Modernist Fashion in SL

One of the great stores in Second Life is Style Extrem, Upper Man and Happy End who stock many items worthy of inclusion in a revivalist, casualist, indie NeoMod wardrobe. I have several items from here, and one of the best features of the store is its weekly FREE gift. Free clothing is always nice, and should always be appreciated but when its FREE cool and mod our gratitude should enter the realms of monstrosity. My latest cool freebie is an excellent track jacket very casuals or indie and thus an ideal NeoMod item.  Worn with a classic pair of Hoorenbeek trainers and my favourite Unknown Boutique white jeans it helps create a very sharp casuals look. I have also received several cool sweaters, shirts and other jackets. All this can be yours if you join the group and teleport over to the store and grab the selected freebies as they are announced. Be sharp, be mod be free!!!!

Style Extrem, Upper Man and HappyEnd - Mainstore

Mens Stuff Fashion Hunt

Hunting prizes seems to be an endless activity in the virtual world, with hunts organised for fashion items on a regular basis. Some are themed for specific genre others are based around the stores on a sim and they are generally heavily biased towards items for the girls. However a while back a few hunts started targeted directed at men, the prizes all being for men. One such hunt is the Mens Stuff Hunt currently running until the 3rd of July 2011. Whilst these hunts are stuffed to the brim with items to find, spending hours scouring various stores to locate the gift item its not often that there are items suitable for the aspiring virtual mod. I had a brief potter about and located the odd one or tow items. So, if you're bored and fancy a look why not participate, join the group find the Blue T-Shirt symbol click on it and away you go.

So what did I find, I liked the Alphamale prize, the preppy sweater which had a revivalist feel to it, I also liked the trousers from another prize, the Brocade Tiger cargo shorts looked good for my Style Council Long Hot Summer romp, plus the Philo shades looked awesome contemporarydesign but so sharp I'd add them The Duh shoes look cool plus I'm sure there'll be a few other pieces out there just need to filter through the items to find them. Have fun.

Modernist Fashion in SL

During my rooting through the over inflated inventory I found a great FREE shirt I picked up from SF Design, I thought it looked great with the black Meriken Napoleon jacket and the vibrant Armidi trousers. So I figured a green paisley would look even better, heading off to the Marketplace I did a quick search and found that SF Design had four versions of the shirt available. They come in an open shirt and closed shirt option, plus an underwear layer and prim kipper ties, very late sixties early seventies styling but can fit the mod criteria, especially the Carnaby Street styles of the midsixties. At a sharp hundred lindens its a reasonable purchase for anyone seeking to add a bit of classic sixties paisley to their mod inventory.

As it gets harder to find new mod items I have reverted to trawling through my inventory to find half forgotten items that are acceptable as mod stylings. Its amazing what stuff you can find in an inventory bulging with over 50k of items.

Modernist Fashion in SL

St Patrick's Day Mod

For those of you who like to join in the festivities I grabbed a few treasure hunt freebies, some group gifts and a few old favourites plus the odd cheap item to create a kind of green NeoMod look to groove with the Oirish on their big day of booze laughs and the craic. This time of year there is so much green about its hard not to trip over it so if you want to green up for next year keep your eyes open for the freebies. Albion has a neat hat from StarChild, its Fedora Brown in Tartan and a gift at Menswear Fashion Week. He is also wearing some Role Optic shades which are part of the DIMH2 Treasure Hunt. Along with an old favourite the Meriken shirt, he is wearing a sweater from Acid and Mala Creations as part of the 49L$ Sale For Dudes, it has three colours available, and is multi-layered allowing multiple wear options. Next up is a great group gift from Gizza, the jeans from their group gift for St Paddy's day, and finally my classic Gos Dr Martin boots.

So, okay where can I grab this stuff:

StarChild
Role Optic
Meriken
Acid and Mala Creations
Gizza
GOS

Modernist Fashion in SL

Venturing away from the sombre styles and textures of the early sixties the mods of the mid-to-late sixties started to wear more flamboyant fashion and the standard suit and tie combination was replaced by more raffish alternatives. Hoping to follow this style I headed off to the Marketplace where I sifted through endless naff fashions hoping to locate those few gems of modernist fashion. Eventually I stumbled upon Gizza shirts, looking at the retro range they seemed ideal to fulfill the fashion criteria of the pop art inspired mid sixties.

