Men's Second Style

a crazily optimistic statement about our self-understanding as human beings. That an artist like Keth Mommsen puts the effort and energy into designing virtual clothing as distinguished and elegant as her ‘David’ suit for men, and that apparently there are now enough men who value such quality to make these efforts rewarding, warms my analogue heart.

It’s a black tux, there are no grey or white or brown versions. And the shirt is always white. But there is a veritable rainbow of colours of vest and matching cravat ties. Oh, and what ties. It was the cravat that made David a must-own for me. Rich, extravagant bunched fabric, almost more a scarf but tied like a tie; lovely!

The shirt and trousers of a David suit could not be simpler. The black trousers, with their formal wide velvet stripe down the leg, require no prim cuffs to look stylish. The shirt, too, is primless and remarkably accomplished for a single layer. Formal shirt, bunched fabric cravat and long coloured vest are all combined on a single layer. This is, of course, not conducive to mixing and matching but it does allow for simplicity and ease. Even more surprising, the lovely long waistcoat achieves its length by being painted on not only the shirt-layer top, but also on the trouser-layer garment. These are not, therefore, trousers you can use easily with anything else. But the fact is that this is an outfit you will want to wear together.

The jacket is a bit more complex. It consists of two parts, a jacket-layer garment and one of two prims. For a tight-fitting jacket, you can wear just a little piece of fabric in the back. Or for the looser fit you can wear the full jacket skirt prim (shown). No prim collars or cuffs. I appreciate having the choice, especially given my long standing problems with prim jacket bottoms and my lack of musculature, but this one fits just fine. Happily, at the Eros main store, you can try the whole suit on before you buy: a demo version is available. It has become one of my favourite jackets.

The David suit has been out for some time now, but within the past few weeks the line has been refreshed and extended considerably. There are now a whopping 16 colours/shades of vest & cravat, ranging from the very subtle to nearly overwhelmingly rich and bright. And, best of all, with Ms Mommsen‘s latest expansion, one no longer needs to buy multiple versions of the suit in order to enjoy multiple coloured waistcoats and cravats. Each of the 16 colours is available in a full tux version with everything descibed above for L$600 or buy just the coloured ties and waistcoat on their own (the white shirt on which they’re painted is included as well, as are the trousers, since the bottom of the waistcoat is painted on the trousers, and there is also a matching pair of socks!). Each colour is L$200, but they can also be purchased in packs of three for L$500 per pack. All available, and as I said, with demos to try on, at the Eros mainstore: Eros Cove (45, 151, 24).

By the way, if you haven’t been to Foxxies yet, you ought to give it a try. The dancing photos in this article were shot there. Imagine the old Bogart’s set on beautifully maintained park-like grounds containing plenty of dance machines, benches and swans scattered around. Again, the way that hosts Allison Lannock and Adam Peliatropis have used powerful number-crunching electronic machinery to facilitate conversation among swirling pixels… well, it leaves me surprised and grateful. You’ll find Foxxies at ShadowFox (219, 131, 22).