Hello! And welcome to the second installment of Designer's Corner! This time around we're interviewing the disgustingly talented Rob Moonites! I was stoked when Rob agreed to be interviewed by The Plastics Blog but that's nothing compared to Barely's excitement. See that creeper behind me? That's Barely...he's the HUGEST FIR & MNA fan ever and I couldn't keep him away. We tag-teamed this interview and Rob's lovely girlfriend Hallie even came along.
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From humble beginnings to being one of the most well known stores in all of SL, FIR & MNA is the go to place for beautifully detailed clothing & extremely well sculpted shoes. A leader in the ever growing world of men's fashion, FIR & MNA isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
(Disclaimer this interview is very long and Barely get's very fanboyish. You were warned)
Kittee Skytower: soooo are u ready for my q's?
Barely Texan: Rob, I would just like to say that, amazingly enough, I have the same shoes.
Rob Moonites: yess
Rob Moonites: haha
Rob Moonites: that's shocking
Barely Texan: I know. We have excellent taste.
Hallie Galli-Moonites: how was the seasons hunt for you? ㋡
Barely Texan: I just went to Fir and didn't bother with the rest :P
Hallie Galli-Moonites: lol
Barely Texan: I am lying.
Rob Moonites: lolol
Rob Moonites: I like that
Kittee Skytower: ok so first q is how long have u been playing SL?
Rob Moonites: I just passed my third rezz day, I think it was last week
Rob Moonites: yes, 3 years and 5 days
Kittee Skytower: \☻/
Kittee Skytower: ok and what got you started playing the game?
Rob Moonites: I heard about it once or twice, and I logged on and never made it off help island
Rob Moonites: then I tried again and made it a little further
Rob Moonites: that was like a year after trying the first time, I think
Kittee Skytower: Have you always used this same avatar?
Rob Moonites: yeah... I mean if I had any sense I'd have gone back and made another avatar with less numbers?
Kittee Skytower: lol
Barely Texan laughs
Rob Moonites: but I had no idea i'd still be here 3 years later
Barely Texan: What kept you here?
Rob Moonites: how dynamic SL is... initially I owned a club, then I moved to building, then eventually making clothing... but it was limitless, there was nothing to stop you creating whatever you wanted
Kittee Skytower: what was the name of your club?
Rob Moonites: Triniti Paradise
Hallie Galli-Moonites: :\
Kittee Skytower: lol
Rob Moonites: lol
Kittee Skytower: why the :/
Hallie Galli-Moonites: I was hoping for #s
Kittee Skytower: rofl
Rob Moonites: she's making fun of me
Rob Moonites: cause she's mean
Kittee Skytower: :o
Hallie Galli-Moonites: ❤
Barely Texan laughs
Rob Moonites: ❤
Kittee Skytower: feel free to fight lol
Kittee Skytower: so why did you decide to start designing clothing?
Hallie Gallie-Moonites
Rob Moonites: to be honest... I was way more into it than I should have been, it really fascinated me... and when I started to not be able to find exactly what I wanted I started to dig deeper
Rob Moonites: a friend of mine had a store, now closed, called Valiant, and he taught me some basics and I went with them
Kittee Skytower: oh cool, what do you mean when you say you were more into it than you shouldve been, did it kind of take over your RL or?
Rob Moonites: oh... more into clothing than I should have been... like I paid more attention to design than most fellas, I suppose
Kittee Skytower: ahh ok :)
Kittee Skytower: so how long have you had your store now?
Rob Moonites: just about 2 years
Rob Moonites: I started with a little 512 mainland back then
Rob Moonites: and it's funny to think back on how it has grown
Kittee Skytower: yeah thats def crazy
Barely Texan: Where does the name come from?
Kittee Skytower: good one Barely
Kittee Skytower: Hi5!
Hallie Galli-Moonites: FIR & MNA is men & women in Irish.
Kittee Skytower: :o
Barely Texan: Oh!
Kittee Skytower: how did you choose it?
Rob Moonites: I was one of very few Irish I'd met in SL
Rob Moonites: and I wanted to link my store with me
Rob Moonites: with Irish...