However my desire for classic modernism remains undaunted and so amidst the array of colourful shirts I grabbed the monochrome white with black pin spots variety. The shirt comes in a jacket and shirt layer, with underpants layer too giving it a degree of versatility sadly lacking in many fashion items who stick rigidly to the single layer sales format. Along with the multi-layers, the shirt comes with prim cuffs and a prim collar. These items fit my avatar and required no shifting to achieve a measured look. Reasonably pricey but nevertheless great value the shirt when combined with a styling black scarf and some Armidi trousers, plus my FKNY buckled loafers produces a stunning mod look from pop art period. Less flamboyant than much of the fashion and far more subdued in colour it is a classic piece of virtual mod fashion. Think about buying one, but stay away from the spots they're mine!

Gizza Shirts at the Marketplace
Gizza Store

Modernist Fashion in SL

I was looking through the Marketplace [where else, I might as well set up residence in there] the other day when I saw a rather sharp looking rain coat. It was very much in the style of the thirties detective trench coat, I thought it looked kind of French. After thinking of capturing a snap and blogging it as a random fashion piece I changed my mind and bought it. Some might view it as not authentically mod and label it Albion's flasher mac; but, I stand by my original judgement and believe matched with the right clothes it has a very sixties European vibe pulsing through it.

The coat comes with both a jacket and shirt layer, which provides scupe for a little tinkering should you choose to. The prim cuffs and collar are a nice addition and all fit my avatar shape beautifully without the need for a touch of modifying. The texturing on the coat is very nice with no obvious flaws. Overall I am very pleased with the purchase and glad I added it to my mod wardrobe. Matching it with some brown Armidi trousers, a brown button down shirt from the Unknown Boutique and some nice brown shoes from FKNY I think it achieves a very cool French mod look, I'm certain Alan Delon* would be proud to look this sharp! Despite early doubts once the coat is worn with other classic mod styled items it becomes a very mod look in a traditionalist sixties style but also with NeoMod features. For a single item its not a cheap throw away costing just over three hundred lindens but it does provide a neat sharp look and an altwernative to the leather coat or parka that dominate the virtual mod scene. Be seen to be different on the scene if you want to catch the eye, its a truth y'know.

Ace (Face) rain mac

*who? French sixties film icon, uber cool. Google it you philistines haha

Modernist Fashion in SL

Mix and Match

I like multi-layered clothing so much as it provides an opportunity to combine various fashion items from different designs to create a look of your own. Single layer full outfit textured item, ie, a sweater textured with both a shirt and tie, leave me cold as there is no scope for such an item; it is what it is and the opportunity to vary it isd non-existent. So I had a play around with some multi-layered shirts from Meriken whilst in the Moonletters photo studio*  the other day. Using the undershirt/underpants layer for the Meriken shirt allowed me the freedom to use other items from different ranges to achieve the desired look. Mix and Match is the way forward, as Ib often see a shirt that I think would look great with a suit only to didcover it only comes in a jacket layer rendering it impossible to wear with a suit. I'm no designer its another technical task way beyond my talents but I imagine its not too odious a task to create items on jacket/shirt/undershirt and underpants layers to give the item full versatilty and a use beyond its basic fashion function. So get with the programme and open yoyur designs to real life, I mean its not like real life items are restricted to a single use so why should virtual ones suffer such a fate. Get with it.

Here I used a range of Meriken shirts, on the underwear layer, in tandem with ties from the Hasendow suits on the shirt layer and matched to a range of trousers from Armidi, the shoes are almost free a 20L$ splash over at DUH! I colour co-ordinated the clothes but mixing the colours would work well, I also opted not to wear a jacket as this showed the shirt/tie combination more clearly but after I had finished snapping I threw a black Meriken jacket on over the shirt/tie to complete my mix and match. The addition of a shirt on the underpants layer also means it can be worn with the low slung trousers, that dominate Second Life design, without having to resort to a jacket to cover up the exposed underbelly [the one failing of the fabulous Unknown Boutique shirts, which I think are fantastic and look sublime but do possess this irritaing weak link].

