Mako Magellan Menswear

Four new male hair styles, or rather four hair types in the same new style. This is a Victorian style, very conservative, slicked down and quite close-cropped. It has sideburns, a floppy fringe, and a side parting. I expect that it will work very well with most hats, but one thing of which I am absolutely certain is that it will work perfectly with all of my hats, following judicious application of Magellan's Patent Cranial Ordinator.

All these styles are in the Caledonia shop already - just go to the back of the shop and look in the window display. You may like to try on one or two of the Regency styles too, while you are there.

Here is a belated announcement of the second item I uploaded to Blue Mars - evening wear trousers for the "Savoy" outfit.

The trousers are made in two materials - barathea for most parts, and grosgrain for the side stripe. I created both material textures from scratch. The buttons are all individually modelled and textured. The button texture was also created from scratch. Even the backs of the buttons are properly textured. There are altogether seven buttons on the waistband; six for braces and one for the fly. Note also that the fly and side pockets are properly modelled, with recesses.

This level of detail may be too extreme even for Blue Mars, but I hope you will agree that there is a certain aesthetic satisfaction in exploring the realm of the possible.

"Chapeau de Bras", transliterated from French, means 'hat of arms'. I presume this arises from the fact that the design is collapsible and can be held under the arm, rather than that it was in origin a military hat.

The Chapeau is a Regency-era hat, and was popular among military gentlemen. The fact that the hat was collapsible also endeared it to civilians, who found it convenient to tuck the hat under one arm while attending the opera. In military form it could be flamboyantly decorated. This design has red and white ostrich plumes, a gold hatband, gold braid edging, and a red cockade. The cockade is held in place by a gold braid strap fixed by a gold button. More gold braid tumbles over the brim fore and aft. The body of the hat is black felt.

In my relentless search for a crisp white shirt I have released an upgrade to the "Savoy" evening wear ensemble - jacket, shirt, bow tie and waistcoat.

Those elements of this ensemble that are cut from white pique (shirt, bow tie and waistcoat) should now appear a more realistic white under a wider range of lighting conditions than hitherto seen. In particular, they will appear white in the Welcome Area, a place notorious for odd effects. It may now be easier to see that the shirt has a fly front placket.

These gloves are the last important addition to my Regency gentleman's outfit. The gloves are short, pleated on the back, and fixed with polished amber buttons. In Regency days, gloves were always worn when out and about. Gentlemen would remove them (and their hats) when visiting, but would continue to keep them in hand for the duration of the visit.

Well, how do you illustrate a shirt that cannot be seen? For that is what the No-shirt Shirt is: a shirt that cannot be seen.

And what good is a shirt that cannot be seen? It has two purposes: the No-shirt Shirt does allow men to go bare-chested, so feel free to wear it around the pool, but more important than that it allows men to dispense with the teeshirts and tanktop undershirt that often glitch with other garments. It is primarily as a relief from some forms of glitching that I offer the No-shirt Shirt. I first noticed the need for this with my morning trousers (though they have since been adjusted and do not require the No-shirt Shirt for glitch-free wear). However, with custom avatars the glitching can only be more unpredictable, and wearing the No-shirt Shirt may therefore be a good way to avoid unforeseeable glitching.

And since it would be hard to know whether an invisible shirt was on the shelf I have created the No-shirt Shirt with a floating display image. Look for this on a shelf:

I am extremely glad to be able to offer white gloves for evening dress. This is the final essential element of male evening dress and has been a long time coming. These gloves are short, and buttoned at the wrist with a clear crystal button.

It is said that there are two reasons that gentlemen always wear gloves as part of evening dress. The first is as a precaution against leaving marks on ladies' gowns while dancing. The second is that to have direct skin-to-skin contact while dancing would be considered scandalous. Whatever the reason, no gentlemen would ever dream of being without gloves.

Not all top hats are the same and, as with most clothing, the variations tell a story. The "Duffield" top hat is a more restrained brother to the Ashbourne. It is slightly shorter in the crown, has a straighter and smaller brim, and the sides are less concave. It suits a proper Victorian gentleman more than a Regency dandy club regular.

The product description of the Duffield runs as follows:

"This is an understated top hat, slightly conservative and therefore perfect for Victorian outfits, or gentlemen with sober reputations to protect."

Skilled application of Magellan's Patent Cranial Ordinator has ensured that the Duffield works with all my hair styles.

The Ashbourne top hat is described thus in the product description in Blue Mars:

"This is a classic top hat, neither conservative nor rakish, but perfect for evening wear, morning wear, and all periods from Regency to the present day."

The top hat has a history going back to the late 1700s, and is still worn today on most formal occasions. It has become identified with formality, and is an essential part of both morning and evening wear.

The most important point to note about this top hat is that, due to the application of Magellan's Patent Cranial Ordinator, it is perfectly compatible with all my hair styles. Gentlemen can be confident that wearing my hats and my hair styles together will ensure a proper appearance, free from any glitching.

My work on a top hat for Blue Mars started in May 2009. The top hat was my first project for Blue Mars, and was probably completed about October 2009, but its release has been unconscionably delayed by the late scheduling of the accessories cages in the Blue Mars cloth editor. It is therefore with something of a sigh of relief that I now place the Ashbourne on display. Visit Caledonia to see it and try it on; it's at the back of the shop.