028: New vest from Dozze

To quote Amanda Lepore, "I don't know much about clothes, but my hair looks fierce." I'd like to think that today I look almost as fierce as Ms. Lepore, courtesy of some new hair and a new vest.

I don't often get inspired to go on a selfie fashion shoot, but you know, it's kind of fun. I went to a bar called "The Hole" that's part of Cox Leather Land to see if I could get some biker-like atmosphere. No bikes or bikers in sight, but there was a lot of enigmatic-looking furniture that I thought made for some interesting pictures.

I liked this biker vest a lot when I saw it here while glancing through fashion blogs today, and more than one blog at that, so I went and bought one. It's the Wastrel Leather Vest, rigged mesh from Dozze, designed by Zevock Trenkins, and feels very comfortable. Beautiful textures and cut for a muscular shape. It fits well with the included alpha and I had no problems with their XL size, which is sometimes the case from other designers. You have your choice of 4 colours at L$345 (black, brown, grey, red) and the fatpack for L$830. Each vest comes with ten choices of colour via HUD for the underlying T-shirt, which alas is mandatory, but the T-shirt textures and colours are elegantly understated. Dozze apparently sells only in Marketplace and the store is found here.

The Dozze store is worth looking at for a couple of reasons, one of which is, this is how you organize a store on Marketplace, so if you are floundering, here is a good model to follow. There are a couple of hundred items representing various colour choices of a limited range of garments, and each has its easily accessed demo and affiliated fatpack.

For me, the interesting part was that all the clothes fit together as a coherent look. In terms of colours and styles and attitudes, you could feel confident that if one of the garments suited your style, it all would. That for me is rare. I've seen large stores in SL helmed by excellent designers who can sustain two or three different looks for the same label, and I get that. But here I feel like I've just discovered a designer who knows how to do a single thing really well and sticks to that. If Zevock Trenkins did two or three such looks in a full wardrobe, either the Marketplace store would be unwieldy and overlarge or there would have to be an SL-based clicks and mortar location, and more marketing, yada yada. Less fun, more work. This caters to the kind of SL guy who wants to throw something on, everything fits, it looks great, and you look like you thought about what you were wearing. And if you dressed like this in RL, those doormen at the downtown clubs might be unlatching that rope a little faster <grin>. So a guy who wants to look put together could do worse -- a LOT worse -- than just go buy the entire line and then you're pretty much done for a year.

There seems to be a lot of good thought and perhaps some real-life experience behind this line, and I intend to keep an eye on Dozze. Check it out.

My new hair is fierce, I think. "Hayate" from Argrace, and I think I also spotted this in the blog feed today. I still like my last favourite, but it had not managed to maintain looking all messy and charming and One Direction/Hugh Grant/Andy Hardy-ish like when I bought it; instead, it looked like someone who was too busy to get a damn haircut and it kept falling in his face. This may have something to do with my real-life need for a haircut; sometimes art imitates life. So I was in the mood for something a bit more restrained and I thought this -- like everything from Argrace -- looked expensive and understated. I had to tweak its size and position a little but I think it was an investment of time well spent.

Hair: "Hayate" from Argrace Hair (get the demo here); mine is Ash Black and the XXL size fits my overly-large head quite nicely.
Vest and T-shirt: Dozze (by Zevock Trenkins); the vest in black is found here.
Skin: Redgrave "Cruz"
Eyes: MADesigns, "Soul"
Tattoo: Identity: Into Darkness
Ring: Chop Zuey, "The Gambler" (from the current Men Only Hunt)

018: Clothes -- some philosophy (Part 1 of 2)

If your Second Life experience is anything like mine, you are nowhere near in the position of the guy in the barrel, above. It's more probable that your inventory makes you think of this situation:



Except perhaps a lot more messy and disorganized. At least, mine used to be.  Some people I've talked to about this issue have said that their inventory is basically about 20,000 items that are in a big heap in their inventory folder, which is kind of like having a huge empty walk-in closet and everything you own in a big heap on the floor of the spare room. Some people just don't intuitively grasp the idea of inventory. So if you haven't actually bought another copy of something because you cannot locate the first one in your inventory, you can take heart that you're not the worst-off Second Life resident I've ever met. (No names, but you know who you are.)

Cheer up! It's easy to fix. It only takes two ideas; one concrete, one abstract. The concrete contribution I can make is to give you a pattern for creating nested folders inside your inventory so that you'll have a way of finding things you're looking for. The abstract contribution is to give you a framework to think about the things you own in Second Life; what you need, why you need it, and how to stop acquiring too much stuff that you never use. Fair warning in advance, it will also take you an hour or two to get an organized inventory underway; making the folders, sorting your existing possessions into the system, etc. I know, I know, this is not why you came to Second Life. But for most of us, it costs a certain amount of money to keep our virtual wardrobes fresh and useful; if you want to get the most for your money, all you need to do is manage your inventory a little more diligently and with an overriding idea in mind.

