Going to E3 2013 and What to Wear – The Stylish Geek Edition

When I first read this Forbes article on what to wear for E3, I was pretty disappointed. I admit that the outfit with the blazer plus company/gaming/geek tee was a great idea, though not the exact pieces I might have chosen. But going sort of “punk” to a S.T.E.A.M. Punk (Science.Technology. Engineering, Art, Math) E3 party was ridiculous. The writer obviously didn’t do her research (probably because she didn’t know steampunk was a “thing”) and it was offensive to geeks everywhere.  Note that the original outfit has since been removed due to all the negative comments, but can be seen here. The easiest way to offend geeky people is to misuse something that is near and dear to them – for eg, using a Vulcan Salute at a Star Wars convention or saying something like “Isn’t Star Wars and Star Trek the same thing?”.

I have been to plenty of E3s and from a fashion standpoint, you really get a wide variety of people-men and women in suits, people in regular jeans and tee, and even cosplayer types, both hired and not hired. It’s such a diverse environment and people are all there for so many different reasons that it really doesn’t matter what you wear. That said, I personally believe in dressing professional if you’re going to be dealing with other professionals and not just attending as a regular con-goer. I’m not talking about suits, but even though I work in a casual workplace, I personally still like to look “nice” or at least just “put together”. Gone are the days or me wearing track pants or sweatshirts to work (hard to believe, but true!) With that, I wanted to put together some of my recommendations for what to wear at E3. I am not saying that it’s necessary to dress up for E3, but if I were meeting execs or building partnerships, I just might. And as a disclaimer and judging by the comments in the Forbes article, I write a style blog. These are merely my style recommendations and tips and they are here to give readers ideas of what to wear. Just like anything, it’s up to you to make it your own.

Left Outfit: Gears of War tee with black blazer and velvet skinnies. Paired with quilted crossbody bag.

Right Outfit: Chambray shirt over a Portal tank with a faux leather flare skirt. Optional orange OR blue crossbody bag for the Portal fans.

And of course with E3 or any type of convention, it’s all about comfortable shoes. I have mastered the art of being able to demo a game for 4 days straight by wearing really good gel insoles in my shoes.  If you want to be adventurous and wear heels, I highly recommend the Calvin Klein wedge pump. They are by far the most comfortable pair of heels I own.

As for party wear, I chose a couple of dresses I think would be great for an E3 party. Not because they’re “steampunk”, “punk” or any of that. I love that these dresses are modern, structured, and have an edge to them.  Of course if you wanted to be a little steampunk, you could just throw on some goggles on your head, maybe wear a vintage inspired feathered broach, or add some cool steampunk jewelry (just one of these, not all!)

Bless’ed are the Meek Dress – buy here

L to R: Faux Leather Chiffon Dress (buy here), which would look awesome with some ankle boots. Finders Keepers Cut Out Dress (buy here), which definitely needs to be worn with a great statement necklace.

E3 is about the games, not what you wear! So if you get a chance to go, bottom line is have fun and wear comfy shoes! :)