If you missed last week's sampling of menswear and fashions, you can find it here.
Again, both of the stores we looked at this week came to us highly recommended by the discerning readers of SLI - and we thank you for your suggestions! We're still looking for places to review, so if you have a favorite men's store which has clothing, accessories, shoes, skins, hair, gadgets, or anything else you can think of, let us know. If our test audience buys something, we'll write it up the store here.
Jeepers Creepers - Eponymous Trenchmouth
Boots and Shoes(Both), Industrial, Smart casual, Formal.
I am seriously impressed with the quality of the shoes and boots created by Eponymous Trenchmouth, under the Jeepers Creepers label. Each item available under this label is clean, elegant and unimpeded by unnecessary detail. Most of the pieces are bling-free, except where bling is subtly used to enhance the look of naturally shiny adornments. A different shoe or boot is provided for each foot, making for greater verisimilitude. Many of the shoes and boots come with an optional in-built walk, appropriate to the intended gender of the wearer. Men's shoes and boots are available in various sizes; depending on the line, somewhere between a size 20 and a size 35.
There are six lines of shoes and boots currently under this label: Strike! for men's and women's bowling shoes, Clog for rugged, easy-wearing slip-ons, Rigger for tough yet good-looking boots, Trashville for massive biker boots, Hawkes & Healey for a classic and elegant appearance, and Rebel for a stylish look. There is also Giddyap, the men's horse riding boot.
Not only are all the shoes and boots available well crafted and good looking, but there has been an obvious improvement between some of the older ranges and the new Rebel line - in the Rebels, prim work can barely be seen, there is hardly even an impression that these shoes were made in a non-malleable material, and texturing has become more subtle and realistic.
The Rebel line is decidedly my favorite: the base textures are excellent, and combine with the highlighting and shadowing for an exemplary finish on each shoe. Detailing is accurate and true-to-life; the stitching is reminiscent of hand-stitched shoes I've seen in real life. It really makes you feel like you could take these shoes from the screen and wear them in the physical world.
Jeepers Creepers also has lines of shoes for solely for women.
Nocturnal Threads - Kaia Ennui
Clothing(Both), Boots(Both), Tattoos, Gothic.
Kaia Ennui of Nocturnal Threads (NT) is a excellent purveyor of goods for those customers of a Gothic bent wishing to flesh out their wardrobes. Traditional Gothic, Romantic and Horror themes are apparent throughout the range for men: lace and velvet, skulls, zombies, black, blue and red, and belts and buckles. From the delicate, detailed, and dreamy to the roughened, toughened and texture-complex, NT offers men shirts, pants, complete outfits, boots and tattoos, as well as unisex clothing and hair.
Nothing in the line struck me as being outstanding. I didn't find any signature or must-have pieces. That said, I like the clothing, and our test audience will be adding some of the pieces they bought to their regular wardrobe as staples. Determined efforts have been made to match the seams, with success. Fabric textures are life-like, looking rich and stiff or luxe and fluid as the garment requires. On the garments that I purchased, accessories often replicated in prim-work in other labels, like belts and buckles, have here been done in texture, to good effect. Prices are reasonable for the quality of work on offer, also considering that mostly complete outfits are for sale. There is also much to be said about the quantity of pieces available to choose from in the range.
NT also carries a women's line of clothing and accessories.
In the gallery...
H&H Black & White Oxfords WH
Rebel - James Dean WH
NT Whisper shirt and gloves.
NT Lithium Pants.
NT Tank Grrl belt.
and more..