And here's a helpful hint you may find amusing but useful, once you get the hang of it. Once you have your system in place, the best way to sequester some time to manage your inventory is by ... going dancing. Many times when you might think I was the happy guy dancing away in the middle of the floor and carrying on a bunch of IM conversations, what I'm really doing is sorting inventory and monitoring the main channel and listening to music while my av takes care of the dancing duties.

012: Nice outfit, Fenton! (Fenton.Luik)

Aqua on a Saturday night is always crowded and fun, especially when Lex Solari-Holland is DJing and his partner Christian Holland-Solari is hosting -- I think I heard Christian say there were 35 guys on the dance floor and I can believe it. Popular events like that are always laggy, and I was in the middle of about six conversations at once with friends, but when I spotted Fenton (Fenton.Luik) in a corner of the dance floor with his partner DannyA (DannyAyers) I figured I had my next "Nice outfit!" post.



It's not just that he's wearing a great white T-shirt from Redgrave -- which made me envious and pissed off at the same time, because Redgrave doesn't make clothes that fit l'Uomo bodies.  Part of it has to do with the fact that I wasted some money today buying myself a white T-shirt that doesn't fit worth a damn -- the usual holes in the rear shoulders and a prim attachment at the bottom that doesn't even line up with the top layer.  Aaaarrrgh.  Isn't that a great Redgrave T-shirt, though?  It looks like something that a guy would wear in RL, maybe somebody with a nice muscular body who doesn't feel compelled to wear Lycra or Spandex and let everyone know every ounce of his bulking progress at the gym. Instead, this is shaped like it's on a man's natural body. I even took a photo from the back to show that the T-shirt is carefully shaped to look like there's a natural waistband of a pair of jeans underneath it.  The sleeves of the T-shirt end right where they should to show an armband tattoo right where men actually have them. And the neckline is exactly the shape it would be if a thick cotton T-shirt had been washed a couple of times.  Emilia Redgrave is a really, really good designer, isn't she?



It was the T-shirt that interested me, but then I liked the whole look that went with it. I took a shot of Fenton's lower half just so you could see that the whole outfit goes together to create a consistent look. He looks -- normal. No fuss, no jewelry, simple haircut, and even an ordinary pair of everyday white trainers. Understated, natural, very masculine, and the whole outfit works together to give the viewer a picture of a guy who has the good sense to let his natural good looks be discovered by the passer-by's eye rather than calling attention to them.

Don't get me wrong. His partner DannyA (in the cut-off T-shirt that says "Baiter" on the front) is also a handsome guy with a consistent look who looks like he dressed to go out to the club; a little more put together, a little more stylish, and showing a bit more six-pack. And, since he's in a club filled with gay men, that makes perfect sense; he's dressed for where he is, which is always appropriate. Fenton looks like he might have been running a little late and didn't have time to go home and change after the gym, or a day of errands, or something ordinary like walking the dog. I like that idea a lot, because it's the look of someone who doesn't dress for where they're going, they dress for who they are. It's a philosophy that can take you anywhere, in either RL or SL. Maybe it's just that I always tend to assume that men who are dressed simply and well have a confident personality, and confidence is always attractive. Fenton turned out to be a nice, confident, and friendly guy, just as you'd expect; he looks like what he is.  And that always looks good.

Nice outfit, Fenton!



 

 

 

 

008: Nice outfit, Dev! (Devlin.Fellstein)

I was at a St.  Patrick's Day dance at daPier tonight and saw a handsome guy, Dev (Devlin.Fellstein) who didn't feel compelled to show up head to toe in green -- unlike me in the background, ogling him from the rear ;-)  There was a bunch of hot men there, including bloggers Ziggy Starsmith and host Ryce Skytower, but Dev really stood out for me.



It wasn't just the outfit, although that was confident and elegantly simple; blue jeans, white T-shirt, black jacket, knee-high black boots. I liked the restrained choice of accessories, a simple necklace and an unobtrusive ring -- no obvious tattoos, no stretched earlobes, pierced lips or hair streaked with Kool-Aid colours. He looked like a handsome guy I would look at twice if he passed me on the street in RL. In particular, I liked the shape and especially the eyes. Dev was nice enough to tell me that the eyes are from IKON and the shape from Zim (as will be my custom in this type of post, I won't be giving detailed shopping information; Dev deserves to not see his restrained good looks duplicated all over SL). The jacket is from Immerschoen and if you look closely, it's nicely designed to make you suspect that the shoulders hidden beneath are attractively muscled.

I'm not sure if it's the combination of the shape and eyes, especially the distance between the eyes and the high cheekbones; what this handsome face made me think of is someone who's half East Indian or perhaps Middle Eastern. Again, the hallmark is subtlety. A handsome man with an unusual face who has gone with a simple haircut and minimal facial hair (and Dev told me that he's kept his look pretty much the same for three years! gutsy and solid) is a set of good choices. Nice outfit, Dev!

005: Nice outfit! (wolf Niseru)

I was out dancing this afternoon at Terra Lascivus when I spotted a guy who had thought out what he wanted to look like, and done a good job of putting it together: wolf Niseru.  I liked the contrast of the sleeveless hoodie with the shorts, and the huge suspenders hanging down, and the oversized boots. I think the hoodie and shorts come from SZD Fashion -- I didn't get a comment from wolf so this is just my best guess.

