Sharp Dressed Men

Okay, I've let the women have their blog back for too long, it's time for me to splash some more testosterone over the place! And boy is this post testosterone filled!

Now, some of you may be aware that Valentine's Day is approaching. Love it or hate it I've already had people sending me notecards about the thing, so I thought I'd do a post for any gents wanting to do a bit of wooing. It doesn't matter if you have someone, or are still looking, they're worth the effort. And today's effort is actually me playing at being an Action Hero again, as I get all James Bond on you with the Casino Royale Tuxedo from OKEY DESIGNS. Now disclaimer alert, OKEY is really not the cheapest menswear store in SL, but this tux came in at 450L which isn't bad for decent formalwear really. And is it a decent outfit?

Well yeah, but (and it's a big but for some people) OKEY outfits are about fun. Honestly, if you wore it to a wedding you'd get a few strange looks from people without a sense of fun. That's not to say it's funny, just that the OKEY brand is fun and that's what makes the store worth visiting in my eyes. As I wander the halls of latex superheros it makes me smile. The prim bulges make me feel shamefully inadequate, but this is a brand that sniffs at the boring and I applaud them for that.

Now, ironically the fun I just raved about is also the cause of one of the bigger niggles. And bigger is the key word there, because this tux was massive when I first put it on. A lot of the detail comes from the number of pieces in this outfit, but they also make resizing more of an effort. I'm not a scrawny man, although I freely admit I'm not as bulky as many, but it took me a while getting it to fit, and I suspect I will refine it a little more as I wander in it. The shoes alone involved moving 4 prims on each foot. Now I'm a happy prim fiddler, but not everyone is so it's worth keeping that in mind if you're going for one of these tuxedos. I've only tested the Casino Royale but I strongly suspect the Amabassador and Casablanca are similar. But like I say, that effort with prims also pays off in terms of detail.

That cuff is sharp. The photo doesn't really do it justice, but the cufflink is a great example of the resizing issue. I first resized the jacket sleeve, then the cuff, then I had to edit linked parts to reconnect the cufflink chain. Now it was actually quick and painless, but the gotcha is... I didn't notice the cufflink until I went to take the photo. The finer the detail the easier it is to miss it 'cause you tend to do the big prims first. So it's a double edged sword really.

Which brings us to the big question of whether it's worth the money. That depends on where you want to wear it. The three tuxedos give a different feel. personally I have enjoyed wandering around the grid in my Bond tux today. If I were going to a jazz club I'd want Casablanca, even though I'm fully aware that I've been asked to leave some of those sims for not wearing an "appropriate" tux before. personally I think they can hold their own in a lot of social settings, and if I didn't have a more formal tux in my wardrobe I'd be happy wearing them to even quite posh places - OKEY do make some great clothing prims and despite the number of prims I find them a lot easier to fit than I have items from some of the more "respectable" menswear stores.

And anyway, I've been far too serious so I'll end with a little MENstuff hunt tip. Get yourself to Adjunct and grab the Churchwarden Bubble Pipe I'm smoking. The HUD is great fun, and I set it to be super romantic and put out heart shaped bubbles. And romance tips like that are what this post was going to be about after all. Perhaps you too can find a piano to serenade your sweetheart by, although unless you're after a vamp perhaps avoid the skeleton hands I selected.

So there you have it - a testosterone splashing post on seduction (and prim fiddling - hands of those bulges!)