Errr its Thingy

So there I was at the AAi on a Tuesday, yeah I am that predictable, having fun listening to Claire Thingy play some awesome tunes. All the usual suspects were present: Graz Thingy, Meri and Thom Thingy, Josie Thingy, Sean Thingy indeed the entire Thingy clan, not forgetting Thingy Thingy in her sharp loafers and green Perry polo shirt! It was a great night full of great tunes by Thingy and his mates The Thingys. Awesome!

Aside from all the bizarre Thingyness, and some visitors bringing a suitcase of bling and complaining about lag [lose the leather upgrade from the old Spectrum chaps] other strange things happening were unusually absent. Graz was on his best behaviour, Sean restricted his prowling and Claire played some blinding tracks. I nipped out for a cuppa and when I returned a few people had drifted away, I didnt realise it was MY mere presence keeping them there. Despite the casualties the club was still pretty full and those who remained were quality and really enjoyed themselves. However I too was a victim of real life timings and failed to make it to the 23.00hrs deadline as I bailed out with half an hour to go. This real life stuff can be a real pain!

So having logged off I left Albion waiting in perpetual virtuality at the AAi until I relog and head off to Soul Mods, or any other event that shuffles out of the cobwebs. If you can cope with the enormous lag FREE lag that envelops the AAi I suggest you get on your scooter, broomstick of mini, but leave the leather chaps and choppers at home please, and get your bottoms wiggling down to the club for a great night out. Dugi appreciates a good wiggle so get that thing going ladies. Its fun its a laugh its all fiction and at the end of the day isnt that what a virtual night out is al about. Hope to see you there. Dont be shy we dont bite, well Sean does but only in a metaphorical rather than a literal sense so you'll be quite safe, besides unless your Scottish you wont understand him anyway! By the way I'm the one they call Grandmaster THINGY!

Happenings in the Virtual World

After spending yesterday trampling the Lakeland fells in the rain pursuing game I can guarantee that the virtual life is much easy on middle aged knees and feet. So I have slapped a Norman Wisdom film [yes that right film, not a bloody movie I'm a Brit not a blinkin' colonial, howdy you wonderful American folk love ya!! and I was brought up on films not on movie, on a Saturday morning I went to the pictures.s End of movie rant] on I-Player; grabbed a mug of coffee and thought I'd have a warble on my poorly neglected blog on the happening in the virtual world of mod. There's only about half a dozen of us but we have fun.

First off, I am back on Phoenix which makes Second Life much easier.And despite the lure of the post Stella sofa I have also managed to attend a couple of cool virtual events. Headed to the AAi and heard Kim play some cool ska and beat tunes. There was a good turnout of people there and we all had a great laugh whilst listening to some very cool tunes. Then I wandered out of my mod comfort zone and attend the AAi on a Wednesday for the indie night with Graz DJing. As there were a few of us cool virtual mods present Graz slipped the odd mod tune onto his play list to keep us sweet. I opted to continue with my new bowler look, faded jeans, boots and T-Shirt to ska stomp my way through the indie music night. Mods are adaptable y'know, virtual ones especially so.

Continued with the bowler hat theme on my return to Soul Mods where Eden was spinning the tunes, she looked kind of scruffy but we cant all be virtual fashion messiahs everyday can we. I went with a smart Madness look: crombie, two tone jeans boots and the Fred Perry. All the sharp geezers and girls were present and we heard some fantastic tunes had a great laugh and chilled away for a couple of hours. It had been quite a while since I had heard Eden deliver a set and the intervening gap has done nothing to dull her ear for a sharp tune. She played several and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, although Slate in hes "jam shoes" and Lupo just being Lupo sent me spiralling down the cool ladder, gits hahaha.

