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

Lets not forget...

we all have real life issues going on. All the sods wish our dear friend Lupo the best and offer our condolences.

Now back in the virtual world Lupo had to cut his brilliant set short after some personal issues arose. Slate took over and was doing great right up until I crashed so I'm guessing everyone continued to have fun, whilst sparing a thought for Lupo.

I hate my computer, its typical i miss lots of Soul Mods events and thejn when I finally make it online the bloomin' thing crashes. Never mind Second Life I'm thinking of inventing terminal life for this poxy PC, curse you PC World for replacing my defunct faulty PC with this pile of poo. Ahhhh vent over, so lets see what shall I witter on about. Not much to say really, set cut short at Soul Mods followed  by my crash, and that's about it. Hardly worthy of a blog post but I note I have been a bit tardy of late with the posting so felt compelled to put one up. I was feel slightly '67 mod yesterday so went with a mish mash of items to affect that kind of pop art dandyism sported by the Small Faces and Who amongst others, plenty of ruffles on show.

 The jacket is an old favourite from Meriken, the shirt and ruffles are from the SF Design lord lace in black, the shoes were FREE from Kalin, [I am aware you cant see them but what the feck] and the stripey trousers are new from ,,,hmmmmI forget where but will update this post next time I log on and get the details. Anyway not much of a colour splash just greys and blacks but it still has a very '67 feel at least I think so, style over substance every time, but only in Second Life obviously. Typing this Saturday morning after missing another night at Soul Mods, I miss so much not sure I'm entitled to call myself a sod anymore anyway hope you all had fun at the Slate extravaganza!

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

Returning to an old chestnut here, trainers. Flipping around the grid I stumbled upon an urban street wear store, immediately bringing up some shades to protect myself from the glare of unreconstructed bling I decided to take a peek. And, was very pleased to discover a range of Adidas trainers for sale, priced at 290L each or a very reasonable 690L for the fat pack they are a nice option if your looking for something more mid scale than the brilliant but expensive SoReal or the mega store Hoorenbeek, much as I adore Hoorenbeek trainers sometimes its good to support smaller creators. So, if you're thinking you need to get more casual in your mod styling and are looking for a good, reasonably priced, range of Adidas check out the URBATIK *Urban store* and pick up a pair or more wisely grab the fat pack as I am sorely tempted too. Damn this new austerity covenant I made with myself. Anyway if your looking for a stylish slice of footwear grab a pair of these, judging from the product images they look a great buy.

URBATIK *Urban store*

Hoorenbeek are so fantastically crafting that its hard to blog against them so for those who seek reassurance from a grand virtual brand here are the Hoorenbeek options. But you'll pay 520L a pair for these trainers almost twice the price of the above so why not give them a go. Much as I love top end virtual fashion brands I am beginning to think the pricing of items is getting rather extreme. Or maybe that's the skinflint in me beginning to seep out.

So whilst the Hoorenbeek brand is rightfully highly thought of in these fiscal times I am tempted to try the cheaper option, I can get the fat pack for a little more than the price of a single pair of trainers. But, as ever you take your choice flip the lindens and get into the groove. Whatever option you select you'll acquire an excellent addition to your wardrobe.

Hoorenbeek trainers

QUESTION: Why do Hoorenbeek trainers feature so often in the blog.
ANSWER: Simplicity itself, because they're bloody good, despite the cost.

Modernist Fashion in SL

Enjoying my Carnaby moment I went delving into my virtual wardrobe to pull out an old favourite that met the pop art Carnaby mod criteria. A nice piece of crafting from Meriken, the "Napoleon" jacket comes with a sharp prim collar, hem and sleeve cuffs. All needed slight adjustments to fit Albion's Hyperion Studio Endymion shape. Its a simplistic design without too many frills but still very sharp and eye catching. The subdued black and subtle tones allow for a splash of colour elsewhere. Therefore, its well suited to the dazzling range of trousers supplied by Armidi. Both the flame orange and vibrant green are able to lift the dull black of the jacket and are a nice match. Worn with a cool mod graphic T-Shirt the Meriken jacket fills the pop art mod niche beautifully. Nice trainers/shoes from J's add to the look whilst the classic Strike bowling shoes [unseen] look as cool as ever.

Alles Klaar

were you Paul Weller in a previous life, perchance?

