Girl Nerd Costume Ideas

Who better to give you girl nerd costume ideas for Halloween than an actual nerd? I prefer the term geek, actually, but both apply and at my age I'm comfortable enough in my own skin to know it.

I don't think I've worn such an outfit for trick or treating myself but only because you're supposed to dress up as something other than your normal self and if you dress as a nerd every other day of the year then you want to be something different for Halloween.

Embarrassing Proof I'm a Nerd

• I started wearing glasses when I was 12
• I have an above average IQ
• The only reason I got on the ballot in high school for the Winter Dance Queen was because my English teacher nominated me for my good grades
• I read Wikipedia in my spare time (currently reading the biographies of all the kings of England in order of succession)
• There's not a single fashion magazine in my house
• It may be weeks in between my putting on any makeup
• I was president of the Future Business Leaders of America my senior year in high school
• Placed 1st in my state and 8th in the country in an accounting competition in 1985
• Accounting was my major in college
• Went into banking
• At 46 years old I still watch the Disney Channel
• Numbers and spreadsheets are my friends
• I'm the resident IT expert in my household
• I've watched Revenge of the Nerds more than 5 times (um...and the sequels)

When it comes to recognizing my peers, I'm pretty good and can spot a fellow nerd girl a mile away.  I have some great ideas for costumes including popular female nerds from television, movies, books, history, and celebrities and can tell you how to dress up as each one. 

The Typical Halloween Nerd Costumes

There are always the standard ideas, of course:

• School girl with glasses, mismatched clothes and a backpack
• Hot school girl with uniform and glasses
• Librarian costume for women
• I Love Nerds Teen Costume

But there are so many more options and it isn't all about the glasses - although those are almost required to pull off the look - without them your costume might not be obvious to anyone else.

The perfect girl nerd outfit has to exaggerate the elements that define the character's geekiness.  It's not just the glasses, it's having ugly glasses or broken glasses that have tape in the middle.  It's not not just about putting your hair in pigtails but making them either overly done or really crooked.

Not that you have to dress ugly to pull off looking like a nerd this Halloween.  In many cases a nerd is just a pretty girl who doesn't care about how she looks or hasn't figured out how to play to her physical strengths.   Think Anne Hathaway's character in The Princess Diaries:

 

Right from that movie we have one idea.  Just do the reverse of what they did to make Mia pretty:

• Frizz out your hair so it looks wildly out of control (use a lot of hairspray)
• Pencil in extra thick eyebrows as if you've never tweezed them before
• Add the black rimmed glasses
• Wear a blue blazer, white blouse, plaid mini skirt, knee high socks, a tie and shoes
• Add an emblem to the blazer that says "Nerd" for extra impact
• Skip all other makeup

I've got a whole list of cute nerd costume ideas you can buy or make for 2013 and will keep adding them to this site.  Just let me find my spreadsheet...