Modernist Fashion in SL

A while back I bought a trio of cheap shirt from Aqua, they may have been in an end of season sale I forget. At the time I thought they looked pretty cool and for thirty lindens were a real bargain. Neat collar sharp thin tie nice colours well textured ideal sixties look. Anyway as so often they were bought thrown into the mods folder in my inventory and promptly forgotten.

Then as often happens I was at Soul Mods and dressed down when Lupo came in looking sharp as.... Now, although I don't Albion has a definite issue with vanity, I know you think I do too but err nope not much anyway; lets get back on track people. Anyway Lupo was looking good and it was just the push to get Albion looking a tad cooler. I saw the Aqua shirts and put one on then fumbled about looking for something to match up. Opted for a very loud gold Meriken jacket and some shiny pants from Beck and Carter, plus my favourites the classic FKNY Loafers in brown. I thought it was an excellent look and then thought I probably find matching Meriken jackets for the other two shirts if I rifled through my inventory enough. Sifting through the racks of folders I found two perfect jackets and also a couple of pairs of ideal Meriken trousers that would beautifully accompany each of the jackets. Yes colour co-ordinated to the max. I'm pretty certain most of this stuff is still available I bought most of these items at reduced rates, check them out or better still shuffle through your own inventory and mix and match some new stuff with some old to give yourself a nice sharp look. Or better still grab your own Lupo and copy his look...it works for me.

Ah that's a bugger they were so cheap as they were in the stores closing down sale, oh well at least I got them, so that's good. You could possibly tint your own modifiable white shirts. Also bare in mind I'm a profoundly idle sod so its possible these landmark SURLS may be incorrect as they are old purchases and unlike proper bloggers I have failed to rigorously check them, hey look on it as a gamble an adventure have fun!

Meriken
Beck and Carter
FKNY

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.

Albion Spitteler's Newsround

The sun is shining at last and yes I have taken this sunshine opportunity to sit on my @rse and type inane comments into a blog that has a readership of about half a dozen weary souls. But its a laugh! Anyway as I have nothing really specific that I could drag out for more than a ten word paragraph I have opted to lump all the little pieces together in this seventies style update, borrowing from my childhood this is my first ...and last, virtual mod newsround.

First up I was pleased to read Shauna' piece of on Moonletters concerning New Brighton, one of the coolest sims on the grid. All virtual mods should visit this place at least once for that essential mod snapshot with the pier. C'mon we've all done it, some of us more than once, don't blush. Its a fantastic build and the pier looks great complete with a promenade to parade along. I am still waiting that group call for a mod scooter rally along the prom, who knows maybe this week is the week. Shauna's piece however illustrates the difficulties of hosting a sim and the gargantuan costs involved, thought provoking as ever and perhaps the sim is still insecure. A great place to visit one that should definite be on your list. Blogged before but as I mistakenly mentioned that it has vanished this seems an opportune moment to recant such a statement and remind everyone that its still out there. There are more details at the New Brighton website, check it out.

Other stuff I have been up to, I went along to the Hangout club again on Monday which was cool; although Janis is unavailable for these sets due to real life commitments we had a great substitute who played a great blend of soul and sixties standards although how or why the Boyzone track got in there eludes me. I enjoy the tunes at the Hangout and was able to join everyone else on the dance floor this time as the dazzling particle lights were turned off, one [of several] drawbacks of the keratoconus is that my eyes struggle in bright light and so I have been hiding myself away up in the gloomy lounge, its also why I don't participate much in chat as its easier just to listen and keep my eyes averted from the screen. This means I miss out on a lot of laughs and get lost as I often have no idea how conversations have developed and they can be confusing as you read them never mind dropping in and out. But the music is great and at this stage I can read enough to have a laugh and join in occasionally.

