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How to Understand People: Is geek the new chic?

Remember back in the day when glasses with thick black frames were considered trendy only if you were a senior citizen?

Things sure have changed.

Nowadays, you see everyone wearing them, from professors and rappers to politicians and news anchors. I own a pair myself, which I purchased about five years ago.

I've also noticed that many of these very individuals sport what's traditionally considered "preppy" clothes, including argyle sweaters and cardigans.

Has geek become the new chic? Why is the librarian look suddenly in fashion?

I've always told my wife, who has dressed in preppy clothes and worn black-framed glasses since we first started dating in 2005, that I find the librarian look on women to be very attractive. It makes a woman look smarter and thus twice as sexy, at least in my book.

I embraced the preppy look well before this looking-nerdy-is-cool craze took hold. I feel it's the right look for me because I'm a writer and bookworm, and I spend countless hours reading either at home or at Barnes and Noble. I'm definitely what you would call an academic, so dressing like one suits me.

But it's certainly unusual to see sports stars like Lebron James and Dwayne Wade and music artists like Chris Brown sporting glasses some people still deem nerdy-looking. It's people like these -- whose faces are plastered in the newspaper and on TV on a daily basis -- who have helped the look go mainstream. Still, I'd bet that many of them see perfectly fine without the glasses -- they're likely just wearing them as a fashion statement.

Have people suddenly taken an interest in melding "smart" and "stylish"?

We have to remember that looks can be deceiving. There are many people out there who dress this way and yet have not picked up a book to read in decades.

Does that mean that these people are what you'd call "posers"? I wouldn't go that far, but it's a curious trend nonetheless. Ten or fifteen years ago, people might call you an old person if they spotted you wearing thick black-framed glasses and wearing argyle sweaters. Do it in 2015 and you might be seen as oozing chic.

What's your take on this?






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