The T-Shirts from  Action (The Jam) and Juice (the target) help the look achieve a stylish indie Britpop NeonMod style that looks cool and marries sixties fashion classicism with the more gritty indie look of the nineties. The Carnaby Street look popularised in the media is for several the mod look of the sixties, reinforced by the Austin Powers franchise, whilst not classic mod [as seen in Quadrophenia et al] its still a legitimate mod look as its what many sixties mod fashionistas developed as their style and so its suits my NeoMod fashion etiquette sublimely. As mod fashion moved into the brighter pop art period the classicism of the look may have been lost but other fashion possibilities were uncovered, and this is replicated in Second Life. Modernist fashion encompasses much more than drab grey and brown suits, with white shirts and ties; explore the fashion possibilities whilst remaining in the modernist culture and further fashion options become apparent. After all its not real life and we can afford to be far more daring with an avatar than you can with the frail ego of a forty seven year old.

Continuing the rummage through my engorged inventory I discovered other Armidi outfits, including a wonderful NeoMod styled leather jacket that Albion wears with the Armidi green trousers and Strike bowling shoes. Another neat mod visage following more nineties NeoMod design than classic early sixties mod, but nevertheless easily achievable and worth taking on if you're looking to expand your virtual fashion profile.

Was kind of fun rooting through old purchases to see if any would fit the mod style, and talking of fun Soul Mods regular Josie sent me a YouTube link of a great tune, with plenty of old scooter action, and I have been listening to it quite a lot. Check it I'm sure there's plenty of Soul Mods sods who appreciate this kind of tune. So 1..2..3...hit it!!!!

Absolutely top tune, have fun amigos

Modernist Fashion in SL

The Good!

Carnaby Street inspired styling using the "Prince Charming" dress uniform jacket from SF Design's Royal Wedding outfit, with the crazy Union Jack trousers from PXDTOXIC and the red trainers from a fatpack from J's, the new and old merged to create a sharp mid sixties look that grew out of the mod movement. Perhaps a little too bright for many it can be shaded by opting for less pop art trousers but the overall look of military fashion is very mid sixties, possibly derived from the flag fabric jackets of The Who. Anyway its an easily achievable mod style look ideal for the virtual NeoMod looking to catch the eye. Variation are obvious just find the one that suits.

Odd white shades from Cheerno, and my old favourite GL Menace hair style which has served well as a classic mod cut. Not for everyone but in my mind totally mid-sixties mod.

The Bad!

I have seen these suits crop up a few times as I forlornly tap the keys into the Second Life search option, so the suits are listed as Mod suits; but for me they bare no resemblance to anything mod I am aware of. Its because of my extreme negativity towards the suit that I have not blogged it, but as I'm having a jokey post and this fits the second label. Double breasted wide lapels its just so unmod I find myself cringing that anyone could view it as a classic mod suit. Basically its a faux mod suit based on the mid sixties hippy swing of the Austin Powers films, no harm in that but seems a touch disingenious to label it mod. It fits the mid sixties vibe but it can hardly be classed as mod, designers and creators put a lot of effort into their creations so its unpleasant to be critical, hence my bypassing of these item, I still feel bad slagging it; but if you type mod clothing into search this will come up, however there are far better mod suit options available. If its authentic sixties mod you are looking for, sorry but this isn't it.

The Ugly!

Due to the effort put in by designers it would be totally unfair to call any of their designs ugly, although there are several of them out there I'm sure you have seen a few of your own ugly designs. But I thought I would drag out a snap from years ago when I attended a party dressed in the worst possible taste, freebie skins shape etc.......now that's ugly! Its unlikely you'll see many avatars looking like this in the beautiful world of Second Life... However despite gaining a few pounds, needing extra support and having uncool shades I reckon Albion still looks cooler than Dugi!!!

Whatever mod fashion you choose, have fun: whether its classic, NeoMod or more mid sixties psychedelic its out there just difficult to find. Have fun finding it!

As quick aside I saw a link to a nice mod Mod website whilst I was ranting on Twitter so might be worth a quick peek. Enjoy!