I also swapped shoes to cill outside Kim and Edens store, wearing my Jeepers Creepers Strike bowling shoes, classic mod footwear.

Meriken
Armidi
Hasendow

Quiet

Apologies for my lack of posting, lack of inworld presence just been lots of real life stuff happening that's kept me away from virtual life and firmly planted in the real world. That seems to be happening more often, I need to return to idleness to fully engage with my virtual self.

So, as the Welsh allegedly say "whats occurring?"

After much thought the inevitable happened and I bought a Hasendow suit, in fact I bought two as I couldn't choose between them. Its a horrendous price to pay for some virtual stuff, 1400$L for fecks sake for the two; but, they look so sharp and ooze sixties styling that in the end I couldn't resist them. Besides they also encouraged Albion to grow his hair back so perhaps that's not such a bad thing. I opted for the blue and mercury [silver grey] suits and despite the fierce price tag can admit to being very happy with the purchase and just wish I could justify buying more. I added a prim handkerchief in the breast pocket and failed miserably to retexturing the colour, I'm just out of my depth which is a polite way of saying I'm bloody useless. My one tiny criticism is I was surprised to find the trousers had no prim cuffs, as they seem to be standard with most hi-end Second Life fashion items nowadays. The prim jacket cuffs add depth to the sleeves and prim additions to the trousers would perform a similar service; however, despite this small complaint I am happy with both suits and believe they are fine examples of sharp sixties styling in the virtual world. If you can justify the cost...buy one!

After splashing so much cash on a couple of suits I decided I'd hunt through the freebie blogs to see if I could pick up something for nothing, a favourite pursuit in Second Life. As the suit had encouraged hair growth I opted to grab some free hair styles. Checking out Yves Firlan's Fashion+Freebies for Men blog I discovered there were some cool giveaways at Savoir Hair I had a good look around and managed to find four hair styles that seemed to have a degree of NeoMod potential and besides they were free so even if they were not totally correct it would be no loss. My favourite was the very Beatleseque style which could even persuade Albion to forsake his blonde locks for a while. But I doubt it. Anyway if your looking for free hair check it out, there's plenty of styles for girls and geezers and they're all free so waste yourself and overindulge on prim hair! The snap also beautifully illustrates my inability to manipulate my virtual environment, although on reflection maybe its not too bad the hankie matches the blue tie I just couldn't get it to go gold but that's another tale.

As for life in Second Life, lets see I crashed out of Soul Mods on Friday which delighted me so much I hurt my toe kicking the desks. Intended to log in on Tuesday to see what was happening but fell asleep on the sofa, middle aged dog walking syndrome, have wandered around the web listening to cool tunes imagining my virtual DJ set list, nope that's not going to happen its a fantasy within a fantasy and gets way too complex,,,see I conceived Inception before they conceived it wonder if I can get a few bob out of it. Planning ahead I hope to be bouncing in Second Life on Thursday and Friday for the gigs at Soul Mods. I'm still trudging through the fashion quagmire trying to find gems of virtual sixties fashion but having to stretch the boundaries drastically just to get something that I can waffle on about. I ended up looking more like Adam Ant as I strove for  a mid sixties pop art fashion look, need to remain vigilant on the fashion score. So I'm expecting a slow down on the fashion blog for a while which mean more modette stuff will get shoved up as I get bored and feel the need to post something. Besides it'll keep Graz happy that I'm a girly girl, hahahaha. And that my lads is about it, oops lasses too,  time to make an early lunch and then shift some rubbish in the garden,,,what a glamour life I lead,,so lets keep it virtual, talking to myself again I'll get locked up one day!

Oh I forgot: Pop Art or Adam Ant? Answers on a postcard or that comment thing if you can be bothered I'm undecided but anyway its an indication of how desperate I have become in my search for new mod items to write about, bloody designers.......

Fashionable Updates

I was again trudging, and yes it is a trudge to find anything really relevant to this blog now, through the Marketplace when I stumbled upon a couple of items when I entered "Carnaby" in the search engine. First up popped a skinhead inspired shorty skirt outfit that might appeal to some of the dancers at Soul Mods, not strictly mod or skinhead but this style appeals to many and so I've put up a link and a snap in case there are girls interested. Yes I am  a nice chap, ta!