Talking of laughs, blogged earlier Graz our favourite mocker held a rock 'n' roll night at the Killing Moon at the weekend and as he is such a good bloke several sods turned up dressed as rockers in our best fifties freebies, err well mine were. Keep it to yourself but I quite enjoy the odd classic fifties tune, unlike in my youth where my tastes were rigidly mod I now accept my rather catholic tastes and just enjoy tunes regardless of their origin. It was a fun night and everyone got involved and dressed for the theme, so many quiffs in one room however cannot be healthy, at one point I thought there was going to be an environmental disaster there was so much oil floating about. Albion succumbed and put on his best Elvis wig, said ahuh a lot, and donned some very cheap threads and free shoes and become a closet ted for the evening. As expected with Graz at the helm it was funny with great music and even the ignominy of dressing like a rocker wasn't to bad, surrounded by friends. Look forward to the next one.

Whilst I am discussing themed nights out in the virtual world I'll throw in a little fashion information. Recently I attended a Blues Brothers tribute and to blend in mix and matched various items to give me that Blues Brothers look. And yet whilst I was snapping the trainers at Hoorenbeek I idly wandered around the store and saw they had a complete outfit that is ideal Blues Brothers material. I believe its labelled Angus but surely Jake would be better. As its Hoorenbeek its unlikely to be cheap but if you're unafraid of splashing the lindens I think you'd struggle to find a better outfit. Even competing against specific Blues Brothers outfits I think this one is a tricky one to surpass. It has all the elements of a great costume, the shades, the hat, the suit and even the loose tie and shirt.  Definitely worth a punt if you like costume parties or just like being a Blues Brother, go on treat yourself.


Well I think that waffle should suffice you can all go back to CBBs now.

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

Tonight Mathew I'm going to be...

After looking around the Marketplace somewhat forlornly, finding a fair amount but nothing I actually wanted to buy, I saw this great riding jacket that reminded me of early promotional shots of the Kinks. Mods in hunting pink, seemed a cool sixties image so I grabbed one. Its not an exact replica as the Kinks jackets were tailored and more fashionable whilst the Second Life option is very much a riding jacket. However matched with some funky trousers and the classic mod bowling shoes I think its produced a decent homage to the Kinks early style. Marrying a plain white shirt/tie undershirt layer with the jacket gives it a clean sharp look that suits the modernist needs quite well. I'll be wearing it at Soul Mods tonight, how long until the first Tally Ho!

E. Watkins - Red Riding Jacket

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.......

Modernist Fashion in SL

Second Life male mod fashion items are a scarce commodity and so its usual to look outside of mainstream sixties British styles. One valuable virtual aid is to check the Japanese fashion houses of the virtual world. Japanese edgy fashion has some NeoMod crossover potential and I discovered this range of sharp looking blazers whilst muddling through the fashion options at the Marketplace. They come in a wide range of colour, variations and are scripted for sizing and the trousers also have colour scripting; a scripted tie is also included in the package. It seems a reasonable option for 400$l with various colour change options, as yet Ive not bought one but I might just treat myself. If your looking for a sharp NeoMod style with a splash of Asian flair this could prove to be a good option. Its available at either the Marketplace or the store inworld..

The Marketplace

*Edelweiss*

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

I first saw this suit on an advert for a complete Asian avatar and thought it looked extremely cool and very sixties in its styling. Since then I hoped the designer would opt to release it as a suit only option, and whilst trawling through the Marketplace for interesting stuff to waffle about I stumbled upon it and thought that's where the remains of this months lindens rations are heading. Its a neat black suit, with prim cuffs variations in the shirt layer and a decent pair of prim shoes [although I opted for my trusty FKNY loafers]. The jacket texture has a sheen to it that gives it a leather type look although its not leather which is quite different and allows it to step out from the morass of black suits. Its reasonably priced considering its a complete outfit including shoes. So whilst some might be thinking 300$l is very steep, prim work on the suit, plus its variant options plus the prim shoes makes it seem very reasonable in today's slightly inflated price market. Should you get one? No because I want to be the only one looking this sharp,,,let me have my wish for a week then get your hands in your virtual pocket and spread some linden lurve.

