Designer Spotlight

Favorites Old & New

2012-01-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

Taking time out to revisit some favorite designers and get acquainted with some new:

Redgrave is a perennial favorite; my favorite skin and my favorite footwear come from there (Biker boots - not shown and before they got a resize script which I'm really happy about. No script lag with those babies)

That said, I'm really fond of the newly releases Survivor boots in canvas and./or leather. Nice construction and detail, and like my favorite biker boots, well worth the price. While there I also found the relatively new release of a pair of vintage jeans. these are sharp looking for also being so worn and the detail options (keys or purse, smokers pack,) set them above other jean sets. Unisex and reasonably priced.

Another favorite is SF Designs. swaffette's been making us all look good for years and she's amazingly generous. The Grey Marl Double breasted cardigan is a free gift and it's sharp and classic looking.

Newer to my wardrobe are both EMO-tions hair and [Y] Style Jewelry. EMO-tions came to me highly recommend by a friend and I have several styles I wear but the favorite of the partner is this long look, Resurrection II. The hair is mod and since I'm not a Gor or Historical RPer I took the liberty of making the bone and skull accents invisible. I like the loose look around the fair and the heavily wrapped braids and ponytails come across just as wonderfully messy as any such style will after a day of fighting, foraging or if you are like me, knocking together furniture or digging in the garden.

Also new, is this great necklace from[Y] Style. Greta's been pleasing me a lot with her bold but simple designs. Most of the Quartet that make up StyleYakuza have amazing talent for both style and statements and Greta's not disappointing anyone with her designs. It's a small set of offerings so far but growing and scarily reasonably priced. Be sure to hit her group as well, since as you'll see later, the lady gives out great gifts.

Another hairstyle from EMO-tions, this time shorter, but with the same kind of loose easy look as the more involved designs. Aaron comes in multiple colors as do all EMO-tions styles, many of which are unisex.

Destination and Infinity are new releases from GothiCatz, which is one of the first shops my SL mentor took me to in looking for outfits that met my style as well as my wallet.

The skin, left, was a group gift from Belleza, another favorite skin maker. The group admission isn't prohibitive and it's worth it given the regular price of their skin packs.

CPD {Chaos, Panic & Disorder} provided this Celtic Cross necklace over Christmas and I like the detail on it a lot. I have a few pieces I tend to wear all the time -- this just got added to that relatively small folder.

I've had these black sneaker boots from Duh! for awhile now. Given my penchant for boots, you'd think I'd wear them more often, but something abobut the GothiCatz outfit made them seem like the exact right thing. They are seriously a lot of fun, and like most of Duh's shoes and boots in credibly easy to fit and with a lot of little details that might go unnoticed. Loose flexi laces aren't exactly a requirement in footwear but having them makes me grin since I can't seem to ever tie my shoes anyway.

The Zero Natural skin from Heartsick was a pleasant surprise in the Millenium Hunt. Find it secretly marked to $1L for the Millenium Hunt and you get 7 versions of the skin n a dark tan. Rich tones, fuller lips, and a great set of eyebrows. I wasn't as enamoured of the included shape - it ran a little too young for me -- but it's a well done shape if you are looking for a style that runs on the slim, youthful end of the body ranges. (Also included in the pack is a gorgeous set of skins and shapes for the ladies. This is a deal you don't want to miss.)

Back on track with the old reliables would be a really bad list if it didn't have Doc Eldridge's DE Designs in the mix. Doc's been a favorite for a long time, he does dome amazing thing with his textures and designs and seriously gets how men's clothes should fit. There's not a lot of extra attachments beyond the necessary -- most of the detail comes from his amazing gift for laying textures and shades and shadows on textures which provides not only a seriously nice looking set of clothes but also a low lag fashion statement.

Rune is a more casual line for Doc and he's been adding to it steadily. Kain features a grey Henley (and I love my Henley's) with a plaid overshirt, musltiple sleeve options and open and closed. It also comes with a well worn pair of jeans in regular and low rise. Be sure to open the optional layers box and do not fear the underwear layers!

I finished this set off with another favorite trend setter -- Gabriel and the group gift of Black leather low boots. I may love my biker boots, but I also love my jean cuffs. Gabriel lets me have both.

Ali & Alli have made a name for themselves in both their prolific out put and the variety of styles they offer. the ladies are also generous to their group members (as well as pretty much everyone else.) Sticking with a shorter style is this crop cut loose look in black and silver, light weight and easy moving.

The necklace is the gift I mentioned from [Y] Style, multi-link chain that rest close to the skin. if you don't have an open shirt or jacket, then by all means get one to show this off.

Luckily for me GizzA had this tartan open jacket up for sale. I really like the look of this[ from the epaulets to the zippered edges and the loose fit of the bottom of the jacket. it's sharp and contemporary and would look as good with striped slack, leather pants or a kilt as it does with jeans.

The first time I encountered Egoisme was on a hunt (crafty bastards). I've been a fan ever since -- not of everything (the collection is huge) but they never fail to impress. The Trekking boots are no exception. As with Redgrave's boots, the devil's in the details and the textures.

Tableau Vivant is doing some amazing things with fashion, but also with photography. M4ri1yn Magic and Aida Ewing both have style and flair coming out their pores (if avatars had pores) and they are the brains behind both TV and Glam Affair (and the former Beauty Avatar line) as well as a bunch of other amazing ideas and offerings. From Skins to clothes to amazing photo props, (and some killer photo shoots) you can't do any better than tagging along on the ride these two are taking a good portion of SL. Whether you want to spend 10L or thousands, you will get quality and style; and you can get great gifts too. The Noctis skin is a group offering from TV and it's a stunner. Bluish undertone, glittersheened glam, without being cheesy, it's a great skin to offset the designs of other talented creators.

Getting this skin, I hunted for things to offset it and took in TGL's (Tokyo Girl) Eyes and Hair. I'm more and more impressed with TGL everytime I come across her work - including the mesh belt in this picture. It's got some amazing details and handles and sizes like a regular prim or sculpted piece, which for me is important cause I like my shape.(and yes, Tokyo Girl -- think outside the box guys.)

Also pictured is a better view of the [Y] Style group gift, Harnessed. I also found the Celtic band tattoos from .:CoLLisions:. released last fall, worked amazingly well with this skin, (as did the Life is Beautiful tattoo) but I tend to think Guen Decuir is a pretty talented designer anyway.

Hair:
Ali & Alli
EMO-tions
TGL (Tokyo Girl)

Skins:
Tableau Vivant
Heartsick
Belleza,

Eyes:
TGL (Tokyo Girl)

Jewelry:
[Y] Style
CPD

Tattoos:
.:CoLLisions:.

Clothes
Redgrave
SF Designs
GizzA
DE Designs
GothiCatz

Shoes/Boots
Gabriel
Egoisme
Duh!
Redgrave

When you don't need a reason hunt - For Whatever

2012-01-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

::Upfront Disclaimer:: I'm participating in the For Whatever Hunt as a merchant. Luckily for me (and seriously, for you too) I don't make clothes. I got a preview because I'm a blogger, not because I'm in the hunt. And can I say, FWH's blogger room is a brilliant idea. I'm sure others have done it, but this was the first time I've used one and While I like seeing what the ladies are wearing or what the trends are, both my inventory and my time management skills really appreciate being able to see what's available to blog without trying to do the entire hunt which, now that I have my own store, is getting increasingly hard to do.

If you do choose to do the hunt, there's some really excellent gifts for the guys, and maybe one or two that may not be meant for the guys but, you know, I'm all about taking advantage of what I can find and use.

There's a couple of full outfits which is always nice. Left is the gift from #88 Silhouette Fashion; Egoist. Jeans and collared black shirt. Jeans are a nicely worn pale blue but otherwise not remarkable. The shirt though, has some nice texture elements to it, including a subtle graded tone stripe and some nice cloth pull lines across the chest.

Worn with this is #58 CPD (Chaos, Panic & Disorder) really nicely simple Celtic Cross. This piece of jewelry (unisex) hits that sweet spot between being simple enough to wear casually as with jeans, and sleek enough to merit serious consideration as an accessory to something more formal.

The hair here isn't part of the hunt, but it a new release from Alli&Ali : Elements Hair Lava (unisex). It's got kind of that Tokyo pop look and feel to it - a bit shaggy, a little mohawkey, not so subtle color shift between blond and black and red, that offers a striking first glance. I don't generally go in for the faux-mohawk look but I was pleasantly surprised at how well this went with pretty much everything else I was trying on. This is a group gift at their mainstore. They also have a version called ice, with the same kind of color shifts.

22769 Brings it on with this dark brown double jumper. The hint of an undershirt is a golden tan and the silk scarf brings elements of both, and has a double leather buckle catch on the left folds of the scarf. It's a pretty classy look for something so obviously casual, but those guys at 22769 are really aces at making it all fun.

Graffitiwear (#15) took an ethnic walk with the Aztec Feathered pendant; heavy rope chain links (that need no resizing - AWESOME!) connect to a really nicely done Aztec motif coin in copper, accented by three feathers. I can see wearing this a lot. I pared it here with one of the Hoodies from Envy Me. Most of them were a Christmas style but there's a couple of plain ones in the fat pack and I like the fit of the black one. Hoodie comes with and up and down option (and i the up option was one of the few things that didn't work with this hair.

Stop #73 on FWH brings you to FA Creations which tucks this full outfit into the hunt prize. Components are the stripped knitted sweater with loose sleeves. The undershirt is a button down black shirt, which unfortunately only came as a shirt layerand no underwear layer extender which limits the ability to wear the shirt with anything else. It is a pretty basic black shirt, so you may be able to find some other black extender you can wear with it. (The best match I found was Indi Designs Harper, which is an older set.) The over sweater is really nicely done in terms of the fit and the sculpt bottom of it. It comes with an accented collar and loose tie, that overall makes it a nice piece to wear with pretty any pants you have. But, if you don't like to Mix and match, FAC has you covered because they also provide you with a pair of dress slacks, and just to make sure you are all put together you get a pair of black casual shoes and socks -- although given the nice look of the sweater and collar, if people are looking at your shoes, you're wearing it wrong.

Kennedy's offers another full set, although I admittedly like the shirt the best. The jeans are a pale grey with a hint of shine and a skull pattern on the right thigh. The shirt is a darker grey, nice pull lines and a fun caption.

Orchid Lotus & Moondance (#74) gives you something a bit more formal with Ethan, a full set of beige button down with accented collar and darker grey dress slacks. Another shirt that I like but which has limited use outside the set itself. without the shirt extender and the color is just unique enough to make a match nearly impossible although you could certainly extend its wear by adding a scarf, vest or jacket.(the slacks, though, went pretty well with the 22769 offering, so that was all to the good in my mind.)

Last is a Black turtleneck from SE*Designz (#17). I'm not entirely sure it was meant for males or if the turtleneck was meant to be unisex. There's a vest with the outfit that seems not to be for guys but the turtleneck worked out fine (did have to resize the turtleneck itself) and is a nice solid black wear-with-anything kind of sweater that I love.

There may be other options in both clothing and jewelry for guys, opting into the blogger room was optional for the merchants and I haven't had time to even start the actual hunt, but even for these offerings, it;'s worth taking a break from whatever you are doing to do at least some of the For Whatever Hunt.

Grab Bag of Fun

2011-11-15T07:39:00.001-08:00

There's nothing quite like waking up to find yourself in the middle of carefully crafted silliness. BOOF Brings it home with two items -- first up they offer their texture change Horned Beanie for all your Sartorial needs, and if that's not enough to bring out your inner Satyr, then you should take a long ride on the rainbow colored Unicorn Attack. Come on...how often do you get to mix metaphors with this big of a grin on your face?

BOOF: Unicorn Attack & Texture Change Horned Beanie.

The Beanie from BOOF actually is a lot of fun. You may need to make some hair adjustments to wear it (Or pick up the free hat hair SF Designs has had out for free forever -- Swaffette Firely is extremely sweet that way. On a more serious note, Guenevere Decuir from .:CoLLisons:. offers up two necklaces, a red and white poppy for rememberance and peace. Both of them are meant to remind people of the high costs of war and the men and women who serve in the name of peace.

Also from .:CoLLisons:., is this striking back tattoo called Aum. Arabic script in a henna colored sunburst.

From 22769 and the MenStuff Hunt is a full clothing set, wide bottomed jeans, tight tank and an accenting teal scarf. I seriously appreciate Paco's willingness to use bright vibrant colors in menswear. I may love my black clothing, but every now and again, it's good to know there's more than black and white in our worlds, virtual or real. Also in this picture is a new men's hair style on Marketplace from Alli & Ali - Sol (pictured is dark brown), full, loose and a little windswept. Resizer to adjust, multiple colors.

Gearing up -- new releases and gifts

2011-10-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Getting It On For Fall - The weather is getting chillier where I am, bringing back memories of of other autumns, halloween parties and fall festivals. Luckily Paco over at 22769 has me covered, and he does it so very well. First up is a gift for the Boo for 2 hunt. He's mixing it up a bit with these cords and a deep green silk shirt. The cords are relaxed and timeless, 50's style cuffs that go really well with my favorite Boots from Gabriel. Open collar shirt and a classic look all around. Free is good, but when 22769 gives you a gift, you know it's going to be something you want to wear, not just something you want to find so you can get to the next stop on the hunt.

Not free but amazingly reasonable at $190L is this very, very cool lightweight green parka with a fur-edged hood. The fur itself is very very fun and well done, and the jacket managed to stay with me when I moved -- something not all prim coats do. It comes with basic black jeans, rolled 50's style cuffs and and a really nice loose necked turtleneck in a brown//black color. The ribbed knit on the turtleneck is also well done. I think I want Paco to texture my RL clothes, thanks. This item was designed for the Gallery Gift Shop, so take a look around while there.

Real Men Wear Lavender - I'm not shy in my admiration for Lexi Vargas's work for Brocade Tiger. Here's a designer who started out wanting to make clothes he would wear for fun, who has only gotten better as he goes on. It's possible the fact that he's both a RL artist and an SL model contributes to this - if you've ever wandered through Rfyre, you've seen him on the posters there although chameleon that he is you may not recognize him at first.

All that aside, Lexi goes for the elegant and sometimes the outrageous -- if you ever wanted to wear Steampunk Glam, Lexi's the guy to go see. His latest release is Double Take, which is a colorfully fun take on a traditional style -- Classic suit styling in Lavender Plaid. Sharp pointed vest and open necked tie make it casual fun, and the placard pleat at the waist gives it the kind of detail only an artist (or a clothes horse like me) could love. It rings in at $250L and if you want to make a statement at a bash this autumn, slip this on and try not to look too smug. Now, if lavender isn't your thing -- feel free to view his less flamboyant other suits in a similar style.

Where Art Meet Function - artMEfashion is new to me but I have to say I was impressed right off the bat. The offering was this truly excellent and detailed Steampunk Duster in black. At $400L it's something you want to make sure you are going to get some wear out of -- but the details on this long coat are really worth looking at. The coat is self moves really well, has that worn leather look that's hard to translate in SL, has buckles enough for any Steampunk adventurer and the loose flexi details at the shoulder, collar and skirt are a whole lot of fun. Their catalog currently seems to be geared more toward the gals, but I only had a few minutes to look around and plan to go back. Demand creates opportunity, so if you are looking for some truly incredible Steampunk Gear, then by all mean encourage designer Moonstone Eiren into putting her remarkable talents toward more guy gear. All of us will thank you.

Twisted Unseelie Courts versus the Steampunk Hunters

2011-09-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

I only wish I had more time to devote to both hunts; but I fear I'm going to miss some really excellent gifts on both. So I'm tagging some favs:

Sangre Noir, 22769, and CoLLisions:

I readily admit to my bias in favor of Sangre Noir. Noirran Marx has an eye for the gothic style with rich fabrics and small details that catch the imagination. Her offering for Twisted: Unseelie was one I knew I didn't want to miss because she never disappoints.

For the ladies there's a flowing silky shirt/dress, ruffled hem and flowing fabric attached to the shoulders and back with delicate dark roses. Like most of Noirran's designs, the fabric moves easily, and seems to slide against this skin. Worn alone, its a sexy mini or lingerie like casual. Worn with a skirt or jeans and it turns casual into elegant.

For the gents is the Unseelie Kilt, which obviously brought out my oft hidden dark elf side. Shimmering blue/black fabric, held up by a belt of roses caught on barbed wire. I like kilts. I like this kilt a lot.

The perfect match to the Sangre Noir design are two offerings from CoLLisions: Mab's Apprentice tattoo for the Twisted Hunt and for the men, The Pandemonium Necklace for Steam.

22769 rarely disappoints and being a ling time X-Men Fan (like prior to the current crop of cinematic representations) to see their take on two of the original X-Men in all their vintage glory fills me with glee.

For the ladies, Jean Grey effects her transformation into the elegant but lethal Phoenix, prior to any redemptive tales, and 22769 captures that leashed power an calm assurance we first saw in the First Lady of the X-Men. Cyclops is likewise captured; and I appreciate that the rendering eschews the overly ornate for the sleek lines and body hugging necessity of clothing a super hero. Or a pair of them.

All of these gifts are well done, are packed with imagination and creative spirit and can be yours for free. But like the silent movements of the Unseelie Courts and the unacknowledged heroics of the superhero set, the gifts too will fade from sight if you don't collect them soon.

Dog Days of August

2011-08-07T12:53:00.001-07:00

The Dog Days of August means looking for the cool and comfortable, and some of our favorite designers are giving away that comfort and style for free.

LeLutka offers the light and definitely bohemian comfort of the Summer Breeze Ensemble to it's group members. Straw hat and a curled and windblown hairstyle, coupled with the casual comfort of a silky sarong. (bikini top for the ladies.) Beachcombing, beach bumming or beach living, this one is a not miss outfit. Thank you LeLutka!