Jane Westminster

Next up were a couple of familiar faces and if you cant plug your mates stuff on your own blog your up shit creek. So I';m happy to once again punt forward Eden and Kim's clothes, which can be bought at their store on the Moonletters Sim and now also at the Marketplace. Their design style is probably the most authentically sixties on the grid, just need to get sewing a few geezers shirts. Check it out girls, if you want to look the part at the mod events I waffle on about this is an ideal starting point.

Kim's stuff :-  https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/68479

Eden's stuff :-  https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/69500

So there you go a couple of quick fashionables for all the girlies out there, better get some myself don't want to disappoint Graz and his  conspiracy theory, hahaha.

Modernist Fashion in SL

One of the most irritating aspects of my self imposed austerity pact, is when I see fantastic items that beautifully fit the mod brief but are just outside of the price band I've agreed with myself for this month. I have so many suits, most of which never get worn that can I justify buying a whole load more, however fantastic they look. So imagine the beating I gave myself when I stumbled upon Aragane Nishi clothing range at the Marketplace, not one not two but twelve beautiful suits designed and textured in styles that are ideal for the aspirant virtual mod. But with each of the two fat packs rolling in at a hefty 3000$l sadly there is no snapshot of Albion wearing them, its just the store snapshots that made it onto the blog.

Its quite difficult to write an accurate review of items when you don't possess them as the nuances of prim fittings and how the textures look and function are obscured from the reviewer if all he has to work with is a snapshot. But from what I can see and what I have read in the details the suits seem to be a fine addition to the virtual mods wardrobe. There are several variations, multi-layered clothing and the correct prim usage on the cuffs and trousers to give the suits the sharpness required of the typical mod suits. However, six grand for the two fat packs is very steep, even if its providing a significant discount on buying an individual suit. I think I'll opt to buy a single suit but the tough decision then is which one? At 700$l I want to be sure to get the correct one, in and ideal world I'd grab the lot, but I'm just not Chelsea y'know and so over the next few days I'll be wondering which one I should go for.

Now, if you're West London and have no qualms about splashing the cash and want a whole range of sharp sixties suits grab the fat packs, I wont be jealous, honest.

Aragane Nishi

Modernist Fashion in SL

I bought this cheap and cheerful selection of suit a long while back and obviously forgot to blog them; to be honest I buy too much stuff and so the likelihood is I forgot about them and therefore I doubt I have worn them more than half a dozen times since purchase. I grabbed the fatpack in store and was reminded of them as I was trawling the Marketplace and they popped up in my search selection. A neat range of highly affordable suits in some bright colours that have a nice sixties feel to them, despite being labelled as linen suits they fit a mod brief reasonably well.

To be frank in these days of prim cuffs and other attachments developed to give clothing a sense of depth these old school painted textured designs seem to lack a little bit of style. But, despite their old fashion creation they are well made, granted the lapels loook a little ropey but I can live with that. The colour range is fantastic - bright but not startling and matched with a classic white shirt black tie combination it propels the suits into the centre of early sixties fashion. I'm ashamed for forgetting all about them and fully intend to wear them more often.

So, if you're looking to bulk out your wardrobe and want suits with a splash of colour but are restraining your wallet look no further, 500$l for eight suits is a bargain or buy them as individuals for slightly more per item, 150$l for an individual suit. Find them either at the Marketplace or if you prefer inworld at the store.

Marketplace

NachtMusik: a Dandy shop

Modernist Fashion in SL

Sometimes you have an item thats been sat in your inventory and you find that you forgot you had it and when you finally throw it on it opens up a wealth of fashion possibilities. I did this the other day with a simple but nicely textured white cardigan, I threw on a suitably mod T-Shirt with some wild free purple trousers I picked up free from the London Freebies Store and decided I was ideally equipped for that scooter rally to Brighton beach...sadly that sim is no more so I had to make do with a scooter ride around Moonletters. Despite the klack of a promanade I still felt cool on my Slate built Vespa, dressed in white like a mod icream-man, hell yeah babeee. One well made item can exhert a strong influence over several other items sharpening them up and imbuing them with a nice touch of class.

