This is one of the side effects of having a writer’s imagination.
Check out all the SNGCs here and join us every Monday for a new original SNG Webcomic!
Alex is our resident Webcomic creator. He grew up in Puerto Rico, but didn’t reach true Nerdom until he came state side when he was in middle school. He’s been drawing since he was five, but has only started posting Webcomics in the past year. You can check out his amazing and original work at tapastic.com/gomezalexj.
A couple months ago, I discovered this pretty swell website TeeFury.com – someone on Reddit linked out to the roughly gazillion Star Wars shirts they offer. The shirts were affordable, and so was the shipping – so I was pretty excited.
You see, I LOVE nerdy shirts. It’s kind of a weakness. Well, it probably wouldn’t be such a big deal if I could find nerdy shirts that are flattering on my body type.That is to say… a female body type.
I ordered some Men’s Large Star Wars shirts, knowing I was in for something that wasn’t entirely flattering but still served as a nice conversation piece if I should find other nerds in the wild.
Then I saw TeeFury was running a $5 grab-bag special. Pick your gender, size, and take a chance on getting something random. So naturally, I was on board. I put in $10 and eagerly awaited what random goodness would come my way. Again, to be safe, I stuck with Men’s Large, and got the following:
Now I knew what I was getting into with ordering Large. Mostly, I’m glad they fit. I can roll up the sleeves or these can be my nerdy-around-the-house shirts.
I got another promotional email from TeeFury telling me to ACT NOW on the last of the $5 Grab Bag offer. And then it occurred to me…
NOW IS MY CHANCE!
Now is my chance to order a women’s size and maybe, just MAYBE, TeeFury will be the place I can get my well-fitting nerdy shirt fix. After all, what’s $10? I could take the chance. So I check out their size chart to make sure I get the most correct-ish size and was kind of surprised at what I found. In most women’s sizes, I’m a solid XL. At 5’10” I’m above average in both height and weight – so this is not really a shocker.
I was a bit surprised to see that my measurements, according to TeeFury… more closely align with a XXL. There’s even a XXXL option that I considered, but then… and this has happened to me before – what if it’s TOO big? I have one comically too-big-for-me women’s cut from the NaNoWriMo store and it doesn’t even look right as a nerdy-around-the-house shirt.
Anyhow… before I show you the result, I wanted to share what a normal XL size shirt looks like on me:
This is how I expect most women’s XL to fit on me. So surely, a XXL from TeeFury will be delightfully nerdy AND flattering, right?
….Right?
No. Observe:
So at this point you might be thinking, what’s the problem? It looks fine. No, my friends, it’s not fine. It’s tight and uncomfortable and not at all what I look for in my t-shirts. And more than that… it’s an absurd size designation.
Having to buy something at XXL is already sucky, but then to have it not fit, and the quality be far less than a men’s shirt (they are thinner and shorter than the men’s shirts) is pretty unacceptable in my opinion. And add to the fact that when you get into the XXL + sizes, you’re usually paying more.
So you might be thinking – well, that’s not a LOT. Yes, true, but my point here is that these shirt sizes are not accurate to reality.
And, TeeFury, I know I’m beating up on you here, but this is not just a TeeFury problem. This is almost a universal problem with women’s clothing sizes – the quality is consistently less than men’s clothing, often runs comically small and sometimes even costs more.
It’s an injustice we all deal with, for all our lives, and I’m getting just a little bit sick of it. So much so, that I’ve put together this lovely compilation. Please feel free to share this with the internet. This is hokum!
I am heavily investing in the first t-shirt company that has sensible sizes, quality, prices and awesome nerdy designs in women’s cuts.
Eve is the founder of Some Nerd Girl and the author of urban fantasy novels Children of the Fallen and Unforgettable as well as science fiction novel Colony One. She has been writing since the age of 13 and has been flying her nerd flag for the past 16 years. Fandoms include Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. Basically if it has ‘star’ in it, she’ll give it a shot.
Like every little girl, when I grew up I wanted to be a vampire. …wait, that’s not a thing? Well, I was a weird kid. I remember watching Interview With A Vampire and being totally enamoured with Lestat and his charming arrogance, as well as being very confused by how much I wanted to be bitten by one of the Backstreet Boys in the video for ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’ – don’t act like you don’t know the song, everyone knows the song.
