Geek Chic

Like many females my age, the search for interesting, reasonably-priced leggings has become an epic quest. There aren’t a ton of options and the ones you run across are outrageously priced. As I googled and re-googled my search, I started becoming discouraged. I’m not a typical girl, I don’t follow trends and generally wear black shirts so I don’t have to figure out how things match. Yea, that kind of person. But when I started seeing these leggings popping up, I realized this was a perfectly comfortable, yet stylish way of flying my geek pride colors. I could wear these to work with a long sweater and get away with it. Oh, the exciting possibilities! My first thought when I saw the generally accepted prices were I could probably make these myself. I’m just that type of person.

TeeFury started offering leggings a few weeks ago. I have tons of TeeFury shirts and have watched them expand like a rabbit family over the last year or so. Their original, simple concept is a winning one. If you've never bought a shirt from TeeFury, the idea is most shirts are only offered for that day and are designed by fans. Many times the shirts are cross-geekdom and completely irresistable. As an added bonus, the price is perfect. A standard size shirt is $11 and shipping is usually only a few bucks. For less than $20, you have these cleverly designed shirts that are unique and rare. Then they started expanding their merchandise by offering Women’s and Toddler sizes. More recently, TeeFury starting offering custom sneakers, posters and, the aforementioned, leggings.

I love to browse Kickstarter for cool new inventions, clever board games and exciting graphic novels. Recently I came across Heathen, a new graphic novel project from Oklahoma-based artist Natasha Alterici. After reading the synopsis, I immediately backed her project. I then contacted Natasha to learn more about the project, her interest in comic books, and herself. 

Tell me a little about yourself and how you came to be doing a Kickstarter for this graphic novel project? What drew you, no pun intended, to the comic medium? And who are done of your artistic influences? Your style on Heathen reminds me of Ashley Wood, which isn't a bad thing!

Let's just set the record straight before we even start here, I am far from a fashionista. But I am, however, a certified geek. I was raised on a healthy diet of comics, Star Wars, Star Trek, and wrestling. Growing up in a family of boys, I didn't have much of an opportunity for princesses and glitter. I did, though, have the X-Men and X-Factor living on the balcony of the Barbie dream house.

On that note, I recently decided to bring my love of pop culture to my wardrobe. I've always been a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl, but, being a teacher, I can't wear that to school. So, I've endeavored to drag myself into the 21^st century and invest in leggings. My first set of leggings, of course, had to push the boundaries. Frankly, who needs standard black leggings when you can have Marvel characters splashed across the sides?