Whats going On...........

So its been very quiet on this blog, reasons too many and all to do with reality biting me on the @rse, creating a myriad of obligations that have not left me much time for frivolous frippery. I have been popping along to Soul Mods, helps me chill and get away from stuff; also listening to the cool documentaries as part of the Soul Week, check it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00przy5

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00gkz4w

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01300fj

Hopefully you can listen in, never sure if BBC links can be accessed outside of the UK but I'm sure you clever techy types know how to circumvent such issues. 

Anyway, back to my virtual life - its hit another hiatus whilst things this side of the screen get resolved; there have been a few really fun nights at Soul Mods with various people on deck its still the greatest place for virtual mods on the grid and if you have not been,,,why the feck not!

Pretty bland post this but hope you enjoy the links and hopefully once this immediate issue is resolved things can get back on track virtuality wise, keep the faith!

ciao

Bloody Wimmin

Ironic rant alert, please don't get all PMT on me 

There I was plodding through the Marketplace [once Xstreet] attempting to find a mod item I could fritter my lindens on, could I find anything, nope. So I thought I'll opt for emblematic rather than stylised, a nice Union Jack graphic on some nicely designed shirt or sweater, could I find anything, nope. What I did find was a plethora of items for the bloody gurlies.The London Girl Store, which I think I have mentioned before, indeed I have,  is crammed with clothing emblazoned with national flags, excellent for mods looking for Union Jack festooned items. This dress complete with iconic London graphics caught my idea, not strictly mod despite their labelling but I'm sure it'll appeal to plenty of the modettes. Price? I have not got a clue, I'm supposed to be looking for geezer stuff not pampering to overindulged girlywhirlies. Anyway, if it holds some appeal I have attached the SURL so jump on it.

London Girl~ Clothing and Costumes

Entering the Digital Age

I confess I am happily addicted to my I-Tunes which is generally blaring away somewhere in the house at most points in the day. But so far its only ever had music from Cd's loaded up onto it, or the excellent FREE downloads from the Derek's Daily blog. The notion of buying an album purely in digital format, well that seemed odd but as the two items were not available in a physical format I have had to take the plunge. Its not as satisfying as getting my grubby mitts on an album but as it all gets transferred to I-Tunes I guess its the future the wife likes it as it cuts down on clutter. Clutter? Clutter my @rse that's a man's life missus, bloody wimmin!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreams-Children-Teenage-Cancer-Trust/dp/B0026KR4QK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290098999&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Im-Only-Dreaming/dp/B002I4XSKU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1290098974&sr=8-1

Modernist Fashion in SL

Inked or Not

As you wander the grid you will noticed several iconic codes of male avatar creation; iconic things that define the majority of male avatars in Second Life. Number one they tend to be huge, some really huge [but even these can be dwarfed by the Glamourzonians]; secondly they wear a lot of denim and leather; freebie T-Shirts are almost compulsory and also they must be inked to the extreme. Yes tattoos are everywhere in the virtual world, the girls have them and so do the guys, blink and you'll find yourself in a tattooed morass of rock fantasy. However, tattooed beef-blokes are not really archetypal mod fashion gurus, but in the world of the NeoMod and the absorption of skinhead suedehead fashion philosophy perhaps there is a role for the mod tattooist. However I'm unconvinced the black ink really suits the mod image but coloured tattoos well maybe they can have a role ... occasionally. The advantage of virtual tattoos is that they are like those you get with the stick of chewing gum, they are instantly disposable.

I grabbed this multi-layered ensemble from XStreet which is a good source of easily found fashion items, type in your item then wade through the ubiquitous morass of naff gear to find items that you want ... cool! Whilst I like these I would have preferred even greater variation, with options for single duo or multiple combinations of the ink; and I would not have included the football tattoos this seem pointless - I mean who has a tattoo for two different teams Derby [the Ram on the back] and West Ham [on the arms] quite bizarre. However the iconic English British tattoos look fantastic a great piece of work, wonder if he does custom pieces?

