Elegant men’s dress shoes @ Kalnins

September 20th, 2008 at 12:04am Ryan Darragh

There was a time when you could count the Great Cobblers of SL on one or maybe two hands, especially if you were talking about shoes for men. Eponymous Trenchmouth. Fallingwater Cellardoor. Funk Schnook. swaffette Firefly. To name just a few of my own longtime favorites. These days, there are a lot more designers out there doing interesting and creative work in every imaginable area, including shoes for men. To this I say: “Say thankya.”

Sculpted prims in particular are making possible sophisticated shoe designs with smoothly shaped forms that only a small handful of designers have accomplished–and this no doubt tediously–with standard prim construction. (When I consider “just” the challenge of creating the illusion of seamless texture across a complex prim object, it makes my head hurt.) Maris Kanto’s “Gallop” dress shoes are impressively sculpted lace-ups, long, sleek and elegant, perfect for pairing with formal attire, dress or business suits, or lending class to a pair of jeans.

The shoes are scripted so you can select your choice of 11 different colors–just touch the left shoe to get a pop-up menu. I’ve shown them here in White because there are relatively few white dress shoes for men out there, white being especially challenging to pull off, and I think these are quite effective.  They’re also scripted for resize, attachment position, sound and shininess.  Resize and attachment position (relative to foot) changes are made in small increments; sound and shininess are simple on/off settings.  I’ve become a big fan of script-driven resize for accessories like shoes and belts, because of the control it offers.  I’m less enamored with scripted controls for attachment position, but others may well love them.  Sound for my shoes is something I can, quite frankly, live without, but again, others may feel differently.  The ability to turn “shiny” on and off is something I don’t think I’ve seen before.  I’ve played with it for purposes of this review, and I think I’ll actually use it in the future.  It gives the shoes a bit of gloss and makes them look more highly polished.  Interestingly, while shininess makes the darker shoe colors look not just glossy but somewhat lighter, the lighter shoe colors (like White) look a little darker.  (Compare the shoes in Black with and without shininess.)  To me it looks like turning shininess on levels out the contrast in the textures, at least somewhat, so this may be why the apparent brightness levels change.

At L$500, the “Gallop” shoes aren’t inexpensive, but remember that you get 11 color choices.  A L$1 demo is available in the store.  Permissions are No Modify / Copy / No Transfer, but they can be resized via touch scripting.  Also available: “Classica” (L$400), a more casual lace-up style scripted for seven different color choices.  A “redelivery machine” in the store may come in handy if your shoes somehow become damaged or stop working and you don’t (ahem) have a backup copy.

Available at Kalnins Shoes (Istanbul Edition 43, 145, 21).

Disclosure: Seen in World: Yes | Review Copy: Yes | Friends List: No

Notes: On Ryan: "Antonio" skin by Funk Schnook (FNKY!). "Czech Mate" hair by Noam Sprocket (Gritty Kitty). Classic Tux by Shai Delacroix (Casa Del Shai).

Entry Filed under: Business, Dressy, Formal, Kalnins, New Items, Shoes