And like he planned it, Paco over at 22769 is offering up a retro look for the "Summer Feeling" hunt with a bold patterned set of retro boarder shorts. From Baja to Bali, you can keep your summer cool and your fashion hot and you get to do it for free. (Paco even tosses in a towel in case you decide to check out the surf.)

And after a day in the sun, probably time to check out the night life. Urban Republic's gradient shirts fit any night scene.

This weekend you can get a pair of Guy's Basic Pants from KisKis during the La Venta Eventa weekend sales. (Grab them today, though, the sale ends at midnight.) and to finish off your look, Gabriel has low cut boots in black and brown as a Group gift. The boots are exceptionally well done, laced and fit with most pants, even those with cuffs (just remember to "add" rather than wear the cuffs to keep both.)

Real Men Do Not Fear the Cute

2011-07-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

Acid & Mala are offering a fat pack of fun and yes, cute, bi-color t-shirts. $60L for the SBS sale (and still up as of this morning.) Come on, you know you want to wear giraffes. Or kitties, or adorable robots. But if you can't face the cute - there's a plain tee as well and for $60L, how can you possible go wrong?

Multiple layers (Jacket, Shirt, underwear, pant) let you add your fun tee to any other set you have, prim sleeves provided in large and small (And modifiable -- thank you, A&M).

And if A&M's bi-colors aren't your thing, then you should duck over to Urban Republic Co., and grab their open shirt set in multiple colors.

Or you can grab the Urban Republic Co. MHOII-6 hunt gift and get the shirt and jeans, with the underlayer t-shirt in black or white.

Rolled sleeves, upright collor, jacket layer for the open shirt, underwear layer for the tank.

Come on. You know you want to.

Putting your best face forward

2011-06-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Faces Studio has been making all kinds of impressions lately and the new release of their skin, Justin, should only increase the interest and the discussion.

Overall I really like this skin; the detail is pretty amazing, both in musculature and body hair. The skin tone is amazingly detailed, with all the faint freckles and little flaws that give a skin character and add to the impression of Justin as being a man capable of handling just about anything he needs to. I'm especially happy about the eyes, and the faint folds beneath them that manages to pull Justin out of the too young and pretty into the just old enough and bold enough.

Justin is an elegantly muscled skin, with a face that is neither too handsome or too easily dismissed. There's curve to his lips that speaks of humor (or the sudden urge to flirt), eye spacing that allows the kind of straight forward gaze some skins lack and he looks good in jeans or in something a little more upscale.

There's some highly realistic skin folds at elbows and knees which get overlooked at times because let's face it they aren't the most interesting part of a body.

The skin I tried of the four samples I received was Justin Clean hair HairBody. And I really was impressed by the application of the body hair, not only to the chest but a light dust across the back as well as along the tops of thighs and the backs of the calves. It's a skin I could comfortably wear either every day or for those "oh my god, I have to look good!" moments that include first dates and time on the side of the pool.

Left: Standard SL Midday settings. Right: AnaLutetia Avatar Opt setting

That said, I did find a couple of -- not so much issues -- as areas of the skin that drew more attention than I think the designer really wanted. I checked it under a couple of different lighting scenarios but it persisted. The most obvious is a paler shading along the chin. When you look really closely at the jaw, you can see the overlays of shadows, from a few meters back you can't but what you do notice is the paleness of it from just below the lower lip to the chin. Paler skin tends the jaw look more pronounced which I'm not sure was the intent.

The other areas are on the hands and forearms, and nape of the neck. On the arms and hands, the shading provides a musculature in keeping with the rest of the body, but it doesn't seem as finely layered as what you see elsewhere on the chest, shoulders, back and legs, kind of a shadowing that looks fine in lower light, but seems too heavy in situations with more light. The arms are also slightly paler in comparison, making the artistry (and it is artistry, no matter my quibbles) stand out rather than blend into a seamless shift of skin tone. Having talked to skin designers before, many agree that getting the hands right is difficult; hands don't have the deep valleys and rise that larger muscle groups, have so trying to define that takes time and patience.

Some of the skins have a hair base, which I am a huge advocate for. The front hairline is realistically curved to frame the forehead, a hint of whispy hairs at the peak of the line. The back however seems to dip a bit low on the sides. Not really an issue if you are going to be wearing hair over the base, but if you like the shorn look, it does draw the eye to the back of the neck. (Obviously, if you don't use the hair base, this is a non-issue.)

These really are quibbles though -- and it's easy for me to stand over here and critique someone else's hard work. I am not the artist the designer at Faces Studio is, and skin making is an art and Justin is really an excellent example of that skill and well worth the asking price.

If you want a skin with some character, personality, and some amazing detail, you should check out Faces Studio's full line and spend some time with their demos. Faces Studio also offers some innovative add-ons for skins that allow a variety of changes to a skin without having to buy a new one which is a huge bonus for anyone that roleplays or who just likes to change up their look now and then. Want to enhance the skin tone? You can do it. Need a few bruises? You can get them. Add a little aging? you can do that too. Faces Studio has a lot of ways to make that face you are wearing, really yours.

While doing some hunts with a friend, we fell into Urban Republic Co. There was actually quite a lot we liked, but you know, hunt, gotta get to the next one, move along...and while I intended to go back, I got a reminder in the delivery of their latest release in a line of themed full outfits. Jeans, t-shirt and an open plaid shirt, back carrying a subtle graphic -- in this case the outfit is called Black Guns, staking that Urban territory with disarming country boy style.

Keep in mind that I love plaid and I love open shirts and so slipping this on really was the easiest thing in the world. Collar and cuff details on the plaid are nice, not clunky and settled in to fit on the first try. T-shirt has some nice stretch and shadow folds, making it look as a well worn t-shirt should. Jeans have a nice fabric grain and the side seams, pockets, and placard details are clean and sharp, not blurred or stretched.

A note from Aizen Arentire over at [Let's Get Dirty] had me popping over to check out his shop in the Gayborhood and I liked what I saw mostly because I do love me some tank tops and Aizen has a bunch from the funny to the ironic to the hot to the just plain comfortable. The fit and detail is really nice, no blurred shoulders, nice folds and a slightly lower underarm cut which I like given that my av runs to the larger size. I'm pretty sure they are unisex, although there's none of the heavier shading under the breast area you see in women's tanks. I went with the flowered tank, just because the colors caught my idea but for only $75L, I'm going back for more.

While checking out [Let's Get Dirty], I caught sight of Energy Menswear in the same shopping district. Energy has long been a favorite of mine, although they keep moving so I keep losing them but I've always enjoyed the designs and the kind of in your face style. But it was entirely by accident that I tripped over the freebie in the shop. Just in time for the 4th of July, a date of some significance (not to mention time off and an excellent time to catch up with friends and family and eat more food than is good for you) to those of us in the USA,

You get a well done patriotic t-shirt and matching jeans -- the perfect thing for that family picnic -- just for clicking. Now that's a reason to celebrate!

Another freebie I'm glad I didn't miss is the release of a pair of Vision eyes from Photos Nikolaidis at A:S:S. I don't change eyes often, I kind of like the ones I have, but I'm tempted here. The eyes are vibrant and slightly larger than usual without traipsing into anime territory. The set Photos is giving away is a blue to teal color, and there are both traditional eyes and prim lenses. The price for both individual sets of other colors or fat packs is also pretty reasonable -- which most stuff at A:S:S is. Even if you don't want to change eyes either, I encourage you to check out A:S:S if you haven't. There's a little something for everyone there.

Other Notes:
Hair - Lelutka Seth - Coal Mine

How I spent my weekend - La Venta Eventa

2011-06-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

La Venta Eventa is a new(-ish) weekend shopping event making the rounds, where some of my favorite designers are participating as well as a few I didn't mind being introduced to. Eleven categories of offerings from Houses to Poses, all items for $100L or less, but only from Friday Midnight to Sunday Midnight.

Weekends have become the target for a lot of specialized sales, almost too many of them to keep track of, but this one has a limited number of designers, isn't as intensive as a hunt, and by and large I found the offerings for men to be interesting and fun.

22769 never stops impressing me and the Sportsjacket outfit they offer is no exception: Cool blue tones, lightweight jacket, well detailed jeans and a playful t-shirt. Paco Pooley has a flair for style and a touch of humor in almost everything he and his partner put out for their customers. And for the price, you can't beat the look.

Twisting a bit to the side [Virtual/Insanity] offers the guys a set of black nails for La Venta Eventa, suitably goth and oh so fun. Tintable base gloves let you match to your skin tone, and really, why should the gals have all the glam of decorated nails? The pose letting you see my manicure is from Luba, also for La Venta. This is actually a face set meant for jewelry or glasses or good face shots for the ladies. There is a pose pack for men as well, equally as appealing. (Note for the Luba poses - the shop is in The Euphoria shopping district, which houses some amazing designers for men and women. The district gives points you can redeem, so join the Subscriber (no group slot) before you buy. The tier limits seem high but you might be surprised how quickly they can add up for you. )

.:*December*:. is also in La Venta, and while the necklace on offer wasn't quite my style, they are also participating in the Black Butler hunt. ~~I'm pretty sure the glasses with their catcher are meant for the ladies but they are way fun and funky set with my goth look for the day.~~ Topping it off is Yellow Jester's Rosary, a piece I already had in my inventory but being offered up at a deal of a price for 60L Weekends. (Edit: Designer MandyMandy MacMillan of .:*December*:. offered up that the glasses I'm wearing are modeled after those worn by a character in the Black Butler manga & anime series and are entirely meant for the guys. I completely missed the connection, so my apologies to MandyMandy.)

Not to be last nor forgotten is Entropy's very appealing Skybox called The Recluse. Designed by La Venta organizer Nae, this is an amazingly detailed hideaway for the bookish among us, but not cramped with its high ceiling and factory style widows open to let the light in. There's also a chair pack, at the regular price, but altogether, still less than $400L for both for a seriously unique skybox. The pose here is from Luba's male pack for La Venta.

When not free is worth it.

2011-05-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

Top
Hair: Emo-tions / AMELIE /black
Necklace: Pacific Coast Fundraiser Mia's Gems
Shirt: Rudy Fehr Hemp Shirt Mocha
Pants: Rudy Fehr Cargo Pants - Black

Middle
Shirt: Rudy Fehr Racerback Tank Aqua
Pants: Rudy Fehr Rudy Fehr Jeans- holy
Boots: Hoorenbeek Hustin boots Used Black

Bottom
Hat: Rudy Fehr Bogey
Scarf: Rudy Fehr black &white bandana
Coat: Rudy Fehr Tweed with suede elbow patches
Shirt: Rudy Fehr Hemp Shirt Mocha
Pants: Rudy Fehr Cargo Pants - Olive

Sim: Roche

All proceeds go to the Central Asia Institute.

For the ladies, try Boho Hobo next door, where 100% of all proceeds go to RAWA supporting Women in Afghanistan.

Heads up - yet another blog.

2011-05-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

New (additional) blog over here: Weekend Salvag e (link fixed) is my own line of furniture and home & garden accessories, but I'll be looking at the Home & Garden designs of other people as well.

Designers of clothes, skins, hair, and all those hunts will still be blogged here.

Merry Month of May

2011-05-11T05:32:00.001-07:00

New for May, Pompeja Rossini of LaVie offers Gabriel and to entice you she's offered up two special version of the Gabriel Skin to her group members in all his pugilistic glory. Hair base, bruises, scrapes and the defiant set to his jaw are all part of the skin.

Left:
Gabriel Skin (light beard) - LaVie
Hakama Pants Blood with wrist bandages - The Trap (not free)

And if that wasn't enough Swaffette Firefly at SF Design is standing in the middle of her store in Penryn handing out this handsome leather black trench with a grin and a wink. Comes with both resizer and non-scripted parts so if you need a trench for RP or too look good on the dance floor you don't need to worry about causing lag.

Right:
Gabriel Skin (dark beard) - LaVie
Black Leather Trench - SF Design
Violence Jeans - SG Fashion

And while you are out and about, you might want to hit SG Fashion. The store is moving to DuoLife and Sasha Gopheller is offering her entire inventory for $10L. Jeans, shirts jackets, tanks, sweater, you name it. If you need to fill out your closet and not spend a lot of lindens, SG Fashions has you covered. Sale is for a limited time, though, so don't wait.

MenStuff Hunt - Clothes and all the rest

2011-02-06T21:21:00.001-08:00

Yeah, it's all about the clothes -- except when it's about the skins or the shapes or the shoes or the hair or the occasional fun and fantastic non-wearable item, (like a shipwreck that comes complete with cuddles and a towel. Someone's been reading "A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" again.)

Not every item of clothing suits every guy, but with this many different shapes and skins, you know, you could totally be the guy who wears all of it and wouldn't that be a different way to look at it?

I'm covering separates first; we'll get to outfits later I hope, but the mix and match approach gives you a better idea of what you actually have.

Fear & Clothing and MiaMai are old favorites. They did not disappoint.

Upper Left:
Hair: #65 - U.December - Where We Are-Brown
Shirt: #38 -MiaMai Jeon Brown
Pants: #93 - Havana - Classic Pants & Belt Black
Shoes: #60 - Fear & Clothing - Franke Shoes-Paisley Gold

Upper Right:
Hat/Hair: #110 - Aa Production - Reverse Cap Shirt: #23 - Alphavillain - FitzWilliam Polo
Jeans: #39 - WOE - Gauge
Boots: #106 - Bedlam - Urban Boot
Bracelet: #64 - DK Designs - Lonestar

Left:
Hair: #135 -[Sekuella]
Skin: #79 - LaVie Echo for MENstuff Hunt 2011
Piercings: #49 - [-iPoke-] Hollows
#71 - ::MORTALITY:: MENstuff Face Piercings
#113 - MCD Gothic Cross Lip Piercing
Necklace: #94 - *MischievousCat*Krone
Shirt/Sweater: # 19 SB Menswear SB SX Long Sleeve Shirt Unbuttoned - White SB V-Neck Sweater - Blue
Pants: #34 - KOSH- MUC PANTS
Boots: #54 - !!Cattivo - Stomper Engineer Boot - Black
Shape: Kirby by KMadd (not in hunt/Not Free)

Right:
Hair: #1 - .::MADesigns HAIR::. ~ COLT ~ Exclusive SKUNK
Skin: #14 - EGOISME SAMMV2 - Medium Unbald - Body Hair - Chin Curtain
Shirt: #27 - Pig - Southwest Corner - Faded Blue
Pants: #37 - PEER- Leather Edge
Boots: #15 - [LeatherBound] Military Boot (L) - Brown Suede
Piercings: #49 - [-iPoke-] Hollows
#71 - ::MORTALITY:: MENstuff Face Piercings
#113 - MCD Gothic Cross Lip Piercing
#109 - =Razorblade Jacket=- Spiked Ear Piercing
Bracelets: #83 - (left) CONCRETE FLOWERS- TREBLE CLEF ARMBAND
(right) Bracelet: #64 - DK Designs - Lonestar
Pose Backdrop: #20 - Poise

Left:
Animation: #144 HelaMiyo Silly Step 2
Hat: #68 Hatter Is Mad - Barbed Nude Top Hat
Glasses: #85 K_gs [Kumaki] - H98 Glasses for MenStuff
Watch: #4 Culture Club - Bravado II
Jeans: #58 HCC - Jeans Dirty Blue
Sweater: #41 Coma - Cobain Sweater
Shoes: #25 Duh! - Tassled Loafer

Right:
Hair: #69 - *Birth* Shake Hair - Caramel Blonde
Skin: #111 - Style by Kira - Drake Skin
Glasses: #118 - Kalnins
Sunglasses - Aviator RWK
Necklace: #70 - Mustang Trading Post - Mens Luck & Faith beaded Necklace
Sweater: #28 - {MV} Maplewood Sweater
Pants: #50 - *Valiant* Ripped n Rolled Pants
Shoes: #7 - *FIR & MNA* MENstuff Loafers

MenStuff Hunt - Shapes

2011-02-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

A really good skin can look really bad if the shape is off, and likewise, some shapes can come off looking unbalanced or out of proportion if the skin you have was meant to indicate a mature man and your shape is too boyish, or make you look ridiculous if you have youthful skin laid over a huge bear of a shape. Whether you want to look good, fit a certain type, build an RP character, model yourself after your favorite actor, or even try to approximate your RL self -- matching skin and shape can take a lot of trial an error and you can spend a lot of Lindens trying to get the look you want.

Fortunately for us, a good many designers in SL make really great shapes, and quite a few of them are giving you samples of their work in this hunt. The thing to remember about a good shape is to look at it from all angles. Front to back, profile to camming down from the top of your head to see if nose or ears (or the ever important package) are too large or too small, check arm length and if hips and shoulders are somewhat aligned. Profile especially -- you are in a 3-D world and you have a profile, shallow chins and noses or heavy brows can look fine straight on, but glance to the side and you may not recognize yourself.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the shapes below, save to note some unique features. All the shapes are available in this hunt and the skin in every shot is the LaVie Echo Special skin, also found in the hunt.

#88 ASKA Asian Shapes: Asian style, and youthful build.
#98 Sophistishapes -Mature features, obviously a man with a gym membership.

#56 Shape It Up: Walking the high steel or sipping a glass of wine; handsome features and a moderate build.
#84 Body by Venk: Venk is an artist at heart and it shows in his shapes. There's no classic run of the mill features here; there's character in the face, a man with some miles on him but still ready to go the distance; Roman General or romance writer - or both.

#81 Body Doubles: one of the first shapes I ever purchased came from here; they have a gift for mimicry but they also have an eye for proportion. Youthful strength and a little bit of an athlete. Well matched with the LaVie skin it was designed for.
#66 Adlerblick Shapes: Alric has an eye for realism in his shapes; good looking but not classic and perfect, shapes with character that still stand out in the crowd of emo punkers and moody brooding male beauties; this is the guy next door, the one you see and remember.