Buy it either inworld or at the Marketplace.

MrS
or
Marketplace

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

I think Ive probably blogged these jackets before but as I've been wearing them a lot recently I thought I would reprise my last report on them.The jackets are from Meriken Co the wonderful button collar shirts are from the Unknown Boutique, whilst the trousers are from Beck and Carter. Whilst I like whole outfits I appreciate the facility to mix and match that such layered clothing affords. I wore FKNY loafers with these ensembles, black with the grey/silver and brown with the gold.

Unlike many fashion genres in Second Life its highly unlikely you will find items specifically designed for the male sixties retro market, more often it will be indie Brit Pop items that draw from this period. Those classically modernist retro items you do find should be treasured; but more often than not you will have to seek out items that have modernist potential. Items that when matched with classic mod accessories or mod ancillary items [such as shoes or shirts] will clearly define your style as mod to any in the circle of virtual mod. Your look may not be that of the classic early sixties mod but it still screams mod, NeoMod to all with the eyes to see.

As ever our modettes are well catered for with some great retro stores, notably Eden and Kim's over at Moonletters, go check it. But, us geezers scrabbling in the piles of sale box just have to persevere every now and again some really cool items rise to the surface, its a chore but who said being cool was easy.

If you are struggling to hear some awesome tunes whilst sat at the computer you could do worse than check out this site: Mod Radio its full of mixes and pod casts from the acid jazz, NeoMod and mod genres along with some great R&B. so why not take a punt. I am currently listening to Extracurricular Weller-ties Volume 1 by Capt Stax and am pleasantly surprised by the tunes get an airing. Mostly contemporary and several have that smooth acid jazz flavour that us old eighties mods slid into, circa Weller's Style Council era. That's probably not to everyone's taste, so if you're hooked on sixties beat bands might be best to scour other mixes or maybe look elsewhere; but anyone looking to chill with a latte pull up a chair. Remember that Weller's Style Council period is vastly underrated.

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

My absence from the virtual world lead to a pile up of freebie items in my inventory which needed sifting through to determine whether they were worth keeping or not. One of the folders [from Rodas Designs] contained a multi layered leather waistcoat, probably aimed at the leather clad biker market but it reminded me of an old media article commenting on early mods that I had seen on You Tube, a North London face had mixed a leather waistcoat with his sharp mod clothing to get a really cool look. Therefore I wore the leather as a shirt layer threw on my ultra reliable Josef white shirt/ black tie combination and searched for a few other items. The hipster Armidi trousers which i favoured were too low slung for this look so I opted for the higher waisted Hoorenbeek in navy. Having slipped on the trousers I then needed a jacket and after much deliberation I opted for a light grey King jacket from one of their suits which complimented the other items nicely. A suitable pair of shoes, a sharp hair cut from KMADD and I was set. Its interesting how quite an effective modernist look can be achieved without splashing thousands of lindens at one of the top end virtual designer stores.

Postscript the background for this snap was located at the gallery here

Modernist Fashion in SL

Besides the obvious free items; the cool thing about virtual treasure hunts is they often take you into stores you may never have heard of or just dont think are worth looking into. So when I decided to follow a few clues for the GO 4 GOAL Treasure Hunt I found some cool items including a rather nice shirt tie blazer combination with links to the host nation, very nice. Then I saw they also had a cool blazer with an English three lions emblem and thought it had slight modernist potential and even though its really a girld design [hence the mini-skirt that comes with it] I grabbed one.

Sports Blazers, of this styling: brass buttoned, double breasted seem very unmodlike too old fashioned, stuffy and middle class. But in the eighties revival they were often worn as the revivalists began to define their own style that moved slightly away from the rigid definitions of sixties modernists; therefore, they definitely have a place in the NeoMod fashion style of Second Life. The pack comes with to jacket layers, one with the Three Lions pocket badge, and the other with the St George flag. The shirt layer comes with a nice shirt/tie combination that can be worn with other suits and jackets. As its aimed at women there is also the aforemention skirt so you modettes are well catered for here. The seperate shirt and jacket layers give the item flexibilty as the jacket can be worn with other items, polo shirt for example, as can the shirt. I particularly like items that possess the potential to mix and match, versatility in styling is a huge design bonus. The texturing and cut of the items is very good and for your money you get a very well made, flexible piece of clothing that has several application within your mod brief.