To me, this looks like good street fashion for a young guy who isn't shy about showing off his body; everything works together to create a picture of a certain kind of guy, and that to me is good fashion.  No false notes, nothing unnecessary, and a good colour palette based on black. Nice outfit!

002: Shoulder holes

I was at a wedding reception this afternoon for two nice guys, Vady Halston-Darwin and his husband Wes Darwin-Halston. (Congratulations again, you two: long life and happiness!) The location was beautiful, the guests were having a good time, the music was great, and in Second Life, if people compliment the food, you know you've done something special -- a table of gumbo and other southern delicacies to match the Mardi Gras theme was a delightful idea.

The invitation said "Casual/Mardi Gras", but, you know, for a wedding reception, you want to show up looking like you took a little bit of trouble if only so you'll look nice in the pictures. Unfortunately, what with one thing and another, I didn't have a lot of time to put together an outfit. In fact I had approximately ten minutes, which was only enough time to find a shirt that covered my navel.  Seriously -- it's the first time in weeks that my navel has been covered. My go-to outfit these days is a little tank top and a pair of low-cut jeans.

Now, that has to do with a couple of things. Principally it has to do with the fact that there's not as much available for a l'Uomo avatar in the way of clothes as there are for non-mesh bodies. Non-mesh avs can go and get a well-designed business suit "off the rack" and it will fit them beautifully; they can shop at hundreds of stores, perhaps thousands. I'm not sure how many stores sell clothes for l'Uomo avs, but I think it's fewer than 50. The other thing that affects my wardrobe choices is that -- well, I've chosen to look like a professional bodybuilder, and the designers who design for my body have borne that in mind when they design clothes. As I have half-jokingly remarked in the past, I only have a few choices for the "looks" from which I can select: off-duty stripper, off-duty escort, off-duty personal trainer, on-duty leatherman or nudist. The T-shirt and jeans you see in the picture are very nearly as sedate as I can get without going to my all-purpose tuxedo. I've seen one or two business suits for l'Uomo avs and, while I'm sure they're well designed, a guy my size just looks like a dressed-up gorilla either in RL or SL.



But if you have a good close look at my lousy photograph by clicking to expand it, you'll see something else that's a problem. It's a little easier to see in the second picture; it looks as though there are holes in the shirt over the rear head of my shoulder muscle; if they weren't so symmetrical, it might have been that someone splashed me with acid, or that I flexed my muscles the wrong way and tore the shirt. As most of you will know, what it means is that I'm not wearing the correct alpha layer between my mesh skin and my shirt. And I think you know that it's just as tacky to go out to a wedding reception with holes in your shirt in SL as it would be in RL.

I have to confess, I'm not absolutely sure how this all works, in a technical sense, but it's something that I constantly find infuriating. I can only rarely manage to find a shirt/alpha combination that manages to cover my shoulders properly -- when I do, I immediately save it so I can go back to it, and I'm never really sure that it's going to work properly when I return to that outfit. I know that alphas hide what's underneath them and don't allow your skin to show through your T-shirt; I have no idea how it works, though. And what I find truly annoying is that whether it works properly or not can depend upon which order you add your layers, which is kind of like magical thinking. It's almost as though you have to cross your fingers in real life to make it work.

As it happens, it always seems to be my shoulders that poke through my shirts, and so I have come to rely on tank tops. And that means that I am misleading the designers who want me to look like an off-duty personal trainer. ("See, he wants to look like that, so let's do more tank tops and crop tops!") So out of this experience today, two things. (1) I would like to have an ordinary button-down dress shirt that covers me above the waist, with no holes, maybe -- and this is just a wild suggestion here -- maybe with an included alpha layer and directions on what to put on first. (2) My apologies to Vady and Wes for showing up at their beautiful and cleverly-planned wedding reception looking like a doofus.  I had a great time, and feel free to crop me and my stupid shoulders out of the pictures.

001: Sitting on my deck

This is a selfie I took at my house this afternoon. Again, this is at the level of most of the snapshots I take -- I'll see if I can improve for the future.  Actually I'm sitting on the beach in front of my deck; you can barely see my house behind my head, but you can see the beautiful blue-flowered trees I picked up recently and which I enjoy so much.

One reason for posting this is that I wanted to get some practice in identifying items.  All links below are to Marketplace.

Hair:Dura, Dura-Boy 22
Facial hair:
Goat beard: Labyrinth
Beard: Fe Style 4ED
Eyebrows: Jaryth's Barber Shop
Body hair (shoulders): Jaryth's Barber Shop

Skin: RGDW, Alfred (Tone 3)
Eyes: KMADD Mesh Eyes, Soul: Brown 2
Tank Top: HUG'S (available for l'Uomo and non-l'Uomo)
Shape: Made by hand, not for sale
Mesh avatar: Animations Rising, Bruce

Of course, there are a couple of tricks up my sleeve that I'll keep to myself; I've put a lot of work into perfecting my shape.  I intend to talk about this at greater length in a future post, but you get the best results by making sure that your shape is tweaked until it shows off your specific skin to its best advantage.