Mischief Managed (Almost)

Tonight’s blog posting will not be about the 30 x 30. Instead, in homage to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 that I am not attending (I’m going Saturday morning), it’ll be about my (unhealthy) obsession with Harry Potter, the Series About Him, and how to declare your nerdiness fashionably.

As you may have noticed when I featured my Golden Snitch necklace in a recent post, I love all things Wizarding. Today, my mom fed my obsession by giving me a Ravenclaw tie that she purchased for me at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter on her vacation (Soooooo jealous!!!). That brings my total of Wizarding clothing items and accessories to four (not including the many, many books I have on the subject):

Ravenclaw scarf (sorry about the blurriness)

Sirius Black’s wand (thanks, Dustin!)

Golden Snitch necklace

Ravenclaw tie (thanks, Mom!)

My tie is awesome, and not just because it’s a Ravenclaw tie. One of the things I like about both it and my Snitch necklace is that they’re not tackily Wizarding. For example, if you saw me on the street wearing this tie and you didn’t know anything about Harry’s world, you’d probably just think that it was a cool tie. Same thing with the Snitch necklace – even my fellow HP nerds took a few minutes to identify it because it’s SUBTLE. And that, my friends, is the way to declare your nerdiness – unobtrusively. If you’re a Star Wars nerd and you love Han Solo, wear pants like his with the Corellian Bloodstripe down the sides. Normal people will think you have interesting pants – SW nerds (like myself) will get the reference pretty quickly and give you a nod of recognition (or obnoxious squealing). Thinkgeek.com (one of my favorite websites) also has belt buckles shaped like the Rebel and Imperial symbols that are pretty nifty.

One thing I will NEVER do (any more) is wear a Harry Potter t-shirt (except maybe to the gym). My darling mother knew this, and actually called me to see what I wanted from the Wizarding World, though she was a little incredulous when I asked for a tie.

Bonus: I now know how to tie a Windsor knot (though my grandfather taught me, not this website), which I consider a pretty useful skill. Especially since half the guys I’ve dated didn’t know how to tie a tie either, which was awkward a couple of times.

 

I also understand why most guys hate ties – you’re supposed to button ALL the buttons, which leads to a distinct choking feeling. Guys – it’s not the tie that’s choking you – it’s the shirt. So THERE! Ties are awesome. Every guy should wear them. Loose.

Personally, I think ties look better (on both guys and girls) when they’re pulled loose and the shirt is more open. That’s probably how I’m going to be wearing mine most of the time, anyway. Like this.

And now that I've got it tied all nice and pretty, I'm going to just keep it in that knot because I'm lazy.

Finally, just for kicks, here’s me, an eager young(ish) Ravenclaw on my first day at Hogwarts! I know, I know, I’m not wearing a robe. I have one, believe it or not (I knew that graduation robe would come in handy one day), but it’s at my parents' house right now.

And then here’s me AFTER my first day at Hogwarts.

 What? Magic is hard!

Yes, I plan on wearing this tie with other outfits. And no, this wasn't my outfit for the day. Hush. 

Tie: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (gift)

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Forever 21

Shoes: Steve Madden

Scarf: WarnerBros.com

Necklace: ViperCoraraDesigns from Etsy

Wand: WarnerBros.com (gift)