#59 Alecto's Shapes: Warrior or lover, mature face, impressive physique.
#62 CS Shapes: Young and quick, light on his feet and easy on the eye.

#16 NOVUS studios: Long and lean, perfect dance partner or to have your back in a fight. Classical style and time tested.
#5 Maverick Design: No one can say Ivy doesn't appreciate male beauty. This is the guy who stays quiet in the corner, but he's not shy, he's just watching you.

MenStuff Hunt - Skins

2011-02-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

The MenStuff Hunt Started February 1, and like it's predecessor, some of the grids best men's designers dove into the spirit of it and went all out.
There's a contest being run, where participants build an av from the ground up -- and that means you need to find a really good skin -- luckily there are some amazing ones being offered here.

There's shapes too (see next post) and oh yes, clothes and shoes and hair and poses, and the occasional fun surprise. Urban, Modern, Fantasy or Historical -- you're going to find a bit of everything in this hunt.

Skins first: All the skins shown here but one are Kyr wearing his normal shape: a modded version of KMadd's Kirby shape. The shape itself is neither free nor in the hunt. (Click for larger images.)

Top Left is The Special Echo Skin from LaVie. I think the Echo line is some of Pompeja's best work to date and this skin is no exception. It's also one of the hardest of the hunt prizes to find but it's worth it -- don't skip out on it.

If you've already seen the Echo line, you'll see the difference here. There's a small face tattoo (or half healed cut near the left eye and a healing scar on the right. If you are into any kind of Roleplay (or just want that dashing, battered look, this is a skin well worth having in your inventory.

Top Right: Aimesi's skin offereing is a little more mature, classical feature and well defined musculature. The skin runs more golden than tan -- This would be a perfect skin for a gladiator, a prince, or, you know, the next SL Male Model.
Next in line is JeSyLiLo's male skin in 3 versions, fair-skinned, blond base on a husky build. Fair skinned and an interesting face. Not a brute but not likely to fade into the woodwork either with the wider set eyes and generous mouth.

&Bean brings you another skin that shows some wear and tear -- which the name of it, "Dear John - Can of Whoopass", kind of implies. Chest tattoos of a wolf and unicorn are part of the skin as are the blood and bruises. This is not a guy who gives up easily in a fight, whether he's losing or not.

Style by Kira offers another more mature skin. Drake has sharper facial features and a well defined chest and six pack, hint of a sardonic demeanor, but giving the impression he can be charming to those he knows well.

The last of the skin alone packs from the difficult to find, Egoisme, offering among a series of other gifts (tattoos and clothing -- a very generous hunt gift). SammV2, is a darker skin, well detailed body hair and a dark hair base. The skin could suit a variety of ethnicities based on the shape under neath, which makes it incredibly versatile.

On the bottom left is the only skin and shape set offered. (Although Body Doubles designed their shape to go with the LaVie Echo skin line). Essences offers you Diego 7, a tall, bronzed skin man, imposing but with that old world charm. Broad shouldered and narrow hipped, he's a taller than usual shape even by SL standard. The skin has a hint of a goatee and well trimmed moustache, and be he a bullfighter or a World Famous Actor, stevedore on the docks of New York or running a Linden coffee shop, he's a man you take note of.

Running Through January

2011-01-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure I could have kept up with all the hunts even if I didn't have a day job.

That said, I want to mention Raven Pennyfeather's RP sales at Rfyre. For the last few weeks she's been offering outfits geared toward the Role-Playing set at some significant discounts. Some of them are older designs or revamped versions of them.

Today you can get her stunning Tessen (right) for $199L, including the boots and battle fans pictured. She also has the deep purple version of her chained leathers on sale for $69L for Humpday Happiness, but it's only today so don't expect them to be there after midnight.

One of the more interesting hunts has been The Next Big Thing hunt, (January 15th-February 12th) just for sheer imagination. Much of it is non-clothing and in clothing the men's pickings are fairly slim but it's still very fun and always interesting to see what ideas are crowding the brains of some of our favorite designers. In the case of 22769 (left), they went a little retro -- but I have no complaints because I think these are some of the best looking jeans I've seen in awhile. Stonewashed canvas denim, v-neck boater and a paisley over-shirt (not shown).

Southpaw took a step off the beaten path for her Next Big Thing offering (unless we're having a revival of Last of the Mohicans no one warned me about with a set of silks and male jewelry that's actually pretty well suited to her delight in all things elvish. Paired here with a striking De La Soul skin (in multiple shades), and boots from Tribal Soul (part of the Gorean Grid Wide hunt - Battle of the Sexes which was over the 22nd, but I'm still seeing some of the pink, blue, and green symbols in the shops), its just the thing to appeal to your primal soul.

If you are too overwhelmed or busy to hunt, I'd suggest taking a quick pop over to the Nomine sim, and see if you can't score something awesome easily by taking a chance for one of Munchflower Zaius' multiple offerings in her Gatcha. $20L could nab you a very cool Tribal hoodie, or other articles. The hair I mixed with this outfit is from Sonic Death Monkey - Onymphic - from the Inferno Hunt, (Feb 6-26th).

The last is not free (although the boots are an amazing bargain and as referred to up-post, you can get at least one set of Rfyre's chained leathers at an amazing price.) Lexi Vargas of Brocade Tiger released a whole line of new things to his shop last fall, including a set called simply "Gentleman" which is a full sleeved blouse and cravat, waistcoat and tight fitting riding pants in a complimentary subdued moss color (not shown).

Here I paired them with Raven's chained leathers in brown which I got for a discounted price when she released them. The riding boots are by Arundel Design and cost (as do all of Arundel's, boots, hats and full fledged Victorian outfits) a mere $50L. I actually first found these boots when I first rezzed in SL and loved them then. She's added some others and for historical RP they are awesome, being scriptless. (You can edit them the old fashioned way.) She has several shops around the grid, although I found these at her shop in Caledon Oxford Village.

==================

22769 Casual Couture
Arundel Designs
Brocade Tiger
De La Soul
House of Rfyre
Nomine
Sonic Death Monkey
Southpaw
Tribal Soul

Skins: Top to Bottom: Den Dou Ichiro, De La Soul - Dailan Violet Strip, Redgrave - Emil, Redgrave - King
Hair: MADesigns, Zeus, Shag, Sonic Death Monkey

Catch up - welcome to 2011

2011-01-16T06:28:00.000-08:00

Video card issues made me miss both getting and posting on some of the fantastic gifts given out in December, so here's hoping 2011 will be a bit more productive.

A number of hunts started yesterday so I'll be tracking those.

But before throwing myself into them, I took a quick stroll over to the J Island set of sims to see what was new. J Island proper is the home of one my favorite designers [Mr. Poet]. Connected to it is a J Moon Island, home of the Fujiyama freebie mall.

Peppermint Blue has an outlet there along with several other small and mostly unknown designers. It's largely women's things but a little poking brought up some finds including a remarkably good skin from Heaven's Gate Neo.

Left is a full outfit from BEAT-RUSH, including belt and pendant. Beat-Rush is better known for their DJ equipment, and the outfit was done to promote that business; but tank, jeans, belt and necklace are a pretty good look for nothing at all. The clothing line runs under the name Vajira and you can find other selections including at the main shop, including a nice pair of short boots for $10L.

Speaking of Peppermint Blue, if you have not joined Alice's subscribo, you really should. She sends out gifts regularly and while much of her stuff is geared toward the younger j-pop set, she really does both create and assemble some nice stuff. Over the holidays she sent out several gifts including a couple of pairs of nicely done and detailed boots. The boots are still in the history of her subscibo as a January gift but they won't be there forever. They are sturdy looking and come with a resize menu that can be removed once you get a good fit (be sure to make a copy of them first.)

Heaven's Gate Neo offered up this skin, called Edgar. It comes with a shape as well, that is a little on the tall thin side for me, but nicely proportioned. (Not shown). but the overall detail on this skin, shading and definition is very nice. This skin is only available at the mall as near as I could tell, but if you want a more youthful skin, check out her main store.

The jeans are from the Peppermint Blue outlet at the same mall, and I like the double placard front on these jeans. I also like the detail and texture stretch on the sweater. The sweater is by Azul.K, and the only downside to it is that rolled sleeve prims are not modifiable, and so they didn't fit my arms at normal position (above the elbow,) shoving them up further solved most of my objections to them though.

The hair here is from -Lotus-, one of the men's group gifts, called Yuu, which is a hair I may be taking a closer look at in the future. Glasses are from HOC (not free), biker gloves are a group gift from +grasp+.

Advent Season - Day 2

2010-12-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

Advent Day 2:

Left: Zacca's winter trees - Free at the shop on Swayland - 3 sets of various sizes.

Gabriel - long sleeved Black tee (group gift)

22769 - Black cords, Advent #2 (Really nice texture, prim cuffs)

Right: LaVie - Ringo Sweater with Touch Texture change collar.

Catch 'em quick!

Advent Season - Day 1

2010-12-01T05:15:00.001-08:00

Tis the Season, and if you are clever and fast, you can catch some fantastic gifts from some of SL's best and brightest designers.

Advent Calendars in SL have been around as long as I have, longer, I'm sure. Sometimes the calendars are only for the members of a designers group, like La Vie's, but many of them are open to anyone who finds them. They are usually only available for a single 24 hour period, so you have to be quick and you may have to deal wit some wait and lag for the popular ones like Abraminations. Other designers, like Rfyre, will be offering special sales during the advent season.

Who does them every year changes, because any way you look at it, they are a lot of work for the designers and content creators even if they are giving away older designs done in new colors. Unlike a hunt, the designers have to come in every day and open a new gift and close down the previous one.

Abraminations has his up again this year and it's always fun: animation and toys, silly things to make you smile, and very cool gadgets. The December 1st gift is a trick skateboard (pictured above), wearable with a hud, that comes with 10 tricks and is controlled as easily as your avatar walking. It also comes with two pose prop boards for those perfect photo ops for every wannabe board jockey.

New on the advent field is 22769, our favorite edgy-fun creative team. Keeping with the spirit of the holidays, they offer their Holiday green shirt in two styles to match your mood. Are you feeling naughty (ripped tank) or nice (perfectly polite polo). It's a fun fun way to spice up your holidays.

(Left: La Vie''s Day 1 gift for the ladies: Oh, Dear Santa - Green Option. Right: Robbish's Christmas Voodoo shirt)

And don't forget the new MHOH is still going until the 20th of this month, with new stores getting added even now. The extra low jeans in the top left picture are your gift from >>Poison<<, Tres60 jeans - Xtra low. In the center, right, are BalAni's washed jeans w/loops.

Tis the season, for gifts and thanks, and for the next 24 days, we will have a lot to be thankful for.

Traveling the Silk Road

2010-11-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

The Silk Road Hunt has been full of amazing things - beautiful, carefully made, wondrous things. Even if you have little interest in Asian influence, you might want to give this hunt some attention. at 100 participating stores, it's doable in a day, and while you won't come away with a whole new wardrobe, you may come away with a whole new lifestyle and some surprising aesthetic choices. Much of what is in the hunt is furniture, homes, sundries, landscaping pieces and garden structures and some brilliantly colored costume pieces, each of them carrying a little bit of history with them.

By and large the creators stayed in theme. Some names you may recognize, others not so much, but you may find yourself returning to them even after you've claimed you hunt prizes. (Click for larger views...)

Capallini's fine furnishings (left) may be familiar to you from the Steampunk hunts. Their usual focus is on the Victorian era, but for Silk Road, they offered up this beautifully detailed writing desk, complete with a touch set for writing and reading and multiple sits.

If you need some quiet time, time to recenter yourself, Prime (right) offers you this MeditaZen shrine and floor cushion. It comes with optional sound and burning incense and a floating lotus to help you focus.

Alma's Fantasy and Antiques (left) provides you with this amazing touch option kneeling desk, that allows you to work on your own calligraphy masterpiece at a touch. the rice paper can be made to appear in various state of completeness, and to save prims, you can clear it via menu with a touch.

The craftsmen at Haven (right) offer this pillar with banners and blue flame to help travelers along he silk road among other Asian themed gifts, and give you a mini hunt within the hunt as you follow the hints and gain a little history on the real Silk Road while looking for the multiple gifts offered by the merchants and citizens of Haven township.

From POST, (left) you can indulge in something a little more decadent when you pick up this authentic to the period Opium bed. It's a wide lounger with footstools, seats two, and is complete with a tray of opium paraphanelia and a seriously stunning worn silk brocade to cushion your weary body. This piece if furniture is a really amazing, full of surprising details (and not even frightening in the prim count.) I wouldn't mind having this in my own home (minus the drugs.) I freely admit I returned after the hunt and spent an insane amount of lindens at POST and redid and entire section of my land just to accommodate the amazing builds I found there.

From Dreamer Designs on the Bare Rose Sim, comes this low prim Asian bridge; baked textures, classic design with a separate invisible arch if you want to make it functional instead of decorative.

From Orquidea is this Silk lounger, with a zen sand garden base (not shown), the floral disaply in a traditional red vase and a separate attaching hand fan for those heated sultry days when the temperature rises and the only reasonable response is to be as quiet and still as possible.

Noctis offers a full bedroom set - Silk dreams, loaded with couples sleep animations, a carefully crafted duvet that can change from satin to silk, multiple color choice options for the pillows and linens on the bed. It comes complete with a changeable silk rug, two side tables with touch activated lamps, and a dressing screen. It also comes with (not pictured) a standing mirror and a double armed chaise lounge. (given that this is a complete set and a clever bit of craft --this set alone is worth the hunt.)

After all your travels, some sustenance is needed and Satu's Sushi, has a meal ready for you , complete with mackerel ngiri, a side of rice, dipping sauces and shareable chopsticks so you can split your meal with a friend.

I have more to share, but keep in mind that among the contributing creators are names that may be familiar to you: 22769, LNL, Yellow Jester, FallnAngel, and Robbish, to name a few.

Blatant Indulgent Vanity

2010-11-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

Not much free here today, but maybe a couple of designers you might be willing to give some of your hard earned lindens too.

I've blogged before about the detail in the clothes from designer hiwinyu Fazuku of ::[ Mr.Poet]:: . The latest release of workshirts is no exception.

The look is layered and so are the sculpted necklines and cuffs, one on top of the other for the kind of look that makes the fabric look like you can reach out and touch it.

I am completely bowled over by the skill and artistry of hiwinyu's work. And given the level of detail, the cost is scarily reasonable.

::[ Mr.Poet ]::Work shirt Denim - $200L

Three shots here, just so you can see the details -- and even when you move (and I have a pretty constant movement AO) this shirt and jacket set holds together. Amazing.

Worn with this shirt are ripped jeans from Kobalt. Now jeans are generally not all that exciting. Let's face it, there's only so many pairs of jeans one avatar can wear in second life and if you are like me, you tend to find a pair and a designer you like and stick with them until you find another pair and another designer you like and so on. Well, I may have found that magic switch off.

I have to give a hat tip to Aida and M4ri1yn over at S.Luxury; who in addition to being one of SL's hottest couple, also have an amazing eye and taste for really good, new designers. Their latest fashion photo essay featured some of the works at Kobalt and I had to go check it out and was impressed with what I found.

$250L is about the top of what I will pay for a pair of jeans unless they come with multiple wear options. Kobalt managed to do that and gives you an unexpected but hot extra. Most of the jean I looked at came with two wear options, but the second wear is a blatantly sexy look, for the the hard core cruiser (and not a bad choice for an erotic dancer,) or for those nights when you want to give your partner an extra thrill.

To the left I have on Kobalt dirty tank top Moonlight ($110L), and Kobalt jean "2 styles- moonlight" ($250L). The basic style comes with cuffed pants and a well fitted prim bulge, but dig into the box a bit and you'll find and open version, complete with a well designed package for show and tell, and a hud to assist in matching your bonus package to your favorite skin. The look is sexy-hot, even if only for show (for more interactive genitals you will need to look elsewhere.)

To the right you'll get a hint of what kind of options you have with Kobalt's suki speedo blue ($200L) -the reveal here is a little less blatant but you get the idea. The speedo, like the jeans comes with 2 wear options -- in case you find yourself in more polite and less frisky company.

In case you need a little warm up before you strip down to the dirty and playful, you might want to stop by Brocade Tiger's new location and see what Lexi Vargas has been up to.

Lexi has been realigning his work to match his new logo "a style for every man," and you can find a wide array of options from street wear to the glam look of his newest offering, Dark Luster, in multiple color options. Luster is a neuvo-goth-glam look with a full coat, nice drape and movement to the coat skirt and adjustable chest chains. Clubbing or just dressing to impress and you can't go very wrong here, and he's currently running a sale. At $400L, Dark Luster is a pretty sweet deal.

He's also been working on some new lines so keep your eye on his Brocade Tiger blog.

Rounding out my latest indulgences is a gift from one of my favorite designers in SL, The Black Canary. Morrigan continues to impress and push his creativity. This fur trimmed cloak was a gift to his subscribo members and it's yet another example of what he's capable of. This comes with a hood option (not shown) and is unisex. It's a full double cloak, that moves amazingly well, the perfect outerwear for the cold night creeping up on us. Paired here with the pants from his Worthy Pearl set ($350L), it only reminds me I need to stop by his store and see what of his I don't yet have in my inventory.

And lest you think I've completely given up on free, I haven't, although most of what I am wearing is no longer free (That will teach you to miss those hunts, now won't it?) the skin is from LaVie, the Echo promo release with dragon tattoo that Pompeja offered before the full line release, and the Feather Necklace is from the MHOH4 hunt from Zenith. The hair is Army Crop from MADesigns (not free but not scary expensive either ), and the *Gemma* earrings are from Rozoregalia, from prior hunts.

