Age, my sartorial darlings. It creeps up on all of us, slowly but surely. For most of the twelve years that I’ve been a resident of Second Life, Skell has resided permanently in his mid 20s (26 being the age that he seemed stuck in, inside my head).
As I’ve noticed the fine lines and the grey creeping into my real life bathroom mirror reflection I guess I’ve become a bit more relaxed about letting Skell grow older in SL. Well, temporarily at least. And it’s possible to age gracefully in SL, with none of the accompanying crap that tends to go with it IRL. Creaky knees? (Well, okay, thanks to a youthful injury my knees have been creaky IRL for decades, but eh.) Aches and pains? Well…
OK, hang on a second. I’m not that old, damn it. And this is far too maudlin an intro to a post wherein Skell simply looks… distinguished.
There was no way on earth that I was missing the new Engine Room event, organised as it is by one of my favourite creators in SL: Walton F. Wainwright (faust.steamer) of [ContraptioN]. The build itself is worth a visit alone, but I went there primarily to empty Skell’s wallet on eight or so items that really caught my eye (plus several gachas, god help me). Prime of those were two more offerings from one of my other favourite creators in SL: HaydenAragon of Hotdog.
Since Hotdog first appeared on my radar at The Mens Department last August, I have been a faithful customer. Amid the depressing miasma of sweatpants, sweatshirts, sweatshorts, hoodies, tank tops, and sportswear that so many of the major menswear events are swamped with, both Hotdog and [ContraptioN] are breaths of fresh (well, maybe slightly ferric-tinged and a bit fusty) air.
The Spencer Jumper comes with rigs for Gianni, Jake, Maitreya, Slink M&F, and Venus. Three options are at the event: plain (shown here), striped, and tartan. And, of course, the fatpack of all three (which is what I invariably end up buying). On each HUD there are 10 colours each for sweater and tie, and eleven for the shirt.
The Knickerbockers come with the same rigs and plain, striped, and tartan options. They come with socks and shoes included, so no need to try and find something that works with them. The HUDs – generous as ever – contain 10 colours for the knickerbockers, 11 colours each for the shoes and socks, two colors for buttons, and two for shoe laces.
Regular readers will know that I don’t smoke IRL, but Skell is a smoker. Avatar personality and quirks are things that one of these days I’ll get around to pulling my thoughts together for a blog post, but for now it should suffice to know that he’s happy to puff away on a cigarette, a cigar, and—on this rare occasion—a pipe. And this one is a classic beauty from KOPFKINO. It comes with several variants (both male and female) including Bento animated, static (for poses) and one to be held in the mouth. KOPFKINO also have a set of (male only; sorry ladies!) Bento smoking poses that can be used with the static version, which I’ve used in the header image and the one above.
I started this post by rambling on about age, so I’ll close with it too. I’ve relied on these fantastic wrinkle appliers by Izzie’s on several occasions in the past. With multiple options in the HUD (I’m wearing the full ‘all wrinkles’ set here) and versions for light and dark skintones, you can add years to any skin. Here I’ve got them laid over a beautiful smooth skin by L’Etre.
Lastly, there’s no beating Mister Razzor when it comes to salt-and-pepper facial hair. This Luigi set does also come with both black and tintable versions (Catwa and Omega) but it’s the ‘grey-headed’ version that I love here. And the salt-and-pepper tone from Exile’s greyscale HUD for the hair reflects a bit more what I see in that real life mirror these days.
The Engine Room event runs until October 20th. Seraphim gallery here.
Credits
Shirt & vest: Hotdog – Spencer Jumper (plain: Gianni, Jake, Slink M&F, Venus, Lara)
Pipe: KOPFKINO – Smoking Pipe
Hair: Exile – Relentless* (greyscale)
Wrinkles: Izzie’s – Face Wrinkles (Catwa, Lelutka, Logo)
Facial hair: Mister Razzor – Luigi (grey-headed: Catwa, Omega)
Eye appliers: Avi-Glam – Elysian (fjord: Omega, mesh, system)
Skin: L’Etre – Toni (buttermilk: Catwa)
Pose: KOPFKINO – Smoking Pipe Bento Poses (male)
Head: Catwa – Skell* (Bento)
*review copy