denim jeans – Kittywitchin'

I sort of feel a little bit guilty about this post..but then again, I don’t really.You see, THE MENS DEPT doesn’t open until tomorrow, BUT Jez and I snuck over there, cammed in to have a nosey and, well, bought stuff.

You see this is the thing about TMD; you can sort of access it even though it’s not officially open (shhhhh!) Sure, some vendors won’t be out yet, but the sensible ones get their gear laid out well before time because there are always lurkers, like Jezmond and me, camming in and buying things. But it’s such a good event that it would be plain rude not too go and have a sneaky peek, and from what I’ve seen I’ve spied already I can see that this edition is setting up to be an absolute corker.

And here are the results of our raid…can I get an ‘OOF’?!

To be honest the majority of vendors weren’t fully in place but the ones that were, were absolutely scrummy, and we wasted no time in snaffling these utterly fantastic 2BYTE denim jeans. Now I’d seen a mention of these on the SECOND LIFE INVENTORY FACEBOOK PAGE, which has become my go-to listing of everything worthy of checking out in-world. I tell you that page is like crack to me, I use Facebook A LOT and when I see the magical words telling me that they’ve added new photographs I’m there in a flash to check out what the latest additions to their recommendations are. They only post the good stuff, and that’s why they’ve just hit 11,000 ‘likes’ on their page. That’s an amazing achievement for them, but well-deserved because of all the work that goes into the upkeep of the page. Long may it continue, and congratulations to all involved!

Anyway, back to this delicious denim. The jeans are available in a number of shades from light to dark, but Jez opted for the latter, and as if the shape and texture of the denim wasn’t enough, there’s the addition of a built-in shirt tied around the waist too. This adds a really funky urban element to the look, and can be texture- changed into a number of different shirt styles due to a HUD. To contrast we added this bloody outstanding sleeveless hoody from BLANKLINE. Not only does it have great styling it also has a HUD control to enable you to change the contrast colour to the inside of the hood. That’s not all, the hairstyle that Jez is sporting also comes with the hoody too (you don’t have to wear it though), and I think it suits Jez to a ‘T’. It’s a really great touch adding the hair to the clothing because it can often be really difficult to find styles to wear underneath hoods and hats that look effective without bits poking everywhere. Incidentally, the hair can be re-sized and you can select from a number of different hair colours too, using a (you guessed it!) HUD control.

So we’re talking tonnes of HUD-controlled mesh-clothing happiness here, and this is just two items that will be on sale at the event, check out the listing below…

It’s a banging selection, is it not? Girls, boys, Nekos and furries, in fact ANY Second Life sub-culture you care to mention, do yourself a favour and get yourselves down to THE MENS DEPT and spend your Lindens freely. It’s totally worth it.

CLICK HERE TO GET A TAXI!

Nothing to see here folks..just Jez stroking my pussy on the sofa….*ahem*

In fact I’ve just realised, almost EVERYTHING that Jez is currently wearing (including Jez himself!) is from THE MENS DEPT’s past and present rounds….wow!

Jez Wears:

Necklace – ‘Kotowari by MANDALA

Mesh Avatar ‘Anthony’ by SIGNATURE

Leather Bracelet by RONSEM (NOT from TMD)

‘Max Crystal’ Trainers by 2REAL

Waist shirts Jeans by 2BYTE

Sleeveless Hoodie (worn with hair) by BLANKLINE

The Mens Dept has to be one of the resounding success stories of Second Life retail 2013. Every time I visit it’s busy, especially in the first few days after a new collection is revealed. I don’t really know why this is but I think it’s because having menswear, accessories, poses and other male-orientated goodies located in one spot is just more accessible than searching the grid. Certainly I struggle when looking for quality items for Jez to wear (because he’s bloody useless at shopping for himself) and visiting The Mens Dept allows me to kit him out in quality from pretty much his handsome head all the way down to his stinky toes. This round is as exceptional as any other, but highlights for me this time include this mesh sweater from XIAJ. It’s available in a number of prints and plain varieties, but for me it had to be this great wintry wool print. Jez didn’t have a really festive jumper, and now he does he looks very Christmassy indeed. It’s an incredibly reasonable L$185 per jumper too, which means you can add a few of these mesh lovelies to your fella’s winter wardrobe without breaking the bank. As you can see from the photos the sweater photographs extremely well; the texture is nice and crisp, and the red and navy combo on this particular selection is bang on trend.

Of course, you can’t just have a good jumper, you need some quality jeans to team with it, and that’s where APHORISM come into play. They’re selling some fantastic denim jeans at The Mens Dept. that really must not be missed. Now, I am very fussy about certain items in SL, you’ve probably noticed, and jeans are very near the top of that list. Why? Because they are so easy to get wrong. You have to suggest depth and wear on a good pair of jeans. All too often textures aren’t applied correctly which is a shame, because when textured correctly a pair of denim jeans can really look stupendous in-world. You need to suggest creasing in the right places, as well as wear and tear, because denim jeans always look better when they’re aged a bit. Not only that, but they need to ‘hang’ on the avatar correctly, depending on the fit. Baggy jeans can look like a pair of MC Hammer pants if the shape is wrong, and straight-leg pants can just look incredibly flat. It’s a balancing act that few designers manage to pull of successfully, but fortunately APHORISM have successfully risen to the challenge. I’m exceptionally impressed by these jeans. They fit just right, and really look the part, especially the vintage options. The creasing is spot on, not just at the top of the thigh but also around the calf area too. They’re styled as regular jeans and I would say that’s correct, they’re neither too thin or overly baggy, and in my opinion that makes them an absolute must have for a male avatar. Not only that but they’re just L$200 a pair, so they’re a bit of a bargain. I think Jez looks brilliant in them, but then again I’m biased:)

Last but not least, check out Jez’s pose. He’s using the pack from POSEOLOGY, also available at The Mens Dept., and it’s a very nice selection of male poses indeed. There’s no over-the-top posing here, just nice stands that allow for great photographs and work really well in-situ. You can buy them individually for L$25 each, but Jez insisted on splurging ion the full pack for L$100 because he hasn’t got many quality poses in his repertoire, and I agreed these were pretty good for the price! So there you have it, a few picks from this round of The Mens Dept. Take your fella, drag him down there if you must, and get him kitted out for Christmas in style!