Matched with my standard Liam skinhead faded jeans and a belted Union Jack flag from Patriotic Series flag store; the tattoos added to the skinhead hooligan style that some NeoMods could be striving for. Hair is obviously optional.

England Tattoos

Modernist Fashion in SL

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

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

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

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

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

Arai

Mods on the Road

Shauna's blog post over at Moonletters discussing virtual mods,and scooters got me thinking ... clank clank yes it does hurt. So I thought I'd do a little waffling:

Virtual modism wanders severely from the regimented restriction that define real life mods, in fashion-in music-and in hair styles. But even in the virtual world you cannot lay claim to being a mod without possessing a scooter. So iconic is the scooter in mod myth that its an essential item even when its no longer necessary. Essentially mods rode scooters because they couldnt afford cars, you dont believe me. Lets see rainy Brighton '64, who gets the girl the soaked parka clad mod on the Vespa offering a drenched back seat; or the chilled mod in the tonic suit in the Austin Healey? If you think its the scooter ... Wake Up!

For working class youths of this era owning a car didnt even register as a possibility; their parents didnt even have cars it was an aspiration that wasnt quite attainable. But, you needed to be mobile and so you had an option a great oily brute of a Triumph, BSA et al or sharp Italian scooter that wouldnt crease your trousers or leaves oil over the suit your still paying off on HP for the next five months. Its no surprise that the scooter won out. Besides it was easier to make a statement crawling along with your mrrors glaring in trhe pale sunshine, than  a flash of leather clad grease roaring past at ninety miles an hour. The mods choice was the cool and functional scooter, a wise one. The revivalist of the eighties took scooter customisation one step further with elaborate paint job, chroming of every metallic part, and tuning to reach dizzying speeds on what was essentially a rather unstable comfy chair. So strong is the iconic status of the scooter, that motor aspirations of the mods are forgotten and so in a world where you could have a Ferrari, an Aston Martin, a Lambourghini or all three ... the mod still chooses the scooter.

So once you decide to get involved in the virtual mod scene you decide you need a scooter and begin your search. Short cut, you have only two options the scooters at Medeka Garage or the scooters built by Slate McLeod*. Honestly, I have seen most of the scooters available and if you want to look sharp these are your only viable options. I have mentioned both in the blog before so seems pointless to review them again, so instead I will put my head on the block and make a choice.

I love my Vespa from Medeka, its colour changuing scripting, its mod attachments make it a wonderfully mod vehicle and I adore their Lambretta TV; but, my Union Jack scooter has a mod soul at the heart of it. Slate's a classic virtual British mod and its that mod soul that is expressed in his scooters. They just feel like a mods scooter, its something inherent in their creation, and he provides you with a wearable option. The wearable option is crucial if you wish to partake in the impromptu scooter rallies that spring up at mod club nights. So, both wonderful builders; both wonderful machines but if I had to pick one .. its my Union Jack Vespa.

*mention you have snaps of his mankini you might get a discount, lol.

Modernist Fashion in SL

Mod Dandyism

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

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

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

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

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

The Union Jack

A true icon of modism the Union flag dominates much modernist imagery. Worn on parkas in patch form of one kind of another, the flag often provides the backdrop for band names, modernist slogans or the stark "mods" declaration favoured by many mods.

In second life the mod is blessed with many opportunities to incorporate the Union Jack into their modernist portfolio as many designers relish the chance to use the flag as a means to brighten up there clothing. Amongst the most prominent is the Little Britain Store; ostensibly a metal store but much of their clothing range can be tweaked to meet a skinhead vibe or even a NeoModernism with a twist for the twenty first century.

In a strict modernist style the classic Townsend Union jacket is available and other designers have incorporated the flag into their clothing ranges that can easily be utilised as mod clothing of the highest quality.

One of Albion's greatest modernist grid finds was a Union Jack vespa, a fantastic looking machine and it now takes pride of place in Albion's modism scooter fleet. Opportunities for mods to utilise this masterpiece of modernist iconography abound, so put your best foot forward and walk with a modernist beat, the mods are on the march!