Ophelia's Gaze: Iris' Top 10 Hottest Male SL Avatars for '07

Exclusive to NWN, Iris Ophelia's ongoing showcase of all things stylish in SL

The angelic Kate Amdahl started a heated debate when she proclaimed a dearth of beautiful men of Second Life. She rightly points out that options for male avatars can be very limited, leaving a lot of sub-par gentlemen strolling the grid. The truth is they're only recently getting the same kind of attention female avatars have been enjoying from Second Life’s fashion community since the world's beginning. But despite this, there are gorgeous male avatars with great style out there, and it’s time to give them some recognition (and some credit) for the work they’ve put into themselves!  As a bonus, most of the guys I've selected also offer their personal fashion tips for avatar men who want to look as good as them.

Let me say right off the bat that narrowing this list down to ten was practically impossible, as there's such a wide variety of men to choose from, nominated or otherwise. What I like most may be what someone else likes least in a male avatar, that’s a given. All the reader nominees from New World Notes' Open Forum were outstandingly attractive, and if I could handle writing “The 100 Hottest Male Avatars in SL” I definitely would have. Also, be aware that these guys are listed in alphabetically, not necessarily in order of hotness.

Ben Vanguard
Ben’s been in SL for a little over a year now, and is very active in the fashion scene. I first caught sight of him on a Paper Couture runway, and the audience was absolutely taken by his handsomeness. Ben runs SLMen.com, a blog devoted to men’s fashion in Second Life. SLMen.com is also one of a handful of bilingual fashion blogs, catering to English and French speaking readers, as Ben himself is from France. If there’s anyone who knows the mechanics of building a beautiful male avatar, it’s him.  Mr. Vanguard's advice for male avatars who want to look their best: “Say no to bling, stop steroids, don’t wear huge shoes (set your feet to zero when you wear shoes), avoid big tattoos everywhere, and please learn how to adjust your hair and other attachments!” Ben also stresses the importance of keeping realistic proportions, and I couldn’t agree more.

Catero Revolution
Catero's attractiveness goes way beyond his looks, but unfortunately, wry humor and wit don’t capture very well in snapshots. Catero is another very gifted male fashion blogger, most of his efforts now going to Y Me, a blog with a mostly-male perspective covering everything from fashion to SL’s social trends, as well as Men’s Second Style. Cat’s a fellow Canadian who is pretty wild in his style tastes and inspiration.  “Some days I feel like looking as though I’ve been ripped from the pages of an A&F catalog," he tells me about his style, "others like I’ve been living in a dystopian fall-out shelter, and most recently, like a fallen Brazilian soccer star turned homeless junkie. It’s all about what’s fun for the moment.”

DayDreamer Langway
A member of Second Life’s thriving Portuguese community, DayDreamer came out of left field for me as one of the most nominated male avatars, since he was one I was fairly unfamiliar with. While this list goes a long way to prove that men in SL often favor dark and broody over light and sweet, DayDreamer is an exception. From the briefest looks at his profile and his Flickr stream, it’s apparent that this stunning stud thrives on variety. His advice is something that applies to everyone, not just the boys:“Get a skin, a good one," he says. "After that, work your shape on it as you see fit. As for clothes, try searching for the specific genre of clothing that you’re looking for, instead of the usual ‘clothes’ keyword, which will most likely take you to some mall in a seedy sim with a ton of glorious slutwear and leather chaps. Also, SL fashion blogs are a great source of information with constant updates on what’s new in-world.”

Liquid Zidane
For all Liquid’s leather, spikes, and overcast glaring, he’s got a very down-to-earth and genuine personality behind his stunning virtual figure. He shares some favorite shops with other boys on this list, including Aitui, Armidi, FORM, Moderno, Redgrave, Shai, and SiniStyle. Liquid started SL way back in 2004 (before the invention of prim hair, I don’t even want to think about it), and has some of the most practical advice for improving an unpleasant male avatar on the outside as well as on the inside:
“Ditch the mullets," says Zidane. "Easy on the buff sliders. Have some self-confidence, relax, develop a sense of humor, and read a good book or two.”

Menno Ophelia
Menno almost didn’t make this list. True, he is very attractive, but he is also one of my closets friends in SL, and definitely something of a brother figure. I was concerned about making the list seem biased, but Menno was nominated so much that it would have shown even more bias to exclude him. Menno works with Metaversatility, developing and building commercial projects, as well as growing his clothing line, Kari. While he has a ton of products in this line, he still hasn't officially opened his store (lucky for him that playing hard-to-get is still seen as "hot".) This Amsterdam native has a very unique personal style in real life, and translates it well into SL. His advice is just as useful as it is concise: “Mix and match and don’t be afraid to try stuff or ask around.”

