Men's Second Style

Sometimes I’m just not sure what approach to take when I’m putting together an outfit or outfits for an article. I mean, putting outfits together obviously follows a certain basic process that doesn’t change much–clothing that makes for a certain look, shoes that play along nicely or even make a statement, maybe some jewelry or other accessories that tie it all together.  And there’s always the question of hair, and possibly a particular or even themed skin…but I digress.

So, anyway, yes, the process is pretty well defined, but for me the question is always, “What’s the hook?” By which I mean, What makes it special? Where’s the fun? What’s the challenge this time? What’s in it for me?

And sometimes the “hook” seems to come out of nowhere. In this case, I think it was born from the mingling of accumulated inventory folders, all of which contained items I wanted to feature here. That, and the earworm of an old sit-com theme song that I just couldn’t shake. “Come and knock on our door…” (Sorry, but you may as well suffer along with me.) This suggested something of a challenge to me: three designers, three different looks, zero repeats. Aha! And I was off. It took longer than I thought it would–so what else is new?–but it fulfilled the requirement of being fun. And if SL isn’t fun for us, why are we bothering?

As you may have gathered from the post title, the three designers I threw together in an unwitting threesome are Devon Dinzeo (clothing, Dinzeo Designs), Eponymous Trenchmouth (shoes, JCS) and Aleri Darkes (hair, Diversity). I think the results were overwhelmingly positive and speak for themselves, but of course you must be the ultimate judge. And so I present to you the results of the challenge I presented to myself.

My efforts were assisted in no small measure by the fact that many of Devon’s clothing designs are sold as “pre-fab” outfits. I’m not a separates purist, and I have no problem with this when the designs are well done and the individual items are also wearable separately. Devon’s Jonas outfit (L$175) is simple and casual, including just sweater and jeans. The sweater is colored in beautiful earth tones, and the horizontal stripes are not overwhelmed by the subtle but effective contour shading, which gives a form-fitting look. The jeans are straightforward but well executed, newly bright blue rather than faded, with some realistic wrinkles and folds.

The loose, casual hairstyle is Aleri’s “Conall” (L$175 in color packs) in Ginger Red. I’m a huge fan of Aleri’s styles, and this one is no exception–in fact, I like it a lot and suspect it will be on my short list for the foreseeable future. I had some fun fitting this style (it needed more tweaking than usual in the back, for some reason), but time spent fitting hair properly is time well spent and I’m not complaining. If you’d rather avoid the admittedly tedious fitting process, Aleri always provides a notecard with head size and shape settings, which you can use to modify your own shape slightly, so the hair fits without any further adjustment.

The shoes (or boots, in this case) are aXion, by Eponymous Trenchmouth. This is Epo’s newest offering, although it has been out for a while now. The detailing on these is off the hook–look closely at the weather-proofed leather and canvas upper, the webbed nylon strap, the rubberized sole and toe cap, and the plush lining visible at the rolled top. Even the tiny Gore-Tex tag is exactly right. I’m wearing these in Brown, to go with the coloring of the Jonas outfit, but they’re also available in Black, Blue, Gray, Olive and Sand. They’re scripted for automatic resize via touch menu, for your fitting convenience. Take them home for L$350 a pair, or L$1250 for the pack of all six colors.

Here you see the Dooger outfit (L$175), again by Devon Dinzeo. Dooger has kind of a hippie-hipster-beatnik kind of vibe, with its black turtleneck sweater and suave beret-style hat. The black sweater is detailed with dark gray piping, which catches the eye without distracting, and it comes with a thick sculpted collar. You also get a shirt-layer “puffer” garment, so you can give the sweater a looser, rather than skin-tight, fit. The goal-grey pants look a little more clearly photo-sourced than the Jonas jeans, but still with some softer details that look hand-drawn.

Again in Ginger Red (it’s my favorite of Aleri’s colors, so shoot me), the style here is “Adrien” (L$175 in color packs). It’s parted slightly off-center, long on the sides and in back, but pulled up in a soft, loose ponytail. The simple, undecorated hair tie is scripted for color change–just touch the band and choose from a bundle of different colors.

The Rigger boots I’m wearing here are reworked versions of an earlier style by Epo. These replace the earlier versions and are based on the aXion shape. The form is more shoe than boot, with relatively low, rather than high and dramatic, upper and heel. An admirable redesign. Choose from Black, Black Cherry (shown here), Brown, Desert Camo, Field Camo and Work Boots. Scripted for resize, just touch and choose from the pop-up menu. L$350 a pair, or L$1250 for the pack of all six colors.

Devon’s Frolito outfit (L$175) includes a simple white dress shirt, black V-neck sweater and deep black pants. The shirt is provided separately on the shirt layer, so it can be worn on its own (although I haven’t worn it solo here). Two versions are provided, one to be worn with the supplied prim collar, the other designed to be worn without. I can’t decide which I prefer–the prim collar is undeniably crisp, but the soft shadow shading under the hand-drawn collar really makes it stand out. Let’s just say it’s great to have the choice. The jacket-layer sweater is trimmed with gray-and-black stripes at neck, bottom hem and on the sculpted rolled cuffs. The pants are quite dark, but on closer inspection you’ll see that they have clean, sharp crease detailing and subtler wrinkle and fold shading, which keeps them from simply blurring into a dark smudge.

“Landon” (L$175 in color packs) is a lush, elaborately sculpted style with flexi strands in back, probably the most atypical (for me) of the three styles featured here. That’s not to say that I don’t like it a lot, though. It strikes me as something of a cross between perfectly coiffed secret-society member and something, I don’t know, less reserved, more adventurous.

The shoes are both old and new. “Old” because Epo’s Oslo ankle boots were first released almost a year ago, but “new” because they’ve been updated with script-driven automatic resize, and because Epo has added two new colors: Mid Brown and Black Cherry. Although I chose the Black Cherry Riggers to go with the Dooger outfit, I couldn’t resist Oslo in Black Cherry–the deep, almost wine-red color is just too delicious. Old or new, they’re a classic that I keep coming back to again and again. L$350 a pair, or L$1250 for the pack of six colors. You’ll be glad to know that the map of Oslo printed on the lining is still intact.  In a world of impermanence, it’s good to know that some things don’t change.

Clothing by Devon Dinzeo is available at Dinzeo Designs (Kanerock 116, 44, 28).

Shoes (and boots) by Eponymous Trenchmouth can be found at JCS (La Fortuna 92, 56, 21).

Hairstyles by Aleri Darkes are available at Diversity (Addictive 95, 169, 294).

* Disclaimer: The title of and descriptions in this article are not intended in any way to portray the Real Life or Second Life behavior or personalities of any persons mentioned herein. All participants 18 or older at time of production.  Proof of age on file.