Modernist Fashion in SL

Whilst wandering around the Moonletters hang out I stumbled upon Shauna's store, its got a few concession items in there for sale and amongst them was this very cool black denim jacket from UM. It has very nice texturing and a sharp well fitting prim collar. Matched with some uber modernist white jeans from the Unknown Boutique and a cool T-Shirt from Micio's Ready Steady Go shop, and the sharp mod bowling shoes which are iconic mod fashion items.

Perhaps not a strictly modernist look this is archetypal sixties fashionwear, strong bold monochrome coloured clothing is typical of this period of casualisation in sixties fashion.

Shauna's Shop @ Moonletters

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

Virtuality Peaks

So here I was sat in the back room surrounded by "the boy's" junk in what used to be my study but now seems like a refuge from Toys R Us and I keep getting little messages pop up on the e-mail on the crappy steam powered laptop the school supplies the missus with. These little notelets are flyers from Soul Mods telling me what a great set Lupo is playing in the club. Great, I cant get on the PC so I'm left tormented by these little fragments of virtual life that are inaccessible to me. Then, finally I get back in world chat to Dugi he tells me Lupo's sets have been amazing, I clap with glee tell him I'll be there Thursday and ... yeah my modem goes fizz no Soul Mods for me. Then the wife has the cheek to expect a real life holiday, I mean doesn't she realise I'm having a virtual crisis. Anyway all this was finally laid to rest as I got all tech issues resolved, and headed off to Soul Mods to catch the Spanish superstar in action, no not Nando in Turkey but Lupo in Second Life!

I was a tad late so lots of familiar and  some unfamiliar faces had already arrived and were already hot to the groove. Lupo plays and eclectic set very different to the other DJs, which is fantastic be very dull if they all sounded the same, with several tunes that were way off my register and so it was brilliant to get an opportunity to hear them, a thought echoed by the crowd strutting their stuff on a crowded dance floor. The music swung from mellow chillaxin to heart wrenching, foot stomping dance you bollocks off soul. And I am confident to say that many of us did, I annoyed the wife by singing and I didn't care less it was a sublime set of tunes and I loved it.

With so many familiar faces, including scooter maestro Slate, an impromptu scooter rally seemed highly appropriate and the club is big enough to accommodate a little scooter dodgems. There were many fine machines on display Dugi and Lupo's custom builds modelled on real scooters, Slate was on a chilled black machine and I was on my trusty Union Jack model, same as Boone. It was funny watching a huddle of scooters trundle across the dance floor. They looked great and reminded me I must talk to Slate about a Scooter with a Mods Second Life logo theme for a paint job, my middle aged memory isn't what it was so I'll forget this later so Slate if you are reading this, which your not bad lad, there's a project for you.

As the room was full of virtual faces there was obviously so superbly chilled outfits on display and despite the presence of uber mod Lupo and legend in a tea cup Albion I have to give the best dressed man award to Slate. Even sharper he designed and made the suit himself, a talented lad eh? I know what you're think .. what a twat! Ha ha ha ha. It was a sharp brown number with what looked like a sculpted lapel complete with a neat little badge, sharp spotted red shirt similar to the blue one he sold with his Weller inspired suit and then complimented this with the ice cool FKNY loafers in dark brown to set the standards high for the next Lupo gig. Eyes hidden by shades, as usual, even the goatee couldn't detract from a very sharp mod look. For once the guys were on a par with the super cool modettes dressed in their union flag fabrics and monochrome chic. Yeah lads we struck a blow for virtual masculinity now lets revert back to type. Fashion waffle warning means the Guinness jar is empty and I need a refill; therefore there shall be a slight journalistic repose whilst I nip out to the shed and grab a couple more cans ... talk amongst yourselves.

In order to save this from becoming the life and times of Slate Mcleod we will now move on.

What made this night so great was being surrounded by so many friends from the virtual world all having a laugh and enjoying each others company. Lupo entertained us royally and his sultry Mediterranean tones had the girls wibbling, its similar to wobbling only more graceful. There were some fantastic one liners hurled out in chat, Boone calling Slate a "light bulb" had me laughing for ages, still am smirking just a little. Stand out tunes, a version of The Snake I had never heard before, The Who Can't Explain, a much underrated track which I prefer to My Generation, there were plenty more but remember them after several Stellas can prove quite a challenge. All in all undoubtedly one of the best virtual nights I have had a quite some time and to cap it all the baron is hitting the decks next week so the king of virtual Northern Soul is taking us for a spin. Come on admit it, virtual life is great. See you all at the next mods meeting... its gonna be monster*.

*Feck me I sound like that barmy show biz agent I forget his name, Dugi will know it. Oh Ive decided I might call Dugi ... Mr Dugi Eight Track Cortina Rubble, for a laugh.

ciao

The rise and fall....

