New: Adri For Men @ Designs By Adri

September 22nd, 2006 at 07:20pm Ryan Darragh

Adri Saarinen, an established designer of women’s fashions in SL, has just launched her new Adri For Men line, starting with the AdriKilt (pictured at left and below, after the jump) and a handful of fun t-shirts. You can find her store, Designs By Adri, at Suisun 111, 181, 72.

I had the opportunity yesterday to sit down and talk with Adri about her new men’s clothing. I asked her first about her pinup girl tees, which I think are fantastic and fun. Hey, three tees in the pack, three different colors, three different pinups–what’s not to love? She was happy to share how she came up with her idea. “I was actually just trying to come up with some t-shirts to display with my AdriKilt, and searching stock photos. I wanted the Martini Girls, you know, the girls in the martini glasses, but those are all copyrighted images. But there are plenty of royalty-free vintage pinups out there. So I did some Google searching and picked out a few I liked. They’re on Robin (Sojourner) Wood’s free t-shirt template.”

I mentioned that I had heard great things about Robin’s clothing templates. Adri’s response was enthusiastic. “Everything about Robin is great, and you’re free to quote me on that. She’s one of the most talented, knowledgeable, and genuinely helpful people I’ve ever met.”

Next, I asked Adri about her new men’s kilt, which she’s calling the AdriKilt. “The AdriKilt is based on the Utilikilt ‘Mocker’ style, which is meant to replace slacks in the workplace. Utilikilts are casual, washable, everyday kilts. Their signature line has great big pockets in, ‘big enough for a six pack.’ I was inspired to make the AdriKilt after seeing several photos of Nathan Fillion, of Firefly fame, in Utilikilts. There are also some PR photos floating about of him in the elusive leather Utilikilt, the price of which reads ‘you can’t afford it.’ I thought it would be something fun and different, and something men might feel more comfortable with experimenting with in SL.

“I do want to thank SeanMcPhearson Senior, who’s been an AdriKilt evangelist for about a month, long before I released it to the public. His feedback was very valuable in helping me bring it to the market for other men.”

Adri acknowledges that the AdriKilt poses some unusual fitting challenges, especially for men who aren’t accustomed to wearing anything like a skirt. “The kilt itself is made up of around six flexi-prims (but with fairly high tension, so no worries that it will seem ‘flimsy’). By editing the whole attachment at once, you should be able to scale it up or down as needed. If you line the front rivets up with the rivets on the base, it should look ‘right.’ Unfortunately, the constraints of SL prevent us from making anything look good unless it’s skin tight. The base layer is also mod, so if you find your AdriKilt is shorter than the base, it’s possible to edit the base shorter using appearance sliders. I’d be happy to help anyone who’s having trouble.” As you can hopefully see, Adri’s tips helped me to get my AdriKilt fitted quite nicely. And I promised her that I would wear it, and not let it languish in my inventory.

What else can we look forward to in Adri’s designs for men? “I do hope to release more things that, like my women’s line, are both elegant and casual. Sort of a ‘buttoned down’ after the office look. I definitely am planning some unbuttoned oxford-style shirts, hopefully with and without rolled sleeves, as well as some other layering pieces. Certainly I’ll be releasing the AdriKilt in more colors. I want to do army green, denim, and black. Maybe with some different belt options. We’ll see. The more feedback I get, the better my next items will be.”

I was impressed by the design of the AdriKilt–not necessarily something I would try in RL, but a lot of fun in SL! The pinup girl tees have immediately become my new favorites. All the items feature high-quality textures and artwork.

The AdriKilt is available, currently in tan only, for L$300. The three-pack of pinup girl tees will set you back L$150. Another two-pack of tees, which includes the clock face tee pictured in the AdriKilt ad art at the top of this post, is also available for L$100. All are available at Designs By Adri, (Suisun 111, 181, 72). The new Adri For Men items are located upstairs.

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

Notes: On Brennen: Skin, David (pale) by Cryogen. Hair, "Bedded" by HCT. Jeans, "Fav faded" (freely available). On Ryan: Skin, Naughty Designs Light (Toned) by Lost Thereian. Hair, "Drew" by Zyrra Falcone (Panache). Jeans, Random Lazy Lowriders (very dark wash), by Garbage Prototype. Men's Gold Hoop Earrings by Ramos Designs. UT Brown Cross tee by Trevor Turner (Untitled Threads). Journeys Leather Sandals by Arycon Fasching (KK Outfitters). Silver Claddagh Ring by Eggberta Echegaray. On Sean: Skin, Naughty Designs Pale (Toned), by Lost Thereian. Hair, "Bedded" by HCT. Jeans, Random Lowriders (dark wash) by Garbage Prototype. Glasses, "TopRim" by Collection Damani.

Entry Filed under: Adri For Men, Designer Reviews, New Items, Shirts