I stuck with this look through into Friday night at Soul Mods where DJ Tabs was ion the decks and blasting out some foot stomping Motown tracks. The tunes sounded fantastic the crowd seemed eager to have fun and we enjoyed a fourth night of great music in good company in the midst of the virtual world. Sadly the demands of the real world meant I cut short my stay at Soul Mods on the Friday night, which meant I missed out on Slate's rezz party at the OSR HQ. Hope they had a great laugh and listened to some awesome tunes, that's what the virtual life is for. So nothing much to comment on, the same jokes same people different tunes and fun all the way through. Lets keep it virtual and leave the hill walking to the young uns.

ciao

D56D92FD-ECF1-C0C8-6869-DA08ED2E0310

1.03.01

Modernist Fashion in SL

All this football on TV and its effect on the virtual world has had me scurrying around looking for suitably mod football items. The obvious route is to draw your influences from the casuals fashion styling and so a neat track top was an immediate priority on my list, and I was again lucky on XStreet and found this fine England track top made  by Graphic Macarthur who currently has no store as this item is his first and only design but he mentioned in an IM that he planned to open a store when he had created sufficient items with which to stock it. Okay the St George, Three Lions graphics may not appeal to your sense of nationality but it should be appreciated for it mod sensibilities. As a first design I was mightily impressed with the texturing, the graphical quality of the design, sharp and simple - a classic piece of modernist fashion. And, I was delighted to file it in my Mod Casuals folder alongside my Fila and other casuals inspired fashion items. There are some fine football items out there at the moment some lend themselves to the mod look easier than others, and some nationalities sit within the mod culture easier than others. Be bold take a look and grab something suitably iconic, personally I think its a struggle to better this. You may well equal it but better it, I'm unconvinced. Its been matched with the classical mod white jeans from the Unknown Boutique and also another iconic mod fashion piece a Fred Perry polo shirt from FS Design . Slap on your shades and pose at will, its coming home!

England Jacket

We are Mods!!

Look out for Mark Feld, aka Bolan, as a teenage North London mod.

Modernist Fashion in SL

I grabbed these FREE Hoorenbeek trousers last weekend and think they are a great addition to my wardrobe, Hoorenbeek are a premium virtual brand so anything free from them is worth snatching immediately. As ever, the texture work on this item is magnificent, and it comes in regular and low-rise version; plus with or without prim cuffs so they are covering all bases and increasing the versatilty of the item. Olive green a classic retro sixties modernist colour, dark and sombre but not as conservative as a grey or black. Matched up with this great beige/brown Fred Perry and some great suede loafers the trousers create a nice mod look, ideal for chilling at a club or posing in front of a multi-coloured wall whilst convulsed in a bout of virtual vanity. No longer available for FREE, nevertheless Hoorenbeek do have regular monthly freebies available so keep an eye out. In the meantime take a tp and check out the store, whilst they move towards the expensive end of the virtual fashion pyramid they are creative conservative designers and produce some outstanding items; many that ideally suit a sixties brief.

ciao

Fun at the AAi

Tuesday saw me visit the Twisted Wheel to catch an early set before jumping on my Vespa and heading across the grid to the AAi; to catch Edens set. With Kim's computer still duffed Eden is playing the full two hours, no mean feat to keep everything musically fresh. But, unsurprisingly she managed it beautifully with a wide range of beat and garage bands, pumping out a throaty stream of top tunes.

The regular gang of sixties chill outs were in attendance, the usual spiel was spun and everyone had enormous amounts of fun, is there a better way to spend a virtual evening than in front of the computer laughing with friends and chilling to some terrific music. I think not, the scene may be small in the scale of the global village but its dynamic passionate and above all bags of fun.

Eden looked resplendant in her Aoharu, parka ... yes it made her bum look big but its a virtual world just fiddle with that prim. So good in fact that I took mine off, Sean was strutting with his handbag and natty scarf, looks cool that scarf I should get one perhaps!! There were Fred Perrys aplenty and cool ska T-Shirts a full scale riot of modernist fashion. Awesome, lets hope a few more chilled designs come our way.

Unfortunately I had to leave with thirty minutes of the set left, hopefully I'll get rid of the pesky cold and be on full burn by next week.

It didnt, I even missed Thursday night at Soul Mods!

Modernist Fashion in SL

There I was stuck on another freezing cold day, locked away in the back room that masquerades as a study but is actually where I dump my stuff, yeah guy stuff cds dvds etc. When I am trapped in this wintery limbo what better than to hop onto my virtual scooter and go strolling arounf the virtual stores of Second Life.

