New: RFyre’s Tessen: Deadly Intentions Outfit
October 7th, 2007 at 12:01pm Xtabber Young
What do you get when you cross a Samurai Warrior, a Vampire and an Avatar? Sounds like the beginning of joke, but with the September 21, 2007 release of RFyre’s Tessen clothing, there’s nothing funny about the result.
If you haven’t heard of RFyre, or designer Raven PennyFeather, you might be missing out on some of the finest Goth and Dark wear in SL.
“Tessen” is a Japanese word for an iron fan carried surreptitiously by medieval Japanese Samurai warriors, particularly since wearing a sword in the Emperor’s Palace was a no-no. Warriors seldom liked to go about without their weapons, so the elegant but deadly fan became a tool of destruction for those stepping out of the straight and narrow in Feudal Japan. There is, in fact, an entire martial art centered around fighting with tessen.
In SL, Tessen (the full name is “Tessen: Deadly Intentions”) is an outfit that combines Japanese cues, wonderful textures and details and a fine eye for workmanship. At its core, the men’s outfit (there is a ladies’ version as well) has an exquisite tunic top, complete with shoulder epaulets and bloused sleeves. These latter pieces are prim attachments so they can be used or not, depending upon your taste. A matching set of trousers and a belt with a tunic flap and ornaments completes the soft part of the look.
Dragon imagery dominates the texturing of the soft goods, with finely executed flexi-prim details resembling Bronze Age arrow points. The colors are dark, but lush, and putting these on for the first time will have you looking for a Goth club to show them off in.
Inspiration for this ensemble came not just from medieval Japan and luxe Goth sensibilities, but from a “Kill Bill/ sexy warrior aesthetic,” according to Raven. Raven PennyFeather and Bitter Thorns’ Juliet Ceres collaborated on the idea behind Tessen, in conjunction with Ceres’ expected scripted fan weapon system.
According to RFyre, as with many of PennyFeather’s designs, Tessen reflects a confluence of East and West, Past, Present and Future.
Adding to this already-rich palette, Raven included extremely detailed and well designed boots. In addition to the expected SL shoe component, the boots come with prim lowers for the foot as well as uppers, taking them up to a stylish high calf height. The work on these boots is worth a zoom in. The flexi-prim arrow motif seen on the belt is carried through to the boots as well. And, to make sure you can show off this detail, Raven provides two more versions of the pants — one at low calf level and one at boot length. Also, reflecting the warrior cache she was aiming for, Raven incorporated blade elements into the boots. Be careful playing footsie with this outfit on.
Having three choices of trousers is pretty thoughtful design, but Raven goes one further. She adds what the package calls “bonus pants.” These trousers are more ornate, more lush than the standard pants, and after I tried them on, I decided this was the outfit.
Choices seems to be an over-arching design concept with Tessen. The tunic top has two versions, one standard and one open, with lacing closures. Both have their appeal, and the shoulder and sleeve prims and belt work with either. On top of that, Raven also included a vest version of the tunic. The sleeve prims obviously come off, but the shoulder pieces and belt work great with this.
Is that enough Fanged Samurai style for you? Well, an outfit called Tessen wouldn’t be complete without a tessen. Add this object to your accessories and a (non-scripted) metal tessen fan becomes an elegant addition. Along with the bladed, intricate boots, your Tessen-dressed avi will be ready for anything.
The folks at RFyre are very pleased with the response so far, particularly the dragon motif and the unique, bladed boots. The elements are no mod, no copy, but RFyre has an excellent service reputation. Not sure if this ensemble is for you? Raven PennyFeather puts it well herself, “As with all my designs my desired target audience is as eclectic as my styles. In essence I was not looking to appeal to any one specific group type.”
With a total of four trousers, three tops, prim shoulders, prim bloused sleeves, prim belt, boots with uppers and lowers and a tessen, the L$850 purchase price doesn’t seem like a lot. There are easily three or four outfits immediately available with these items and the creative wearer will likely find more combinations as well.
Available at RFyre’s Main Store (Isle RFyre 97, 119, 23).
Entry Filed under: Accessories, Boots, Goth, New Items, Outfits, RFyre
18 Comments Add your own
1. Xtabber Young | October 7th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Should have said, photos in this article by the lovely and talented Cherie Parker.
2. Cherie Parker | October 7th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Fabulous article!! Very well written and all the details anyone could ask for! You rock X!! I am soooo looking forward to many more articles to come!!
3. Sean H | October 7th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
>> “The elements are no mod, no copy, but RFyre has an excellent service reputation. ”
This is quite important. As I mentioned in the review about 2 weeks ago of this item in the other men’s fashion blog… unless you are an 8′ avatar you will find the belt way too large, and being unsizable… well, it ruins the whole thing.
I wonder why any designer of complex prim clothes would lock their clothes from size adjustment?
My advice… Stay away from this outfit unless you are very tall and very thick.