Then a quick change into the fabulous Armidi black trousers and a great black button down shirt from the Unknown Boutique, the all black look offset by the sharp white cardigan giving a more sophisticated look: sharper cleaner more cut for that dance at the local club cica 1964. The cardigan still retains the casualness of the look but the neat shirt and trousers upscale the clothing from the T-Shirt on the beach feel to a more,,all because the lady loves milk tray elegance ideal for a night at the Twisted Wheel, gone but never forgotten.

The shades are free too, a simple textured pair which look okay and suit these looks but there are better sculpted pairs of shades on the market but if you like them , they are yours at Alphavillain.

And, the cardigan, I almost forgot, thats available from Alienated.

Alienated
Armidi
Unknown Boutique

London Freebie Store
Alphavillain

Modernist Fashion in SL

Suits Galore

If you are opting to dip your toes into the virtual mod scene there is no actual requirement to dress the part, indeed the amount of leather clad bikers or alien burlesque troopers that attend virtual mod clubs probably outnumbers those dressed as mods. But, sometimes its cool to dress for the part and therefore you are going to need at least one mod essential - a decent suit. Call me a fashion snob but I'm afraid that selection of free business men suits with a colourful ranee of shirt and tie combinations just will not cut it! Despite this looking like a sharp suited mod does not require the purchase of multitudes of lindens dollars, a visit to the Marketplace and select a few search options to reduce the number of items available and in the 100-500linden dollar range you can find plenty of suits that will enable you to adopt anything from a sharp early sixties look to a more flamboyant mid sixties mod fashion colourfest. Even here I would advise caution as a high price does not always equate with quality so exercise some caution. Five hundred lindens splashed out on a shoddy one piece [layer] suit might leave you with a few regrets. But, so long as the suit has a cool vibe and you're happy with it go for it. Ive bought 50l$ suits that have made me look far more mod than 1000l$ top end design garments. So buyer beware and take heed at what you wear.

In terms of mod fashion I can only points you in the direction of the hugely undervalued Kinks who sum it up far more succinctly than I ever could, err thank you Ray.

ciao

Modernist Fashion in SL

Hoorenbeek Bargains ... THIS WEEKEND ONLY

A couple of suits up for grabs from one of Second Life's premier male fashion houses, lots of variations not examined it in too much detail wanted to post before the sale was over.

Grab them quick before they rocket up in price.

Hoorenbeek

113 Reasons Why I am Still Here

No euro lottery win for me; but if you did happen to strike it lucky the odd donations towards my cottage in the country is warmly appreciated. And, despite the attempts of my server to frustrate me into abandoning the Internet forever I am still here waffling and scribbling rubbish in this blog to all those generous enough to read it. My server has been vying all week with the dreaded Viewer 2 as the most irritating thing about computers . All week they have played like a tag team fuelling my frustration and sending me into a frenzy of computer loathing. Why does the Viewer 2 irritate me so much, hmmm lets see. Thursday I was busy so logged in and placed myself in Soul Mods early, when I finally got away from household chores I found the Viewer had logged me out then had a hissy fit about letting me back in, so that was reason enough but even when I am logged in the camera controls [which I like to remain up constantly] consume a large amount of the limited screen space, finding things can be sluggish and also consumes a lot of screen space; its just a very unsatisfying experience and the sooner I can get an independent Viewer to load up the better. All this rubbish also meant I missed the second instalment of the Radio documentary on the Small Faces and now I'm too late to catch it on the I-Player, feck! Saturday gave me a welly full of water, so I am truly not one happy bunny; and an audition for grumpy old men is definitely forthcoming, lets move on.

My three Trojan compilations turned up so that was good:

and I am currently listening to these as I type so there is a mere crust of a silver lining, but I need to get my virtual mod existence back on track and am missing way too many good nights due to technical frailties and my own impatient thump it first technique of computer management.

Talking Second Life, and why not its supposed to be the raison d'etre for this blog after all, I took a stroll through the vast House of Edo store the other day and discovered much that the prospective virtual mod may be interested in. They have an extensive if pricey range of suits in many colours and also a nice range of shirt/tie combinations.

