Men's Second Style

You meet the most interesting people when you take public transportation. Traveling by bus is always at least a potential adventure, and trains are both fun and fascinating, but subways are almost an ecosystem all their own. Maybe it’s the whole underground thing—it effectively separates and distances you from life on the surface, and with nothing to see outside the windows except the station stops, the city above retreats into mind and memory and ceases to be a presence. At least until you exit and return to the surface.

Subway regulars are almost exclusively urbanites. On the subway, you can always tell the first-timers from the regulars. First-timers are the ones checking their watches or the train schedule, looking out the window when there’s nothing to see, or fidgeting in their seats. The regulars, on the other hand, seem comfortable in their surroundings. They rarely check to see when the next train will arrive, or what the next stop is; they just know. Their attire may be anything from going-out formal to downtown business professional to almost-invisible urban camouflage. In fact, you may not consciously notice them at all.

Jasper Potez knows how to design for the casual city dweller. His clothing and accessories at JP Design emphasize and accommodate the essentially rough, gritty side of life in the city. You can see this emphasis clearly in the design of his main store. The arrival point is an “underground” subway platform, and your only next option (unless you need a quick stop in a desperately grungy toilet) is to head upstairs, to the surface and the hopefully fresher air outside. Then and only then can your shopping excursion begin.

I’ve put together one outfit from some of Jasper’s more interesting and impressive designs. Although there are only a few pieces at play here, they’re all complex and flexible, so there’s actually a lot going on. First off, there’s this black hoodie. Now, you’d think a hoodie wouldn’t offer up all that much to get excited about. Ordinarily, you’d be justified in your suspicious concern. Not this time. The simply classic, classically simple hoodie is textured with black fabric that has a sturdy, almost nubby weave. And the black isn’t an inky, shadowy mess—it’s clean and clear, with details you can actually make out.

But wait, there’s more! Unlike most I’ve seen, this hoodie can be worn not just one, not just two, but three different ways: fully pulled on; tied at the waist; and half-on/half-off, as shown here. Like all highly flexible garments, the apparent simplicity of this classic hoodie is deceptive. The various wear options are made possible by means of an initially (potentially) confusing array of clothing-layer and sculpted items, intended to be worn in appropriate combinations. The various garment items, including the slightly grubby tank-style undershirt, are also included on multiple layers. Once you figure it out, though, it all makes sense. My advice, before doing anything else, is to sort the various pieces appropriately into three sub-folders, for quick and easy on/off. The various prim components can all be easily resized via touch menu. L$329.

Jeans in SL are one item that can certainly be, figuratively if not literally, a dime a dozen—some good, some bad, some indifferent. For what it’s worth, the jeans at Armidi are personal favorites and quite possibly the best I’ve seen, from a standpoint of design and execution. But of course you have any number of other options; designers will never stop making jeans. Jasper’s rippJeans are well constructed and include some nice sculpted add-ons, one of which is at least somewhat out of the ordinary. You can choose from two different cuff styles: slouchie “long” cuffs and turned-up “low” cuffs. I personally prefer the low cuffs, for their lazily curved drape over my shoes, but the rumpled long cuffs look great too. The sculpted belt attachment is carefully shaped for a close fit that didn’t require me to pull my butt size down to zero…it’s a miracle! As if this weren’t enough, the belt attachment includes an integrated fly section that can be worn closed or open. Scripted resize of prim components, a selection of belt color textures and fly open/close control are all available by, um, touch. So knock yourself out. You can wear the jeans with or without the integrated flannel boxers shown here, or with your own favorite underwear, or with none at all. Hey, maybe that night job as a pole-dancer will work out after all! The boxers are also included separately as an underwear-layer garment. L$239.

My hairstyle here is Jasper’s “DreadHead” in Blonde. This is a handsome dreads style with integrated visor and beanie-style hat. A number of design elements are easily customizable via touch menu: automatic resize; fabric colors and button artwork; show or hide hair jewels, button and joint over one ear; and choice of visor or beanie. Choose Blonde, Black or Brown for L$339 each, or L$829 for a pack of all three colors. Demos are available for L$1.

Although I really liked this style in Blonde, I almost bought it in Black, more or less automatically. You see, the skin I’m wearing includes standard and braided hair bases, but no bald head, and I figured the hair should match. But then I thought, “Hey, I can make this work. Somehow. I know I can.” And then I clicked and bought the blonde before a second thought could, as my baby sister used to say, change up my mind. If you look closely, you can see evidence of the black braided hair base, but you do have to make a close inspection. And of course the eyebrows are still black. Hey, if it bothers you, pretend the roots are just starting to grow out.

The big city can be an unforgiving place. It’s not always easy to know what to wear, how to succeed, or even who to be. Jasper Potez makes at least the first problem a little bit easier to solve.

All available at JP Design [JP]:dsg. (JP Isle 82, 105, 31).