Sexy nerd

Is this some miraculous transformation, or something he takes on himself, or something someone else does to him? If he's that much of a nerd, I don't see how he could do it all himself, and if he had the help of someone else, they could introduce him to contact lenses maybe.

Regarding hairstyle, I'd go for dreadlocks.

Braid or shave the hair. Raid a cool sibling's closet. And pull out the pair of glasses that someone gave him for his birthday that were meant to update his look, but he never used because his clunkers worked just fine. (streamlines and rimless or ultra-modern). He's had them in his drawer for months, still in the case. Maybe even prescription sunglasses.

If he's an adolescent/teen then make sure his jeans are baggy. Lose the khakis. And a hoody/jumper or a cool t-shirt should do the trick. And it would be more ideal if he could get his hands on contact lenses, but you can get some pretty cool glasses nowadays.

What do you mean "becomes" attractive?

He sounds hot the way he is!

Though...dreadlocks alone would help a lot...

Cornrows have helped a lot of my friends out with the looks. Lose the button up shirt and move the pocket protector to the side jeans pocket. I need glasses and can function fine without them, Maybe he gets some cornrows and sometime latter in the night breaks his glasses.

Although, they are surprisingly tough. I was at a disturbed concert and had taken them out for disturbed. A body surfer got dropped on me, they got knocked off and jumped on. a lot. Though the frame was twisted it took nothing to put them back and get the left lens back in place. so it would need to be something serious to break his specks.

My ex-girlfriend (sob) would say he's hot the way he is.

Just so you know, most dreadlocks do NOT look good in one night. Most people say that, if you use good wax, they're presentable the next day, but they're usually really gnarly and sort of fake. They usually take about a couple weeks to a month to form, six months or more to form fully.

Everyone else covered what I was going to add...

d&f.

Why does his sexiness have to come from his physical appearance? Why can't it come from his previously unrecognized or under-appreciated personality, intelligence, sense of humor or his kindness? Why can't it come from something he does instead of some way he wears his hair or what clothes he puts on? It doesn't take too many years out of high school for most people to realize their original view of sexy was quite shallow and based on a what-would-the-crowd-think mentality rather than a what-do-I-think revelation.

Nerds aren't sexy?

I kind of find it unsettling that one would assume:

a) attractiveness is solely based on looks

b) that nerds are automatically categorized as unattractive

c) that we would place so much emphasis on the physical "attractiveness" of this character -- and that defines his sexiness


I think this is cliched, stereotyped, and predictable.


BTW, I think glasses are super sexy. Tina Fey... hello.

maestrowork said:

I kind of find it unsettling that one would assume:

a) attractiveness is solely based on looks

b) that nerds are automatically categorized as unattractive

c) that we would place so much emphasis on the physical "attractiveness" of this character -- and that defines his sexiness

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You're holding the world to too high an esteem. The whole reason the romance sections you see in bookstores exist are because of these very things, or the guy in them is "turned" from an ugly guy into the attractive guy he could always be. Shallow? Of course. But the attitude is very prevalent.

That being said:

I think this is cliched, stereotyped, and predictable.

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I completely agree. Those sorts of books might line the romance shelves, but they're cliched, and badly written, and stereotypical. I think the premise needs to be reworked. But that's just me, of course.

A big part of "sexy" is how the person in question feels about himself. His perception may be rooted in a dislike of his physical appearance, when he changes that appearance, he likes what he sees, so others notice the extra confidence.

I think of Wallace's transformation on Veronica Mars when you're referring to going from an afro to something else.

We have:

Afro!Wallace: http://tvdramas.about.com/od/veroni...-Photo-Gallery/Percy-Daggs-III-as-Wallace.htm

Then in one episode, he just suddenly has these dreads:
http://8d.img.v4.skyrock.net/8de/veronica-mars-high/pics/1328243682_small.jpg

Veronica comments on it and says something about his hair being all sexy or something like that. lol.


Anyways, I think he could also do a close shave a la this terribly out of focus picture:
http://www.mokers.org/blog/images/2008/03/tv/percy-daggs-orbit.png

(if there's concern about how long it takes for him to style the dreads)

As for switching to contacts, it's possible he got trial contacts in the mail or his parents got them for him. Anything's possible.

Personally, I do think glasses are sexy, as long as they're not the oversized, brightly colored glasses. I'm a sucker for a man in glasses

But I think what you're trying to do in your story is have him conform to the ideal of 'sexy' as defined by his peers. And unfortunately, kids in high school have a very narrow view of what is and isn't attractive.

I think the concerns voiced up thread are potentially valid concerns in re: a certain look=sexiness, but I'm sure you are going somewhere interesting with it. Like, maybe he changes only to realize that his best female friend (who is secretly in love with him) doesn't feel comfortable around him. Or to realize that the friends and girls he attracts now are shallow and he's bored with them, or... whatever.

This, like any plot, could go in a multitude of directions. It's all about the execution

Don't judge the book or the premise, because we don't know where he's going with this. For all we know, he's using this as a method of showing just how superficial and hive-like the typical (or at least typical teenage) views of attractiveness are and by the end of the book the nerd will have accepted who he is.

If he's an adolescent/teen then make sure his jeans are baggy

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Not unless he's standing on a Baltimore street corner selling coke.