Despite being mightily impressed by the range of items on offer on this occasion I opted not to buy, the recession an' all that, but there are some superb suits that would fit neatly into the retro fashion style. The shirt/tie combinations were also very good and could be very useful for those who wish to move away from the rather drab white shirt coloured tie style, I might pay a return visit to try a couple of these combinations out. As ever with these fashion houses you need to be somewhat flexible in your approach; they are not designing for the retro market specifically and so you need to rifle through there stock to find the odd items here and there that will slot into your sixties fashion wardrobe. Who knows maybe one day us geezers will be as well catered for as the girls are; but for now its basically snapping up whatever items you think can give you that cool mod image from whichever stores supply clothing with a retro feel. On that note I am off to sit in the October sun drink Stella and listen to some ska, ciao.

Styles of Edo

Modernist Fashion in SL

As the sixties progressed mod style altered severely, the sharp Italian influenced suits were replaced by more pop art inspired clothing. Carnaby Street shifted from sharp mod styles to poptastic flamboyance, as is often seen in period pieces filmed to reflect the changing times. An iconic Carnaby Street styling is the military dress jacket, preferably a chic Guardsman in vibrant red, or flamboyant Hussars; as the mods moved away from their style origins their fashion became more pop. But in the virtual world we can accommodate this playful pop style in our NeoMods fashion house; so I was happy to throw on a great vibrant red Guardsman jacket bought from WW2 and WWII; Military UNIFORMS which fits the mould of this period beautifully. The jacket comes with a sharp prim white belt, military trousers and prim epaulets, there are also some prim NCO rank insignia and prim cuffs for the jacket. For anyone hoping to capture that swinging sixties Carnaby Street look but wishes to avoid flower power US inspired hippydom this is a good starting block

Next. some classic mod fashion from SubVersion. This beautiful brown suit is beautifully retro and suits the mod or NeoMod hoping to achieve that authentic '64 mod look. There is a host of variants with this suit, different shirts, waistcoats etc allowing you to tailor your individual look. But, I believe the basic brown suit with white shirt and brown tie is the best look for the virtual mod. The suit comes in a variety of colours, including a wonderful deep red [quick confession I wanted to buy the red but clicked the wrong icon duh! The brown is cool too though] which give plenty of scope for varying tastes: subdued grey, black or brown and wilder reds and blues.

Alongside the suits SubVersion also sell some fantastic sixties looking pea coats which are also available in a variety of colours, several complimentary to the suits they sell. Having bought myself a brown suit I opted to buy a brown coat. This too comes with several prim attachments: collar, cuffs, belt and a hat. Unfortunately the hat comes without hair and when I wore it my hair was removed so a little tweaking with your a\ttachment locations may be required to wear the hat; personally, I think the coat looks cooler without the hat. It blends magnificently with the trousers and shirt/tie combination from the  brown suit and screams sixties style, very French I feel and so classically mod. To continue with the brown theme I hopped over to Action store to grab a tan pair of their ultra-sixties styled Chelsea Boots. The boots are scripted to alter size making fitting them a breeze and they look great with this low key sixties styling - conservative but sharp, the epitome of  the original British mods.

The final offering is a chic black suit from a newly discovered store called Savile Row, there are several items in the store that have a retro sixties feel but to begin with I opted for this neat black suit labelled Berlin. It is not a traditionally mod design but it does have an authentic retro style and in the virtual world of NeoMods we strive to stretch the modernist fashion boundaries whilst staying within the limits imposed by our pop-culture roots, so no leather chaps and studs thank you!  Double breasted jackets are not generally a feature of mod fashion but this germanic styled jacket oozed generic sioxties appeal so I succumbed and bought it; ok not strictly mod but like I said we can be flexible in the virtual world and its definitely sixties. So go check it out and the other items at Savile Row

D56D92FD-ECF1-C0C8-6869-DA08ED2E0310

1.03.01

Modernist Fashion in SL

Dyn is not the only store with a fabulous sale occuring at the moment as Arai, another standard issue mod store, is offering a feat line in discounted items.

These four shirts retail at a fantastic twenty five linden; multi-layered [ah bliss] they are highly versatile. Whlist they lack the classic button down collar styling the use of fabric texture lends itself marvelously to NeoMod styling. Worn with jeans in a shirt layer with a Harrington jacket or with a jacket layer and jeans in classic Britpop style. Excellent value, four multi-layered shirts for 100l I suggest you check them out as its fantastic budget shopping.