Stephen Bentham
I asked each of the guys in my ten to answer a few questions about their look, and since Stephen wrote a novella in response, I’ll let him speak for himself:

“I never set out to be ‘hot’ or thought of myself as that... To quote [my partner] Caliah, you’re looking at ‘the biggest dork ever to play SL’. I was hotness impaired, so to speak, for months after I was active in SL. I figured I wouldn’t be around long, and honestly I just didn’t care. So much [so], I even wore a furry suit for awhile because I thought it looked hilarious on me.

"When I first met Caliah, she was a five day old newbie, and I was just getting started spending time on SL. I was (partially intentionally) a walking parody: No animation overrides, 80s hair, weird skin with bear, bad glasses, cheap jeans and a variety of joke tees. Like I said, I just didn’t care. SL fashion was kind of a joke to me, and I prolonged changing for a long time. Caliah started getting into the SL fashion scene, and I was inevitably exposed to it through her. I started meeting some great people, and exploring my own tastes. As it turns out, I might be a dork, and know next to nothing about fashion per se, but I have pretty good taste in things. Really, that’s all it takes. The strangest thing happened. I found myself really enjoying shopping, picking out things, and experimenting with new looks. All it took was a little gentle encouragement from Caliah and a couple of other friends, and I went off on my own.

"My advice is just: learn what you like, develop and refine your own tastes. Be open to advice, but keep in mind that ultimately it’s your avatar, not anyone else’s. Experiment a little, push your own boundaries. Forget about what everyone else is doing and just take a bit of time, put some thought into it and create your own style. You’ll look a lot better, you’ll feel a lot better, you’ll be respected for it, and it really can be a lot of fun. That’s all I’ve done. If someone as dorky as me can do it, anyone can.”

Steve Hansen
I greatly admire Steve’s sense of style. There’s something definitely classic and European about his avatar, which is why he was an easy choice for this list. Steve, like several other of out Top 10 boys, models in SL, though he also designs shoes and hangs out at the popular collegiate roleplay site, Kindly State University. Steve has three simple rules for a better-looking male avatar: “No giant shoes, baggy pants, and tight manboob-showing shirts please.”

Sylar Boyd
Sylar is a treasure of a man. Besides being a member of SL’s notoriously fashionable Filipino community, Sylar Boyd also won 1st place in the men’s section of The Face of Asia SL 2007 modeling contest. He is an incredibly versatile model to work with, with an infectious sense of fun. Sylar also wins points with me because of his appreciation for shopping in Japanese sims. Sylar has an interesting approach to listing his favorite shops, as well: “Casa del Shai for the wonderful texturing and unique themed styles. Muism for the good primwork on the scarves, coats, and jackets. Redgrave for when I’m mad and I wanna throw away my Lindens.”

Takeshi Kiama
Another phenomenal male model in the world of SL, off-camera Takeshi can usually be seen wearing a pair of twitchy neko ears and frequenting stores like Gritty Kitty and TRUTH; like Sylar, he is also a fan of the coats from Muism. Takeshi is very playful and a pleasure to work with. Another defining feature is definitely his more slender shape, quite a rarity among men in SL. On top of that, Takeshi is undeniably pretty, making him ideally suited to being labeled a bishounen. The inspiration for his unique look? “That would be me," he announces, grinning. "I’m one of those sensations like that."

Vasean Talamasca
When this list was born, Vasean was the first name on it. I know without a doubt this search would be unacceptable if Vasean wasn’t a part of it. Unsurprisingly, he was also the most nominated avatar of all. When I first met Vasean, he was introduced to me essentially as the quintessential male fashionista, and that is an undeniable truth. Since then he’s morphed from neko to elf, but his charm, widespread fan base, and glass-cutting cheekbones have remained constant.

His fashion advice? “Learn to modify prims, it's the only real way to make something your own. Don't be afraid to experiment with new things.  If you’re a real man, prove it and be fearless with your personal style!”

* * *

I decided that since it's the holidays (and as though this list wasn’t enough of a treat) I would share a little bonus nomination with you: Zabitan Assia and Dragontat Zagato, two brothers who have done a great deal to revolutionize men’s fashion in Second Life, and who are both quite easy on the eyes:

I mentioned these two last week in my gift guide, and I had my heart set on including them together on this list. So many cuts had to be made, but I still just couldn’t exclude this duo. I broke my own rules, but can you blame me?