Vampires were dark, dangerous and totally charismatic monsters. Christopher Lee gave Dracula his now iconic look as the sultry dark lord of the night, which was only beaten by Gary Oldman in Francis-Ford-Coppola’s-Bram-Stoker’s-Dracula where he definitely made a few more of us willing to be one of his brides. Vampires were awesome. Until the dreaded Twilight saga came along. Suddenly, my beloved undead horrors became a joke, thanks to glittery pretty boy ‘vegetarian’ vamps, along with the True Blood TV series and other teenage supernatural romance novels. I was resigned to watching classic Hammer Horror and hoping that one day there would be something that would make me fall in love with vampires again.
My patience (and occasional ranting) was rewarded with the 2014 mockumentary horror comedy, What We Do in The Shadows. I found this film through my good friend Rachel over on Tumblr – we did Film Studies together for two years in college so I trust her taste in movies – and I was immediately intrigued. Set in Wellington, New Zealand (coincidentally where one of my best friends lives) What We Do in The Shadows focuses on four vampires, Viago, Vladislav, Deacon and Petyr, who share a flat together and have agreed to be filmed by the human camera crew who are protected by wearing crucifixes and have the vampires’ word that they won’t eat them. I can’t say I’d be so trusting, but there you go.
Viago, Vlad and Deacon are relatively young in comparison to the more Nosferatu-like Petyr, who is kept in the basement and looked after by his other flatmates. Their lives consist of sharing chores (occasionally, in Deacon’s case), going out on the town to hunt and have fun, and enjoying their hobbies of music and knitting. Things change however, when Deacon’s very patient familiar/servant Jackie brings over a few humans for the vampires to feast on and the night ends in one of them, Nick, being turned into a vampire himself. As he is welcomed into their company, Nick takes it upon himself to bring his new friends into the 21st century with technology as he adapts to his new undead life – however, he’s not exactly subtle with his new status, which brings trouble to the group’s doorstep.
If you’re a fan of Flight of the Conchords, you’ll recognise Jemaine Clement as Vladislav ‘the Poker’ (who co-wrote and directed with Taika Waititi, who plays the delightful and sweet Viago) as well as an appearance from Rhys Darby too. The humour is very similar to Conchords as well, which should be good news for fans of the quirky Kiwi show. The characters are all likeable in their own ways and the development over the film is very believable too – especially when Nick’s lovely red-cheeked human friend Stu is introduced. Even the darkest moments are lit up with the wonderful sense of humour that runs throughout the entire thing. Then of course, there’s the Spinal Tap feel of the film, it’s funny yet feels genuine and very real. The practical special effects add to that I feel, from the copious amounts of blood to the way the vampires float and fly – in a world where CGI has become the standard for creating effects, it’s a treat to see something more tangible.
My absolute favourite part of What We Do in The Shadows? Viago. He manages to be an adorable cinnamon roll of loveliness as well as a vampire who feast on blood – there’s no gold-eyed vegetarianism here, and yet even covered in blood, gingerly holding a tea towel, Viago is the most wonderful vampire in modern fiction. Just take one look at that adorable little smile and tell me you wouldn’t let him drain you dry. I’d even put down the towels and newspapers for him. (Bonus points go to Clement’s Vladislav, who is somehow oddly sexy in this role.)
I cannot find a single fault with this film. I’ve watched it four times since I got it, and I’ve recommended it to pretty much every friend I’ve had the chance to – you’ll find yourself feeling good after watching it. Which is more than could be said for the feeling I had after watching New Moon. Urgh.
Claire is a foul-mouthed British twenty-something who spends most of her time pretending to be an adult. Her nerd status started from an early age with her dad’s love of sci-fi and developed through a love of gaming, reading and horror. As well as volunteering for a charity, Claire writes about her life with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and mental health over at her blog, as well as tweeting nonsense over as @MouthAndSpoons. The dream is to either make it as a successful writer, or go into mental health research. She lives at home with her equally nerdy husband, their dog Lady, cat Pip and a lot of fish.
As I post this, my cat is halfway upside-down, lower half hanging from the arm of the couch…
Check out all the SNGCs here and join us every Monday for a new original SNG Webcomic!
Alex is our resident Webcomic creator. He grew up in Puerto Rico, but didn’t reach true Nerdom until he came state side when he was in middle school. He’s been drawing since he was five, but has only started posting Webcomics in the past year. You can check out his amazing and original work at tapastic.com/gomezalexj.
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