New: Classy sweaters @ SLAB Designs
Designer Pompo Bombacci of SLAB Designs continues his exploration of refined men’s casual wear with his new ensemble, “sKOOp.”  The look is well dressed but not dressed up, comfortable but not too casual–although even on the “untucked” version the shirt is tucked in, the simple checked shirt is unbuttoned at the top and the tie is loosened for after-hours relaxation.  Each set includes tucked and untucked shirt / tie / sweater combinations, a shirt-layer sweater base for wear under the jacket-layer untucked sweater, and coordinating belted pants in either very dark blue or black, depending on the sweater color. Permissions are no copy / no mod / transfer, but the pants are provided in four fits: tight, loose, baggy, and extra baggy.
As on Pompo’s previous designs, the texture work is all carefully and thoughtfully done. Â Note how the untucked sweater flows over the belt as if slightly caught on the buckle rather than covering it completely. Â This seemingly small detail may not catch the eye immediately but really enhances the realism of the design. Â In addition to natural-looking wrinkles and folds, front and back, the sweater also features subtle pec definition shading, more easily discernible on the lighter colors.
“sKOOp” comes in Black, Gray, Purple, Red, Blue, and Ash. Look closely and you’ll notice small SLAB logos on the back of the sweater and belt.
Priced at L$495 per set for a single color, or L$1895 for the “Hi5″ pack of five colors (the Black set is available only as a single and is not included in the pack).
Available at SLAB Designs (Albata 160, 23, 26).
I’m a details guy and actually what kept me from buying this outfit when I saw it was that there wasn’t a version where the sweater covered the belt. In my own personal style, my sweaters or oxford generally cover my belt because they’re long enough to not show my undies if I bend over
. Although a very nice touch, it’s what held me back from buying. lol
Oscar – I like a man who has a strong sense of his own personal style.
I wonder if it would be possible for you to work with an additional model with a built a little more like that of your typical SL male (meaning a little more broad shouldered and a little less boyish). I appreciate that you have a unique style, but it makes it much tougher to figure out if the clothes will work for me. Often, I find texture imperfections and issues that don’t show on your shape but become apparent when the clothes are more stretched.
I’m not saying don’t model as yourself, but showing clothes would look on a couple of contrasting shapes would be really helpful.
Thanks!!!!
Heya Garth, thanks for the suggestion! I’ll certainly consider this, but there are logistical reasons it may not work out. In some of my early posts I did try a few times to pose or work with additional models (usually friends). This ended up being problematic from a scheduling perspective–what if the other model can’t get inworld after all?–and greatly increased the amount of time I spent on photo shoots. The beauty of working with myself is that I’m always available when I’m available. Ultimately, the longer an individual post takes to put together, the fewer posts I have time for. It’s a constant balancing act.
You are absolutely correct that larger avatar shapes will stretch the clothing and textures in ways smaller avatars simply don’t. Whether this is revealing imperfections or just resulting in a greater stretch and potential distortion of the fabric texture would be an interesting subject for investigation. After all, clothing for larger avatars isn’t made with more fabric, as in RL–it’s the same “amount” of fabric texture, stretched over a larger (and possibly differently proportioned) shape. This will unavoidably stretch the texture to a greater degree. I’d be happy to evaluate a particular clothing item or two with this in mind, if you have some to suggest–drop me an IM and let me know.
I happen to be a bigger av in-game as well (100 tall and 81 thickness). Unfortunately as I stated, I don’t own this outfit. Otherwise I’d upload a few shots of me in it to Snapzilla and tada! But I do feel your pain Garth. I really liked that Lifeguard outfit from Last Call, mainly for the jacket, but on a larger av like myself the jacket stretches it out all crazy. The line to approximately the (break out your anatomy books) trapezius muscle is off alignment and it shows even more on a bigger one like me. And then it stretches even more through my animated stands in my AO. That simple article of clothing has made me second guess and judge what I believe will or will not function with my av.
I think at least part of what we’re seeing here is the underlying awkwardness of the SL avatar structure, which remember is essentially female and in some ways may never scale up satisfactorily for larger male shapes. I was chatting with Posy on this topic the other night and we’ve both had similar experiences with clothing textures being stretched unattractively by certain poses or animations. Some shapes (either due to larger size or different proportions) may well exaggerate this problem. This is something every designer and customer struggles with–at this point I think it’s just the nature of the SL beast. As Oscar suggesgted, the best option currently available to the consumer may be to learn what types of clothing (cut, styles, patterns) do and don’t work on your avatar and shop accordingly.
Anything like a tank top seems to be especially problematic. I think Shai has come up with the only tank that really works on larger male avs. It’s a unique cut with thicker sstraps that come closer to the neck and avoids some difficult spots that always distort on the chest.
It would be nice it were possible to “try things on” the way we do demo hair.
In terms of things that worked for you that didn’t work for me because of the shape, the Symmetry tuxedo came out looking “rumpled” on my chest. I was looking for something more interesting than my Lindmann tuxedo (which is a perfect Bond tuxedo, but neither does it stand out in a crowd). Versu’s “Rick” is doing the job for me now (looks just like my dad’s wedding tux from the 50′s).
Of course, it could also be that I am super picky about textures….
I love Ryan’s reviews and pictures because he does not represent 99% of all other men on SL with distorted triangulated bodies.