Viva Lost Wages!

\o/

めちゃお洒落だ、君！

A welcome change of pace.




SecondLife fashion has taken the soul from me and so I've opted to write something brief about it. For starters: I'm of the variety that could give two shits where you got your clothing from or who made it. I could care less how many people read your blogs or visit your stores, how much money you've made or spent in world, and I'm really not impressed with SL modelling. Frankly I find it kind of weird and lonely.

I do appreciate the conversations I've had with people on clothing in general (something I'm relatively passionate about in RL), but it loses merit in the digital world because the clothing has no substance beyond appearance and that's one of the least important qualities of couture in the real world. If looks were everything we'd all be buying the cheap knockoffs of quality made (read: expensive) clothes in the real world rather than spending what we do instead.

"Couture" loses its meaning in SL as it is, IMO. A rather redundant monicer attributed to wearable sculptures textured with photoshopped canvasses, clothing in SL is more akin to two-dimensional paintings embedded in a three dimensional world projected to a two dimensional curved space. Couture in RL, on the other hand, is a matter of fine handwork, fine tactiles, delicate details, and visually wearable representations of emotion. While some of these translate to the digital world not all are possible in a pure form so I would go so far as to calling SL fashion a degenerate form of couture, at best.

What's worse is the stigma associated around the designers: demigods in their own circles, their clothing is worshipped with the fervency of a bunch of trailer trash trying on Versace suits in an expensive store. They know the name but they have no idea why it's supposed to be better than Walmart (and in that respect I could go off onto a serious diatribe as to why Versace is substandard when measured quality, albeit a qualitative metric, versus cost, but that's neither here nor there).

Granted I can't do what most designers can in SL so don't think I don't appreciate the handiwork or time and effort put in. As an art I find clothing in SL a beautiful thing but I don't consider it "couture" as I would in RL. I can't do what most tailors can in RL and I certainly can't do what a good tailor could, but I know good and proper tailoring when I see it, and moreso than the average eye because mine is trained to spot these things.

I can't do this in SL. I am barely able to create my own tshirts as it is, and that's with the templates all premade. I'm useless with photoshop, I don't own a tablet, and my mouse sticks to the mouse pad every once in a while causing the cursor to suddenly shoot across the screen and paint over whatever I'm doing when I get it moving again. So don't get me wrong, I appreciate the art of it all but I don't understand how people can be impressed with/care about what's happening in the SL fashion world, as it were. Maybe I'm jealous of SL designers.

Maybe, instead, I wrote all this just to say that SL models are a bunch of loser weirdos with too much time on their hands... but then I'm the one wearing the stupid mouse head, aren't I?

I Don't Even Know Where I Live

I found blogging about clothes boring to do on a regular basis, especially since I really don't get the pleasure of touching or tasting them, so I've decided to do it part time (only when I feel I'm wearing something worthy enough to write about), and in the meantime just talk about my adventures around the grid. The GRID!? You mean that band from the 90s that did Swamp Thing? I have adventures on a 90s one hit wonder electronic band? I WISH.

I live here and if you look real hard in this zoom-over I'm totally down there flaunting my junk to the ocean. The funny bit is that the next island over is vacant and there were people inspecting with the sim owner for the purpose of renting I can only assume. So there I am doing this spazztic dance, mic on blaring my music for no reason, taking pictures and staring out to the water and they're across the lake staring at me. I thought it was superb.

I live with three womenses on said island, each of which is equally fantasticular as the other.

I have a Fainizzie who has some of the biggest hair the world has ever seen along with an insatiable appetite for delicious lasagna (who can blame her) and the need to stab anyone she's not familiar with. Rumor goes she wanted to stab me when we first met but I don't know what happened with that. Maybe she's just buttering me up. At any rate you can't really see where she lives as her little castle is high in the sky overlooking us plebs. Queen Nozzle...*shudders*

Wic Wic Nic! She's my farmer nun Democrat friend from the deep cornfields of the American midwest (is that considered midwest?) who I adore to the extent of my being. Aside from being American she's about the best human being that ever graced her god's great green Earth. She lives over in that catastrophe of circles on the far left of the island that, from above, looks like nothing more than a poorly constructed Idahoan crop circle. In reality it's a jungle of flowers and grasses, neither of which grow naturally on a farm.

