What Do the Lockwood Designers Themselves Like To Wear?
by NorseGamer, HSM Editor-in-Chief
It’s fairly well-known that a lot of Home’s fashion-savvy citizens read HomeStation Magazine. If you’re not familiar with the Ladies’ Fashion Runway or related fashion threads on the SCEA Home forum, you’d be amazed by not only the vast quantities of money spent on digital fashion, but also the remarkable outfits and trends that have emerged.
There will always be those who adhere to the belief that spending real money on virtual items, particularly virtual fashion, is silly. Oh, you could go through the usual debate that spending twenty quid per month (or more) on digital clothing is no different than spending the same amount on a night at the movies or something equally disposable, but that will do little to change their minds.
It should be noted that such digital fashion detractors are a shrinking minority in Home. And with good reason.
Because the truth is that for less money than a tank of petrol, I can outfit my avatar with enough wardrobe selections to do Gianni Agnelli proud. And since proper men’s fashion isn’t going to disappear any time soon, I can keep using those wardrobe items for the foreseeable future, just as a bespoke Brioni never goes out of style.
As Home matures as a society, so do its citizens. I see far more Home citizens running around in fascinating outfits than ever before. And, as noted in our recent Lockwood cover story, I think there’s little question that they are at the forefront of fashion across multiple Home regions.
With the recent announcement of the Lockwood ShowOff Competition, we decided to ask Lockwood’s designers: what were their favorite outfits?
Five team members at Lockwood — Meg, Cat, Beg, Lynda and Tom — were gracious enough to reply. Given the amount of work they’re constantly putting in, we’re grateful that they gave HSM a few moments to divulge some insights into what they themselves enjoy the most, and why.
MEGAN:
Meg
One of my favourite things about working on the virtual fashions here at Lockwood is seeing the amazing variety of ensembles that everyone creates. I hope you enjoy looking at our best outfits as much as we enjoy looking at yours. There’s always something new coming up, and we all get excited when new content is launched.
BEX:
Bex
When creating clothing for Home, you aren’t limited by the constraints of the real world. This gives you freedom to come up with interesting ideas; the tools are the same, whatever you choose to make.
I love the variety of different components we can come up with. One of my favourite things to do is work up interesting colour and pattern variations for sets of clothing. It’s really rewarding seeing others mix and match combos that we might not have considered before.
CAT:
Cat
I’ve worked at producing fashion in Home from the very beginning, and through this I’ve seen styles develop and blossom, become yesterday’s news and come back through revivals.
For me, it’s all about what your looks say about you as a person. In many respects, your clothing is an extension of your personality. For me, I’m a big party animal and I love the rock chic feel of the jacket and gloves put together with the glamour of the skirt and shoes.
I’m also all about the details — from the matching colours of the shoes and jacket, to the sparkles on skirt and the fine lace details on the baby doll stilettos.
LYNDA:
Lynda
The boots are some I have in real life; the rest I would wear in real life if I thought I could get away with it (but, sadly, probably couldn’t).
Especially the blue hair. I’d love blue hair, but I’m scared my hair would fall out, so this avatar is my only opportunity!
TOM:
Tom
Yep, super villain. THAT’S me. As one of the guys on the design team I might get accused of having the easier pick of the fashions, but I wanted to pick something a bit different.
There are plenty of fun costumes and casual clothes, but since I’m such a big fan of comic books and movies, I thought I’d try combining some of the Figment and Sunless Kingdom gear — and I love how this works. Anyone got a white cat?
HomeStation Magazine would like to formally thank Meg, Cat, Lynda, Tom and Bex for their insights, as well as Alex Loffstadt for helping to pull everything together. Also, we’d like to once again express our gratitude to Lockwood for not just being a very approachable developer, but also for producing truly outstanding virtual content in Home.
So, HSM readers: give us your opinions on digital fashion, both as a response to this article and in the (very) active “Fashion Trends” thread in the HomeStation forum. What is digital sprezzatura to you? Do you try to dress your avatar like you dress in real life, or do you go completely wild? What do you like your avatar to say to the community via your digital fashions?
June 11th, 2011 by NorseGamer | 5 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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My favorite combo is the one Meg has on. Those wings are the best accessory in Home… those and the cupid wings from the gift machine.
Ha! What a great article idea. Love it.
The thing I love to do the most in Home is decorate my apartments like no one else has theirs and find combinations of clothing that no one else uses. Lockwood has some very useable clothing pieces that are easily interchangeable and beautiful as well and I have bought quite a few of them myself. The way our avatars look in Home is absolutely an expression of our real selves. I look at mine as an empty canvas that I can paint anew each day, especially on Thursdays when new fashion comes out. The only thing in Home that I see sorely lacking is floor length skirts in a variety of fullness and colors. If anyone ever creates some they will sell like hotcakes because I know a lot of women who will buy them me included of course. Great article Norse and thanks for the time Lockwood and for your accessibility. Keep up the good work!
Now if they can just fix the furniture issue in the blaster space I will be a very happy camper!
@Tom:
;^) Tom, a white cat with blue eyes is at the top of my wish list for virtual companions. It’d be great of you guys came out with some.
:^/ As for my apparel, distinguishing myself from the crowd is paramount with me, but not at the expense of randomly juxtaposing cacophonous concoctions that don’t physically fit together. Intersecting 3D models is a definite no-no.