4. Dingo Utorid | October 8th, 2007 at 6:57 am
Totally agree with Sean H; its frustrating to find that something you have just bought doesnt fit your avie and you can’t modify it, I have some belts that look like “hoola hops” in me.
I can understand the “no mod” but then they should give the option of different sizes, thats my oppinion.
5. Dingo Utorid | October 8th, 2007 at 7:09 am
Anyway I forgot to say that I like a lot Rfyre clothing; always lots of high quality elements to customize the look of the outfit as you already told in the review, good work Xtabber.
6. Ryan Darragh | October 8th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
I can certainly understand the frustration with no-mod components–I’ve run into that too, as well as the other catch of moddable items that can only be sized down so far (I’m kinda small). In my experience, designers want you to be satisfied and are typically happy to work with you on sizing issues. Don’t hesitate to contact Raven or any designer to inquire about sizing concerns, before or after a purchase.
I’m a big fan of the practice of providing prim attachments in different sizes for customer convenience. Even if the item is moddable, it’s nice to have a choice of starting points, one of which may already be almost “just right.”
7. Xtabber Young | October 8th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Thanks for all of the comments.
My avatar is rather tall, so I didn’t find the no mod pieces a problem. They fit me perfectly (or closely enough). As Ryan mentioned, designers want you to be happy, particularly if you are making an investment in an outfit like this. I also agree that contacting the designer before or after is encouraged, particularly if you know your avi shape can be a troublesome fit for certain types of clothing.
8. Sean H | October 8th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
You must be tall
I’m 6′1″ now (it was far worse when I was 4′4″).
I will try and contact the creator and see if they can provide a smaller version.
$850 is not alot of money but the costume itself is desirable.
9. Posy | October 8th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
I’ve noticed the trend of designers supplying multiple sizes for customers (especially with hair!), or with demos for bags and shoes, etc. that can be demo’d before purchase. As a designer, I learned the hard way, to start out with building the smaller (usually the ladies size), and then sizing the item up for the males or larger avatars. It’s definitely a major pain going from large to small, especially tiny prims that are already at the minimum prim size.
10. Xtabber Young | October 8th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Sean, I stand about 7′.
Indeed, check with Raven or the manager Harper. I’m sure either could help you.
11. Harper Beresford | October 9th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
There are various reasons we set the perms the way we do, which I won’t go into. If you need to have the belt modifiable, you can contact Raven Pennyfeather or myself (Harper Beresford) for a mod/no copy/trans belt. We will be happy to send it to you.
12. Second Style Fashion Netw&hellip | October 9th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
[...] “Tessen” is a Japanese word for an iron fan carried surreptitiously by medieval Japanese Samurai warriors, particularly since wearing a sword in the Emperor’s Palace was a no-no. Warriors seldom liked to go about without their weapons, so the elegant but deadly fan became a tool of destruction for those stepping out of the straight and narrow in Feudal Japan. There is, in fact, an entire martial art centered around fighting with tessen. (more…) [...]
13. Sean H | October 11th, 2007 at 12:37 am
Harper says “There are various reasons we set the perms the way we do”
Sorry, this argument I don’t buy. There is *no* valid reason to set the perms on prim clothing to no-mod.
And the offer of a Mod/No-Copy/Trans is just as bad. Mod/Copy/No-Trans would be acceptable as then buggering up the shrink means a backup is available.
With just the offer of a mod/no-copy I stand by my original suggestion that this outfit, and possibly the entire shop, should be avoided.
14. Catero Revolution | October 12th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Xtabber, great coverage. Looking forward to seeing the other tidbits you throw the way of the readership.
15. Harper Beresford | October 19th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Sean, neither Raven or I have heard from you in-world. We would be more than happy to provide a replacement or to refund if you are not satisfied with the product (which we have put as a notecard in every product we sell). That is a much more customer-friendly policy than most designers offer on SL. If you purchased this outfit, Sean, please contact us and we will gladly refund you for the outfit if you return the entire folder to Raven or replace the belt as I had stated.
16. Greger | October 20th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
I’ll have to generally agree with Sean H sentiment. No mod attachments are horrible. Trans? It’s very, very seldom I give away things I’ve bought. You should definitely post the permissions for the items you sell, not the let buyer find out after the fact. None of the sales points for Rfyre gear indicates the permissions. Worse yet, the permissions vary with each item in the sets. The work is awesome, it’s a disappoint I’ll likely never buy another such outfit. But if I can’t wear it, well… I’ll just have to admire it on others. (And I’m not much for trying to allocate time to chat with the seller for mods, exchanges, etc. Besides the fact that such a business model doesn’t scale well.)
17. Men’s Second Style &hellip | January 29th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
[...] jealousy that I have followed the coverage, by other contributors to this blog, of certain elegantly gothic designs by Raven Pennyfeather. When I saw her new release, “Eminence,” I made [...]
18. Second Style Fashion Netw&hellip | January 29th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
[...] jealousy that I have followed the coverage, by other contributors to this blog, of certain elegantly gothic designs by Raven Pennyfeather. When I saw her new release, “Eminence,” I made an [...]
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