And a little Bubbles for good measure, yes? What to say about the fugee who isn't a Fugee but lives like a fugee, eat like a fugee, talks like a valley girl fugee, and is hardcore gangster? Well it's because of her initial poetic readings that I'm here in the first place so, to that end, I owe her my entire life...or at least this blog. Bubbles lives in the gigantic hut on the far right of the island and has her photography studio far in the sky as well so there's always an abundance of Bubbles at any given time at my home. She doesn't always look this hot.

And me? I live in a pineapple under the sea. What more do you need to know?

200% Return of the Megadon

I feel like a bad Godzilla movie. Blogger has decided to clear everything up (I thought it was last time round but little did I know...) but now here I am unblocked and all back to the norm. I might be added to the fashion feed for SL if the gods are willing, which they certainly haven't been of late, so I'll have to get back into the routine of self indulging photos and mildly self deprecating humor. So, my pretties, may I present to you the newest outfit I've titled "The Ultimate Scary".

So what have we here? A handsome devil in all his bearded glory (time for a shave, huh), sporting this (what I can only assume to be) woolen zip hoodie in multi-horizontal stripes of greys and black. The oversized band at the bottom makes me happy as it helps show off my hot butt to the ladies when I'm walking away, which I do often, and gives the top some serious supression on the waist, something that's mega important. If you hadn't noticed there's also a man screaming from behind the zipper. "Help me, help me!" That's what I hear all day when I sport this outfit. Here's some truth: I stole this whole outfit concept from an advert in the same store that I bought the sweater in. I had to look around for a few minutes to find the tattoo but otherwise not a single thing on my upper body is my own, safe for the watch which we'll get to later and inadvertently doesn't even match the outfit. Oh, I also got new eyes. I have many eyes. These are still green but a little darker and a little more muted. I thought they suited well. If you didn't then maybe you should keep your thoughts to yourself!

So what? My pants aren't primmed! Wanna fight about it? They are, however, patched up on the left thigh and this makes me happy. It screams fashion hobo which I'm all over! I had a tough time finding a pair of pantaloons in my repertoire that I thought went well with the upper half of the outfit which is how I typically roll; top down. Well the upper half screams greys and blacks (what's new) so I'll need something complimentary on my lower half. Well how about a pair of shaggy, rippy, non-primmed-so-they-look-like-shite-over-my-shoes jeans? Heck yes! It's tough to tell but it almost looks as though the jeans are double pleated. If that were the case they jeans would be off my legs so quick the girl wouldn't have a moment to quiver. Did I mention they're short as well? Yeah, I dressed myself this morning!

The souliers? Might get my in trouble for some boobies being shown publically because our culture consists of prudes and Christians (one in the same??) but here they are. I understand that the story goes along the lines of the shoe maker offering a custom design contest or something to that effect and this was one of the winning entries. I've got a thing for chucks in SL and these ones were neatly fitting into the vision that I had for my outfit; scary, dark, and artistic. The bits at the end of the laces is ironic because I just had a set installed on a pair of shoes I had made in RL that I thought could use some personal details. Do I like them? Not so much, but at least it's different and gets me away from the de rigeur that we're all stuck with off the rack. At any rate, enough of the shoes, they're awesome, great design, great arist whoever it is (it's written on the heel jack but I'm far too lazy to go in game and figure out who it is).

So what bums me out about this watch is that it's small and you, dear beauties, can't see the intricate movements. I've been sporting this guy's work on my wrists for days now in all their incarnations and each one is more interesting than the last. Approaching 250 prims (possible over, I forget), this particular piece spins in every which way, ever little gear, every little pin is painstakingly personalized and colourized by yours truly after being scripted and magnificently pieced together by its maker. Is it irreducibly complex? Does it encourage intelligent design? Well I'm sure the maker is a smartypants...he/she's Japanese after all, but that's about where it ends. I'm not sure the watch pairs well with the outfit in this situation but it's still a beautifully crafted piece and I wanted to show it off. So love it, ya big bunch of monkies!