MHOH4 - Skins, Shapes & Some favs

2010-10-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

It ends tomorrow so if you've been putting it off like a pledge drive to the last minute, you have about 24 hours to get it done. This year offered a really nice array of skins and shapes to pick up, so if you really want a make over, the clever designers of MHOH4 have given you a lot to work with.

Left to Right: TrE uNiQuE-MHO4Shape-Heracles, ASKA Shape Zaku(3), Adlerblick Shapes - Riordan Shape (skin in all is Redgrave Emil)

Left to Right: Adrian Shape by BT, Goal Shape Maverick Design, Greg Shape for MHO4 CS Shapes for Men

Left to Right: R&B Shapes (Gift for MHOH), Miyoko Magic - Andy Shape, Pocket Mirrors Tito 2010 SHAPE

Left to Right: MHOH4 Shape it Up! LEE Male Shape, Sophistishapes - AARON, ~MS~ Victor Shape

Skin packs - Left to Right: Unique - Apolo M2 sem pelo barba queixo, Nikita Fride 2 skin-shapehi (Shape included), RICOCHET Tristan Dark (eye L clean shave bald)

As I said in my earlier post; everything I've found I'm liking a lot; below are some faves but by no means does it show everything I like.

Left: Bedlam - Leather Baggies & Boots, Pocket Mirrors - Xander Black Hair, Nikita Fride Piercing, Mustang Trading Post - Platade Noche bracelet, Bleisen & Mai Tai -Fire Walk With Me necklace
Center: Al Jamal Silks
Right: A:S:S - Jamie, Pocket Mirrors - Enzo Brick Hair, Nikita Fride Piercing

Left: Venus - My Guy Jeans Black, Atomic Bambi-OMAR-Sunblush skin. KOSH - Enigma neckalce
Right: Mashooka - Atomic Bambi-OMAR-Sunblush

MHOH4 - I love this hunt

2010-09-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

Seriously. So much good stuff.

Audacity Hair - Dana (TAH Hunt - was still there as of the 23rd) Pretty sure it was meant for women but the messy loose braid and bandana, resizable worked really well with the new LaVie skin.

#25 Kumaki Style - Glasses with the simple style and flair Kumaki is known for.

# 2 Alphamale - Leather Jacket and Classic T-shirt & Jeans. Sturdy russet leather over a two tone tee and well worn jeans.

#48 Venus Fashions - Black High Top Sneakers. You can never go wrong with a pair of these. I like the loose laces.

#15 Culture Fine Jewelry for Men - Bravado Sport watch. Clean and easy to wear, finishes an outfit without rather than being the focus.

Skin is from LaVie - Echo member special (not free). I like the promo for this when I saw it and the actual product did not disappoint. It's interesting that this, relatively youthful skin came out the same week Redgrave's older, rugged King was released. No one can say SL's designers aren't giving us a range of choices!

# 7 Adjunct - Khaki Maroon Tipped Pants with belt for that edge between outright casual and a step below dressy.

# 4 Fir - Hartford Hoodie. I'm not really a huge fan of hoodies but I like this one with the stripes and the shoelace style ties.

# 1 MADesigns - Rebel Hair Brown - among their recent releases. There are actually three different styles in the gift along with eyes.

#10 Rozoregalia - Gemma Bracelets. Detailed on the close up, unobrusive in wearing, really nice work.

#107 Jeepers Shoes for Men Russet shoe. I really like these classic leather uppers with ties although it may be partly because of the effort it took to get them. The Jeepers hide for the gift was the work of an evil genius.

#163 Atomic Bambi - Omar skin - even tone, not quite ethnic, nice shading

Morning after the Day Before

2010-09-19T04:45:00.000-07:00

Make Him Over 4 starts tomorrow, and I wanted to show some recent finds before that takes over my time and brain (not to mention my inventory).

After a long hiatus, the creative minds at Zanzo are trying to make it up to us: shirts eyes, new skins, they've been a busy bunch. This smart looking striped polo shirt came through as a gift this week, along with two pairs of eyes. Zanzo Le Classique Polo (Rochelais) is a double layered polo with rolled, buttoned sleeves and a prim lower shirt option to give you that loose fitting look so many of us prefer.

Paired with the shirt, I have on Fashion Bar Peppermint Blue's 3rd anniversary gift - Cell Frame Glasses in Midnight Blue, which are simple and sharp looking. There's a women's set in the gift as well. They come with a resizer and I really do like them better than most glasses I've paid for. Also from Peppermint Blue were the Paws Walker Tartan Blue Sneakers I'm wearing to go with F2H's September gift - Monday Jeans, available for free in their lobby.

Not to be outdone by anyone, 22769 has released more of their ethnic casual couture styles; on of which is their MHO4 Gift: Brown linen zebra pants & pink Comfisweater and for Festifall Fair: Fall kick off Leaves Vest & striped trouser.

Both outfits have that kind of funky fun casual look, but still with an edgy style. The striped pants, especially, are growing on me with each new version they release. And while Pink is not my first choice, ever, I have to admit mixing it with the brown makes it work for me pretty well. If they don't offer a unisex version of these, then there will be a complementary one for the ladies, so, take a jump over to 22769 tomorrow and take a chance on something a little off the wall, a little out of your comfort zone and a whole lot of fun.

The last thing isn't a freebie. The new Redgrave skin - King -- appeals to me on a lot of levels. It's got a truly different look from most skins -- older, mature male, a little rough around the edges without being a classic or historical warrior. I know in a few weeks, this skin will be everywhere, as Redgrave skins tend to be, but I think this one is worth taking a look at if you want to stand out among the other bad boys in SL. This skin is representative of the bad boy that makes it through to middle age and still has that sense of mischief, tempered by a lot of experience. There are two versions of the base skin, both tan. One with body hair and one without -- both come with multiple beard options. And then, there's the King FX skins, designed specifically for RPers. Roughs, scarred, bloodied and still standing. You can see it above in the Zanzo pictures for a close up of the face. Left is the full body version and Albertt Olkhovsky does a nice review and picture spread of it on his blog, Stylish Man.

Pictured: Redgrave Men: Tan Skin -King- /unshaved+base+bodyhair. A single iteration of a Redgrave skin runs $990L, Full packs are $2990L.

also pictured above is MADesigns Army Crop hair (also not free.)

Man for all occasions

2010-09-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

Hat tip to Yves at FFFM for pointing me to GryphonWings -- but it figures I'd find a designer I really like just as she's taking a break. My loss is your gain though because most of her store is on sale for $10-75L and she's got some nice things to fill in those empty corners of your inventory.

On the second floor is this Legacy leather coat (left), a fat pack of three colors (Black, Russet and White)) for $25L. Now, the coat is designed for women so on the white colors, the shading at the chest will be off, but the black is good and the russet looked pretty slick too. And for that price, one coat (Which comes in 4 different lengths, open and closed and includes a sleeveless version, plus optional arm buckles) is a pretty good deal.

Back down on the first floor you can find this Arum tunic (right) for $10L. Shown here is Seabreeze. I'm really liking the off center collar and details and the nice fade of colors. Goes really well with the low rise ripped jeans, ($10L for a fatpack of five colors.)

I'm still making my way through all my Steampunk treasures and finally got to Nachtmusik and their red leather Gallant prize. Tight trousers, vest, full shirt with sleeves perfect for the Victorian man lounging about in his study or workshop.

Additionals:

Hair base is from booN - vine shaved hair base black from Hair Fair
Choker is from Sable Rose - Enkomi for Wear Gray (blogged earlier) which will be gone forever at the end of the week.

More Steam - Punk'd

2010-09-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

The Steampunk Hunt continues to amaze and delight with its mix of whimsy and Victorian science, and it's guaranteed to take you to some interesting places. More of what I've gathered...

The full outfit from Mire was in a previous post, but the arm belt makes a marvelous accessory to this black and gold suit from +ezura+; waistcoat and tails and pant, Oh My!

Added to that, Yellow JesteR's hat and hood with a mask for when you are poking about all those dusty, musty places. Orquidea gives you a festive Mechanical Orchid for you chapeau (or for your hair, ladies,) and Steampunk Adventures has a Turning Clover Pin for your lapel to bring you luck in your hunting.

Black Opal offers you a shiny waistcoat in shirt and jacket layers to give stylishness to your tinkering about. It made the Echo Dragon group gift skin from LaVie even more striking. For the ladies there's a corset to match the gentleman's waistcoat.

Not to be outdone, Rag Dollz gives you the Regal Men's Suit in royal blue, with cream colred pants and lace, perfect to impress should the Queen Mother wish to bestow some award upon you , or a knighthood to honor your contributions to the advancement of Victorian Society.

And to make sure you see clearly along all spectrums, Wildz Creations provides you with these JW Steampunk Multi-view glasses.

Wear Gray for a Day

2010-09-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

Relay for Life and Hair Fair are probably the best known in world events for fundraising, but there are a lot of events for a variety of good causes and the netizen's of SL can be pretty generous when it comes to pretty much anything. Cancer is a disease that affects everyone; you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't know at least one person who has had to deal with cancer of one kind or another, and most of the time it's someone they know well as opposed to some removed form them by being the sister/brother/cousin of a coworker.

You may have passed a few signs while shopping or sightseeing referring to Wear Gray Day. Wear Gray Day is charity event and market running from September 12 - 25th to help raise awareness of Brain Tumors and provide funding for research through the ABTA - American Brain Tumor Association.

A lot of inworld designers are supporting this effort in a variety of ways; donation kiosks, special gifts, special events, and yes the market. Merchants from A-Bomb to Rfyre are participating in this and have been asked to create between two and four items exclusively for this market. his isn't a sale, per se, but a fund raiser, meaning once the Market closes, most of what's on offer won't be available.

My very good friend Rosie Barthelmess of Sable Rose has joined this effort and created a really unique set of jewlery for men and women in three styles as part of this effort. She's create Enkomi; in three color choices, two of which will be exclusive for the Wear Gray Day project. Male and Female Versions:

The Ladies get a gorgeous necklace, matching earrings and a multiband bracelet in either gold, silver or a mixed metals set called Painted desert.

For the guys there's a braided choker, and two sets of wrist cuffs for left and right, one set with a stone and one without so you can mix and match.

Sets are Modifiable for easy adjustment, although I was able to wear mine pretty much out of the box.

The Shopatorium at Gallinas will be having live music events next weekend for this project and there are other events planned as well. Schedule is here: http://shop.inworld.sl/the-patio-live-music/

So, as you go through your week and wonder what you are going to do next weekend, keep Wear Gray Day in mind and visit the website to get a list of other participating vendors and more details about where and when.

Twisted Gears.

2010-09-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

There's always hunts going on around the grid, but for some reason, fall seems to bring out the biggest and in someways, the best. Starting today a whole new set of hunts opened up including two of my favorites; Twisted and Steam Punk. Twisted has the benefit of a lot of seriously well known designers who all get to play a bit and put a slight bend in their designs, and really put their creativity to work. And Steam punk, well, I have a special place in my heart for the Steam Punk hunt: it's not so much that I use or need a lot of what is in the hunt, but it's all so damn clever! Seriously...they need an inworld museum just to show off some of the seriously amazing builds and gadgets that emerge from this hunt.

Neither hunt is limited to clothing; in truth I'd say clothing makes up less than half of twisted and even less than that of Steam Punk, but everything that you do get really is a testament to the amazingly smart dedicated people who make up the core of SL Life. But for some of what you can wear and just marvel at, stick around.

First up is#4 Mire, who always has something really fitting the themes of the hunts they participate in. Pathfinder is a full outfit except shoes, Tailcoat and ragged jacket and pants, top hat and goggles (for show) and an armband full of tools. Perfect wear for someone pushing through the rough ahead of everyone else.

22769 went a different vintage directions and fans of comic books and their long history will understand why. Enter a Vintage Captain America Tribute; red white and blue body suit, leather Baldric and belt, gloves, helmet and a shield, all to help you wage the good fight against the enemies of the post (past?) modern steampunk era. Haven't you always wanted to be a super hero?

From Twisted we get a mix of cool piercing sets from #67 .:CoLLisions:., the hand set I blogged earlier from #68 Sable Rose and for something completely different...a corn field maze from the twisted mind behind#103 Oddment. (hint: Sable Rose, .:CoLLisions:., and Oddment are all on the Gallinas sim and within walking distance of each other. TP's have been a little flakey lately so if you have trouble, you can grab all three without having to TP to the next stop.)

Guenevere DeCuir at .:CoLLisions:. offers two sets of piercings. A three pronged navel set with skull and bat wings on a chain and a torso chain set for the lower belly/hip area. She includes a set for men and women to accomodate disparity in avatar sizes and my set needed only the most minor of adjustments to fit properly. She also includes a facial tattoo called "Cracked" with a whitish base to match the metals on her piercings. It has the kind of eerie bone through skin look to it, perfectly matching the Twisted Hunt's Spooky theme.

Oddment actually has two gifts for hunters. There's an easy to find gift right by the sign that contains a crazy fun avatar that looks just like the orange twisted hunt gift box, including the rotation. It's the kind of wacky fun Helix Constantine, the creative mind behind Oddment, is known for. The other gift you will have to hunt for: it's a DIY cornfield maze complete with scarecrow emitter. You can see it underneath the shop build, so if you are looking to decorate for Halloween, Oddment gives you a massive headstart on decorations.

The last thing here isn't a hunt gift, it's a group gifts (for $1L) from LaVie to promote the soon to be released Echo skin. I really like this skin and have been waiting for the release since it was first announced. the gift comes in three versions: pale, normal, and dark and the dragon tattoo on this version is part of the skin. Goatee beard and a really nicely involved fully body and face tattoo with nice faded aged look to it. I don't know how long it will be available and you need to be a LaVie member to get it. Currently enrollment will set you back $250L but for the skin alone it's worth it, plus the other gifts Pompeja routinely sends out to the group (and occasionally membership is made free but it isn't currently. )

Before the summer flees

2010-08-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

The first two you need to grab quickly. The Biker set (right) is from Mary's Threads and is only available this weekend for $60L; leather chaps & jeans combo pants, biker jacket, mesh undershirt. Nice fit and detail. The soft leather texture on the wide belt is especially well done. (Boots from Annexx - not free)

Also soon to be gone is this group gift from 22769 (left), giving a nod to both summer and the coming autumn. Striped linen lightweight slacks in sand and this soft looking comfortable red autumn long sleeve shirt. This is the August group gift so be sure to get it before September arrives. (Loafers are from HOC and not free)

The hand chain I'm wearing isn't available yet but it will be soon. This is the men's gift from Sable Rose for the Twisted Hunt. So, mark your calendar because it starts on the first. This rounds theme is "Spooky" and if you take a hard look at the emerald in the Sable Rose gift, you might just find something looking back at you. Ladies set is an elegant necklace with matching bracelet.

This dollarbie from Candy Metal (right) makes me pretty happy. I keep hoping CM will put out more men's things, but I'll take what I can get. Open neck leather shirt, studded belt and leather pants... in black. And you know, everything goes with black.

Browsing through the xstreetsl marketplace beta, I found some interesting looking sets from Guarded Cross (left). I like their outfits and they are worth you looking too, but for free they have several t-shirts both in world and on the marketplace. Upscale Grunge and culture commentary is the overall theme.

SGB - Festival by the Sea

2010-08-09T15:47:00.001-07:00

There was a big party at SGB (Sounds Gravis Beach) recently and I missed it, but a good many of the party favors and some discounted items are still there if you visit and wander a bit along the boardwalks, including this free pack of tank tops from Connors. You get two version in multiple layers. The one left is the Organic tank, but there's a second with a faint strip on the fabric. Good, solid texture work on both of them.

You can also find two different pairs of swimming trunks from Connors for $50L each. The ones pictured is Batik Towel, with a vibrant print across the hips and a plain crotch panel. It only comes in a pant layer but does have prim cuffs and a drawstring detail prim.

Connors was also offering some bright batik style beach wraps for the ladies and some Hawaiian shirts for the guys (or unisex.) These discounts will be good until the end of August.

It's all about the beach at SGB (and the music) and further along the boardwalk will net you this very nice tattoo from Daisuki (two styles, front and back ink) and close to that is this board pose with board and another to hang on your house to make your surf cred solid from +PLUS.

There were other gifts to be found (pictures below): a Festa Sofa from +PLUS, a very cool clock from Chabinns!, a set of three lamps and a set of wall decals from {what next?}, SGB-A4 speakers from high_end audio system, household items and shirts. I didn't go into every store on the sim but some very well known designers are there (VitaMen, WMD, HyperCulture, {what next?}) offering free stuff or discounted items. There were also designers I didn't know, but was intrigued by.

So, put on your flip flops and take a stroll through the SGB Summer Festa.

Happy UnBirthday

2010-08-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

I didn't get all the pics up for the SL House hunt, but you still have a few hours to finish it. (Pictures on the website) .What I'm looking at today is gifts -- which, honestly is the reason I want more groups slots. Yes, I'm that shallow. *grins*

But when you have designers like Gabriel, and Zanzo giving you things just because you click a group join link, it's hard not to be a little greedy and a lot grateful.

First up is Gabriel. The blue sleeveless polo I'm wearing is actually the female version of the male short sleeved shirt. You can get it in the lucky chairs at the Gabriel main store. You have to be in the Gabriel group to use the chairs.

The version I'm wearing comes with a dress/skirt prim. just don't wear it. The chest shading is minimal and while the short sleeved shirts are nice, I like the muscle shirt look to this better with the finished sleeves and actual collar. (But yes, you will need to wear the shit/tucked version to make it work. ) The collar comes with a resizer and chances are you will need it and to make minor position adjustments

The necklace pictured close up to the right is this month's group gift. It comes in male and female versions and the simplicity of the actual pendant lets you miss the intricate bead work along the strings. this is a really nice multipurpose necklace, and works for both casual and formal clothing.