During my roaming I made a rather sad discovery learning that the 5.15 Club was no longer in existence, the construction following the Twisted Wheel into the inventory Warehouse. A rather sad affair as I really enjoyed the early days of this club which I felt was a spectacular looking build, indeed I often popped along to use it as a backdrop for snaps. After speaking to Davey it seems time issues just meant he wasn't making best use of the club and so he's shelved it, no drama just part of the cycle of virtual club land. But, its definitely a great loss in my eyes to the virtual mod scene.

So back on board the virtual bandwagon I headed to the AAi Club to catch Kim's 9 o'clock set, pleased to note some mod venues still exist. There was a good crowd present and all seemed to really enjoying the wonderful tunes that were been streamed by Kim. Marvelous stuff had me eyes shut warbling along to myself [thankfully for those present] whilst occasionally dipping into the chat stream. Most of the regular criminal fraternity were present: Dugi, Aston, Graz Shauna, Josie as well as DJ Kim, plus a few others who seem to have become regulars during my absence. Seemed to be brewing for a great nights entertainment but around half way through I got the call from real life that meant I had to shut off and go. A shame but still a great return for me to a fabulous little club with a fantastic DJ stream ice cool tunes to a very appreciative gang of mods and modettes, scruffy gits but hey I'll forgive them that ... err except for the bryl cream boy, you know who you are don't you!

Catch you all at Soul Mods on Thursday, enjoy your Second Life.

ciao

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

Cinematic Groove

Get down to the Odeon to relive your youth! '74 bit early for me but wont stop me enjoying myself, expecting lots of chat on the floor about the upcoming film, here's hoping it will do the music and scene justice.

In the Groove

To quote Sam from LotR, "I'm back". My abundant humility prevents me from commenting just how much I have been missed, but I'm guessing hugely, I mean if the modettes are looking for eye candy Albion Spitteler is at the very near front of the queue ... surely, at least I'm sure it was eye candy or maybe something else, answers on a post card ... remember them? Anyway enough of this drivel lets talk virtual.

One huge change since I was last in virtual mod land is the demise of The Twisted Wheel, a wonderful club setting that holds fond memories for many during its various incarnations and one wonders if anybody else will attempt to resurrect this treasured giant from the virtual warehouse. If they do, I wish them luck but once something has broken its probably best maybe not to attempt to fix it without all of its constituent parts. The Wheel at its best was far more than just a magnificent construction ... it had real soul. Oh well, I for one shall miss it.

Other hot topics include the migration of mods to the Moonletters Motel [I think its Moonletters sim or is it Penny Lane, please forgive any incorrect statements its been sunny the Stella was flowing....] Kim and Eden have another new, new shop and it looks unbelievably cool plus stocking everything the sharp modette needs to make a splash on the scene, and just along the road is Slate's Scooter Emporium every mod needs fine transport and there's no finer. During my midnight stroll I even located a pub, so life virtual or otherwise is sweet. Besides the great stores and hangouts it also appears all the iced members of the modernist fraternity have taken up residence in one form or another ... wonder if there's a spare park bench?

So there were a few changes to look into that occurred during my absence which need exploring; but, some things remain the same and despite some tedious teleportation issues I still managed to get my virtual @rse over to Soul Mods to hear Tabby deliver a blinding set of thunderous soul proportions. Outstanding in every conceivable way, great tunes marvelous people and a stream of funny chat. It might be virtual but its bloody more real than watching some nerd fart on BB! There were a few new faces who obviously thought, my god who is this pompous overegoed [ is overegoed a real word, I do have a tendency to invent my own occasionally] twat, err that would be me. I hope they had as good a time as I did and judging by the comments seems certain they did. What a wonderful way to return to Second Life, friends and great tunes. Am looking forward to some coolness at the AAI on Tuesday before finally getting to hear the maestro of modness Lupo playing at Soul Mods on Thursday. Heard so many great things and yet I have yet to hear him play a set, and so I'm relishing that one.

Indeed its great to be back making a div of myself and enjoying a great virtual life with chilled friends who all appreciate the odd good tune. Virtual sex, bollocks to that it the music we are here for ... well aside from Dugi, but Aston keeps his libido in check. Catch you all on the flip.

Blimey

I nip off-line for a bit and on my return I get told the Twisted Wheel is no more ... again! A pity but not unexpected. One good bit of news is Micio Braveheart of the Good Mixer Club has opened a shop above her club selling a few classy mod items for a fantastic price i bought a cool Lambretta T-Shirt for a throwaway 5 lindens, its a multi-layered piece and so is very flexible. There are some chilled earrings for the modettes plus a dress and the T-Shirt is unisex so once more plenty of scope for the modette looking to sharpen her style and the odd piece for the peacock mod geezers. So if you have a few lindens burning a hole in your pocket teleport over and make a purchase. All being well I shall make my majestic mod return tomorrow at the Soul Mods club, unless that's bloody shut down too.

ciao