Modernist Fashion in SL

A trip to the Marketplace

Another item that is not strictly mod but the iconography used the, George Cross, all very English yells Britpop circa '90 and thus has a great NeoMod feel. Worn with a suitable pair of jeans and a low profile shirt these nicely sculpted boots give a sharp dash of modernist graphics to your look. They are well made, beautifully textured and look very good on the dancefloor. Perhaps a little small for some but a little tweaking soon solves that tiny issue. Not one for the modernist fashion purist, of which there are several, but for the indie inspired NeoMod they are a great buy for a hundred lindens over at the Marketplace.

Stuffie's- England Sneakers

Another cool item available at the Marketplace is the Fenix 194 unisex hoodie, as with several other hoodies I merely drop the scultped hood to create a decent casuals style top, ideal for the NeoMod looking to flash his stanley whilst spending very few lindens. And as this item is free, well one linden but surely thats not shattering the bank, even if you decide its rubbish you have lost almost nothing.

Its a neatly textured item that evokes sharp memories of track tops, Lois jeans and adidas trainers, floppy fringes foreign beer in bottles, and trips to the football. For a single linden do not anticipate a wealth of sculpting, its a straightforward textured jacket layer but I think its a nice addition. It fits my memories of the casuals brief and fits neatly in the wider NeoMod fashion stable that is the staple fashion fodder of this rather pitiful blog.

FENIX-194, Track Jacket

One of my current favourites bought at the Marketplace are the wonderfully versatile Adjunct- Armando jeans. I have been wearing these a lot lately either with loafers and a jacket for a sharp classicists mod look, or with more NeoMod items, such as the above sneakers, to shape a sharp indie Britpop inspired look. They are a marvelous addition to your NeoMod wardrobe, or indie freak cupboard, go on treat yourself to a pair.

The jeans are low slung, not always ideal for the mod look but acceptable and really well textured. They come complete with prim cuffs as seems standard on most jeans or trousers now, there is also a scultpie belt which I have yet to use but looks nice enough in the promo images I have seen. The 185 linden price tag may seem steep but over the years the virtual economy has changed and whilst there are still some fantastic FREE options out there the dollar speaks loudly in Second Life nowadays and if you want a quality item there is usually a price to be paid. But as these jeans can be worn in so many different ways to help create several different looks and are a well cradfted creation the price seems reasonable to me, as ever we all make our own call on price, I think they are great check them and perhaps buy them!

Adjunct - Armando Jeans

Awaydays

Amongst the many things I find myself endlessly wittering on about in this loose collection of waffle is casuals fashion. Undoubtedly many people assume this is a relaxed kind of dress, easy enough to surmise that but its quite the contradiction. Casuals had extremely rigid dress codes, in essence they were little more than neatly dressed football hooligans; but their hooliganism oozed sartorial style.

Read this book years ago, rekindled some lost memories not on this scale but severe enough. Along with other sharp styles, over time casual dress codes become absorbed into the wider sharp fashion yearnings of the NeoMods. Although Second Life struggles to provide an array of suitable classic mod wear it is however bulging at the seems with aspects of the casuals dress code: trainers, jeans and track wear. Find it, wear it just leave the stanleys at home cheers.

Amongst the many suppliers of trainers, Hoorenbeek should be a first port of call. There is a wealth of finely sculpted trainers here. Classic retro eighties stylings are a specialist of the Hoorenbeek designers. This classic pair are on old freebie pair modelled along classic Adidas lines. Hoorenbeek rarely strays into reality fashion these days sticking to its own virtual branding, but the styling is close enough to please the virtual mod seeking to immerse himself in some casuals footwear. Also worn here are some khaki jeans with prim cuffs from  ::Mr.Poet:: and a cool casuals styled jersey from [Sheep Door] , which is FREE just join the group and get your group gift. If Hoorenbeek is not ticking the correct boxes do not fret, there are a range of other footwear options. First to try is the uber cool Adidas branded trainers from SoReal. This is a very cool urban funk store, not cheap, but their items are well crafted and possess great scripts to help you tailor your fit. However there are trainers spread across the grid just ensure you select the correct style. Decent pair of jeans and a track top and your almost there, sharp hair and your casuals inspired NeoMod styling is complete.

As for the film and book, nostalgia of the darkest kind, read the book watch the film both are quite good, but I'm no film or literary critic I just like what I like, ciao la!

