Men's Second Style

The ARGRACE Fall/Winter collection by AIR Winx is, in a word, impressive.  A good double handful of the designs have been burning a hole in my inventory for several days now–I’m long overdue sharing them with you.  Although I love and enjoy exploring some of the incredible variety of themed clothing you can find in SL, there’s still a place in my heart (and room in my wardrobe) for contemporary designs.  A beautiful sweater, a handsome jacket, an eye-catching accessory: these all make me happy.  If they do the same for you, I’d be surprised if you don’t find something here worth taking home.

It wasn’t for no reason that I mentioned beautiful sweaters.  “With You” (L$300) is a very beautiful sweater indeed.  The finish looks like the best, most finely woven cashmere.  You can wear a sweater like this right next to your skin all day long and never feel the itch of rougher wool–this is more like silk.

“With You” comes as a fairly elaborate offering.  The sweater itself is included on various clothing layers and can be worn tucked or untucked, with long or mid-length sleeves.  Sculptie cuffs are included for both sleeve styles, as are a matching turtleneck collar and coordinating check-pattern muffler.  I’ve seen some prim clothing pieces that call attention to themselves by not blending smoothly with the clothing-layer garment, or by their too-simple and stylized rather than realistic shapes.  That’s not the case here–the prim pieces are subtle and effective, and they elevate the whole garment rather than simply completing it.  The collar and muffler use different attachment points, so they can be worn at the same time, but I’m not sure that doing so serves any purpose.  The muffler is not moddable, but it is scripted for simple automatic resize.  I’m wearing the sweater in Olive, a rich green that still seems somehow autumnal, but you can choose from several other colors.

The “Always” jacket (L$300) is another handsomely textured, generously appointed design.  The jacket can be worn with or without the coordinating V-neck shirt, so you can layer it with another shirt from your wardrobe, if you prefer.  You can also choose between the turned-up collar or the pushed-back hood, for two very different looks.  Both accessories are smoothly sculpted and lined with coordinating print fabric, a nice contrast with the solid color of the jacket itself, and the hood has flexi string ties.  Also shown in Olive, but of course other colors are also available.

Although it’s true that hoodies can be something of a commodity, in SL as in RL, AIR’s Wool Hoodie (L$300) is instead a pleasantly high-quality and flexible surprise.  The jacket’s fabric texture looks like shearling wool, and this is carried over to the matching sculpted hood as well.  The set also includes a down-filled nylon vest, which can be worn on its own or layered over the wool hoodie.  You see them here in Black.

Pretty much throughout, I am also wearing AIR’s Boots Cut Fit Denims (L$120).  These beautifully detailed jeans are moddable for fit and include optional sculpted cuffs.  I go back and forth on sculpted cuffs for pants–some I like a lot, others not so much.  Although the cuffs here are a bit more “slouchie” than I usually like for jeans, they’re naturally shaped and the detailing blends well with the pants-layer jeans.  The jeans themselves are fully finished and can be worn on their own without compromise.

Although it’s neither particularly autumnal nor wintry, “Holiday Surfer” (L$250) is a gorgeous layered shirt-with-sweater that’s not at all out of place, even as temperatures drop.  The shirt/sweater combo can be worn tucked or untucked, and the untucked version can be worn with or without the shirt tail peeking out just slightly below the sweater.  If this seems like a subtle detail, it is…but when a designer spends time on a subtle detail like this, that can only be a good thing.  Sculpted collar and cuffs for the plaid-print shirt are included in large and small sizes.  A small script logo decorates the front of the sweater, and the back features larger artwork with a surf theme–I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of it.  Shown in Maroon.

Although I’d be hard pressed to choose a single favorite from these designs, I do find myself coming back again and again to “Feel” (L$300).  At first glance, you may think this is a fairly straightforward if well crafted shirt, but not so!  There’s much, much more.  Describing it as four different shirts might be going too far, but I think it’s certainly fair to say that it’s one shirt you can wear in four different ways.  The set includes a “normal” shirt, buttoned all the way up but one; the “open” shirt you see here; a “wide open” shirt; and a “full open” shirt.  Although of course the trick has to be worked by means of four different garments, the illusion is still that of a single shirt that can be buttoned to different degrees…much like shirts you wear every day.  Gracefully sculpted collar and cuffs are the final touch.  Shown in Jazz Blue.

Although the designs so far have all included prim enhancements, AIR’s clothing-layer-only designs are equally fine.  One of my favorites is the Formal Leather Jacket (L$300).  This unusual design walks the not-so-fine line between casual and formal wear by incorporating elements from both.  The beautiful black leather jacket is richly, evenly finished, with no signs of wear or distressing–it looks brand-new and butter-soft.  The cut and tailoring are that of a suit jacket, and it’s smartly buttoned with dressier affairs in mind.  Here you see it with white shirt and and black necktie, but the flexible set also includes jackets with black shirt and necktie, white shirt and ascot, and one with no shirt, so you can wear a shirt of your own…or not.  All are provided on the jacket layer only, which makes sense to me as I simply can’t imagine wearing them tucked in.

AIR has been equally generous with the Cardigan Set (L$240).  The fabric texture has the appearance of soft and finely woven wool, and the subtle variations in the color and shading look almost like watercolor.  Here again you get four variations of the jacket-layer garment: the sweater over grey vest and simple white tee; over striped polo; over print tee; and the sweater alone, for mixing and matching with your own shirts.  Shown in Sky Blue, not a color I would normally take home–I tend to gravitate more toward earth tones–but I plan to get some mileage out of it as a blond. You may prefer one of the other colors for yourself.

I also very much like the simple, classic Casual V-neck Sweater (L$200).  This pullover sweater can be worn untucked or neatly tucked in.  I’m wearing it here in Black.

Last but certainly not least, a few other items that I found while browsing around the shop.  I think these round out the collection quite nicely.  For your consideration:

Above, left to right: Leather Vest (L$120) — wear tucked or untucked; layer over your own shirts, or not; shown in Olive.  Denim Jacket (L$250) — both nicely distressed “vintage” and newer, less worn jackets are included.  Stripe Shirts (L$250) — the set includes shirts in Blue, Brown and Black (as shown).

If you haven’t visited ARGRACE since the relatively recent mainstore grand opening, you owe it to yourself to drop by.

All permissions are M C T, unless otherwise noted.  All items are available at ARGRACE (shin zushi 149, 161, 25).