Geeky Glamorous Blog Creates an Art Show to Celebrate the Female Fan
From 1928 Jewelry's Captain America earrings and Lazy Oaf's Batman dresses to Black Milk's Star Wars bathing suits, the famed characters of comic books and genre films have been making fashionable waves and Angeleno Mandie Bettencourt has the scoop. For just over a year, her Geeky Glamorous blog has been keeping readers updated on the latest in licensed apparel and crafty finds that are a far cry from your run-of-the-mill Green Lantern t-shirts. 
Liz Ohanesian Wear It As a Hat by Mary Winkler
Saturday night, Geeky Glamorous took over Melrose Avenue boutique/art gallery Japan LA for a show dedicated to the girls that inhabit the world of the superfan. The show featured work from artists like Camilla d'Errico and Mr. Toast and even boasted a Millennium Falcon dress made by crafty Star Wars fan Jennifer Landa. Bettencourt says that "Geeky Glamorous: The Art Show" has been a big boost for her blog's readership. "People are more curious about fashion," she says. "They didn't realize that there were all these vendors who specialized in the kind of things that they wanted, whether it's skirts with Mass Effect or Minecraft or whatever their fandom is."
Born and raised in Orange County, Bettencourt has spent the past decade going to fan conventions like Anime Expo and San Diego Comic-Con. "I got addicted to them," she says. "I had to go to any convention, whether it was anime or video games or comic books."
Liz Ohanesian Geeky Glamorous headband by Messy Pink
These events provided the seeds for Geeky Glamorous. Initially, Bettencourt had intended to simply document her adventures at the cons. Soon, she was reporting on "geek fashion," the unusual appropriations of beloved franchises that you'll see in convention booths and online.
Bettencourt considers video games her "number one nerd love." The first character she ever cosplayed was Rikku from Final Fantasy X. She recalls her first attempt at cosplay with a laugh, saying "I don't want to think about it." Last year, she turned up at San Diego Comic-Con dressed as a gender-bent version of Mega Man. And, after a year at fashion school in New York, she returned to Southern California to earn a degree in video game design. 
Liz Ohanesian The Seeing Eye Helmet by Camilla D'errico
Even with a few video game internships and jobs under her belt, Bettencourt realized that she still had a keen interest in fashion. She wondered how she could combine her two loves. With Geeky Glamorous, she's able to do that. She even launched an accessories line that includes jewelry based on the game controller that serves as the Geeky Glamorous logo.
Up next: the state of female fandom
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Japan LA
7320 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA
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