Dressing for the after-party: My Philosophy (ahem)
I guess I’m getting a little ahead of myself here. I have some beautiful formalwear to show you—possibilities for a highly dramatic New Year’s Eve party—but I thought that first I’d go directly to the after-party. Do not pass Go, do not collect L$200. Now, it’s understandable if you feel that the main event deserves most of your sartorial time, attention and budget. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that what you wear to the after-party somehow matters less. In its own way, it’s just as important. You’re still making an impression, after all! You can’t just throw on khakis and a polo and let it go at that. (Jeans and a t-shirt can work, though…if they’re the right jeans and the right t-shirt.) No, you still need to put some time, effort and attention into your after-party attire. Don’t worry, though. I’m here to help.
I have a simple philosophy at work here: The best way to make an impression at the after-party is to make a different impression. What do I mean by that? Well you may ask. Let’s say your main party of the evening is all about formal, luxurious, refined, even extravagant elegance, and the ensemble you’ve so carefully put together reflects those themes. (I’ll have some suggestions along those lines in the next few days.) Your after-party outfit should go in a different direction so people will notice—and, more importantly, remember—that you did more than just take off your jacket and loosen your tie. This is where the aforementioned right jeans and tee could work very well. In this case, though, let’s say…simple, casual, sexy, but still classy. I have just the thing.
Ricco Saenz’s “After Hours†outfit is in fact simple, casual, sexy, but still classy. Let’s run through the list together. Simple: just a shirt and slacks—check. Casual: informal colors, open collar and rolled sleeves—check. Sexy: make that deeply open collar and (so subtle you might not notice at first) semi-sheer fabric—check. Classy: crisply pressed seams and smoothly flowing fabric texture—check. Aha, all bases are covered! Excellent!
The shirt is available in four different colors: Blue, Salmon, Violet and White. The White is crisp and bright, the Blue very subtle, the Salmon most definitely not pink, and the Violet—my immediate favorite—vibrant and actually kind of exciting. The shirt can be worn neatly tucked or half-untucked, a deliberately casual sexy look that hits two of our requirements at once, so score! This trick is accomplished by means of shirt- and jacket-layer shirts, plus two different underpants-layer extensions. The texture work makes the shirt look oh-so-deliberately tousled, but not at all rumpled. Each shirt includes matching sculpted collar and cuffs, which are scripted for automatic resize and positioning. I did notice some occasional script errors, so the scripts might need some re-working, but the items are also conventionally moddable. [Note: this issue has been corrected by the scripter.] I found that I needed to use more than simple, uniform stretch to fit the collar to my satisfaction, anyway.
I don’t mean to give short shrift to the included pants. They’re nicely textured in medium grey, with integrated belt, crisp creases and back slash pockets. The belt is detailed with the designer’s brand name in back. There are no sculpted cuffs, but the pants are moddable, so you can adjust the system cuffs to your liking.
Just a few small caveats…although the fabric texture work is quite nicely done overall, some edges are not quite perfectly clean or perfectly aligned, and you may notice some skin color bleed-through at the waist-layer join line—how obvious this is will depend on your skin and shirt colors. Unfortunately, you can’t reduce this effect by wearing both shirt- and jacket-layer shirts without also eliminating the shirt’s sheer appearance. I don’t think any of these will be distractions at normal viewing distance. [Note: these issues have been addressed and corrected by the designer.]
Priced at L$225 for pants and a single shirt color, or L$450 for a pack that includes pants and shirts in all four colors. Available at Havana (Sky Beach 107, 192, 979); other locations can be found in Ricco’s Picks.
The shoes are called Swingtime, and they are by Eponymous Trenchmouth, part of his “Luciano de Vincenzi†line of stylish footwear for men. I love the classic lines of these slip-ons—they look clean, trim and comfortable. As always, Epo’s prim construction and texture work are things of beauty, exhibiting the careful construction, precise alignment and lovingly detailed artwork that are his eternal hallmarks.
For this outfit, I was particularly drawn in by the turquoise leather diamonds stitched down the shoe’s instep. Their color doesn’t exactly “go†with any of the shirt colors, but I think that’s actually part of why the shoes work here. L$400 at JCS (La Fortuna 1 51, 48, 21).
Ricco’s shirt’s sexy open collar cried out for a gorgeous necklace to shine there against the skin. I set out to find a piece that would not just “fill the space†but also satisfy all my requirements: simple, casual, sexy, classy. Believe it or not, it had been a while since I had undertaken such a search-and-destroy shopping mission. It’s challenging when the object of your desire is defined in such abstract terms—it pretty much means that it falls squarely into the I’ll Know It When I See It category. That’s nice to know, but it’s no help at all when trying to come up with productive search terms. On only my third or fourth stop (before the repeated TP requests had time to cause a client crash), I found just what I was looking for: Eolande Elvehjem’s Tribal Necklace for men. The chain’s links are substantial rather than delicate, for a strong, masculine look, and the pendant catches the eye with its graceful, organic curves. I’m wearing the necklace in Bronze, but other metal finishes are also available. L$200 at Accessories by Eolande (Larimar 205, 56, 22).
I’m also wearing the Arabesque Cross Ring by Yukirei Greene, long one of my favorite SL jewelry and accessory designers, for both the meticulous care with which she builds her pieces and the outrageous beauty they put on display. This is one of the small handful of Yukirei’s items still available at what is, as near as I can tell, her only remaining inworld shop location. (There have been no updates to her blog since July.) As with all of Yukirei’s designs, the prim construction is precise and intricate, the overall design stunning.
Just L$150 for a set that includes rings in both Gold and Silver. Pick it up–while you still can–at Skill Normal (MoonCat Izumo 119, 56, 26).
See you at the after-party! 
As noted by updates to the original post, certain issues with the originally released items have been addressed and corrected by the designer. The items now available for purchase are the corrected versions.