Zanzo has been quiet for several months for a lot of reasons, including a sim redesign, but to say hello and celebrate the return of Zanzo creations and lines to the SL fashion world, this gift came out along the notices. You do have to be a member and joining the group isn't free. ($90L last time I checked). You also got a set of eyes in the gift pack.

The Pegasus shirt is a gift from Aemeth Lysette to celebrate the opening of her new gallery Lust4Art , which is adjacent to the 22769 shop (who were co sponsers of the openeing event). You can get the shirt and some very cool art, some at a discount, either there or at the aemeth mainstore. It's easy to forget when I spend a lot of time looking at clothes in SL that there all kinds of creative minds here. Visual and graphic artists, performing artists, writers. Aemeth brings you a mix of real world art as well as some amazing digital art and photography. If you ever log into SL an wonder what you should do, you might take a minute and visit aemeth or any of the hundreds of other art galleries and show spaces available. You may not like it all, but you likely will be impressed anyway.

**Leather pants are from Sf Design (not free)

House & Garden Hunt

2010-08-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

I'm going to put these up fast -- the SL House & Garden hunt is over on the 7th. There are 50 shops. But the time is limited and really, if you have a home in SL, you probably don't want to miss this one. Not all of it will appeal, but there is some seriously nice furnishings, props, garden stuff. Whether you want it real or you like it a little whimsical, you will find things to enhance your SL Home and Garden with this hunt.

Check back on this post for updates on items. Click for larger pics.

(Word of caution: I'm including prim counts. What I'm finding is very, very cool, but it is not low prim for the most part, just so you know. )

#1 Theosophy

#3 Cleo Designs

#4 Glitterati Poses

#6 Mycophile
#7 MiaSnow

#5 Republica

#8 Olive Juice
#10 Urbanized

#9 -abode-

#11 Aria
#14 rcbg

#12 Starwind

Poetic

2010-07-27T04:05:00.000-07:00

::[Mr.Poet]:: at the Precious Ones Mall on J Island has taken things up a notch. I'm gonna give you the free first, but I'd encourage you to loose the wallet strings a bit and invest in some cool new looks.

The shop is small, offerings minimal, but what's there is choice. (Yes, I bought the whole shop save the skins -- and even the skins are nice, just a little on the young, bishy side for me, but nicely done nonetheless. There are two of them up on the lucky boards if you want to check them out, plus demos of the 20-something skins.)

There's several free gifts in the shop as well as the board. Up on the wall is the raised tank and plaid boxers pictured left. The tank comes in a couple of colors and the boxers are nicely fitted and detailed.

Next to them is another gift, a wrapped knit scarf (lower left), color change, mostly dusty aged colors that verge on pastels but still nice and really smooth color change (which is something -- the J Island sim is a bit laggy and the physics are a little jumpy. )

If you look to the right as you enter the shop, you'll see the open flowered Hakka shirt pictured upper right, hanging on the rack. It's free and when you try it on, you'll get an idea of why Mr. Poet is offering you something very cool: sleeve and collar sculpties are nothing new, but the ones in these shirts are incredibly well designed and, what makes them read like cloth, is that the sculpts seem to be carefully hollowed. So when you attach a shoulder prim for the upper sleeve or collar, there a flexibility to the fit that you don't find in block solid prim embellishments.

And that is seen best in the off the shoulder shirt pictured left. The shirts come with coordinating tanks and have short and long sleeves: You likely will, if your av has any upper body definition, have to tweak the sleeves and shoulder a bit, and maybe make the shirt a little larger. There's no resizer, so you have to use edit-click-stretch.

I'd also suggest you get at least one pair of the jeans. The fit and look is awesome and the belt detail is phenomenal. They also come in three wear options: boot cut, regular and roll up. Belt comes with and without extended tab at the waist.

The Tattoo I'm wearing in all picks is the Vintage Flair Hunt prize for men from V-Tattoo . It's a seriously nice full-body, full-color tattoo, given to you in multiple layers and multiple shades from dark to faded.

===================================
Clicker pictures for larger views

Upper Left:
Vest & boxers-free gift

Upper Right:
Hakka printed cloth coat - $0L
Tattoo: V-Tattoo Vintage Flair Hunt (free)

Lower Left:
Leather woven pants white & belt camel $170L
Wide Scarf (color change) - free gift
Off shoulder shirt White $150L

Lower Right:
Knitted Coat Black $60L
Leather woven pants white & belt camel $170L

Working at the Car Wash

2010-07-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

It's time again for the $10L Cart sale at the Car Wash and The Wash sims. The sims may be retro but not everything you find on the carts is.

You're going to see a lot of familiar design names (Hell Bop, 22769, SD Wears) and some new players (Hey, Dark Water Designs). You can find everything from accessories to textures and a bunch of stuff in between.

Everything on the carts is $10L or less. The bulk of the clothing is for the ladies, but you don't have to look hard to find unisex and men's things as well.

Among the goodies are always some fun choices from Hell Bop. Their cart is located in front of their main store on the The Wash sim. I think I bought everything on their cart except for the sock-gloves and I may go back for those.

Upper left: Hell Bop - Wyatt - Black Cow shirt, Maloney & Hudson Grey Jeans with Belt.

Upper Right: GoodVibez American Pride henley, Hell Bop Manny - Black Dickies.

Lower Left: Hell Bop white tank, DarkWater Designs Vegas shirt (may need some adjustment via Edit appearance. close the shirt front), Hell Bop, Sammy B Black Board Shorts. Shoes: Kalnin's Milestones (from the Addiction Hunt).

Lower Right: 22769 Yellow Paisley scarf, 22769 Green long sleeved shirt (push up sleeves), Maloney & Hudson Leather Pants.

Taxi: Car Wash and The Wash

Eyes gone forever!

2010-07-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

House of Ruin have a 50% off retirement sale on the two versions of eyes at the Pulse location. Android eyes are now only $50L per colour pack or $275L for the mega pack. Mortis eye, which are my favourite, are now only $40L per pack.

The Mortis eyes are to die for!

But you must hurry! You pretty much only have till the end of the week till these eyes are gone forever!

-----------

Taxi to House of Ruin @ Pulse

Fire and Water

2010-07-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

From LnL Square: OOTW hunt and G4G hunt - male and female versions included:

Casual Catches

2010-07-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

Playing catch up, and this week netted some cool casuals. Equilibrium is offering their usual awesome range of jeans and shirts this month: Group gifts, Prize for Picks, MM boards, and their freebie of the week. They have put out a pair of jeans from their new grunge line, an open belt accessories on the MM board, Guitar hero shirts stepped up with collar and cuffs and a nice summer tank to keep things cool.

And you will need the EQ jeans to go with the bagful of shirts Cocora Lemon at Coco Designs is offering to her group. A fatpack of relaxed, soft-looking tees in 7 colors. If you've never checked out Coco Homme, this is great opportunity to do so. her male line isn't large but it is incredibly well done and not outrageous. Boots and belts, jackets and jeans...join the group, grab the shirts and talk a walk through and snap a few pictures on Cocora's interesting minimalist sim.

It might get a little cool in those fields too, so take and extra sweater: This Hip Woolen Sweater from Robbish from the 060MDN hunt settles easy on your hips, just in case a cool wind whips across the plains.

And while you are tromping through her open fields, you might need a pair of sturdy boots.

Last post I suggested you check out the lucky boards at Knights Innovations -- well if you took my advice and did so, you should have gotten these boots in your Hell's Warrior delivery. Solid tread, multiple textures, quirky embellishments, and a resize menu. You may not get boots every time, and maybe you don't really dig the Kilt and Cuirass look, but grunge, ghetto, or gas station attendant, these boots and the others offered through Knights Innovations with their sets are kind of worth the 2 minutes it will take to TP and slap the boards. But I do recommend you take a good look around -- because you may be seriously surprised at what you find. (click for larger detail)

Also up are t-shirts from [arnadi], but not just any graphic t-shirt. yeah, you get cool pop culture shirts but these come with a few extras: Multiple cuff and shirt bottom options. What I'm wearing here from their lucky board has 6 different sleeve options -- I'm wearing the double sleeve and double bottom, which gives the illusion of a plain white T underneath. you can wear them tight tucked into your jeans or loose and lazy as pictured here. The graphics are well done and fun and the fit for all option an easy edit if you need it.

==========================
Pictures Top to Bottom, Left to Right

Top left:
Equilibrium: Green ripped jeans Midnight Mania Board, Punisher tank male gift

Top Right: Coco Designs: Homme Gift-Tee Black, Equilibrium: Bloodygrunge group gift (check notices for the next week or so), Coco Designs: Homme Gift-Tee Black

Center Left: Coco Designs: Homme Gift-Tee Coral, Equilibrium: Blue Jeans on group notices

Center Right: Coco Designs: Homme Gift-Tee Grey, Equilibrium: Darkmeted jeans Lucky board prize, Hip Woolen Sweater from Robbish

Boots Left: Knights Innovations -- Hell's Warrior

Bottom Left: Equilibrium Brown drawed jeans MM prize,[arnadi] - Tshirt Red Geisha boy- Lucky Board

Unintentional Hiatus - Classic, Couture, Casual

2010-07-16T04:53:00.000-07:00

I didn't actually mean to be so long between updates. RL required some attention for a bit, however, here we are again with new stuff for you to look at.

If you are not regularly checking out the Midnight Mania boards at Knights Innovation, you are missing out. The content offering changes daily, the boards rarely fail to offer up their goodies and when they do, what you get are quality, highly detailed outfits suitable for your favorite Fantasy, Medieval or Post Apocalyptic adventures. Knights Innovation really do quality work, often offering full outfits down to the boots, nice side weapons (unscripted) a with multiple wear options: i.e.m the outfit shown here, Dark Warrior 2 Pack, has three kilt options - two long and one short, and multiple shirt options including the muscle style shown here.

Brocade Tiger (left) has changed locations and as an opening gift, Lexi Vargas is offering this tiger stripe version of his Black Snake outfit; laced up pants, cropped open top and sculpted collar; fashion and fun for free.

Lexi offers a wide range of men's and lady's wear that is fantastical, fun and reasonably priced. He specializes in rich textures, patterns, brocades and little extra flourishes.

Next to Lexi's shop on the celebration sim is VH Industry, (right) where you can pick up this grey logo'd pull for $1L. I matched it up with the group gift from Robbish, wader denim shorts. Denim chucks are from Akeyo (color change, resize, not free but awesome).

Glam, Grunge and Groovy man

2010-06-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

I got a virtual and literal handful of advances from two of my favorite designers: 22769 and Equilibrium, and a new find, the discount room at Glam Affair on the Beauty Avatar sim. Not all free but definitely worth a look.

(As always, click for larger pictures.)

22769 is participating in several hunts: Go 4 the Goal, Groovy Love, Fallen Angel, and the Song Lyric Hunt. (Fallen Angel ends Sunday, the 20th.)

Also 22769 is giving out a skin, Julian, as a gift for the group hitting 250 members (pictured left and right). This is a nicely detailed skin, striking classical features, moderate body hair and and overall nice even skin tone, excellently shaded and with a skin texture that eliminate the bland perfection of a lot of skins.

Left: The June group gift is this Lounge Lizard casual look -- for those nights when Muzak and a bowling ball is all that you need.

Right: Child of the Sun should evoke every summer of love reference you ever heard. It's a unisex set, flamboyant and bright. I'm not sure how often I will actually wear the pants, but hey, everyone should have something flashy in their wardrobe for those club nights where the theme is peace, lovem and rock & roll. Comes with the belt, necklace and bracelet.

Below - Left to Right: 22769 - #1: Go 4 the Goal hunt gift #2: Modern Hippies hunt gift #3: Song Lyric Hunt gift#4: Living in the Seventies hunt gift.

Equilibrium has released an entire grunge line for your fashion pleasure. Six styles of grey gritty t-shirts and 6 versions of jeans at various levels of distressing.

The graphic Tees run $150L Each and the jeans are $250L.

I'm particularly fond of the Mug Grey jean and the N002284 shirt - I like the fit and stresses of them both, and overall I think Junior offers a nice addition to the casual wardrobe.

While you are there though, do check upstairs and get on the MM board and grab your prize for picks. EQ also has a Mystery Board as well, so you can try your luck at the prizes there.
For World Cup Fans, $10L gets you Brasil's yellow team shirt.

And if that wasn't awesome enough, someone tipped me off to the discount room at Glam Affair which, seriously, empty out your virtual piggy bank and take a look.

(Glam Affair is formerly Beauty Avatar and some of the clothing still has that line name. Don't be confused)

Almost everything is $10L. A couple of the suits will cost you $20 -- separates and sets, there's a lot to choose from.

Left is one of the suit sets at $20L: Padborg 08, separate jacket and tie set.

Right: Caen Blue/white - one of several color combinations.

Below, Left: Nevers Pants and shirt set. Center: Amry. Right: Nevers Pants and Kapus 10 (other colors available.)

It's a good weekend to update your wardrobe.

Fashion Fair

2010-06-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Fashion Fair opened yesterday and runs through the end of the month. While the show itself has a lot of designers to offer, it was a bit disappointing to find so few offerings for men among even recognizable designers. There's not much offered in the way of free or promotional items, or even discounted ones. Sponsored by Simode, and boasting international designers, it looks as though they'll have a full schedule of events throughout the month.

Maverick Designs has a presence there with both their shapes and clothes, and they have a offering from Flavor Designs for hair for $1L just inside the door, but I wasn't actually looking to change my shape, so after a look around, I moved on and found La Rosa, which did have some bargains -- nothing extraordinary but most of their outfits include shirts, pants and shoes. The shirt in the menswear 002 I picked up, only has a jacket layer which, given the open design of the shirt, works okay for me -- I can toss a tank under it to change up the look and at $99L for the outfit including the shoes, I was okay with that (and the odd placement of the buttons - which I only noticed when I was working with the photo.)

PixelFashion had a couple of things I liked, including their jeans, but I passed on those for the Khaki & Blue shirt at $190L, because I'm a sucker for plaids and this was a nice one -- there were other colors available, subtle rather than bold, old faded plaid cotton as opposed to the thicker look of a flannel. The downside is the cuffs are no mod. I also really liked this Knotched Jacket at $230L in black. Since the coat is unwearable (there is no other version of it, unlike the waist plaid shirts SF Design offers), it's pretty much an accessory rather than an article of clothing. There is a demo in the display. If you like the look and are considering it, do try the demo first.

Brocade Tiger introduced a new crop look into his line; Black Snakeskin pants with a lace-up leg, sheer snakeskin long sleeved shirt with a really subtle sheen and pattern, and a fringed bolero jacket in the same black snakeskin. The Fringe comes sized for a back less broad than mine but it lined itself up perfectly on my chest so actually making the minor adjustment to size it was a snap, and no resize script to add lag. This is pretty obviously club wear but pull the bolero off or wear it alone and as with most of Lexi's pieces you've actually got several new elements to add to your wardrobe rather than a single outfit. At $300L, it's pretty mid range for something you could conceivably wear 6 or more ways.

The last outfit here isn't at the fair but I tripped over it looking at something else, and since I'm currently RPing in a urban sim, it was a little too much to pass up at $199L. From DrD, [Death row Designs] is this Dirty Deeds outfit -- pants, coat and two versions of a bloodied tank in white and beige. Add one of your own tanks (without blood) and you've got something very cool, or, put the bloodied tank back on and head out to your favorite RP sim to enact virtual mayhem on your friendly Co-second lifers.

======
Hair:

#1 Flavor Design Eric Hair Coffee (in the Maverick Designs showroom at Fashion Fair. $1L)

#2 & 4 ZEUS YH-01 5color Black (not free)

#3 Rigel Mesh black - from the Hunting 9 hunt.

When dog days were puppies

2010-06-01T05:53:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit MIA lately -- wish it was because I was on a fabulous vacation but alas, mostly I've just been insanely busy. But, here's hoping June will be a little less hectic...and to start the summer off right, both Gabriel and Equilibrium have some cool stuff for you.

Gabriel swapped up the group gift to include a tribal tank in blue and black. Summer is the best time for tank tops and these graphics reflect that -- not a store logo, just a cool summertime sun emblazoned along one side.

That makes them perfect to be matched up with the usual generous gifts offered by Equilibrium -- this month there are three separate pairs of jeans and a fun Guitar Hero graphic Tee (in store gift -- look for the bag near the door.)

The pale blue jeans, with the dark shading are this month's Group Gift. For having the store in your profile picks, you can pick up these dark brown jeans, and the Midnight Mania offering are these open-waist blues (and fixed boxers - sorry those of you who like to go commando -grins-) complete with undone belt.

Over at Bellissima! you can snag this full outfit from their lucky board. The T shirt set (three versions, tucked and untucked ) are from the popular "Archer" animated series on FX --the outfit comes fully loaded: shirts, jeans, belt and boots. Even if you aren't a fan of the series, you can certainly be a fan for the generosity at Bellissima!

In the Free and Not Entirely Free category, I offer up the new monthly from F2H, which is one of my favorite places for nice looking , stylish looks that don't break the bank, Linden or otherwise. This red Racerback tank has a nice sheen, shadow and wrinkle texture, an unobtrusive logo and pride star at the chest.

I put it with this not free kilt from Sangre Noir (at the Shopatorium) which you should consider for a couple of reasons: First, its $200L which is an excellent price for a kilt of this quality. And what makes it quality, you ask - well, you can't see it in this static picture, but this kilt moves like it's made of cloth. It's a dark charcoal grey texture that looks like finely scraped leather and the triple wrap belt detail on it is amazing (take a look at the clasp sets). You actually get two versions of the kilt itself - one with a resize script and one without. Noirran Marx, the creative mind behind the Sangre Noir line, doesn't do men's clothing very often, but she's a kick ass designer and when she does something she does it well. (She also has a couple of turtlenecks available for men with equally nice detail and textures -- but since we're going for the summer theme here, I'll let you take a look at them for yourself.)