It's good to be back and accessible. Oh, and just so you can see how fatheaded I can be, may I present my megaprimmed, Colossus inspired cardboard cutout self! I thought it was witty.

~FIN~

Unblocked and Unrepentent

Blogger blocked me...they thought I was a spam site. Me, little ol' Ragu's closet of inequity and innocence, a spam site! The thought made me chuckle in a fit of myrth at first but grew to be a pain in the buttocks as I wasn't allowed to update the site. So now here I am again, all fully dressed and wonderful. I've been stealing bits and pieces from all over the SL forums and mashing them up with things I already owned, though I'm still a noob, you see, not even two months old yet, so my closet is still pretty small compared to everyone else.

That said, it's still cooling down around these parts; the trees will soon begin to change colour, the snow will fall in a couple months (please, at least wait that long), and Santa has been doing tours watching me, shaking his head paternally. So what better way to welcome the new Autumn overlords than by sporting browns and reds? I know, good friggin idea!

So do you like it, my outfit? I have a top like this in the real life; an ultra fine merino with contrast collar, deep buttonpoint, and a brown like the most delicious chocolate shade of brown you ever did see, not wrapped with a logo. Normally I'd have let the scarf stay on the rack and just walk around all minimalist but this time I thought I'd do my best to emulate how I dress in RL...and in RL I lurve scarves. Did you know that? What am I pointing at, you may ask? Why you, you silly tit! I'm pointing at you because I know that you're reading this blog and saying, "good lord, this is awful. He's a terrible writer and he never says where he gets his pieces from!" Yeah, I don't and I won't, at least not in the body of the post. Truthfully, half the time I put the outfit on in the morning and forget by the evening what I'm wearing anyway!

So this isn't my own idea, I stole the belt from another blog, from someone who actually posts where they get things. I'm a hyprocite. I'm Canadian. They counterbalance one another. So this belt is rather cartoonish and wonderful; I dig the detailing of the buckle, the gems all around in their tones of aque and lilacs. I especially like the endpiece of the belt, the golden cap; the detailing is fantastic! To top it off? The belt is nearing 100 prims! That's a lot for a belt, I thought. I've been on a prim kick lately, getting things that are intricately constructed (check my recent watch purchases). The pants I've down before; jeans in a ripped, slightly low rised, and terribly handsome. For the record....no boxers. Ladies, watch out!

And the shoes? Well I don't wear red chucks in RL. I have one pair of chucks and they're deep navy...but these buggers are straight up wonderful with their colour changing options. This is how shoes SHOULD be in SL, totally customizable as far as colour is concerned. In fact I wish I could customize more things but beggars can't be choosers. I love the rubber detailing and the fact the laces appear woven! I love how there are even bows on the laces which tops most other shoes I own. The cloth texture isn't as impressive as I'd hoped but I'm going to blame that on rezzing. I've been having a texture problem lately and have resorted to wearing primless trousers. I'm fine with that, though, I'm not that nerdy that I actually care that the bottoms of my pants look static (unless without the prims my pants go all peglegged or unfinished! At any point...

And so the piece of resistance, as it were? The watch! The wonderful watch of wonder and wowza! This thing is a beheamoth. Customizable in sixteen separate places with hundreds of separate colour options, this baby is one of my new prides and joys. Approaching 250 prims, this watch was handstakingly crafted by someone who really cares about the pieces they make, someone with a lot of damn time on their hands! You can see I took the photo on Sunday and it is now Tuesday. Damn you, Blogger! Would I wear this in RL? Probably not, it's a bit too clunky...but do I think it's magnificent? Absolutely! Oh, and notice the ring? It's mine. And it's not on my ring finger. That means she doesn't own my yet, though she likes to think it! I lied, she practically does. SIGH. At any rate, this is my wrist and these are my toys. I have a thing for gadgets!

~FIN~

A Grey Day In Osaka

The weather has been growing cooler and less comfortable for me these days and Mr. Ragu has been feeling the effects. The days are growing shorter, the trees will soon be turning a great shade of amber, and, in turn, I have been sporting clothing that matches my attitude: greys in transition. I even decided to grow a beard because that's how we do thing in Canadia. Only 185 days til hockey season!