I forget how I discovered Niniko and Ninikoboy, it may have been via a blog or search, maybe a friend passed me a landmark but I found myself wandering the store and noting they had a couple of cool modernist items. I really liked the red vest [tank top really does sound quaint, so Iopted for the Americanised vest ,,, traitor to my language, hangs head in shame], which comes in several colours. It has a prim hem and prim shoulder pieces which i found less than convincing when worn with my shape. Fine for posing for snaps where they can be manipulated but less so for everyday wanderings, maybe I have just set my shoulders too large and I need a more metrosexual shape. Worn with a white polo and jeans the vest looks classically mod and has a wide range of possibilities as it comes as various layers. I have said it before but versatility is the key, multilayering the way forward.

As I wandered the store I notice some items were exclusive to the Trilogy Rainytown sim store, so hopping on a LM I catapulted myself over there to do some investigating.

The Trilogy sim seems to be set above a cool reproduction of a tube station, in wet and grim England, the stores have a similar feel and its a cool street to park up on your scooter for the odd snap. But, rather than explore I was here to grab a Ninikoboy shirt. I was thinking of buying another white shirt with a neat prim blacck tie but changed my mind and opted for the black shirt instead. Worn with cool black trousers from Armidi and a neat modernist checkered nelt the shirt/tie combination has a very mod feel and slips neatly into my NeoMod wardrobe.

Trilogy
NINIKO AND NINIKOBOY

Modernist Fashion in SL

Redgrave Sweater

This superbly textured sky blue sweater screams quality; its well known across the grid that Redgrave products donot come cheap but the quality is there to be seen and sometimes it is worth splashing out a few lindens to get that cool item that creates an image and highlights the other items your wearing. The sharp Aitui trousers and classic white Fred Perry look great here alongside the wonderful sky blue of a beautifully crafted creation.

Not really an original feature of the sixties nmodernist look the V-Necked sweater has become an essential pillar in the NeoMod sttyle through the influence of casuals fashion, alongside: track, jackets, other sports wear and trainers. The merging of the casuals with the modernists styling has opened fashion doors and allows more flexibilty in your virtual modernist look.

Shiki Cardigan

Shiki make some marevelous clothing that is ideally suit to be absorbed into our virtual modernist fashion designs. This great cardigan [a FREE gift check if its still available] looks fantastic worn with my trusty freebie Diesel jeans and the sharp FS Designs Fred Perry.

Again this look is a casuals standard adopted into my NeoModernist styling. The contrasting blues of the navy coloured sweater and faded blue jeans works well, with the classic white polo not confusing the colour scheme allowing the blues to work with each other to create a sharp, clean look. Although unseen, when matched with some cool white trainers this is a sharp look for any virtual mod heading out clubbing or kicking back in a coffee house to chat and chill.

Sweaters and cardigans are widely available across thre grid so shop carefully some are illconceived and poorly made others are further gorgeous pieces of virtual creation, I only wish I had the talent to produce my own.

Other places to look for the definitive mod sweater would be:

• ModSquad Designs
• Dyn
• Muism
• Juice
• Alienation

There are plenty of options available just grab some lindens, be brave and go virtual shopping, they wont bite honest.

Modernist Fashion in SL

Fred Perry Shirts

An iconic polo shirt for skinheads, rude boys and mods the Fred Perry [buttoned up] is the crux of many modernist fashion statements. It is sharp enough to looks cool with a crombie or suit; whilst also being chilled enough to look good with jeans in a more relaxed style. A fashion essential for all neoMods it has fashion applications throughout several British fashion movements and still remains a stalwart of any true modernists wardrobe.

Polo shirts can be found throughout the grid, and some of these can be of use to the virtual modernist. However to clearly define your modernist look a designer incorporating several key elements into his design is crucial for that sharp mod look. If the polo looks like a Fred Perry success is guaranteed; and, amongst the best is the range from FS Model and Design.

The designs incorporate all the classic Fred Perry elements. Solid colours, simple twin stripe detailing on the collar and sleeve, plus crucially the laurel leaf logo on the breast, they look and feel like authentic Fred Perry shirts, If your looking to be a virtual skin head; or rude boy, or mod , or casual you need a shirt like this to justify your modernist existence. So get one !!!!

FS Model and Design