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

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

Discovering what an easy cop out this sticking snapshots up malarky is I have decided its time for PART TWO. So I have the Immediate collection on I-Tunes and am listening to this:

Whilst typing out this drivel. Right lets get too it, less waffle and more snapshots and links, a few here I'd buy myself but....Anyway hope its of some use to some fashion visitors and to others more madness and waffle soon, just chill amigos.

First item up is the fat pack, merely to show the full colour range, each item can be bought individually or you can dive in for a fat pack.

Class Affair - Coat

Anthony - Male Business Suit

B-Styles-Cotton-Coat

NeoMods wear leather too, check out this for your NeoMod styling:

::Schoen:: Leather Jacket (Tricolor)

*TSIX BOX 168 Track Jacket

s'LADE MEN - Sports Jacket

s'LADE MEN - Casual Blazer

Unplugged Suit jacket

So, that is this one done, quick sharp possibly very dull, but if somebody finds it of some little use its served its purpose. Besides its economy of effort I'm blogging whilst remaining ostensibly idle, perfect. Therefore, part three is obviously inevitable.

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

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

Whats with the YouTube-fest

Why all the YouTube stuff and other fillers? You may be asking yourself that question more likely you're not. Anyway, I think a conversation with myself is often the most entertaining of the day and so I'll keep tapping the keys and explain to myself, if nobody else, why I keep stuffing up tunes from the vaults of YouTube. Primarily I want to keep the blog ticking over with fresh posts every now and again, but my dilema is that the virtual scene has gone into hibernation. This hibernating state means I am often repeating myself, indeed I think I am doing that right now as I'm sure I blogged this before, when I waffle about club nights. Therefore if I wish to keep a current posting schedule alive I have to come up with something and I decided that sticking up tunes or interesting real life mod news or trivia is an option thats both easy and effective and doesnt lead the blog away from its virtual mod brief. Well not too much anyway. So, the lack of posts for club nights and fashion too is the primary reason.

Its getting harder to locate decent mod style fashion items in Second Life, sure there's plenty of suits and a few dozen T-Shirts out there but distinct mod items are getting harder and harder to find, plus in the current economic climate I'm getting more reticent about spending real money on virtual clothing. I have plenty of stuff in my wardrobe and so am buying merely to give myself something to waffle about ... true vanity projects. So I have got choosy and therefore the purchasing, and thus blogging has slowed down.

However, there is a secondary less cynical reason for sticking tunes up on the blog. It too is wrapped up in vanity, like most of the blog,,,I mean must be a degree of vanity to believe anyone wants to read this rubbish. Not exactly Booker prize literature is it, more like bog door scrawl. Anyway, meandering and losing the plot.... Yes, the secondary reason is to throw out the kinds of tunes and music I would play at Soul Mods if:

• I had the software
• I had the brains to understand how any of it works
• I had the drive to get my arse into gear and do something

On that basis I'll keep flicking yup the odd YouTube gem, in my role as virtual virtual DJ, wow thatrs complicated, have fun and see everyone later at the AAi for some cool sixties tunes.

Modernist Fashion in SL

I was scanning the Marketplace looking for some interesting suits and came across a series of startling bright textured suits that had a real mid sixties feel. Finding something dramatically sixties can be difficult in the virtual world and these suits seemed to fit the bill; but, at 400$l I feel these suits are a touch beyond my virtual wallet. For non-prim simplistic styled suits this price seems a tad high for my taste and so whilst I think the fabric textures are wildly sixties and an ideal option for a midsixties mod suit sadly I wont be buying one. At half the price I'd take a punt but its too steep for me however if you have the cash to splash and want to make a dramatic mod statement these suit provide a very nice option.

Freda Fredriksson

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

What a Week

Foolishly I opted to update my Phoenix viewer and ... yes you guessed it wont load and so now my Phoenix launch is fecked so I am scrabbling around attempting to rectify the situation and avoid being reliant on the hideous Viewer 2, bollox I knew I should have blanked the update information and just plodded on, more fool me. How I miss my reliable user friendly Emerald!

Real life gripped me this week which meant I was a no show at Soul Mods Thursday, but at least all the important people turned up..boo hoo, I'll get me coat. Then Friday the car got shunted so I was scurrying around sorting out real life things, but thankfully found time to sit back and chill in a virtual world free of insurance, school runs blah blah. There was an excellent crowd present at the club Friday and Slate delivered a fine set, to everyone there, so familiar and some new. Plenty of laughs as can be expected from a Soul Mods crowd and some suitably stylish avies present, great music fun people and sharp looking avies, its mod my man none of your fecking rock m'laddo. I had a great time, Lupo had a cool photo of himself, that guy is cooler in real life than in virtuality if only I was too, hahaha; with Georgie Fame king of the UK keyboards very sharp. A great time I enjoyed myself immensely and Slate kept the tunes going long after eleven and after I logged off I'm sure they kept the party going like only sharp mods can!