I can already hear the calls of outrage, High School Letterman jackets, what's next Triumph biker boots. Not remotely Mod. but because they have a huge A emblazoned over the front I figured a NeoMod stylist like Albion [spot the link] might be tempted to introduce such an item into his modernist style bible, after all the face leads the fashion and is not dictated too by fashion. So yeah the current laws of mod fashion scream NO!. But what the fuck we can write our own mod fashion laws ... so long as you dont look like a raging biker, dump the heavy leather you ticket!

On much safer ground here, a classic popart Union Jack fabric textured mod styled jacket. No accusations of digression away from mod fashion here. I already possess such a jacket but this one is suitably different, and at such a throw away price, to encourage me to buy another. The fabric texture is sharp, the creation of the styling is excellent and its retro design is ideally suited to the modernist fashionista. Any mod looking for a classic retro style would do well to check this store and specifically this item.

However, one of the real gems of the sale is the Arai range of polo shirts. As a virtual labels they possibly lack the kudos of the virtual Fred Perry polos. But, they are beautifully textured in a wide range of colours. A double D ... Divine Design, these fabulous items should feature heavily in your modernist wardrobe if you do not possess a polo shirt, shuffle through your virtual wallet grab fifty lindens and treat yourself to something beautiful, and a function fashion masterpiece.

Arai

Modernist Fashion in SL

I have blogged this sale before but as it is still raging I thought I would give it another mention, so the fity percent sale is still raging at Dyn, go take a look!

The Dyn fifty percent sale is still running, so its well worth checking out this UK fashion stronghold a bastion for casual NeoMod clothing. Dyn sells a selection of cool shirts, sweater, polos and sportswear that all tilts its head toweards NeoModernist fashion. Some of their stylings are firmly based on real life fashion, indeed using the real life label in their branding, but they seem to be moving further away from this to create their own unique designs which are perhaps less modernist in concept and execution.

I grabbed these three Paul Smith influenced polo shirts in the sale, a bargain at 50L each; however, I would have prefered a shirt layer alongside the jacket layer to allow me to combine them with a corresponding v-neck sweater or a sharp jacket. This insistance on single layer fashion design can become quite frustrating for the dedicated mix and match modernist stylist. As for the items themselves they look great, neat NeoMod look with cool textures and a sharp stylish design ... I am happy with them despite my minor grumbling.

Another sharp real life item I recently picked up at Dyn was this uber cool Sergio Tacchini track top. A classic of the eighties casuals fashion wardrobe this white track top worn with jeans and my MK Adidas mamba trainers yells retro casuals fashion to anybody able to listen. Its a classic NeoMod combination of Britpop fashion duistain moulded onto eighties casuals styling. The neat feather cut styling of the hair plus the cool shades all combine with the well textured clothing to create a sharp Neo Mod look. Faded rather than pristeen denim looks better but the look can also be achievec with a dark denim but the jeans must remain quite a simple denim design if you hope to achieve the casuals retro look.

But it is not just copied textures from famous real life fashionistas that Dyn sells they have an ever expanding range of their own designs that at well worth taking a look at. One that particularly caught my eye was the short navy blue duffel jacket, neatly textured with a nice prim hood which I felt had an air of the NeoMod about it. Another jacket to be worn with jeans and trainers. Totally abhorrant to traditional retroist modernist in their sharp tailored suits I still feel such items have a place in the wider fashion stuylings of the NeoMod virtual style. Its a well crafted item and a slightly unusual look, and standing out dfrom the crowd shoyuld feature in anyb mods fashion criteria ... no wall flowers required thank you.

Amongst my favoured Dyn items are their range of sweaters, simplistic linear design with a modernist influence which lends itself fantastically well to either the retro sixties styling or the more contemporary [although thats nearly thirty years ago, so contemporary is a bit of a misnomer] casuals styling of the eighties. This simple tight v-necked sweater is an example of the latter, possessing its own label on the texture. The texturing and design look great, and worn with jeans and a suitable shirt its a classic piece of NeoMod styling.