I’m not about to let the boys have all the fun, though. Instead of the use Ophelia’s Gaze column graphics, I will leave you with a slightly different Iris–- a male reworking of my own shape from some time ago–- known as Siris:

The resemblance is striking, no?

Iris Ophelia covers and creates metaverse style for New World Notes.  Visit her blog for a view at the source.

Comments

[Talila Liu]

Wow, They are all so hot!

I do have to say though, Liquid looks so much better then the last picture I have of him. If I recall correctly, he was cross-dressing in a Violet Latex outfit that another friend of Ours had just made.

Hehe, Cheers!

[Penelope]

What about Dpende Control? He's one of the hottest males on the grid, and he looks good in everything. Have you read his blog lately? Droolicious pictures!

[Thema Felix]

I think I just started believing in God.

[Peter Stindberg]

I did not knew about this contest, and most likely I would not have been nominated anyways. But I can share a fashion tip nonetheless. Guys, don't be afraid of female items! More often than not they're unisex and work well on males too. I'm a familiar sight at female fashion outlets, once I started to experiment. Same applies for hairstyles too. I wear a female hairstyle from ETD but nobody ever noticed.

[Torrid]

Holllahhhh! All the guys look great..when does the calendar come out? <3

[Arya McLeod]

VERY pretty indeed!
But you overlooked two more hotties.....
Thoren Dagger & Niclaus Rau

[Lash]

A Hell Yeah Amen! for Day and Vasean. And thank you for mentioning the brothers of the Block. Becuz of these four ... I forgive you for not mentioning Dpende. Haha <3 <3

[Ran Garrigus]

Very interesting reading, and it does give us guys something to think about. I've been tweaking my shapes lately, so I'm particularly thoughtful on the subject of what makes an aesthetically-pleasing avatar.

One question (and I hope it's not considered tacky to ask)... just what skin is that DayDreamer (and Vasean, I think?) wears in that pic? I fail at identifying skins.

[cj christensen]

you missed me out.

[Daman Tenk]

I like Menno's style. And I love Stephen's advice about trying to be yourself.

For the rest, good way to bring SL Men into the highlight finally. Just too bad that except for an elf it's (like most of SL) very white-ethnocentric again.

[Stone Semyorka]

Well, I see from the comments your women readers love these shots, but for me the portfolio would have gained authenticity if it had been grounded with at least one ordinary, non-fashionista guy. How can you respect a pure-bred if you haven't seen a mongrel?

--Stone Semyorka

[Cyn Vandeverre]

These guys are all ok, I suppose, but none of them are my idea of hot. I wish I hadn't forgotten to submit some candidates of my own.

[Edward Pearse]

If you like boys who look as if they're barely old enough to drink, then these are lovely. Come back to me when you have some nominations about MEN in SL

[FIGJAM]

Edward, I am not sure bitter and catty are manly qualities.

Get over it, it's a bit of fun.

Maybe we can have a Fop and Dandy contest, I'll be sure to put my vote in for you, dear.

[Twig Tomorrow]

Well I am sending out personal thank yous to

Liquid Zidane
Ben Vanguard
Catero Revolution
Stephen Bentham
Steve Hansen
Vasean Tamaskca

We had a party last night in the Gossip Girl sims and a call was made to get as many guys from the list there as possible. Kudos fellows for making the effort! What a fun evening!

[Iris Ophelia]

Well... Wow. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Like I said, this list is by no means a list of the only attractive males in SL. I tried to include a variety of types from the nominations, but it would be impossible to please everyone. ^^

And Ran, I'm about 90% sure that skin is by Lost Thereian of Naughty, but if it's the guyliner you like I'd also recommend skins from The Abyss, Aitui, Form, and The Good Life.

[Ran Garrigus]

Thanks, Iris! With some digging around (and some help from my sister, who seems to know everyone), it does indeed seem to be one of Naughty's skins.

All those you list are excellent suggestions, and I've been digging around the lot of them, and then some. Though Aitui currently has no skins for sale, as Jesseaitui's making room for his third-generation skin, called Reclaim. Last I heard, that'll be released in January or February.

Now, if only more skin makers would give us gentlemen more options on brow color...

[Emalie Burum]

oww there so hot Steve gr8 job lol never seen u with long hair anyway keep going!!

xoxo ema

[Ryker Beck]

WOO HOO!!! I know at least four of these guys. LOL!!! And you're soooo right... painfully hot. Hehehe

[Chenin Anabuki]

Yay Steve! We're rooting for you!

[Morgana]

YES! There are two men on here I am overly joyed about!
Takeshi & Daydreamer!

Wtg you two!