Whilst we are talking real life Sean informed me that the scooter centre link I posted sells dodgy machines. As I only use the site for scooter porn [I think Ive invented a new phrase] its perfectly harmless but anyone thinking of spending actual pounds shillings and pence, please be careful I do not recommend any sites to purchasers I'm merely flagging up some nice imagery or tunes so be careful when splashing your cash.

Back to virtuality I logged in today to grab a few bargain suits from Hoorenbeek and then thought I would take myself back to Soul Mods and remain there until I logged on again, pssst don't tell Dugi he'll be charging me rent. Anyway I was quite surprised on my arrival to find a sharp dressed cool dancer enjoy the tunes. She was enjoying the cool soul stream that was flooding the club and just enjoying the memories it rekindled. Its kind of funny to think of Soul Mods having a life outside of the Thursday and Friday night gigs but its enjoyed throughout the day by wanders and others, I find that kind of cool, Anyway we briefly chatted and enjoyed the tunes, I forgot what I'd logged on for but it was cool I had fun listening to the stream, this virtual life is sweet, whilst I watched my ten year old nephew on the One Show via I-Player. My Hoorenbeek suit looking cool but not as sharp as the lone modette dancer who looked very cool indeed!

After the stresses of the last few days I need to hear something mellow, heard this on the radio and its sound, whilst the chorus is awesome its cinematic babeee so sing out loud:

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

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

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

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Modernist Fashion in SL

Kumaki

There are few avatars wandering the streets of Second Life who do not possess a cool pair of shades stuffed away somewhere in there inventory. I have several pairs in mine but that's not prevented me from locating and purchasing more. Therefore when I saw a cool pair on a fashion blog post I immediately clicked the SURL and got myself over to the store to gab a pair for myself.

Iconic sixties styling the round lenses glasses with flip over shades are a classic design and I have often wished for a pair so when I saw this pair from Kumaki it took no time at all to decide I wanted a pair. The glasses are scripted for frame and lense colours, with all the other script function that has become the norm for sunglasses. Additionally it is scripted to raise or lower the flip lense, left and right flipping independently of the other. I love them they remind me of one of my favourite films Withnail and I, where I flips his lenses before revving off in the beaten up jag on their way to the Lake District. Well made, classically sixties, although I concede late sixties rather than the early sixties of the true mod. But, for NeoMods absorbing fashion to recreate modernist styling in the virtual world they could be viewed as an essential piece of eye wear.

While I was in the store I also noted they had a great selection of suits; however as I am being frugal with the lindens I opted just to snap the sales board rather than purchase some more suits. A feeble excuse but hey this ain't GQ is it? Anyway they had an avatar modelling the suits which have a degree of prim wear to give the suits a feeling of depth and fabric movement. They look cool and come in the sombre muted colours of the early mods. I may buy one at some point but if you are looking to get yourself a classy looking modernist suit or just feel the need to expand your mod fashion folder I encourage you to take a look.

Kumaki

Musings

Some of you may have noticed there has been a drop off in the regularity of posting on this blog, lots of blogs do this before eventually dropping off into the wilderness. However, I have no intention of taking this route its merely circumstances hat have dictated that less than daily posts get blogged nowadays. Primarily the scene has quietened down a little with only two clubs providing constant sixties and mod inspired tunes; secondly, I am not interested in spending thousands of lindens to flatter my ego and parade myself as a pseudo fashion writer. Lets face facts this is a tiny little blog read by about a dozen great people and I'm just a geezer who like sixties stylings and occasionally likes to have a laugh writing about it and point those with similar interested in the direction of some cool items. I also grab ideas from the cool chaps who frequent the clubs, its a game and I enjoy playing it, I'm not the fashion glossy reporter some hope to be. Finally, I have joked about it a couple of times in world but middle age is playing havoc with my eyes so sometimes I find it a struggle to stare at the screen, which obviously makes blogging quite difficult, its also why I often go quite in club chatting, resting the old peepers. So I have no intention of ending my blogging career but it may enter a period of dramatic slow down, although I will probably do a dozen posts now and render this musing post irrelevant, such is life. See you at the AAi tonight or Soul Mods Thursday.