Psst. I've got a secret...the password is 22769

2010-05-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

Among other things, the Hide Out Hunt starts today. You're looking for a scroll, and the hints are few and sneaky. Fifty stores, twice that many prizes possible since it's aiming to offer goodies to both men and women. Among the participating creators, Pasarella (left) (also one of the sponsors of the hunt), who provides a little spring cool to ward off the summer heat.

For the gals, a cool blue short summer tank style dress and stockings. Elegant for nights and flirty sexy for days. For the guys, fitted tank and jeans...suitable for a game of frisbee in the park, or a nice boardwalk stroll with your favorite partner on those warm summer nights.

Killy is also wearing an opening gift from Demise leather bracelet for men and women, plus one with a resize script.

From Soul Distraction (right), you get these sets; striped hoodies and ripped jeans, coordinating outfits that don't make you look like your partner's twin and set you up to keep it rocking all night long.

Myself has their Shuto Jeans and boldly striped shirt in multiple layers... not quite something that will let you blend in with the crowd but a nice statement to make when you don't want to keep your sense of style hidden.

And keeping in theme of Hide Out #Before Sleep offers you two hideaways; one for the guys and one for the gals. Killy's not all that keen on the Boy's only rule on Kyr's clubhouse, so she moved her things right in and made herself comfortable.

These are relatively small structures wooden slatted with working doors and wired windows. Each set comes with a rug, a table and two box crate chairs to share with your friends. (They also make awesome treehouses.)

Thus far, I'm pleased with the hunt, but it's not the only one and Paco over at 22769 sent me a truckload of great prizes to be found at his store:

first up is this Hermes outfit for the Myths & Legends hunt; the fleet footed messenger of the gods, whose winged boots let him traverse heaven and earth with speed...not unlike our own SL tp system. Jacket and trousers, winged heels and feathered helmet.

The may Group gift at 22769 are these stonewashed denims and batik shirt that can be worn with or without the coordinating cropped brown vest. the color bleed on this shirt is really very cool, almost as if you can see where the dyes were laid, without looking like a muddy texture rendering -- and that's not an easy thing to do. Most bleeded textures come off looking like they never quite rez; not so with this shirt.

For the Fallen Angel hunt, Paco offers you this slate grey striped shirt, faded jeans and angel cap.

And last but not least, for the Fashion Freaks hunt, bronze on brown ribbed shirt and jeans, casual but not quite meant for lounging at the pool or in the back yard. Nightclub or Night life, 22769 has the right look for you...for free.

Nomine

2010-05-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

First, you need to know that that Munchflower Zaius has a wickedly creative mind. And a prolific one. And is slightly twisted. Her stuff isn't cheap, but it's not wildly budget busting either. The other thing you need to know is that she can be incredibly generous. She routinely runs amazing sales, she gives things away, and even her subscribo messages are first rate.

Skins, Clothes, Accessories, full Avatars, male, female, undeclared, angel, demon, gypsies, tramps and thieves, Nomine has you covered.

However, you might not want to call her a soft touch to her face. I hear she has fangs... and minions...possibly even attack zombies. I could be wrong about that...

What you should do is go to the Nomine sim, which is pretty damn amazing all by itself. And then you should spend lindens there.

But if you don't have lindens, you can hang out near her lucky chairs and look cool and edgy just by association.

On the Nomine Lucky Chairs - three waist levels: high, low, and ultra low. I snagged the green and black.

MHOH3 - Final hours, final finds.

2010-04-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

MHOH# has just a few hours left and Mat Kungler put out his last gift (I assume it's his last.. but you know, he may get a wild hair at 11:45PM SLT and sit back and watch his sim crash in the rush.)

The last outfit is called mystic...full out fit including shoes.

I have more but I wanted to get this out there before the hunt is over.

Spring Cleaning

2010-04-28T18:10:00.001-07:00

MHOH3 ends in a couple of days, as do a lot of hunts. And new one's start in May, so some Spring cleaning is necessary. This means checking and clearing landmarks, unpack and sorting hunt gifts, and generally trying to make room for the new stuff to be picked up as the hunt season continues.

Tuft was in one of the first to pop up; offering all kinds of interesting and fun builds, accessories, clothes and clothes and a good dose of odd, this Creepy old abandoned house can be found in the cheapies and freebies section for $5L -- it has a 24x35m footprint and weighs in at 70 prims, but it is kind of creepy but oh so much fun with built in dust covered furniture. rickety staircase and working fireplace.

RoTtEn DeFiAnCe is having another mini hunt with five items each for men and women, including these (low) low rise plaid jeans.

The shirt is the April gift from SF Design (in addition to the MHOH3 gift swaffette is offering).

Wrist cuff is the group gift from Gabriel and comes in black and brown and with or without chains.

Hair is Trowa2 from Mischief Boy.

Shoes are part of gift #4 from the ever generous Matt Kungler at Sensual Mistery for MHOH3 The skin is the MHOH3 gift from Atomic Bambi.

Also while checking landmarks, Sweeter than Candy popped up and these men's jeans & grey shirt were hiding in the back of the men's section on the Freebie Wall.

Random: theosophy, khush, connor, jetcity, mischief boy

2010-04-23T05:02:00.000-07:00

JetCity is back, paired up with Mischief Boy, for new looks at the best bargains.

Free from JetCity: Border Shirt in grey (also available in brown and blue. The deal with JetCity is, new releases are free -- when the next new release is put up, the older releases will cost you $2L...I think you guys can deal.

From Mischief Boy at the same location, 4 styels of hair for free: this is Trowa in black -- resize menu included.

If you haven't visited JetCity before, you should go, casual and a little odd, always fon and more than reasonably priced.

And from the MHO3 Hunt:

Connors (#34) is giving out this really nicely textured and shaded hoodie. Cuffs and hood and just enough color to make you stand out in a crowd.

I paired it with #84 Khush's MHOH3's offering of lightly ripped blue jeans. They do come with prim cuffs, nice torn fabric effect and pocket and waistband detail.

$50L Fridays can be on the slim side for guys, but today you want to hit {theosophy} for these very nice ankle boots. Called Aith - Coast, ankle height, smooth leather and articulated buckle. Upper is invisiprim, so you can't wear them with prim cuffs, but the fit is tight so a hem flare will handle it if you want to wear only the foot part. But go today because it's all over at midnight.

And last, but never least, Rosie Barthelmess at Sable Rose has put out this The Green Man choker (pendant style for women) for The Beltane Hunt - which is part of a series of pagan-themed hunts held throughout the year. In addition to the hunt items, you also get clues to a final prize area.

~*~*~*~

Skin is from Den Dou - Ichiro (not free)
Hair is from Detour - Writer II (not free)

MHOH3 - Letting Someone Else Dress You (full outfits)

2010-04-16T17:10:00.001-07:00

Left: Subversions Menswear - Navy Denim/Leather Combo (one look of many) & Rubber Boots from Peeps Fashion.
Center: Maloney & Hudson shirt and Slacks, MPP -My Pretty Pixels scripted sports shoes.
Right: Subversions Menswear - Chalk Stripe Peacoat - Donkey Brown

Left: Duh Men's Grey buckled boots
Right: Poised Grafitti Hoodie, CheerNo Hair Soldier Special Brown

Left: Jasper - Mister Bear Roll-leg Shorts and Emerald High collar sweatshirt
Right: Hell Bop - Walter Bib overalls & Oscar shirt

Left: The Ancient Tree Kimono Shop - Hakama Red Kimono (also in black...beautiful detail)
Right: Juice Fresh Menswear - Pretty in Punk

Left: LAD Menswear - Suspended
Right: Myself - Shuto Jeans in faun and Daniel shirt - Green, Avoid Onyx cap and hair

MHOH3 - More skins

2010-04-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

If the name of the hunt is "Make Him Over" then the first place to start is with skins. I showed you some in the previous post that primarily came with out fits; these are the stand alone skins.

Atomic Bambi, Illninia, Aska and an MM Board skin from Endlix, again presented with minimal attachments so you can see the details in the skins. Some of these came with shapes meant to go with them, but comparisons are easier, I think, with a consistent shape to look at.

Right: Endlix Midnight Mania board - ShyBoy. Don't let the name fool you, despite the blush in the cheeks and lips, this skin works just fine on an adult frame -- very little shy about it. (I never did find the gift, but I haven't given up yet either.)
Left: Aska Asian Shapes - mid toned and with an ethnic hint that reminds me of popular action film stars.

Left: Illninia Skin Store - Ignacio - Moderate body hair and a not entirely commonplace look. Right: Atomic Bambi-Benicio-Beta - tanned with body hair and capped skull (my personall preference) with some nice definition. A friend had pointed me to Atomic Bambi once before but the is the first time I've worn one that wasn't a demo. I like it.

MHOH3 - Part 2

2010-04-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

There are some nice skins in this hunt, shapes too; the creators are making some pretty cool choices. The three I'm showing below, I kept my own shape for, the better to compare, and I gave up my hair to give you a better look at the overall image of the skins. (As always, click for a larger view.)

Left: #23 Paddy's - Armen: If you've been watching this site for any length of time, you'll notice that I tend to swap between the relatively mature skin offered by Redgrave, and the offset youth of the Den Dou Ichiro skin. (h/t to M4). Paddy's skin runs to the mature side, has a decent amount of body hair (which eliminates the need for clothing layers to add it. (Always a plus,) and has a nice definition and skin tone.
Center: #157 AD Sport - Real Man: There are hints of a prize fighter in this skin -- or maybe a particularly well-built Beat Poet. Either way, the hint of goatee is nice and the lighter skin tone doesn't look ghostly. While skins do change slightly (or a lot) based on the shape beneath -- be it one you made or one you bought -- I do like the way the facial proportions played out on this one.
Right: #61 Nikita Fride Designer: Full scalp hair (great for any number of styles popular now, including the shorter styled mohawks,) interestingly ornate tattoo application on eye and lips that looks a bit like blood drops but also can read as piercings. Maybe not an everyday skin, but definitely a specialty skin worth keeping.

Couple of outfits also worth the grab:

Left: #165 - 22769 Casual Couture - Chaps & Indian vest, #169 smudged - Cowboy hat, -dD- hair in #122 Santero Keitaro, #4 Kalnin's color change shoes
Center: Outfit by #6 FIR, Hair by #1 MADesigns - Brady in Irish Coffee
Right: #2 Alphamale striped silver pants & slate Shirt, #1 MADesigns - Brady in Red, #4 Kalnin's color change shoesshoes

MHOH3 - Separating the men from the boys

2010-04-05T03:55:00.000-07:00

MHOH3 Started off with a lot less furor than past hunts; fewer masses of male (and female) AV's starting off in a cluster, like competitors at an Olympic freestyle run. A lot of the names of the creator participants are well known by now, and the few I didn't, I've been pretty pleased with.

Crowded start or not, I still tend to run from end to beginning, and while it's a an entirely unscientific assessment, I figured the hunt was going to be pretty damn good when the very first gift I get out of it is a really nice henley from #174 Sky Clothing. Comes in two colors, Navy & Cranberry with both long and short sleeve options.

I tucked it into these Basic LR Jeans in grey from #166 TuttiFrutti. Pocket glasses are a gift from Equilibrium MM board (not part of the hunt.)

From #122 Santero you get a whole Avatar. Angelo skin and shape, eyes,
Keitaro in Hessian hair from discordDesigns [dD], jeans, shirt, shoes and accessories...and as fond as I am of the skin I wear, I like this skin, both versions of it, a look you don't see often in SL.

The jeans come in both black and blue and have a lot of definition. They come with a separate belt buckle, useful elsewhere if you like it. Nothing but a win here. Hair below right is Lane Short hair in Mocha from #167 Pocket Mirrors.

#15 Gabriel (yes, I jumped. -grins- I like Gabriel) offers a loose open shirt, graphic Tee and washed denim jeans, casual and cool for spring, with the usual attention to details. (There's also a set of wrist chains for group members, and lucky chairs for both men and women.)

There's a lot to like on this hunt, some symbols are hidden better than others. I've been a little short on time lately, so most of what I will be posting will be highlights, but I've been impressed so far and at the moment, Yves over at Fashion Freebies for Men is doing a hell of a job covering the hunt (and he starts at the beginning.)

But I will be covering more and a spattering of other finds this weekend.

I expect you all to look like runway models by Friday.

*click pictures for larger images.

Biker Boots From Redgrave
Army Crop hair from MADesigns

Old School

2010-03-24T04:17:00.000-07:00

Turn of the previous century old, that is:

:F@C: [Fiction & Chaos] offered up this Clock maker's hat and hair as part of the Steampunk hunt. Was blogged here a couple of weeks back but it's fun enough to show again and the Steampunk hunt is over at the end of the month.

Via group gift (and available as a dollarbie from her shop) comes Erwan from Dany French Touch. Dany continues to give her group members fun and unique styles to play with, and she is now back (and much more suitably) in her own shop at New Toulouse Bayou (part of the Toulouse group of France-New Orleans/Creole influenced sims) Shirt, Vest and pants and a belt that comes both with and without your own copy of Le Monde. (And yes ladies, there are always gifts for you too.)

She also passed her members the slightly more formal Albin this morning: Lace collar and cravat, pearl brocaded waistcoat, white starched shirt and cuffs, black trousers.

Dany's Group costs $50L to join. ~~but most of her gifts are later released as dollarbies, so there's no real way to lose here.~~ (The way her group works has changed: Erwan is currently for sale in shop for $150L, Albin is a dollarbie. All the more reason to join the group. )

The boots here are (Shiny Things) Old Boots (for men) - hard black (not free).

The tattoo is the current *Connors* group gift (Mandara Art003 Tattoo) and the skin is The Librarian from iNflict (not free).

And while Not Strictly Old School, it kind of fits the vaguely Victorian theme to the theme. Hell Raise is currently in the lucky Chair for men at +Calamity+.

Hell Raiser has a closed vest and full skirt/coat bottom that (deliberately) never quite settles, plenty of chains and metal, A top hat to give you that punkish feel and dark nose-riding sunglasses that remind me of nothing so much as Tom Petty's "Don't Come Around Here No More" video (albeit without the cake and dormouse.

The tattoos are part of the outfit as is the long muzzle loader worn on the hip. It's as much fancy as funky.

The hat and the belts are resizer controlled, so the whole thing can be a little script heavy. Once you've got them fitting the way you want, you may want to delete those scripts. The skin Kyr has on here has a scalp patch, but otherwise you'll need hair (unless you like the bald look.)

Relay For Life Clothing Fair 2010

2010-03-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

I, admittedly, did not hit Clothing Fair looking for freebies; they are there -- check Brocade Tiger on CF New Dehli, Sartoria on CF Milan, Peeps at CF Rio deJaneiro for starters. I took a virtual pocket for money and an eye toward spending it all on a good cause, because that's what Clothing Fair is really about, raising money for the American Cancer Society- Relay for Life and it's International affiliates, and raising awareness about how much cancer in all it's forms, lethal and non-lethal affects pretty much everyone at one time or another.

My own RL family feels like it's seen a disproportionate amount of it; my mother died from breast cancer, my aunt (my mother's sister), my own sister, a male first cousin and myself have all been treated for breast cancer, and another male cousin -- close to me in age -- also died from cancer a little over a year ago. So, guys, if you think prostate cancer is the only biggee you have to worry about due to all the television and pharma ads covering it and treatments for it -- think again.

Stop by CF Paris where Rfyre has a display and read Raven's note about her father, who is also fighting it. Breast cancer in men is on the rise and it's treatable for the most part but it entirely depends on early detection for the amazing survival rate they are starting to see.

I'll end my PSA here, but when you visit Clothing Fair (and you should!) remember why it's there and help out if you can - $5L or $5000L, you don't have to buy something to donate and you won't find a better cause to toss it at. The impact of the RFL effort in-world isn't insignificant.

If you are inclined, here are some examples of what you can get from the actual donation vendors in various shops, other creators are donating a portion of all sales to the effort so, really, you can get some great clothes and give to a good cause all at the same time.

What I found in the RFL kiosks:

Top Left: Brocade Tiger Sugar Babe suit $250L. Not new but still period classy and fun.

Center Right: Rfyre Leon Men's Tux Check Black $500L - elegant wear at a seriously nice price.

Left: The Black Canary's aptly named "Promise" for men at $400L, designed especially for Clothing Fair.

Peeps Fashion (CF Milan) had both a free gifts (above left: Peeps casual v-neck sweater brown ) and a special $100L sale on everything including fatpacks (Below Left: Peeps casual turtleneck fatpack with jeans - this is burgundy,) portions of which would also be going to RFL. Marcy Wilson offered her usual reasonably priced ($200L for The Rock in Tan, above) men's fashion in her vendors, cause she is awesome like that.

Sartoria (upper right) has been offering men tastes of their specialized suits since I first rezzed and their Positano suit in white is no exception. It's a solid piece of business casual wear, and a good chance to see what the designer can do.

The link above brings you to the central plaza of the 9-sim extravaganza that is clothing fair. The music a is usually good, there are special events going on constantly -- remember to prim down, remove any scripts you don't need (which is most of them), and be prepared for some lag unless you go seriously early in the morning. The sims are rarely empty but the kind of middling times between international time zones -- say 3 a.m to 6 a.m. US East coast time (3 hours earlier than SL time) seem to have the least amount of activity.

You're gonna have to do some walking to find the men's stuff -- but that's what this is about. Even if you aren't on a Relay for Life Team -- that's what this benefit is about, taking the extra step, for those people who can't do it for themselves.

