Men's Second Style

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!

First, Google a cheat-sheet page of Japanese greeting before you teleport to the teahouse, then use it to copy and paste the correct responses into chat…  You’ll be glad you did!

Second, you don’t have turn Japanese to go, but it is SL so not only is going native fun, it’s easy.  Meet Ackmann San–he’s fun, festive, colorful and ready to sit through hours of culture!  What did I have to do to get this look?

Hair – The hair is my favorite Hair Fair find from [Curio] called Beach.  This is in the black pack.  I love this hair and was disappointed when I found out it was the only male hair the store currently offers.  Perhaps Ryan can convince my new favorite stylist to make a few more?  Still I was happy for any excuse to go back and buy another pack (I already having the red pack).

Eyes – Since more often than not you’ll find me a light-eyed redhead I needed to find some dark eyes.  I stumbled across Vision on the hunt for a freebie cottage.  It can be a bit hard to find–the sim has a fixed TP point and a few too many textures (thus it has a somewhat long rez time).  The Vision store is at the bottom of the stairs on the left.  These eyes are part of a Midnight Mania Board (0L) but if that’s not still on they run just 25L a pair.  I like them because they have a nice shine to them–so often black eyes end up looking expressionless and blank.

Skin - I’m always surprised that I don’t meet more people with an *ARAI* skin.  The faces have such character and they aren’t the same dull European white boys that everyone else has on.  But the best part of the *ARAI* yankee skin_04 (this pack comes with regular and bloody skin in case the teahouse gets rough) is the price:  80L!  I could unspool!  Even the new designs run between 400 – 600L.  What I consider even more intriguing is that they offer middle-aged and elderly male skins as well.  The assortment is limited but I think the price and style more then make up for it.

Note:  I should mention that the yankee skin comes with a shape, but I’m using a hunt find from Savoir Faire Shapes by Hybrid Ansar called Andrew *thinner shape*.  I didn’t see it out when I stopped by this week but her shapes are Mod and Copy so you tweak to get them just the way you like.

Kimono - Last but not least I did a one stop trip to JUGOYA for the kimono and picked the kabuki-mono [pattern] by D15 Koba who makes a “living selling old Japanese outfits, items and buildings”.  What?  it’s not the traditional Kimono you expected?  Don’t worry, he has those too.  If none of these fit your needs you can pop over to my other favorite Kimono maker TENCHU!  for something basic and well made.  But before you do, look this one over, there is just something I like about this quilted hand-me-down, it seems so…comfortable.  Now, at 380L it was a bit on the expensive side (I’m the guy who pays 80L for skins remember), but I was glad of the excuse to splurge on myself.   One tip, I love the sculpted collar but it was made for a body with a short torso, otherwise you get spaces between it and the kimono.  So while not perfect nor to everyone’s taste, I like the poor boy punk shogun kinda feel of it.

There you have it–with my first go at the world of SL fashion, I’ve prepared you for the world of SL teahouses.  Enjoy yourself, and don’t forget to tip your Geisha!