Rob Moonites: somehow lol
Kittee Skytower: are you Irish as in born in Ireland
Barely Texan: It's a better name than Rob's Fekkin' Clothes, I think.
Rob Moonites: yeah, I'm in Dublin right now
Rob Moonites: lol
Rob Moonites: so the store name came from trying to tie it to my heritage a bit
Barely Texan: I am also in Dublin. Texas. Barely Texan: Rob, you obviously saw a problem with men's fashion in SL™.
Was it- and is it- a problem with quantity or quality?
Rob Moonites: with some things, yeah... mostly layers to be honest... but now it's different, I suppose
Rob Moonites: initially, I wanted clothing I could put on any layer I wanted [
Rob Moonites: a lack of underpants layer with pants was really annoying, etc Rob Moonites: now I guess it's different with 2.x viewers
Rob Moonites: now I just wanna sculpt... that I have learned how... that came about a year ago and in the last few months I've started teaching classes
Kittee Skytower: was it difficult for you to learn to sculpt?
Rob Moonites: it was, but I found Xeniversity in-world... learning to sculpt from google/youtube is a nightmare. In-world classes made it so much easier
Kittee Skytower: k, so whats your favorite part of being a designer would you say?
Rob Moonites: oh... interacting with other designers, definitely
Rob Moonites: bouncing off other creative minds, it's addictive
Rob Moonites: I love talking ideas through, getting on skype with friends and helping each other out. That's my favourite
Kittee Skytower: :)
Kittee Skytower: alrite then so whats the hardest part?
Rob Moonites: the hardest part is the hours... I'll work about 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to try to release once a week
Kittee Skytower: yikes
Rob Moonites: it doesn't always work out and it certainly doesn't pay for itself...
Kittee Skytower: is this your full time job then? Rob Moonites: I am doing a masters in RL atm also
Rob Moonites: I am three weeks away from finishing
Kittee Skytower: \o/
Kittee Skytower: anything fashion or graphic related?
Rob Moonites: pretty much.... Applied Digital Media... it's very focused on animation, 3D and visual communication
Kittee Skytower: awesome :) when you are done are you still planning to work on SL or will you be focused on other projects?
Rob Moonites: I plan to keep my SL projects going... but also work on things in RL Rob Moonites: try to find the balance :)
Kittee Skytower: being that you've had a store so long now, any weird stories with customers? lo
Rob Moonites: lolforever
Barely Texan looks the other direction.
Kittee Skytower: lolol
Kittee Skytower: besides Barely please
Rob Moonites: well, besides Barely...
Hallie Galli-Moonites: oh god, it's daily
Kittee Skytower: rofl
Rob Moonites: to be totally honest... my customers are great...
Rob Moonites: it's the rest that drives me crazy
Kittee Skytower: lol examples?
Rob Moonites: it's amazing how many blogs are started daily in SL... and in need of support
Rob Moonites: nobody can read profiles
Rob Moonites: also amazing
Rob Moonites: but the groups that I am involved in provide the best comic relief, I think like... for example the seasons hunt today... Hallie has a great website that is updated as a store is added/removed, etc... and there were a few stores marked off Hallie Galli-Moonites: oh god lol
Rob Moonites: so a girl asks in chat today...
Kittee Skytower: uh oh
Rob Moonites: "is skip me the name of a store...?"
Barely Texan: Bwahahaha
Kittee Skytower: rofl omg
Kittee Skytower dies
Hallie Galli-Moonites: yep.
Rob Moonites: even though there was three stores marked with "skip me" and no lm
Rob Moonites: but yeah
Rob Moonites: but yeah
Hallie Galli-Moonites: I guess that's not really your store though lol
Kittee Skytower: someone should do a store called Skip me just for that story
Rob Moonites: try to dilute that somehow into a daily occurrence...
Rob Moonites: and that's SL lol
Kittee Skytower: lol
Hallie Galli-Moonites: my friend is going to rebrand from Duh! to Skip Me
Barely Texan laughs
Kittee Skytower: lol
Rob Moonites: someone wanted to call their store "Not Out Yet"
Barely Texan: Ha!
