Men's Second Style

It was a hard life, living in the Wastelands. No one denied that. In fact, it was one of the hardest lives one could be born to. It was even harder living on the edge of the Great Fissure. No one quite believed that, unless they themselves had been born to it. Or exiled there. Read the rest of this entry »

Every once in a while, my inner kitty wants to get out and play.

He has different moods. Mostly he’s friendly and playful, but sometimes he’s territorial and defensive. Once in a blue moon, usually after he’s watched “X-Men” yet again, he’s bold and aggressive. You might even call him scrappy. You’d definitely want to watch out for the claws. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I had pretty much zero luck a while back when I tried selling myself off, or at least adopting myself out, with the pathetic kitty look.  I thought it was surefire, a complete no-brainer, but no such luck.  Oh sure, a few people made offers in the comments, but did anyone ever come through with anything real?  I’m talking about money, houses, gourmet caviar and gold-plated, diamond-studded scratching posts here, not just a litterbox in the corner.  I figured anyone and everyone would love a sad kitty.  Hey, it works for puppies, right?  So where and how had I gone so wrong?  I resolved that I would figure this out or cry trying. Read the rest of this entry »

[i]  Things had never been easy on the farm.  Raising crops was honest work, but hard, and it was all he had known his whole life.  But since the drought had begun things had been ever harder.  The soft greening wheat had turned brown and brittle; the dark brown earth had grown hard and grey.  Read the rest of this entry »

Getting dressed is as easy as throwing on a pair of jeans and a shirt.  But style is in the details, and that often means accessories – an area of fashion often difficult for men.  Should the belt match the shoes?  Should the shoes match the coat?  Should the coat match the watch?  Can’t I just say to hell with it and put on my bathrobe and stay home?

In any outfit, finding the right balance of accessories is key.  Too few is bland; many and you end up looking like Mr. T (and that is only a good look on Mr. T).  Further, your accessories should complement each other.  While they don’t have to match exactly, they should appear to have the same purpose.  Dress shoes look good with a suit, or parts of one; less so with Bermuda shorts. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi all, somehow Ryan got it into his head that just because I can write a few blurbs at the end of his posts – I’d be able to handle my own guest spot…   Well, let’s see how right (or wrong) he can be!

First let me introduce myself.  I’m Rhys Ackmann, a SL photographer with a fair hand for fashion.  How did I become so good at knowing what’s worthwhile in SL?  I find that reading freebie and fashion blogs, sorting a year’s worth of hunt finds and spending every linden you made on clothing, shapes, skins and hair will do that to a guy.  Not that I’m vain, just can’t seem to find the AV I want to be.

So what to review?  Well, it’s kind of embarrassing but I get invited to a ton of teahouses.  You have to admit it’s a huge subculture in SL, so knowing how to dress and act just might come up.  No worries, I’m here to help! Read the rest of this entry »

Being classy on Second Life in a predominantly hip-hop environment is not easy.  I’ve been on the game for well over one year and from the first day to the day I wrote this I can honestly say certain scenes on SL have and will never change.  Every group, every clique, every organization has a particular style they represent.  In the hip-hop community it’s usually as follows:

1 pair of Nike Uptown styled sneakers (tennis shoes for those of you in the south)
1 pair of baggy jeans
1 sports jersey
1 excessively over-primmed platinum chain and matching earrings
And last but not least, 1 oversized baseball cap representing the local team Read the rest of this entry »

Before we get started, I’d just like to mention out that I was working (albeit vaguely) toward a goth-themed post of some kind even before a recent discussion in comments touching on the relative merits of themed or “genre” style, such as goth, emo, neko and grunge.  To me it seemed that the upshot of our dialogue was that themed styles like these are great, but it’s good not to fall into the rut of any one style and never do anything else.  Fair enough!  I’d buy that for a dollar.

So, as I say, I was already working on something, and by this I mean that I was accumulating some things (too many things, in turns out) that I thought would work and letting the ensemble percolate in my mind, waiting for it to be birthed fully formed, like Venus.  Lest you get the wrong impression, I hasten to add that it is only sometimes that serendipitous.  Most often, I find that I have to sweat a little bit to make the magic happen. Read the rest of this entry »

To begin with, in second life, I’m a DJ and manager at The Wharf.  I host events for other Djs, as well.  If you’ve never been to the Wharf, you are missing out on a fantastic place.  Chester Howley and Finnegan Chesnokov are the dynamic duo that own the place, and have made it into the awesome place it is today.  I love to talk to and meet people.  And I love to share my music – hence the DJ thing.

You could say that I spend a great deal of time in and around music on SL.  I enjoy exploring various places, whether its a music club, seeing interesting builds, or going shopping and doing things with my friends.  I have met some fantastic people, and have grown very close to a few. Read the rest of this entry »

Once upon a time, there was a boy.  But this was no ordinary boy–he was a boy who, perhaps through mutation or other accident of biology, was also a cat.  This was unusual enough, but then one day he was bitten by a great wild dog.  That’s when things really started to get interesting. Read the rest of this entry »