New: Sculptie/flexi hoodie @ GearShift;

Or, The Return of Donovan Brennen

May 6th, 2008 at 12:01pm Ryan Darragh

A few days before I headed out on my vacation trip (having a great time, wish you were here!), I ran into Donovan Brennen as he was updating his shop at Plunder.  I do think I literally ran into him, or at least landed very nearly on his head when I materialized at the landing area as I logged in.  I didn’t actually realize that he was there until he said, “Hey Ryan, what are you doing here?”  I could only respond honestly: “Um, I think this must be where I was when I last crashed.  And gave up.  Last night.  And please note that I say ‘crashed’ rather than ‘logged out.’”  Which I guess is, more than anything, a sad commentary on the state of my five-year-old PC and the trouble it has with the newer SL clients.  But that’s another story.  Anyway, he laughed and sympathized and we chatted for a while about life, the universe and everything, including his recently renewed creative efforts in SL.  You might have read on Don’s blog that he’s been taking a bit of a break.  But he’s back now, creative juices flowing, and he’s getting busy.

His first new design release is the Guile Hoodie, which as it turned out was what he had been wearing when I ran into him.  (You see how it all comes together.)  Now this is a bit of a first for me–although I’ve tried on coats that use flexiprims above the waist, not just for long “tails,” this is the first I’ve featured here.  Honestly I’ve had mixed reactions to the examples I’ve seen so far, so you can see why I approached even this new piece from Don with a healthy level of skepticism.  In short, although this design approach (like many others) has its own limitations and introduces its own challenges, I do like this hoodie and think it works pretty well.  But that’s enough backstory–let’s take a look inside the box.

The hoodie is available tailored for both men and women.  In the men’s version you get the jacket-layer base garment, flexi lower coat, sculpted hood with flexi ties, sculpted cuffs and rolled sleeves, and “Bombs Away” shirt.  There’s a lot of flexibility here: the shirt can be worn tucked or untucked, the jacket can be worn with or without the shirt, and the hood can be worn up or down.  Hey, it’s almost like a real piece of clothing!  The hood is provided in three starting sizes for your fitting convenience, but it’s moddable so you can make fine adjustments as needed.  You’ll also find a handy notecard with helpful sizing tips, including info on making sure the texture is applied properly after resizing.  This is a thoughtful inclusion since, as with any clothing item that includes prim components, proper sizing and placement are essential if the garment is to look its best on your avatar.

I find fitting hoods and cuffs to be fairly straightforward, at least these days (practice and experience do pay off), but the lower coat, which hangs from just below the chest to just above the hips, took a bit of tweaking to get the hem and zipper edges aligned properly from top to bottom.  The “pixelated” camouflage fabric texture helps the prim components blend more gracefully where they meet the jacket layer.  To me the pattern suggests a stylized alligator-skin grain–it’s unusual and striking.  After a few minutes on a posing stand, I was able to get the prim pieces fitted more or less perfectly, or at least to my own satisfaction.  As with any prim clothing, some poses may cause flexi sections to hang unnaturally, since they don’t actually drape.  I was worried that this coat design might show the effect more than I would like.  However, I actually find it much less noticeable “in motion” (my AO stands, sits and other poses) than in static modeling poses, which can really call attention to changes in the hood’s alignment as you turn your head, or the coat bottom passing through your torso.  Also, I noticed that the jacket-layer texturing is gracefully tapered from front to back, which helps to make the effect less noticeable and the overall look more natural.

The Guile Hoodie is available for L$400 at GearShift at The Block (Varado 85, 162, 31).  It’s a great addition to Don’s line and surely just the first of many new designs percolating away in the back of his brain.  Stay tuned–I’m sure it’ll be worth your while.

In the “hood up” pictures I’m also wearing the Jute Hoodie Hair (”Powered by Philotic Energy”) by Aemilia Case.  This style is available at GearShift from vendors located conveniently near the hoodie displays.  Note that this is not a complete hairstyle–it’s designed to be worn with this or another hoodie and it leaves you bald in back, eliminating the problem of stray hair strands poking through the hood.  You can choose from Black, Ash Blonde, Ruby (shown here), and Chocolate, and it’s priced at just L$75 per color.

Disclosure: Seen in World: Yes | Review Copy: Yes | Friends List: Yes

Notes: On Ryan: "Antonio" skin by Funk Schnook (FNKY!). "Enda" hair by Aemilia Case (Philotic Energy). Jeans 101 by Jonathan Hugo (Fuse).

Entry Filed under: Casual, GearShift, Hoodies, New Items, Urban