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

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

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

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

I have been neglected the blog as a whole recently and specifically these humble fashion scribblings. The cause, well firstly I just seem to lack things fresh to waffle about and secondly I have been spending my lindens in the real world, hence the deluge of discs from Amazon, which have kept me happily chirping along to old style mod, ska and eighties revivalism for the last few weeks. And, screaming for the sympathy vote, I have not been feeling very well y'know. Remember what Spike has on his grave stone ....... well I think I'm the same! So, just as I had almost ground to halt I got my monthly freebie from Shiki and thought there's a nice little item I can blog about and its free too, well kind of.

I have blogged this suit before when I bought an an alternate version. So its possible that much of this scribble overlaps the earlier post, but what the feck. The primary failing of the suit as a mod item is the knee length trousers, but as this is a Japanese fashion piece and not specifically mod these things are to be expected. The problem is quickly resolved by purchasing [so not exactly free y'see] or using a pair of trousers from another designer. Although the jacket is short, the underwear layer allows you to use low rider trousers [favoured by so many designers] or better still you can wear trousers with a standard waist.

For example I used both Hoorenbeek and Armidi trousers with the jacket and both look acceptable. Finding an ident black texture is difficult, although the Hoorenbeek comes close; so its easier to contrast with a grey or perhaps another colour.

Or, with a little tweaking you can wear the original trousers. I have done this, by wearing free tintable socks underneath the trousers, lowering the prim cuffs as low as possible and matching the trousers to calf high boots, or recently dropping the prim cuffs to wear high laced classic skinhead boots. Suits were often a crucial piece of skinhead attire, it wasnt just jeans and Ben Shermans, so this look can easily be adapted into the virtual mod fashion bible. With so few pure mod or sixties outfits available compromises must be made, unless your a clever geezer and can make your own, cough cough.

Shiki

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

There I was adding a few snaps to a Flickr group when I came across a great fashion snap that oozed sixties style; a quick add followed by a quicker request and here I have my first guest fashion piece, even though its still me waffling just better quality pics than my usual feeble attempts at techy stuff.

What drew me initially to this shot was the hair, very Weller circa '79/'80 combined with the excellent poses it screamed sixties cool. The all black clothing adds to the feeling of relaxed confidence typical of the scene. I could have gathered all these items and fumbled about trying to recreate it; but I felt it was cooler in its original format so thanks to Beelly Blanco for allowing me full use of his work. Armidi are one of my favourite designers, Italian classic design the foundation of sixties modernism. These sharp black pants matched to the simple but well textured sweater give a very cool style and the plain black loafers from Kalins adds to the beatnik modernist cross over. However for me the item that propels the image into mod stardom is the hair from UncelWebb. It is one of the classiest pieces of modernist hair styling on the grid, right up there with the legendary GL Menace, as worn by virtual mod face Lupo Lexington. Both share Welleresque stylings and this new discovery now firmly sits in my mod folder, what a find!

Again thanks to Beelly for letting me use this shot, an excellent slice of uber cool mod fashion, get on your scooters and get collecting.

UncelWebb

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

I spent an age scurrying around the grid looking for some desert boots, suede chukka boots, iconic mod footwear. I struggled finding the correct style as too many were the rigid construction boot style rather than the softer suede of the classic desert boots. Finally I found a pair that satisfied my demands and all was well.

But choice is king in the marketplace and the other day whilst scanning through some of the Second Life fashion blogs I noticed a write up flagging the chukka boots over at the Action Surf Store. They looked fantastic and definitely match the brief for mod footwear. Coming in a range of colours they look very sharp and well textured. Ideal for the mod dressing down his suit or just chilling in his jeans. If you don't have this style in your inventory and are looking to purchase a pair I suggest you check out the demos, well worth adding to your mod wardrobe.

While checking the desert boots another item caught my eye, for Chelsea boots. A fashion design classic the Chelsea boot is an authentic retro fashion styling and would suit most modernist wardrobes to give that nondescript suit a real retro look. The boots, like those above, come in a variety of colours and are well made sculpted items that many NeoMods, especially those with a heavy Beatles influence [not strictly mod, but its hard to separate the two in many peoples minds] may wish to add to their fashion folders.

Again, get yourself over to the sim and check out the demo shoes. There are also the occasional usable items lurking in the store that can be drafted into mod fashion in the correct circumstances. But, these two footwear items are classic retro and well deserve a place in the virtual mods wardrobe.