So I was feeling Asian yesterday. A little sushi for lunch, some kanji lessons in the evening, and hell, a Bruce Lee-a-thon in the dead of night. What better way to express my Asian theme than by standing, crossed arm, and ninja-stealth-quiet in front of a reverse-script Japanese wall of amazing!

So the theme? Grey. Again. Bearded grey with black rimmed glasses. There is an abundance of black on SL and, for anyone who knows me in RL, I don't "do" black. The closest that I'm able to manage is a wonderful shade of grey or, in this case, four shades of grey. These come in the form of tie, vest, trousers, and boots. "Well grey looks so drab and boring" you say? Hmmph, I think it's handsome and opens the outfit up to worlds of colours in the form of shoe and belt options, tie varieities, and skin tones to boot. I like greys and intend on wearing them through the winter. In fact I think grey will be my colour of choice as the weather grows cooler. Now to only find more grey-friendly backgrounds and scenery to stand in front of!

So double breasted vests, and double-french cuff shirts, and a barely-rezzed tie, and the sweet beard, and my newly favored lunettes! Ladies, it's official, I look a hairy version of my RL self. If anyone's not noticed yet, unlike many of my counterparts in the fashion SL world, I don't overindulge with accesories nor bling out with jewelry galore. I'm a minimalist by nature and don't often peacock in an outfit like this. That said, I think this is a great of example of minimalism following the RL fashion trend of tone-on-tone that's creeping its nappy head back into the mainstream. The double breasted vest is a personal favourite of mine as is the white shirt in french cuff. The collar, again, appears to be of the flimsy variety and I'm growing weary of this cheap SL trend. The tie, done in an obvious silk, is four-in-handed around to a tubular knot of exciting and compliments the outfit and my overall boring look. The glasses, again, compliment the shape of my beautiful mug and I think pair well with my dishevelled hair that models my RL hair nearly to the tee. The beard was done in honor of all my hairy Canadian brethren lumberjacks. How does it look?

A mid-grey slack to pair with the charcoal vest? Sure, they're part of my mid-grey suit that I'll post at a later date. Flat fronted, freso tropical wool (I'm taking some liberties here), with a single, flapped back pocket (only I may look at my ass so don't ask for proof). Do you see a trend? Yeah, boring and grey. This is how I roll on a cool autumn day, guys. The pants are very uninspiring and leave very little to the imagination so I'm going to add a detail that I think would take them to a level of fantastical that dress trousers often don't get to reach: they have a button fly. Yes! Revvel in their awesomeness!

It's because of (regular priced) 500$L + shoes that I'm bordering on making my own. The capping on just about every toe I've seen in SL sucks out loud and the soles are almost always clunky and uninspired. So why do I sit here and bitch about the shoes when there's really no need for me to a) buy them, b) wear them, and c) post photos of them to bitch about? Well, I'm a shoe fanatic in RL so it had better trend over to SL or I wouldn't be able to sleep at night! That's why! So a grey chukka in what appears to be either terribly done corrected grain or *gasp* shark skin (it really does look like shark to me but I highly doubt it was the creator's intent), these boots are fantasmagorically terrible on so many levels that I just adored them. There are five places on an outfit I'm happy to peacock: the tie, the pocket square, the watch, the socks, and the shoes. I have done none of these today. The shoes are so terribly boring that they complete not only the outfit but the theme of it well. I did, however, appreciate the brown leather trimming of the sole rather than a boring black! Hot damn!

And what say you to my Cyber-Dyne inspired watch of power? Well this thing not only tells time (in the most inefficient manner) but it's also chalk full of prims and bells and whistles. This watch singlehandedly saved a girl from a fire, built a boat, and made me breakfast! It's amazing what sorts of technology they're able to put into wrist gadgets these days. The joy of this and all its maker's watches? They're completely customizable in the sense of colours. I believe I chose the eight of ten different colours that are present in the watch that run from hand colours to wheels, nuts, and bolts. So not only is this watch totally neat to look at but it's also the semi-brain child of my inner vision of how the watch that will end all humanity will look, colour-wise. It's one of my fave purchases. I'm so happy.

Sayonara, bishes!

