the Dude’s utter coolness will not rub off on you by virtue of osmosis. Besides, any member of the fairer sex who can identify Sobchak’s mug on your chest leaps three levels of coolness as so should you in her eyes for just having it on. With a little luck it may not be on for long.