Kittee Skytower: do you spend any time just having fun on SL? or is it all work?
Rob Moonites: oh yes
Kittee Skytower: what do u do for fun
Hallie Galli-Moonites: he loves breedables
Rob Moonites: I live on the best sim, with amazing residents, most of which make stuff...
Rob Moonites: and we drive cars into each other, leave terrible things in each other's houses, attack each other with guns
Kittee Skytower: :o rofl that sounds awesome
Kittee Skytower: are you into meeros
Rob Moonites: :/:
Rob Moonites: Hallie likes cats
Rob Moonites: and pet rocks
Barely Texan has cats too.
Rob Moonites: uh oh
Hallie Galli-Moonites: Rob hates breedables
Kittee Skytower: shhh barely ur gonna scare him
Rob Moonites: I avoid them at all costs but my neighbours still like to leave them on my doorstep
Hallie Galli-Moonites: lol
Kittee Skytower: hahaha
Rob Moonites: literally...
Barely Texan: ❤
Hallie Galli-Moonites: Weezey did a good job.
Kittee Skytower: rofl
Rob Moonites: Weezey is satan
Kittee Skytower: i like the ones in blankets
Hallie Galli-Moonites: and the prim cube does breed
Hallie Galli-Moonites: those are "sick"
Kittee Skytower: looks like a good time
Barely Texan: So what do you think about the state of men's fashion right now in SL? Rob Moonites: I think it's good... to be honest… I hate the usual suspects saying "oh there's no men's items". It's just such a tired response
Kittee Skytower nods
Rob Moonites: anyone that puts time into it can find decent men's items without complaining
Rob Moonites: they may not be right there in your face...
Rob Moonites: but they're there and men's fashion is always improving
Barely Texan: Do you think the overall quality is like you'd find in women's fashion?
Rob Moonites: yes and no... I think we lose on quantity, for sure. I think there's certain SL limitations that make creating for men more difficult but I think we have in and around the 50%ish the number of quality stores that the women have
Rob Moonites: as is life. If men spent more money there would be more stores and more options
Rob Moonites: but yeah...
Barely Texan: Yeah, without a doubt
Barely Texan: How has the Menstuff group helped with that do you think?
Rob Moonites: the MENStuff group is great for the whole quantity aspect of that... but we need to encourage more of a spending culture in SL versus the freebie one Kittee Skytower: speaking of spending, anything new your customers should know about?
Rob Moonites: oh... I do have a nice idea in the works... I'm gonna get some friends to create original artwork for some shoes, they'll most likely be other well known designers and SL figures
Kittee Skytower: :o
Rob Moonites: they may be limited edition... or regular sale, that hasn't been decided yet…likely limited sale
Kittee Skytower: any idea when those will come out?
Rob Moonites: hopefully in the next month
Kittee Skytower: yay!
Rob Moonites: :))
Barely Texan: And when will your new hairs be available in store?
Rob Moonites: lol
Barely Texan grins
Rob Moonites: I didn't think anyone wanted them
Rob Moonites: I'll probably drop them out in the next week
Barely Texan: Rob. I have demos. I just couldn't fight the lag. I am only flesh and blood.
Rob Moonites: lolol
Rob Moonites: oh, I've also revamped firsl.com with fancy links to the marketplace on a lot of items
Barely Texan: Nice. :)
Kittee Skytower: Rob, anything else you'd like to tell our readers?
Rob Moonites: absolutely not
Kittee Skytower: lol
Rob Moonites: they'll need to join the group to get anything else from
Kittee Skytower: oh btw i heard u were a mean girls fan?
Rob Moonites: lololol
Rob Moonites: yes :/
Kittee Skytower: who is ur fav?
Rob Moonites: you can't just ask if I'm a mean girls fan
Kittee Skytower: too late, Hallie already told me before so
Rob Moonites: Regina George
Kittee Skytower: \o/
Rob Moonites: definitely lolol
Kittee Skytower: lolol thats great
Hallie Galli-Moonites: I have no comment
Rob Moonites: I AM SORRY HALLIE
Rob Moonites
FIR & MNA Owner
RL Location: Dublin