Worn here with my classic Unknown Boutique white jeans and [unseen] FKNY loafers the jacket and shirt/tie look sharp and very NeoMod so I uege you to get yourself to the London Girl store, yes thats right London GIRL store and grab some clothing with iconic English mod insignia.

London Girl

Modernist Fashion in SL

Its the colour of this suit that immediately grabs the attention, the deeper vibrant purple with a sharp sheen to it that draws the observers eye towards it. In the virtual world vibrant colours are a key fashion component subtle pastels appear to wash out in the pixelated world of low graphics computers and strong bold colour seems to work better, at least on my screen! This suit texturing ticks the colour box straight away, the deep resonant purple beautifully offsetting the white shirt with tie combination.

As for the shirt and tie combination, the white shirt is crisp and the prim collar and tie unit looks wonderfully sixties, slimline tie with a neat pin tucked into a neat white waistcoat, an exceptionally sharp look. The prim work continues in the shirt cuffs, and very long knee to ankle prim work on the trousers giving the a tad more flare than I like, I much prefer the tight prim cuffs of Armadi but nevertheless the look okay in the wider context of the suit. The suit design is similar to a couple of other suits I possess, a nice sharp cut with clean lines well executed and textured with light and shade to give a smart textured fabric look to the graphic. There is a substantial amount of prim work within the suit some superfluous but all well executed and the suit comes with a host of variables making it very versatile even if many of the variations are unsuitable for a sixties styling. However in its basic form the suit does very well as a piece of retro sixties tailoring; its not a cheap suit and its possible to get similar [butt without all the various combinations] for considerably less Lindens. But, this said, I think the colour is so good the work to create it very sharp that it is very deserving of a place in my modernist wardrobe filed alongside my stunning blue suit from Lois Allen Designs Discount Outlet both have a startling dramatic colour tone and catch the attention ... the fashion goal of all mods - virtual or otherwise!

T & P Associates

Modernist Fashion in SL

Does the more cash you spend on virtual fashion ensure that you are recieving better quality goods?

In the real world its almost universally accepted that if you spend serios cash you generally recieve higher quality items, however, I am unconvinced this is also the case in Second Life. For example I bought two nice suits recently, and was over 4x the price of the other, and whilst it came with various prim attachmments and layer choices, which the cheaper one lacked, I struggled to see how I was getting a better suit in terms of design, texturing, cut and creative sparkle. Once worn, it would be difficult to tell which was the more expensive of the two suits. Are we sometimes seduced by the extras at the expense of quality. There are stores that command high prices and deliver amazing designs, others maybe make up with quantity rather than quality when hiking up their prices, a lesson learnt.

Whilst discussing suits I was delighted to pick this suit up on the one of the many treasure hunts currently taking place across the grid. This prize is offered by Pasarella, and has a definite sixties cut to it, once again much like the Lois Allen Designs Discount Outlet suit here its not strictly an early sixties retro mod cut, but it has definite NeoMod credentials and exudes a sixties stylish charm, the although its ostensibly a brown suit the colour shading on the suit gives it that sharp tonic sheen so identifiable with mod faces, and coupled with a nice white shirt/brown tie combination it allows the wearer to become a classic mod for FREE, sharp shoes, decent hair cut and your already on the floor as a face.Cool modernist fashion is not always very expensive and can often be achieved for pennies or as illustrated here ... nothing! I have matched the suit with some great FKNY shoes, plus my fabulously Welleresque GL Menace hair to axchieve a reasonably stylish mod look.

Check: this blog for details on the treasure hunt for the suit and other FREE items