Goth Revisited - +Calamity+

2010-03-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

When Nik went hunting for Goth clothing a while back, he obviously didn't look hard enough. +Calamity+ was a tip from a friend, and a pretty fantastic one at that. Heavy on the monochrome but with hints of red here and there and not relying too heavily on the skull sculpties but on the weight of heavy fabrics and metal accents. Seriously well put together outfits, themed and packaged in a way that makes you think there's a story behind every one of them.

There are three outfits and a tattoo in the men's section, all for $1L, and a lucky chair (see left: Mr. No is one prize, complete as seen without the boots) that had me standing there for a good hour to get the three or four outfits it's loaded with. And they are all men's outfits. The ladies have their own lucky chair and discounts.

And, if you are willing to part with a few lindens, the discount wall has some nice grabs for $130-$150L too. given that most of the rest of the offerings at Calamity run in the $300-500L range, you could do a helluva lot worse. (Right is Big Gun at $130L).

There's not a lot of layering, but, there are multiple wear options: with or without kilts and undershirts, an assortment of buckles, chains and belts with each outfit. Textures run the range from mesh to leather to dark brocade-like fabrics.

Left to right at $1L each: Dark Entries, Telegram Sam, The Passenger (with wings). Click for larger views.

So, if you are looking to expand your gothic repertoire, or, you are just looking to start one, you might want to visit +Calamity+ and see if Ariel and Candy, the creative minds behind the line, don't strike the right note for you.

Grab it before Midnight.

2010-03-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

Hoorenbeek extended their offer through tonight. Go get the goods!

I had things outside SL to do this weekend and almost missed this, so go fast. Hoorenbeek is offering up these very nice Olive slacks, high and low rise, multiple belt options. And for the ladies these extremely detailed cowboy boots -- which, gentlemen, you can wear (or most of you) if you size them up as high as they can go, wear your own favorite boot bases (I used the one from May creations Biker boots,) tweak the invisiprim and turn off the heel click. Or you can buy them from Hoorenbeck for the special price of $200L but only this weekend.

The shirt is this months freebie, Fair Isles vest, from SF Design, without the vest. The suspenders are from Robbish and are not free ($149L) but are actually the best I've found in SL so far.

So go. Most of these deals will be gone like Cinderella's pumpkin at midnight tonight.

Punk'd

2010-03-04T05:14:00.000-08:00

The Steampunk Hunt is back and it's as whacky-weird-fun as it was last time. There's plenty of gear-busting, lots of mechanical toys, a dash of whimsy and of course, steam. But there's also so cool looks if you like your Victorian with a little rust and punk, so, here's a couple of examples of what the well-dressed Steampunk elf is wearing these days:

#41 Ali Couture: (Left) Steampunk unisex Jacket (collar tails makes the difference) in a rich sable brown, big buttons, frocked front and flares at the cuffs that move nicely.

#34 + ezura +: (Right) Steam Male Gift Outfit. A nice mellower brown, full cuffs collar and tails, to compliment the dark pants, vest and formal white shirt of the set.

Boots: Gothic Dreams - Broken Heart Boots (from the Broken Hearts Hunt. Check the store for availability.)

#28 .:Fiction & Chaos:.: The Clock Maker-Hat and hair. Clockpiece trimmings and a monocle too that can be worn up or down. The mouth candy is also from F&C, from their Tainted Heart hunt offering -- all of it done with the style, flair and fun Nix and Nicholi are known for.

#58 LNL Square: Offers another complete outfit down to the boots. The O-55 Steampunk outfit lives up to its name with a goggle festooned top hat that lets off the steam between your ears and a trailing scarf on the back to keep that condensation off your neck. Full Jacket and tails, all fancy fabric and fun textures with the added bonus of a watch and steampunk pistol just in case anyone thought you weren't serious in your pursuit of the perfect steam-driven dream.

The boots are foot only and meant to be worn with the pants (As the upper calf section, but there's no reason they couldn't be tucked into something else. They are actually kind of fun that way. (And not nearly as split toed as they look in the picture -- odd lighting. ) Male and female versions of this are on offer as well, in the same gift box.

It's 129 participating creators...you can do that in a couple of hours with your steam-powered attire.

Spring Sales & Hunts & Things....

2010-03-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

Rfyre's $10L retirement sale - doesn't happen very often and take a closer look at some of the women's things:

Left: Rfyre - Trammel in black (bronze also available) two shirt types: open laced and solid. Belted pants. ($10L)

Necklace: [PRETURB/ation] [P/a] Group gift - Periapsis: copper & turquoise, large links, heavy turquoise ovals with accents. (free)

Bracelet (left arm): [P/a] Uranus - men's bracelet - silver, copper, leather and turquoise (not free)

Bracelet (right arm): ::Gabriel:: crest bracelet black (not free - group only)

Right: Rfyre Chromatique black (women's). The men's Chromatique is also on sale but I like the shirt on the women's better. Since they are both $10L, for $20L you can get a nice mix and match including the fringed top boots. Keyhole open neck, chain-mail like pants and trim. Knee high boots laced and fringed.

Left: Rfyre Stripes pants (women's but with no actual buttons or zipper, it hardly matters) brilliant color, modifiable for boots or wear as is with the flare.

The top is part of the Vinyl cowboy set from A:S:S. Not free, but the whole set is $150 and including two sets of leather pants - one full legged style and, as well as a chaps version, multiple layer versions and ways to mix and match, accenting buckles at throat. arm and thigh. There's a bulge for the pants and laces there too. If you'd pay $30-50L for individual pieces you like, this gives you a lot of options for not a lot of lindens.

Necklace: Sable Rose from the Ostara Hunt. Double pendant with a pentagram and triple sun cartouche on a leather cord.

Speaking of A:S:S (we were, weren't we?) Photos is also having a sale. Not that he needs to; his stuff is pretty damn reasonable. But, if you do want a new pair of leather pants, you can pick these up for $30L and the suspenders for $80L (not part of the sale) to go with the awesome Lady Gaga t-shirt F2H is giving away this month. (just in case you missed the free leather pants F2H was giving away last month.)

And just a heads up: I'm going to be doing a post on stripper wear soon. Dancing/Hosting/DJing at the many many clubs in SL is one of the most common ways to earn lindens for those of us on a budget and probably the question I get asked most about in world (where, how, what do you need, is it difficult, etc.) . I don't host and I couldn't DJ to save my life, but dancing I can do. (funny how much better a dancer I am in SL ~grins~), If I can tap one of my female dancer friends to help, I'll try to make it for both sexes, but my own resources are pretty much limited to the guys. If you've ever been interested and have questions, getting them into the comments here before I post would let me answer them when I do post on it -- probably in the next week or so.

Car Wash Cart Sale

2010-02-23T18:24:00.001-08:00

Car Wash and The Wash sims are having a cart sale. It's kind of like a street festival with designers fom both sims contributing a few items, none of which are priced higher than $10L. I dint' make it far on Car Wash, it ws packed and the lag was killer, but The Wash was better and had the added bonus of being where Hell Bop had their cart. If you like the retro look, and you haven't head of Hell Bop, this would be a good time to check them out. I spent a whopping $50L and got everything I'm showing you. Their regular prices n stuff aren't bad either. So, take some time and drop by...you can get these items and more, or you can just enjoy the retro feel of the sim. It's a win no matter what. (click for larger views)

Side note: I'm heading off for a very long weekend with some friends. I'll be back in town after the 1st. So, if there's no updates, be assured I'll come back ready to hunt again. Until then, be good to yourselves, and have an awesome weekend. (And don't forget to clear you inventories for the 5 billion hunts starting on the first.)

===
Skins: DEN-DOU & Redgrave
Hair: Detour Writer II
Tats: V3

Weekend Retreat

2010-02-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

Yves over at Fashion Freebies for Men tipped me off to the choker being offered by PRETURB/ation. It's a seriously nice piece of men's jewelery, but that's not the only thing being offered as an opening gift -- and not just by PRETURB/ation, but by the sim group, collectively known as [PLUTO+]. If you join the [PLUTO+] group and follow the paths of this beautifully laid out sim, you'll find a whole new way of living -- and I mean that kind of literally.

Zacca is offering this amazing small garden house. It's beautifully textured and pretty spacious for its size. It's got a relatively small foot print and at 42 prims (rez in edit mode), it offers a really nice way to live without eating up all the prims on a 512 lot. Texture and detail are amazingly nice, and the diffuse light is built into the build.

And in truth, the other offerings also give you great style at low prims without sacrificing look or quality. Also on offer is nonino's Swing Bench (prop) at 8 prims (in 2 sections) that offers two sits and a quiet place to enjoy.

If you keep heading down the path, Clematis will gift you with this three draw workable chest (8 prims) and this really nice potted calendula (6 prims). That doesn't quite furnish your weekend house in the woods, but it's a good start. I've no idea how long these gifts will be out, but I wouldn't wait. The sim is Bacio -- and take some time to explore, there's all kinds of surprises waiting for you there.

And if you are planning a weekend in the country, you might want to pick up some casual clothes for kicking around in the woods. Equilibrium has you covered, yet again, with this nice T-shirt, (YB)-jr.hak (Camisa), as their weekly freebie, and these graphic jeans, Jeans (Calca)(02)(Brasil), as the Prizes for Picks.

The belt, cinto Anatine fexado (marron), you see here will be in an upcoming Midnight Mania prize --something you can wear with more than the jeans you get as a prize. Make note of the slurl and pick up a new landmark, as the store has moved.

And while you are relaxing this weekend, you might do a little bargain hunting: The Shopatorium at Gallinas is having a mini hunt, and if you go tip-toeing through the tulips, you might find some nice harbingers of spring , like this full body vine tattoo being offered by our own Guen at .:CoLLisions:.. Multiple layers with a vine motif, and a pectoral-centered Cherokee star. Other finds at the Shopatorium are garden goods, poses, springtime pooka pals, and jewelry. Start at Sable Rose and work your way around the shopping area -- you are looking for red tulips. The hunt only goes to the 1st.

======
Also here:
Choker - [P/a] PLUTO+ Male choker: PRETURB/ation
Hair - Writer II - Black: [Detour] (not free - $200L)
Skin= Ichiro -Bronz- /02 Stubble (with Body Hair): DEN-DOU (not free)

Back to the Future

2010-02-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

Nik had a plan: the plan was to go hunting for Gothic, accessories, clothes, run the gamut and see what was available for the ambitious but pocket poor Goth follower.

The pickings were scarily thin, possibly because there's another Twisted Hunt coming up, or because not a few of the Valentine's hunts turned a little Gothic as well. But, just because the journey doesn't end up where you expected, doesn't mean it wasn't worth the time it took.

Dark Closet was the first shot. The kilt pictured was an earlier drop from the DSN network, and following up on the DSN offerings that really appeal, is on the long list of ways to find free or discounted stuff. That led to this Torn Chainmail Outfit and this Assassin Outfit in Blue.

But, those finds gave an excuse to show off the preview for Sable Rose's offering in the next Twisted Hunt, which Rosie Barthelmess was kind enough to forward. She'd previously offered up a set of collars called The Poisoner and the Poisoner's Wife, and now she steps away from the jewelry she makes so well to offer up The Poisoner's Son Men's Arm Cuff & Dagger, in two versions -- one blooded and one not. She put the same fine detail in this she does in all her work. It's not out yet, but look for it when Twisted starts up again on March 1st. And since the look was pseudo gothic, hunting up hair became a sidestep. .:hct:. was on the list of places to check -- but the actual find was on Xstreetsl -- where a combo of 11 fat packs of retired men's hair styles can be foundfro $1L, including the ponytail pictured.

While poking around at Inedit, I tripped over this fiver pack of buckled shirts for free, from Fire Roses. These are basic system shirts, and came fitting more loosely than shown, but the folded placard front is a favorite, and tightening the wear up a bit actually made the texture - which is pretty damn detailed -- look a lot cleaner.

The last veer off the beaten gothic path led to the Jet Lag sim of all places, which is in the process of being retrofied in some really fun ways. A stop in at the local high school produced this leather jacket - JohnnyD- from J.FIN; nice retro detail and a great way to finish up a hunt that wasn't successful, but was far less than a total failure.

And, just for fun, also on the Jet Lag sim is JUICE which often has some great finds and gifts but this time -- the hunt they have going is the Potty Mouth hunt, and while normally averse to the sillier mouth attachments -- this one was a keeper. Because, really, how often do you find yourself wanting to say, just that?

===
other items pictured:
=Zenith=Sweater hat hair-Male SAH 7

The Streets of SL

2010-02-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

From xstreetsl are these two casual sweater from *ARAI*: left is a blue long sleeve Sweat shirt style in blue and right is Long T Pocket tee in purple. The notice says they are also available in the shop, but this is like delivery gourmet meals: why go out and pick it up when someone is nice enough to drop it off right at your door?

While I was poking around on xstreet, I made a find that made me very happy. PRAVDA offers up gorgeous sculpt staues with amazing baked textures. Pravda Core's work is a little pricey for my pocket at the moment (costs for individual pieces run between $1000 and $3000 and he's working on new furniture and houses -- which really, is pretty reasonable for this kind of detail sculpt work); but I've picked up a couple of things and am saving for more. I'd never have seen this, because it's not a shop you check regularly, like you do your favorite clothing stores.

PRAVDA is offering a free Gothic Couture Citadel skybox. This is a 33 prim, two room skybox with custom sculpt elements and textures, baked finishes and some amazing details. It has a 30x30 footprint, so it won't fit on most 512 lots even at such a low prim count, but it will on a 1024 parcel. It comes in a faux rez and is copyable and modifiable. (the exterior is the PRAVDA logo, which is cool if you are a few 100 feet up, but if you want to, you can modify the exterior texture to be something less textual .)

The pictures here don't really do it justice (click to enlarge them): the central floor between the rooms is sunken, lighting elements are textured in. One room has the original sculpture in a shallow pool of water with fog elements, the other has this long built in console table. It's elegant enough to serve as a primary residence and dark enough to serve as your dungeon or RP meeting hall.

You can find it behind the graveyard in the cave, but take some time to look at his other amazing work. You won't be sorry.

Au Revoir Ora Trei

2010-02-12T22:02:00.000-08:00

Potnia Theas Of Ora Trei is focusing on her RL career and SL is going to have to say goodbye to yet another fine designer. We can regret that and still wish her all the success in all worlds.

Ora Trei is better known for women's fashion than men's but she does carry a small line of pretty unique stuff in her shop. They range from funky to functional to fancy. you aren't going to find anything free in her closing sale, but you may well find one or two things that are worth givng up a couple of hundred lindens to own. You won't get the chance again. through the 17th, everything in her main store is $100L. If you do nothing else, buy nothing else, stop in and get one of her 007 Tuxedos. They are hands above most of the free ones you can find on the grid even if they aren't quite to the expansive detail (or price ) of say, Styles of Edo. if you plan on taking your SL sweetheart anywhere this weekend for Valentines day, you won't find a better bargain, or a tuxedo that will serve you well from here on out. They come in multiple color options, with or without cumberbun and shirt and jacket layers. (pictured is the forest Green set, without the tux shirt or tie. Vest and tailored jacket.)

The menswear is housed in a single room of the store, maybe a dozen or so choices, from uber casual to clearly couture. Not all of it suits every taste, obviously but for a couple of hundred lindens you can expand your workable wardrobe. Remember, it's only there until the 17th, so don't put it off.

Left: High View - full set including hat, multiple layers, feather options. Center: Leif -pants and semi sheer top in multiple layers. Pants come both in long as pictured and short with cuffs. There's also coordinating neck wrap/tie. Right: Park Place Pants -- may be in the VIP part of the store complex, which is almost all women's, but I liked the texture and style with these . There are optional upper thigh casings and ties, plus belt. I paired it here with the shirt layer from the tuxedo set.

Also in the VIP store are these calf boots called "Stomp";
black leather and buckles, heel spurs in silver.

click all pictures for larger views.

Shrug it off

2010-02-09T05:03:00.000-08:00

Upper shoulder shrugs seem to be the new style and trend for both men and women, and a couple of gifts and hunt items reflect that. The Black Canary is offering up two items, plus a bonus in the Tainted Heart hunt on the Necrosis Noctis sim (yes, a different tainted heart). Items are not free but at $6L each it's not a strain and you can check before you buy since there are items for men and women as well as non clothing, non-skin items.

The first is this black knit and furred shrug called Regret
(left). There's some frills and ruffles you can opt out of in the outfit. It comes in a jacket layer so you can add your favorite tank to it if it's still too cold to go bare-chested. Or you can surrender the shrug for this trimmed out hoodie called Malice (right), also by Black Canary. Options for hood are up and down and Morrigan has a knack for hats and hoods you can actually wear with your existing hair. Hair in both pics is Rob by Amacci, part of their sale. Jeans left are Funk Pants from .:Robbish:. (not free). Jeans left are also from Rob, and are free. Boots are the SAH prize at #BeforeSleep#.

Equilibrium is offering up this blue rolled turtleneck shrug as their weekly freebie. They've been putting out some pretty cool things in their weeklies, as well as what you might tap into the other offerings they have. Check the second floor for the MM board. I paired it here with the short pants and leggings you can get from JetCity (blogged before) as well as the $30L sale hair -- Morgan -- from Amacci. The socks and suspenders are from the MHOH2 gift from *Mire* and the tennies are from the SAH hunt at .:Robbish:. and are still available.

Speaking of .:Robbish:., there's more than hunt items worth grabbing at Rob's store. Granted, the Funk Pants I'm wearing in the picture top left, will run you $149L -- but they are part of the "A New Man" stamp card hunt and with them you get a stamp card that you can redeem for at least one free item . Also at Robbish are a pair of distressed "one shot" jeans for free and this sweater Rob calls "The Hobo" -- underlying red pattern shirt under a zippered and worn sweater (all one jacket layer) for$10L.