I urge you to go check it out at the Dyn fashion house before they decide to end it. And while your there grab a few other items too, it all fleshes out your virtual mod wardrobe wonderfully.

Modernist Fashion in SL

Nice short sleeved shirt FREE with the MHOH3 from KHUSH, the addition of the ASS white braces transforms a nonedescript look into an acceptable mod, suedehead, skinhead styling. The logo on the back detracts somewhat from the modernist vibe but its certainly not going to alter the look significantly enough to deny a mod credential. The braces come in a variety of lengths and also colours, I chose to purchase the white, and its the addition of braces that transform a generalist shirt into a shirt that has a modernist feel. Simple trick but very effective.

KHUSH

A cheap coat thats elevated to modernist cool by the simple addition of a wonderful little scarf from Adjunct another cool MHOH3 gift. The scarf is scripted and can change colour as well as increase or decease in size. The short length of the scarf is classic NeoMod styling and is often seen in real life by many who would class themselves as modernists. Accessorizing the coat correctly is what creates the NeoMod style, if the scarf looks wrong the whole modernist style is compromised. Arty Farty, indeed it is, but if your looking to live the virtual mod fantasy then the look is in the detail. With some sharp jeans or pants the coat/scarf combination is very NeoMod and definitely worth a punt if its made available post-treasure hunt.

Adjunct

Modernist Fashion in SL

Mod Dandyism

The move into what I shall term Mod Dandyism, occured in the mid sixties as the mod fashion shifted on its axis and the faces moved to a far more flamboyant dress code. Frills, startling bright colours and a shift away from conservative browns and greys signalled the move towards psychedelia culminating in the abandonment of mod and the creation of introspective hippydom. Interesting the mod Dandyism style is easier to achieve in Second Life than the earlier retro dark suited style of the early sixties, as exemplified in this purple crushed velvet suit modelled on the Hollywood folly Austrin Powers. Its possible many will scream this isnt real mod fashion, and I guess they are correct, even borders on 1980s New Romanticism, but as virtual mods following the music into the midsixties period, I thought feck it lets extend the fashion horizons too. No need to follow, plenty of casuals or NeoMod options listed but if your coming on my fashion odessy grab your ruff and climb aboard the Vespa.

To achieve this mod dandy look I took a classy suit from Sartoria

and added a ruff to the shirt collar. The high chinese collar of the grey suit jacket easily lends itself to this brand of restyling. I grabbed the ruff from a random shirt in my inventory, and with more forethought I would probably have attached ruffled shirt cuffs too, in keeping with the Austin Powers inspired shagadelic vibe that eminates from the mod dandysism retroism. Some sharp shoes, and a rather severe hair cut from KMADD's freebie locker [remiscent of Sting in his Quadrophenia ace-face pomp] and a cool pair of coloured lensed shades and the image is complete. Mods on the road. Posing at the Twisted Wheel sim up against the graffitied alley walls always imbues snaps with a griity mod vibe, and that acts to tone down the frilliness of the danyism in this snap. See its all artsy fartsy today, ha haha.

In this ensemble, dandyism is taken to extremes of modernism. The trousers are from Hoorenbeek, as blogged earlier. The waistcoat, shirt and cravat/collar are from the steampunk store To-a-T and were picked up at the RFL Clothes Fair, but they have several stores across the grid. The texturing on the union flag waistcoat is wonderful and the fabric design is ideal for a popart inspired modernist dandy looking to accentuate the flamboyance of his style. Again its the severe KMADD cut and also a cigarette and pose the divas of male virtual fashion. The cuffs were FREE from SF Design, a neat addition thats gives the rather plain shirt a touch more life. The waistcoat and shirt come in varaiable layes, and also in female options too, affording the versatility I yearn for in my virtual tailoring. The cravat is also scripted to change colour, with charts and codes provided in the folder. The epitome of mod dandyism its unlikely this rather Edwardian look is for all but for mods with a mid sixties psyche yearning and a fashion boldness, grab what you can and stride out onto the floor babeee.

In essence this style is about bold bright coloured suits and shirts with ruffles, accessorize with other items of bling if thats your thing, think Austin Powers, only cool rather than a plonker and all will fall into place.