The Geek Girl Trendsetters Panel and Fashion Show at SDCC

Sometimes while you're at Comic-Con, you end up on a fashion panel.
Okay, that's never happened to me until this year and probably won't happen again, but I'm glad that it did.

Ashley Eckstein of Her Universe hosted a Geek Girl Trendsetters panel, and Catherine Taber co-hosted. Attendees were encouraged to come in their best geek chic and cosplay outfits, and panelists would comment on the styles. Panelists included Bonnie Burton, Clare Grant, Jaime King, Tarina Tarantino, jewelry designer Tarina Tarantino, senior buyer for Hot Topic Ed Labay, and social media manager for Hot Topic Courtney Lear. Those parts I knew. The part that was a surprise is that the panel was structured like a fashion show.

As we lined up to get into the panel room, those of us in geek chic attire were given numbers - sort of like  auction paddles. We provided our names and information on our clothing and lined up to enter the room in numerical order. Then we had to walk down the center aisle to show off our outfits, stand in front of the panelists, and be model-y (official word). My shy and klutzy self wasn't quite prepared for all of that, but it was totally fun rather than nerve-wracking. All the girls had amazing clothes, and I couldn't believe the amounts of creativity that some ladies put into their ensembles. The ladies wore everything from handmade dresses to costumes to lovely accessories to just cleverly put together outfits. I loved seeing the variety among the twenty or so entries. The sampling really included a variety of geek girl style.

After our walk up the aisle, each panelist picked a favorite look and narrowed it down from there. Bonnie Burton was kind enough to choose my R2-D2 outfit as her pick:

The skirt is from Go Chase Rabbits, and I hand-painted TOMs to match the R2-D2 motif. The cardigan and v-neck are from Forever 21 and have been part of my wardrobe for a while. It's comfortable - you might recognize the outfit as the one I wore for Course of the Force - and I adore R2-D2.

The outfit that won was an impressive Millennium Falcon dress worn by Jen Landa. She created a Death Star dress last year, and I can't believe she managed to top that. Actually, I can. Jen is awesome.

Lindz was the runner-up with her Mario Brothers themed cocktail dress! Just look at it! I didn't know a piranha plant could be classy and elegant, but she managed to make it happen.

I had some personal favorites, and one is Victoria's amazing Vincent Van Gogh/Doctor Who ensemble:

She made the purse from palettes! And that image on the purse? Yeah, it's the painting of the cafe from "Vincent and the Doctor."

And because I do adore Captain America, I was especially fond of this dress:

This pic by Geeky Hostess

The shield/umbrella was really the kicker.

I'm not sure if this panel will be repeated at another convention, but in case it isn't, you can check out coverage of it on MTV Geek. If you want to see all the contestants but don't want to watch the video, you can check out photos from the panel by Geeky Hostess. Also, one more link for you. Victoria and Lindz (pictured above) run a terrific blog called Set to Stunning. They have a regular feature that shows you how you can incorporate geek chic style into your everyday wear. I constantly get inspiration from something they post!