The beauty of flexibility: Suits by Musashi-Do

November 18th, 2009 at 08:59pm Ryan Darragh

Shiryu Musashi has been designing for the SL fashion scene for coming up on five years now—his store, Musashi-Do, officially opened on November 27, 2004.  I don’t know about you, but this is significantly earlier than my own rez date.  He has a well-earned reputation for painstaking perfectionism, and his hand-painted fabric textures are beyond reproach.  Shiryu has recently released some new suits for men—something that’s always nice to see!—and these are accompanied by his own innovation in dress neckwear:  the InfiniTIE.

“Evening in Roma” is a modern suit with notched lapel and double vents.  The jacket is unbuttoned, for a more relaxed look and feel, and the necktie is flexi to go right along with the less formal vibe.  The set starts off conventionally enough with jacket, pants and shirts.  But here it’s the details that tell the full story.  Jacket and pants have sculpted cuffs (okay, we’ve all seen that before), and not one but 10 shirts are included, five in solid colors and five pinstriped.  The jacket also has a sculpted bottom piece, for a bit more flair and pizzazz than the jacket layer alone or even a skirt-layer extension can afford.  But now things get really interesting.  The jacket’s crowning glory, so to speak, is a set of sculpted jacket lapels and shirt collar with incorporated HUD-controlled  InfiniTIE system.

“What is this mysterious InfiniTIE of which you speak?” I hear you asking.  I shall elaborate.  The basic InfiniTIE system (more on that later) is incorporated here into a reasonably fantastic HUD-driven system that gives you amazing control over various aspects of this suit and its presentation.  “But HUDs are the Devil!” I hear you cry.  Well, yes, they can be, but this one…not so much.  The interface looks a little busy in its expanded form, which is shown here, but you only need to expand it when you’re actively making changes.  When you’re done using it, it collapses nicely into a compact box that takes up very little screen real estate.  And of course you can (and arguably should, HUDs bring scripty and all) detach it when you aren’t actively using it.

“Okay, but what does it do?”  Fair enough.  You can use the suit’s HUD to match the shirt collar and cuffs to any of the 10 included garment-layer shirts.  You can also apply different tie textures automatically, with no fuss.  And all without having to position and fit multiple attachments in different colors and fabric textures!  Just think of the time you’ll save.  As if that weren’t enough, the HUD also provides for adjustment of size and fit of the prim lapels and tie, although not the jacket/shirt cuffs or jacket bottom—you’ll need to fit these manually, if needed.  A handy “Default” button restores all controlled items to their “out of the box” state, in the event of fitting tragedy.  The HUD checks for updates when worn, so you’ll always have the current version.  This is just a quick overview; Shiryu thoughtfully includes a notecard that provides thorough, detailed instructions for use.

To see the InfiniTIE system in action, watch Shiryu’s video presentation:

You can take home “Evening in Roma” for L$499.  Permissions for jacket and shirts are No Modify / No Copy / Transfer.  All prim components and pants are Modify / No Copy / Transfer, so you can adjust the fit manually, if needed.

The “Milano by Night” suit is similarly equipped, but there are some notable cosmetic differences.  The jacket here is closed, so the sculpted (not flexi) tie is carefully, neatly tucked beneath the lapels.  (For whatever reason, I found the lapels on this suit not quite as easy to fit on my smaller avatar.)  The suit has a more “traditional” SL look, as no prim pants cuffs or jacket bottom are included.  “Milano by Night” is also priced at L$499.

Due to their integrated collar/necktie and jacket/shirt cuffs, these suits can’t really be worn without the jacket.  This does limit their flexibility somewhat.  However, Shiryu does both propose and provide a solution to this sartorial dilemma—his InfiniTIE Shirts come complete with sculpted cuffs and collar with tie, perfect for solo wear without a suit jacket.  Classic and Modern styles come in five colors each and can be worn tucked or untucked.  The incorporated InfiniTIE makes it easy to choose or change your tie—just wear the InfiniTIE HUD for the desired necktie fabric texture.  The texture will be applied to the necktie’s prims automatically, and you can then remove the HUD.  L$99 each, or L$399 for the pack of five colors.

The “base” (necktie-only) InfiniTIE is available separately, appropriately shaped for both male and female avatars, for just L$39.  It can be worn with earlier Musashi-Do suits that don’t incorporate the InfiniTIE system, or with prim-collar shirts and suits you already own.  If you’d like to expand your necktie collection, a variety of necktie textures for the InfiniTIE are available individually for L$29 each.  All InfiniTIE textures are compatible with all InfiniTIE suits, shirts and other products.

As fantastic as his dress clothing designs are, it’s nice to know that Shiryu does casual clothing, too.  Take a look around in the store and you can’t help but notice his newish collection of polo shirts in a wide range of colors and styles.  I could rave about the fabric texture work on all of Shiryu’s designs, but at some point I’d either run out of superlatives or fall into boring repetition.  Still, I can’t help admiring the soft wrinkle shading on the lower torso and the subtle shoulder seams that are almost (but not quite) not even there.  Wear them tucked or untucked, and with regular or “popped” sculptie collars.  Singles from L$49; packs from L$229.  Bargain hunters will find two freebie polos in the store, one a group exclusive.

All available at Musashi-Do (Anton 81, 181, 103).
Visit the Musashi-Do blog.

Disclosure: Seen in world: Yes | Review copy: Yes | Friends list: No

Notes: On Ryan: "Narcissus" skin by Theodore DuCasse (Zanzo). "Leo" hair by Kavar Cleanslate (Exile; this "Kerosene" color was a group gift). Oxford Shoes by Tesla Miles (TESLA).

Entry Filed under: Business,Casual,Dressy,Freebies,Jackets,Musashi-Do,New Items,Pants,Shirts,Suits,Ties