~FIN~

The Warmest Inside-Out

I went shopping yesterday, not like I really should. It's getting cold up in Canadia, land of the breeze and home of the gay (marriage), and I decided it was about time to whip out some warmer outfits. "What is it that would keep my internal temperature up when the snow begins to fall," I asked myself. Well what better than a dead animal turned inside out and worn as a coat? Yes, ladies, gentlemen, and PETA people, today's post is based around the shearling. A testy subject in its own right, the shearling is an incredibly warm, incredibly brutal piece of clothing to wear and it always garners comments of encouragements or buckets of pig's blood whenever it's worn. I suppose that last bit depends on country and company, but that's a moot point in SL. The joy of the digital era.

So my shearling was more an excuse to wear some accessories with it but on its own is a very handsome piece. I imagine it's sheep of some sort but with all those stray furs I'm inclined to say, even brag, that it might be something a tad more luxurious like cashmere or vicuña turned inside out and keeping me warm from all that digitized snow that I know is in the post. The double cuff isn't my choice and, in fact, I'd have left that off entirely and just rolled the sleeves back on themselves sans accessoires, but hey, I'm not a fashion designer in SL yet. The belted waist is a nice touch from what I'm used to and even the borderline jacket length rather than 3/4 is a real plus to me as it shows off my hot ass. Suffice it to say I love the collar, the colour (yes, with a U, get used to it, fruitcups!), and the fact it's double breasted. This would be a piece of wonder in RL. I have one but I actually prefer this SL one better. Frig!

So my accessories as promised? Well how about, first and foremost, my number one Buddy Holly glasses in the form of these nifty black rimmers sitting precisely and deliberately on my shnoz? Don't I look all 50s geek-type? I'd been looking for a good pair of lunettes for a few days and came across these situated in a lonely wallspace in a little store in the middle of nowhere and had to pick them up. They even came with a taped brim but I decided to leave that off for this photo lest the girls pack up and leave this blog for good! The scarf? Not only is it wonderful and magnificent but it's also texture and colour changeable in a whole array of options (think 12 textures or more and something to the effect of 30 colours!! That's 360 combos = 360 scarves!). I had a tough time finding a combo that I thought looked smart with this outfit but this was the one that made me happiest. I hope you like it too, you smarmy bastard! You like how I'm showing a little belly? Yeah, I figured you might!

And the pantaloons? Well I couldn't find something I liked in my inventory so I had to go out and buy these thingies. The colour doesn't blow my mind but I think it's a pretty safe combination of greys and browns. The one bit I don't like? They're slacks but they are all crinkled and ruffled at the bottom like they're too long. Now, I know this is the cool thing in RL fashion these days but I'm a bit more prim and proper than that and wish that the pants had an option to exclude that bit...if I take the prims off they're bordering on Thom Browne who I loathe and despise.

So these monstrosities appear to be croc meets stingray meets verigating. It's a pretty serious toe, something I'd have been inclined to wear not just one year ago, but these days I'm toning it down and opting for something a little less roach-kickerish. That said, I think the open lacing and colour do the outfit some understated justice while not taking away from the focal point, my fucking beautiful mug! Again, I apologize for the lack of crotch bulge. I've sent the Lindens a strongly worded letter and await a response in, oh, eight months. The joys of noobage.

So what's more pretentious than a man wearing a multi-thousand dollar piece of animal turned inside-out on his upper torso and a bastardized and non-kosher amalgamation of sea creatures worn as accents on his feet? Well how about an overly size, jewel-encrusted, blinging (which I can't seem to turn off) piece of magnificent? This monstrosity is the most expensive thing I own, I think, and it certainly better be for all the bells and whistles....that it doesn't fucking come with or at least don't work. I've relied on these guys (here it comes), GOS watchmakers for their accessories since this blog's inception some...oh...three days ago, and I've always been happy with their product. This thing, thus far, has been a pain in my non-bulge. It looks pretentious which is what I was going for, but the god damn bling won't shut off. I'm going to send a letter today and hopefully find a workaround. That said, I lurve the band colour and hate the numbering on the face. For a thing that cost me more than anything else you'd think I'd be head over heels like it's made of Bubbles, but that's not the case. What a sad state I am and what a sad state that is!

Le sigh. I have way too much time on my hands!