I have to say...

Sometimes, no matter how much you act, you still wish you could look smoking hot.

God my thighs are huge.

dancingandflying said:

Just so you know, most dreadlocks do NOT look good in one night. Most people say that, if you use good wax, they're presentable the next day, but they're usually really gnarly and sort of fake. They usually take about a couple weeks to a month to form, six months or more to form fully.

Everyone else covered what I was going to add...

d&f.

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I just cut mine off after 7 years, and although it took me about eight hours in the first place (plus lots of back-combing and wax - apparently wax is NOT good to use on caucasian dreadlocks, as a black hairdresser told me later when I went to him to have them tidied about six months later), they did look good overnight. It was the following year which they did not look that great, but that's because my hair is straight and fine, and took some time to really form the dreads. Great dreads do take time.

However, the attitude towards me certainly did change overnight even if the dreads weren't perfect for a while. People treated me differently instantly (some negative, mostly positive - I got asked for drugs and cigarettes a lot more and called Rasta by French people *all* the time).

I'm guessing your character is black, and from what my black friends have told me, their hair is far more wirey and will dread much faster than hair like mine. Not sure how they look after just one day though.

Zoombie said:

What do you mean "becomes" attractive?

He sounds hot the way he is!

Though...dreadlocks alone would help a lot...

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Nivarion said:

Cornrows have helped a lot of my friends out with the looks. Lose the button up shirt and move the pocket protector to the side jeans pocket. I need glasses and can function fine without them, Maybe he gets some cornrows and sometime latter in the night breaks his glasses.

Although, they are surprisingly tough. I was at a disturbed concert and had taken them out for disturbed. A body surfer got dropped on me, they got knocked off and jumped on. a lot. Though the frame was twisted it took nothing to put them back and get the left lens back in place. so it would need to be something serious to break his specks.

My ex-girlfriend (sob) would say he's hot the way he is.

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Yeah...the guy is fine. What you need is a plot twist that drops him unexpectedly on a new love-object.

I like the irony of the following:

Girl A gets hold of him and fine-tunes his natural coolness.

Girl B...hitherto indifferent...begins to get the picture (Thanks to Girl B's fine-tuning)

Sadness approaches for Girl A. Girl B starts reworking her magic and things take off in a new direction.

With all that said....

I know of extremely "beautiful/attractive" people who are anything but sexy. Not sure why, but they're just not sexy. I think it's because there's no personality or soul behind those beautiful eyes or under all that gorgeous hair, or inside those magnificent bodies... They're as sexy as a nice looking floor tile.

The character I am thinking of right now who is both a gigantic nerd, but extremely sexy is Holly from The Office.

She's a big, giant dork, but good god she's sexy and cute.

Well, I think the right clothes to start with could be a great deal in improving the sexiness. Keep the jeans or khakis, give him some fitted tees over something baggier (no front pockets!); or a T-shirt with a jacket; maybe a cap--not a baseball cap, but more newsboy and without an emblem. Glasses or no glasses, doesn't really matter. A couple friends of mine always dress nicely like this, no matter where they're going, and we're always impressed with how sharp they look. One of these friends shaved his afro a few years back, and the shave suits him a lot better.

ETA: If it's your character actively making the change, I might suggest he would shave and do away with an afro. I say this because I think the "shock" of seeing someone you've always known with wildly different hair can kind of subdue other things. People will see how different he looks, but notice the hair more so than the fact he also changed the way he dresses. If that makes sense. So it's almost an easier transition to do one "shocking" thing, because it takes away from the fact he changed his clothes (even though that's also enhancing his whole image), but there's one major thing for people to be recognizing as different.

I know sometimes kids in school get picked on that first day they look different, because they're trying to "fit in." So if it's perceived that the most drastic thing he did was get a haircut, you know, then it might be easier. In that case I'd have him keep the glasses for a couple days, too, then ease into lenses every now and then.
How he feels about the way he looks will contribute to his confidence level, which is what others are getting at about sexiness being more about looks.

I thought afros/naturals were what the cool kids were wearing these days? Or is that just in Boston and New York?

IceCreamEmpress said:

I thought afros/naturals were what the cool kids were wearing these days? Or is that just in Boston and New York?

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I don't think there's anything specific. My friends have afros, cornrows, shaved ... Although I will say that my one friend who had cornrows and then shaved his head looked ten times better without them. He was getting compliments for days.

maestrowork said:

I know of extremely "beautiful/attractive" people who are anything but sexy. Not sure why, but they're just not sexy. I think it's because there's no personality or soul behind those beautiful eyes or under all that gorgeous hair, or inside those magnificent bodies... They're as sexy as a nice looking floor tile.

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Well said. Some people look flawless, but very bland at the same time, so they look more like barbie dolls than real people. Very pretty and neat but not sexy in any way.
But maybe I am shallow. I still need some of that conventional sexiness mixed in with a flaw. Gap-teeth for instance.

Fnaaaarr...

Hey this is my first post ever!

Anyway, when I think of Urkel, I imagine he would have an immediate change in attractiveness level is he just stood up straight with his shoulders back, and looked a little more confident. The way you hold yourself is a big factor in how people perceive you. Perhaps your character's transformation could include a lesson in posture?

Thanks for the deflowering.