Location: Welfare Island, Camping

Female fashion is an easy target in SL; as Tenchi Morigi has reminded me, however, not every fashionista or designer buys into the minimally clad, rock-diva look that can be so easily parodied as the norm in SL.  For men, however, I’m also seeing a bland uniformity that bothers me: shirtless, long-haired, tattooed love-boys.  One of my female friends actually had all the parts in HER inventory to create the look and pose for this column.

I’m not jealous, because I could look that way (well, the bald version) in SL or RL if I wished. If I may be so bold, in the flesh I look pretty good without my shirt, working summers in the country. I’ve only one tattoo, which might be construed as a source of envy on my part—nope.  I suppose I could get Max at River City to give me more ink.

Still, why IS it that so many men—who lack the girls’ choices of fashion in Second Life—go for this look?  It’s a young-Peter-Fonda-meets-Conan-the-Barbarian-at-Burning-Man aesthetic, and I’m tired of seeing it.  It was cool the first 100 times.  Well, the hairless chest is just perverse…

To Linden Lab’s credit, they have posted a wonderful alternative for men who have decided that shirts are not for them.  This image, often featured on the Lindens’ main Web page, makes references to cult films like The Road Warrior and Fight Club.  These are my people! I particularly like the shirtless fellow in the back, with his bowler hat.  It’s a great alternative to the usual SL male paragon.

So if you are not wearing a shirt but have on a bowler hat and a handlebar moustache, IM me from the seat of your post-apocalypse hot-rod as you rumble through the wasteland looking for precious gasoline. You are stylin’ in my book.

Be sure to check the “In a Strange Land” Archive for old posts

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