Fashion

Geek to Chic

By Filip Odzak

Posted on December 8, 2010

“From GEEK to CHIC – Daniel loses the beard and lab-coat for some of Summer’s trendier threads”.

There’s a little geek getting noticed around town. It’s unusual that any self professed ‘geek’ would draw attention in big crowds or even pull in a couple of thousand fans on Facebook… unless you’re Steve Urkel – and much like Steve Urkel’s ‘Stefan’ – this geek apparently has an alter ego.

The geek you know as Daniel from channel seven’s ‘Beauty and the Geek’, I’ve known for years as Daniele, a sweet Italian boy that that I befriended through frequenting the same social hot-spots. Now let’s get this straight – there’s been a lot of chatter about whether Daniel is a real geek or not, and I guess it all depends on what you perceive as a geek.

My initial thoughts on this situation was that it was a bit of a far stretch, and why on earth would anyone try to lose their cool cred by sporting an un-groomed beard and dressing daggy on national TV, why did Daniel regress? In fact he didn’t, he really was that geek the entire time, I had always seen him differently, because he was presented to me in real life, without the geek caricature on a television show.

The press has had beef with this geek claiming he isn’t the real deal – being spotted at festivals and night clubs pre-Geek with trendy friends and socialites of Adelaide city. Whether he was a nightclub promoter or not (and seriously on that point, all those cool kids and DJ’s you find in the night club system, usually were misfits and high school geeks anyway) – Daniel is a geek. Not always in the physical sense, but mentally, he’s a smart cookie.

You see in everyday life, Daniel doesn’t throw on the white lab coat every time he leaves the house just in case we miss the point. A geek is often someone that finds it hard to fit the social mould, and is overtly intellectual. Before his time on the show – Daniel became one of my posse, but we sure did clash as he didn’t always fit my mould of usual friends.

When I wanted to watch mindless crap on TV like ‘The Young & the Restless’ or ‘Jersey Shore’ on Foxtel, he’d get up and declare to the entire room of our friends that it was insulting his intelligence and if anyone wanted to follow, he’d be watching the National Geographic channel in the other room.

It’s funny now – but that weekend I threw an apple at him upstairs in Limbo bar.

So post-Geek we want to keep him chic, well I do anyway. So we went on a shop to pick out some very easy to wear looks from just a few favourite menswear stores in Adelaide – Suit Co, Ivy League & Realstore – with photographer Nick Lawrence in tow, so we could show you how some simple affordable on-trend threads make even the geek look chic.

NEUTRAL COLOURS

It’s not just the colour palette for women this season, menswear goes back to earth tones. This casual look comes from Ivy League, key purchase – cargo shorts – the utilitarian trend is in, so look for pockets and functionality, looks great with a khaki shirt as well.

The suit, from Suit Co, keeping it relaxed with what we call the palette cleanser – the white shirt. Beige, browns, camels etc are colours that will continue to be in men’s suiting for following seasons, so the suit is a winning investment.

SUMMER BLUES

Double Denim can be an intimidating trend. Most probably prefer it stays in a 1990’s Hilfiger advert… but I was converted into a lover at this year’s RAFW, seeing it on the runways. Keep it structured and fitted, and if you can, look for embellishments to keep it cutting edge and modern. Daniel rocked this entire look from Realstore.

The Navy Suit is probably the most versatile suit a man can have in his wardrobe… yes, more versatile than a black suit – with navy you can wear both black and brown belts and shoes, it’s dark enough to wear in the evening yet colourful enough for the day and always suitable for the office. Why is this a great suit for Daniel? It’s a one button jacket – which lengthens his silhouette, the shoulders are a natural fit and the deeper V gives length to his torso. As the suit is a block colour, we teamed it up with a patterned tie and a stripe shirt – all from Suit Co.