And while I know I've sent you there a lot, lately, you might want to cruise by Mimi's Choice for Men one more time. She's got a lucky chair in the shop now, and the current prize is this red down jacket from Gabriel, for both men and women (yes, both in the box). I'm not usually all that big on puffed jackets in SL, but I admit I like this one a lot -- it's not a fussy wear, you can wear other things under it and it doesnt' take up every single attachment point on your upper torso. I'm wearing it here with a thr group gift from Find Ash, Amacci's Morgan hair, the leather pants form F2H (previously blogged and the Judd boots that are the boys SAH prize from #BeforeSleep#

~*~*~*~*~
Hair:
Amacci hair sale - red carpet room -$30L per pack: Morgan ~Jet Black & Rob ~Dark Brown

Shoes/Boots:
#BeforeSleep# Judd Boot (SAH) BOYZ - #153
Robbish - Red & Black Tennies -(SAH) BOYZ - #43
Mire* - Socks/Suspenders Black (from MHOH2)

Jeans/Pants:
Robbish - Denim Shot $0L & Funk Pants: includes pants cuffs w/bandannas. pockets, belt and lanyard. Part of A New Man stamp card hunt @ $149L.

Shirts:
Equilibrium -(EQ(GT)(Azul)(Prime) Shrug - free weekly
The Black Canary - Necrosis Noctis sim wide hunt $6L/item: Regret Shrug
Robbish - TheHobo (+Sweater) RED $10L

Jackets:
The Black Canary - Necrosis Noctis sim wide hunt $6L/item: Malice Jacket
Mimi's Choice presents Gabriel RED Down jacket (Lucky Chair)

Accessories:
Fiction & Condensed Chaos - Consume (mouth candy) from the Tainted heart hunt (previously blogged)
V3 Tattoo - Veritas
Skin by Redgrave: Emil
Scarf/Necklace combo - Find Ash Group gift
Thumb Ring from Gabriel at Mimi's Choice
===============

Just an FYI, the group pool on flickr for Designer Spotligh t is open if you want to share your own finds.

Fancy Foot Work

2010-02-05T04:06:00.000-08:00

Where I am, it's been raining for days. And it's cold, so I sent the elf out again to do my hunting for me. Everyone is gearing up for Valentine's day and the theme is warming things up a bit.

Zanzo sent out this Amore Caliente long sleeved tee to their group. Joining the group is no longer free, but they are pretty generous with their gifts which range from shirts to shoes to skins, so, when you have a spare group slot and a couple hundred extra Linden's, you might want to think about it.

These leather pants from F2H aren't valentine themed but they are free this month at their main store. Low cut, nice detail and texture, add on cuffs, very sleek.

Swaffette at SF Design has already put out her February gift - a set of blue silk pajamas, but her gift in January was this pair of Shearling boots in several boot top styles. (The folded top is pictured) and you can still get them, for now, at Mimi's Choice.

Wandering around the House Islands usually yields something new every couple fo days (there are already several new stores in since I was there last week) and Kyr stuck his head into the women's side of Mimi's and spotted these brown suede and studded low heeled boots with a rolled knit top from M.E.B at Mimi's Choice and gave them a shot. They have a simple, straight design making them flexible and minimal embellishment. They have a resize script in the upper boot, and are a nice change from the usual choices of black, dark brown, or grey boots.

+++++++++
Kyr is also wearing:
Hair: -=H2L=- Shun DirtyBlond
Eyes: Eyes Venus -Blue- *REDGRAVE* (free)
Skin: [LeLutka]-ABSOLUTE-pale-hair-faceB_1
Rage Ears: Plastik (previous group gift.)
Oral Fixation: Consume from Fiction&Chaos (free in the tainted love hunt)

Show Your Love With terri.tees!

2010-02-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Yeah a while back I mentioned some great $1L t-shirts that were being swapped in and about from Terri Wardell's shop in January.

Well she's back with some cute Valentine's t-shirts that are FREE up until the big V-day, itself.

Each is made with a graphic from those cute lil' sappy Valentines we all used to give out as kids in school and some even more adorable (and sometimes sassy) verbiage along with them.

There's no swapping out of shirts this time. She's got them all in one huge pack at the store... for FREE! Each is Unisex and comes in Jacket, Shirt, and Undershirt layers with an underpants layer again for that "tucked" look.

Grab them all down at terri.tees while you still can. :-)

-------------------

What Boy Guen is also Wearing:

Hair: Tiny Bird ~ Winter (Pepper)
Skin: Tuli ~ male prototype bloggers gift (not available)
Jewelry: Sable Rose ~ Coexist Men's Set

Tainted Love part two

2010-02-04T04:52:00.000-08:00

I had to bandage some wounds and trade bloody clothes for cleaner -- not that it matters. Expect a lot of blood, and a not a few sharp implements on your hunt. But, you'll find plenty of ways to work out your frustrations.

#1 Yellow Jester is actually the driving force behind the hunt - and just to get you started, they offer you this homage to past loves with a keepsake of My First Boyfriend, his handsome head lovingly displayed in this collectible keepsake jar.

#6 Bellissima! offers you the cursed Kilt; glitch pants, kilts in black and red, handy belt with all your cursing needs and an arm guard with syringes in case you need to ~~subdue your victim~~ calm your lover before you curse them, and boots so you can kick them in case cursing isn't enough. You also get a pulsing heart in a jar -- I'm not telling you whose heart is in mine. The set also comes with 6 sets of suitably tainted eyes.

From #9 Rasetsukoku, you get skins. the male version is Dominus - My heart is yours. Which is a little messy, so it's a good thing that Forsaken gives you this strappy top to wear with it. The blood kind of soaks into the leather; you hardly even notice it.

Once you cut out your heart for your love with help from Rasetsukoku, #2 +DV8+ gives you the option of encasing it in a cybernetic chamber so you can continue to function. (I mean, this is a tainted love hunt, not a Zombie hunt -- you kind of need your heart to keep going. ) Pulsing, pumping heart, right out there for all to see, with color and glow options.

From #3 Mia Snow comes a set of 4 multi-layer tainted heart tattoos which actually make a pretty cool back drop for you heart on display.

If you want a little more of a display...#4 SMOTD give you this rather statement making display case, multiple poses, for showing off the Object of My Affection. You might need those syringes after all.

Once the object of your affection knows you mean business, #42 Frosting Ink and #56 Fiction & Chaos, make sure you keep that bittersweet taste of love in your mouth. Fiction & Chaos gives you Consume, a beaded rosary type necklace sure to satisfy your oral fixation...if you're fond of raw heart. It's kind of like sushi, I hear.

And in case your love doubts your affection, Frosting Ink, gives you another heart in your mouth treat with a bit of an edge, to remind you that Love Hurts. You've heard that promise about walking over glass for the one you love, well, swallowing razorblades just takes that oath of devotion up a notch. (It may notch your throat and intestines too...but all in the name of love. )

Sometimes love doesn't work out and #40 Lar's Workshop, offers Jack Was Here, a full body set of blood and scratches to how how mightily you struggled with love. Bloody but unbowed ... multiple layers and facial versions from scars to wounds, adjustable and very cool.

Then from #39 LNL, comes this handsome outfit, pants and shirt, and if all your bids to gain your love's attention have failed, they even offer a comforting hand on your shoulder to remind you that it will be okay.

If you still are having trouble either proving your love (or escaping from it), then #61 Oddment may offer you the ultimate in tainted love -- a full Voodoo Avatar complete with pins to make sure you can target your curses appropriately and a lovely little bleeding heart droplet tree...which can double as a vampire feeding station if you're not in the mood to host hungry visitors.

There's more, but I think I need a blood transfusion before I get back into the Love is a Battlefield Mode
~*~*~*~

Dying For Your Love - Tainted Love Hunt

2010-02-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

I may die of laughter before this is over. I'm only partially through it and the wide array of twisted, tainted, amazing, diabolically clever gifts is just astounding. The Tainted Love Hunt is is not your hearts and flowers hunts... well it is... but the hearts are mostly bleeding in your hands and the flowers are likely to be decorating your grave. It's not a particularly long hunt -- 65 stores -- some stores have two gifts and there's plenty of unisex gifts as well as a fair amount of gifts given to either or both male or female hunters. But seriously, take your sense of humor with you. You'll need it.

Just a taste for now... and in some of these, taste is more literal than not. (in no particular order):

#7 Horribaubles brings you Sweet Trappings - a...cocoon. You know, for keeping your lovers warm and comfortable and most of all fresh so you can enjoy them later...or pieces of them. No need to rush through your...encounters when you have this handy bit of packaging to maintain freshness.

But on the off chance they do escape, #8 tarnished, has you covered... a few well placed barbs and you can reclaim your lost love and tuck them nicely away in the cocoon for later. Love Struck comes with plenty of arrows and both a poseball and an separate anim...as well as bloody tattoos to whet your appetite.

Just in case you would rather impress your tainted love rather than escape them (and a fate worse than death) #11 Unique Needs provides you with the Count Cagilostro tux, a perfect elegant outfit for an evening out dancing or killing or...whatever kind of fun you want to have. Men's and women's versions of this tux, complete with shirt, coat, tails, pants, boots and rather extravagant jewelery. The top hat here is the Ezrulie hat from #25 Maman Louhis House of Voodoo. A little of ace of hearts and some skulls, and a pretty interesting bit of background on Ezrulie. The hat by itself is fun (as is the shop.) Pay no attention to the bit of blood at the corner of my mouth... I cut myself shaving. Honest.

~*~*~*~

Skin in the first couple of shots is from Plastik (previous group gift), Hair is from .:VDI:. Timo (not free) and the hair in the last shot is Bryce - Numb from the advent gifting.

More from the House Islands

2010-01-31T20:47:00.000-08:00

House Island and Deep House Island house a lot of showcased designers. Mimi's choice for men and women is there, and Mimi does her best to highlight up and coming as well as established designers and offers up unique gifts along with the latest offerings of the designers she showcases.

Emilia Redgrave also has her stores there...and it's worth it to wander the sim and see what else is there (and you get to listen to great music while you do it.)

Just a few steps away from Mimi's is Champagne! Sparkling Fashion which had some interesting, glitzy outfits for guys and some equally interesting thongs if you are feeling adventurous. But, as an opening gift, they had this sleek set out for the taking. Slim line sheened black pants and an open leather shirt with a little glitz (but no bling,) and if you go in Redgrave's main entrance, you can pick up a pair of these unisex ultra modern sunglasses.

Stepping over to Deep House Island will bring you to Urbanized; furniture and accents where you can pick up this texture change valentine's planter and multi-pose cushion. The planter has your typical V-day choices of hearts, but also a cracked, chipped patina finish both in pink and lipstick red. The cushion has three seating options, with a menu driven adjuster (which is a good thing; the "chill" pose was pretty off but easy to fix with the menu. ) The cushion is not texture change but it's fun and the poses aren't your usual ones.

Take a bit more of a stroll and you'll come across Simay Italian fashion. I'm going to have to go back and check some of their men's sets, which looked good, but it was getting late, so I grabbed this free graphic dove button down shirt.

And if you've got a girl, bring her along... plenty of places for her to find gifts and you can kick back and enjoy the tunes.

Kicking it up

2010-01-31T09:16:00.000-08:00

Revisiting some favorite places, like Santero at Moonlit Desire, who has a habit of giving out really fantastic outfits in hunts, and who offers some unique styling choices in full sets. There's a freebie Chango Leather jacket out with Santero's MidNight-Mamba shades. The back carries the Santero logo in red, but it's a simple sharp look.

The hair is Morgan from Amacci's $30L Hair Sale ($90L for the full pack,) 2 men's styles, color change on the knit cap. Red carpet room only.

From Mimi's Choice, where the priorly blogged Gabriel shirts can also be found is this silver cross men's thumb ring, modifiable and sharp looking, and a arond the corner in the landmark giver you can grab M.R.M's Silver Necklace *Crest of Lily* necklace.

And just kicking around, I found these Dark Green Wash Jeans from Studz. There's a logo t-shirt in there too, but if you are tired of blue and black, these are nice, basic fit jeans.

Shifting Gears

2010-01-30T13:58:00.000-08:00

The Free Finds for Men blog and group in SL are being disbanded and those are Eliza's choices. She built, nurtured and grew both projects mostly by herself and I'm not going to try and dissuade her from doing it.

Designer Spotlight was originally envisioned as a companion to that blog, but I'm going to re-purpose it a bit and expand it back to include primarily posts about free stuff for men but with the occasional spotlight feature that isn't just about the free stuff designers offer, but the other stuff designers who offer a lot of free content offer but to highlight their other content as well.

I hope you'll all stick around to enjoy what we find.

Raeyn

Henley Hunt Results

2010-01-29T20:15:00.000-08:00

You guys have such an aversion to free stuff...Beth McBain & Ember Adored win for playing. And below are the designers and prices. I've since found a few more on xstreet, but the hunt goes on...

1. 2. 3.

1. The Casual Male CMX Henley and Faded Jeans $100L for the set
2. Sweeter Than Candy !STC Men's Henley $50L
3. Action Men's Henley Brown $150L (multiple wear options)

4. 5. 6.
4. Whippet & Bucks [W&B] Mark Long Sleeve Henley LONESTAR $60L
5. Storm Thunders Long Sleeve Henley (for women) fatpack $99L
6. Dan Senyurt Coltsfoot Henley Shirt $185L

7. 8. 9.
7. fri.day Thermal Henley Slate (womens) $150L
8. .:Meh:. – Kissed Hunt Gift (No longer available)
9. ~Simply~After Hours Henley Purple Grey (hunt gift. I didn't see this in the shop, you could ask the designer)

End of an Era

2010-01-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

House of Serendipity and Relic are closing. The creative minds behind those two enterprises, Sue Stonebender and Baron Grayson are moving on to other and hopefully bigger and better things. If you are new to SL or you just happened to miss this, Baron Grayson is the original brain behind the Templum ex Obscurum sim and any number of builds and building components you still see on the grid. He's divested himself of most of it, given the care of his creations over to other people. His Relic store is still riding aboove The Nameless Isle but my guess is, it's going to be gone as well soon.

Sue is an amazingly lovely, talented, generous lady who for the last couple of years has been the driving force behind a series of "Givings" to help budding business people in some of the poorest places on the planet get a start toward a better life by raising money through SL to give out micro loans through kiva.org. She also makes beautiful trees, amazing pianos, and any number of clever and detailed pieces of jewelry, furniture, accessories and christmas items.

The wind down has been happening for awhile but the House of Serendipity line will be closing out this Sunday, the 31s,t at her temporary location on the Alchemy Immortalis sims. Some things will remain, like the song books for her pianos... but the rest of it will be gone, never to return as far as I know.

Sue has released a bunch of her smaller and unreleased items in crates, for $50L per crate. She also has a stack of free boxes to give away, mostly older stuff, retired or unreleased, and most of her stuff is deeply deeply cut in price, made copy, and honestly, one of a kind. If you ever wanted a baby grand piano that plays music...this would be the time to get it. Furniture, accessories for the home, elegant accents, are running anywhere between $25L and $300L and worth every L. She's got four shops on the Alchemy sim, but they will all be gone after Sunday, so don't put this off. The alchemy sim can be a little laggy too, so give yourself some time to look through the vendors. She's discounted her pianos, too, and as one who owns several of them? I don't regret paying full price for them them anymore than I do paying the discounted price now -- the same for her trees.

The only caution to some of Sue's stuff (and the Baron's as well) is that it's not low prim, usually, but as someone who made room for Sue's furniture by cutting elsewhere, there's reason to want it anyway -- the workmanship is just that good. These are two content creators who have been in SL almost from the start, the Baron since 2004 and Sue since 2005. Both of them are wildly talented, generous creators who have either mentored or influenced a lot of other creators on the grid.

Will everyone find something? Probably not. But this is one of those sales, those opportunities, that you look back at in six months and say.. Damn.. why didn't I....

Balancing Act

2010-01-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

I'm running short on time as usual so it's nice when designers themselves give me a heads up about new stuff. Equilibrium is a new player in town for shirts and jeans. Right now, they are giving away a new freebie a week as well as a gift in their group joiner. This weeks. Freebie is a graphic white ribbed tank that you can pick up in the bag by the door. (click picture for larger view.)

Their regular prices run between $100-150L for shirts, $250-300L for some really well designed jeans and jeans sets (good texture, nicely done prim cuffs and belt options.) The freebie shirt comes in multiple layer option too. If you head upstairs where most of the shirts are, you'll also find a vendor that sells their older graphic design tanks and tees for $10L each. These are single layer as far as I know, but the graphic work is nice and the cloth textures are just as nice. I picked up this blue on blue fox graphic -- I wish it came ina shirt layer but I think I'm going to get a lot of wear out of it regardless.

After picking up the free tee, I headed over to Maschienenwerk to see what I could scare up there and while I'm not much of a track suit guy, the new ones looked sharp - top and bottom and a hoodie (down). I grabbed the grey, (365_Suit_coal) but there are multiple color options that are, as usual, free. These are great renderings, moddable, shirt in a jacket layer. But the other thing I caught was a really nice living room set on the first floor of the first building. Mute the Colors is a full set with poses; sofa, two stools and a table. It's not prim heavy, has a nice shadows, and again, free. (Sofa is partially pictured here.)

In a another time saver, Davi Designs, dropped a really nice tattoo called "Doodles" on me recently via DSN. It's a mayan/aztec influenced design in multiple layers and multiple shade options: Black, Dark, Henna and Soft.

I hit the store and what should I find but an MM board with a really nice dragon design and a fast camp chair for these gold and black wrist cuffs (10 minutes. ) I camped while typing and signed up on the board. The store offers and eclectic mix of goods: tattoos, jewlery, artwork, furniture and even photography. There are two lucky boards there that didn't roll me an "R" while I was there, but they are worth watching.

(The jeans pictured here are from Equilibrium (Calca)(RGs)(B1), $250L.)