Men's Second Style

When I was a kid, living in Kansas City, we had a black-and-white tabby cat named Patches.  He didn’t much care for winter–he was an indoor cat, but he liked to run around in the yard, chew on the grass and chase grasshoppers.  Snow three feet deep was, for Patches, a major buzzkill.

But not all cats hate snow.  In fact, some of us kittehs can’t wait to get out and tear around in it.  When you think about it, snow is water that doesn’t make your fur get all clumpy.  What’s not to love?

In honor of Patches (long since gone to the Big Sandbox in the Sky), pretty much everything today is in black-and-white, even the hair, although I have allowed for a few touches of color.  One of these is the Down Vest by Disembodied Hand.  It’s available with eight different designs, and here I’ve chosen the Harlequin design in Blood, for the little pop of red it adds, whether against the white of snow or pale skin.  The sculpted design is all-prim (an economical 12), with no clothing-layer components, so rather than laying flat and skin-tight it has some nice depth and dimension.  Its short length avoids excessive intersection with your avatar as you move.  If only complex sculpties didn’t take so long to rez for me…  L$200 each, or L$1200 for a pack of all eight designs.  Available at Defectiva (bel Drift 143, 232, 501).

While I don’t need any particular excuse to break out a fine pair of roach-stompers, snow calls for boots–no two ways about it.  These bad boys are LuisHernandez Slade’s simply named Neko Boots, and they are just what the name promises: chunky, black steel-toes with laces and buckles, plus straps for keeping handy the odd implement of minor destruction.  Ick, that looks like a little blood on the knife’s taped handle–I really should clean my tools properly before putting them away.  L$100 at NyC (Blue Quill 221, 122, 58).

Because in many ways it’s all about the accessories, and also quite frankly it was chilly out there, I pulled out my Snipster’Z Arm Warmers by Snippy Yifu.  (I had planned to feature these a little while back, but when I tried them on they looked…odd.  Snippy told me that he had used a newer build technique, and they might not look right in the older viewer I had installed.  I took the plunge, upgraded, and he was right–now they look great.  Take that as a word to the wise.  I’m happier with them as part of this outfit anyway.  Unfortunately, now I’m stuck using the RC viewer for most photography due to a bug, which I’ve seen described as “overzealous culling,” in the current viewer.  But I digress.)  Each arm warmer is made of two sculptie cuffs held rather precariously together by safety pins.  They’re moddable, so you can resize them to fit as closely or loosely as you like.  Touch to choose from seven different fabric textures, including my favorite, shown here.  L$180 at Snipster’Z (Raven Moore 80, 170, 23).  I’m also wearing the Neko Gloves (Jack) by Catwise Yoshikawa, fingerless black gloves featuring the smiling face of everyone’s favorite Christmas skeleton.  I wouldn’t mind if the artwork looked just a little more detailed, but they’re still fun.  You can wear them with or without the black nail polish.  L$60 at NyC (Blue Quill 221, 122, 58).

Here, in a slight variation on the theme, I’ve traded my vest and tee for Masaru Raymaker’s Quilting Down Jacket.  The fabric texture work here is sweet–it really looks like lightly padded, quilted satin, complete with sheen.  The jacket is provided on jacket, shirt and undershirt layers, plus underwear extension for tucking into low-rise pants; the shirt layer adds some realistic bulk to the sleeves, so they don’t look skin-tight.  A sculpted hood is included, sized for both men and women.  I’m wearing it here in black (natch), but it’s available in a total of seven different colors.  Priced at L$350 each, or L$1500 for the pack of all seven colors.  Available at M.R.M. (Baines 32, 120, 21).

Sadly, the full-length sleeves on the jacket meant no arm-warmers.  Happily, I had something else standing by and ready to go.  tutumaluco Ferra’s Bolsa Neko is 251 prims fun in the form of a highly decorated messenger bag.  Look closely and you’ll see loops of razor wire, colorful plastic beads (Mardi Gras throws?) and all kinds of stick-on decals.  It’s moddable, but already at minimum size, so it can’t be made any smaller than it is “out of the box.”  Even so, it fits me pretty well, and I’m not one of the family of Great Cats.  L$100 at NyC (Blue Quill 221, 122, 58).

Just a kitty in the snow.