VIP - Air build (warning: purists keep out)
VIP - Air build (warning: purists keep out)
This build is not for the faint of heart.
I'll start from sometime last year when I built the Rezax, the size was 18x11 0 and 18x12 0 my car was on Stance Gr+ coilovers with megan rear upper camber arms. This is when I had to do body work and such to fit the wheels.
Skip to the second post if you just want to see it start from 2014.
Fronts sit perfect after raising the coils 1/2" and hammering down the pinchwelds, there is no rubbing at all.
Here is how the rear sat with minimal pull, can't drive like this since the fender is on the tire, still looks sweet though... needs a lot of pulling.
Front camber sits at -5 and rear was at -8 but we brought it down to -7.5.
Sergey's House of Wheels completed the insane radius/pull and alignment is spot on so it was time for some body work to clean up the wavy fenders. Fender is about 20mm wider and raised so the rear can be dropped lower.
wheels fit like a charm
We heated up the rear bumper and tried to align it with the fender... not even close. That silver portion of the bumper on the edge not being covered by the blue tape was cut off. Then to fill the gap we added fiberglass to the quarter panel to have it meet the bumper. Originally we thought we would have to make a custom bracket on the inside but the rear bumper was surprisingly pliable with some heat.
3 days at the body shop and we've achieved: Fender pull cleaned up, rear bumper cut and widened, and quarterpanel extended to meet the bumper.
A few days later the fenders were finally finished and primed.
Perfect.
By the end of April I finally got the front sitting where I want it and the new sideskirts on, picked up a set of Shine Auto FEED sides and sold my old OE aero. Also realized I never aired down my tires lol. They were at over 80psi, aired them down to 40psi and it rolls SOO much smoother, oops. Since I had previously lost my jdm corner lights coming back from a show I just decided to have them filled this year on the bumper. Car was just waiting for paint but at this point I was so strapped for cash because every penny I had to save was for my trip to Asia for most of the summer.
I brought my car to the city for ONE day before the JDMC season opener and managed to smash my front bumper, the same hit also knocked out power to my entire dash… what a joke.
Rolling into the season opener, can you guess how many different colors my car was?
p.s. only one of my front fenders is primed because we accidentally smashed it when we were test fitting so it had to be fixed.
Looking like a bulldozer.
By the end of May it was difficult for me to come up with any money to paint or wrap the car, I had to save enough money to be able to survive for two months on the other side of the world. My friend hooked me up with a ton of plastidip so I decided to say “**** it” and we sprayed the car , matte white with a pearl clear coat. It looked really good for a little while so I didn’t mind at all, and it covered up a lot of blemishes. I took it off my car because I ended up hating it, but I’ll get into that later.
I sanded, primed, wet sanded, then painted some of the plastic covers in my bay to match the chameleon wheels.
The next day I had a followup shoot for Carsxhype.
By the time I was leaving I still had no clue what I would do for paint or my front bumper and adding to that, I crushed one of my fenders coming home from the most recent shoot. Fortunately, I was able to have regular internet access overseas so I was able to sell a bunch of parts I had laying around and had my parents ship them out. I was slowly able to budget more money towards my car so by the time I came home from my Asia adventure I had a bedroom full of boxes of car parts. It was magical, it was what I imagine Christmas to feel like for you guys.
Cusco oil catch tank, NRG neochrome radiator cap, mazdaspeed mini filter, a set of sidemarkers to paint, and a new dash piece from the incident earlier and something else in that white box, but I can’t remember haha. I also used this opportunity to do an AuxMod on the car while the dash was taken apart.
And my new bumper <3
My JDM Revolution intake resonator cap came in a few days later, took almost a month to come from Japan.
Then we had a fender fixing party at my house with Sergey and Kyle.
I got extremely lucky acquiring my front bumper; it is the only BN Sports Rx8 front bumper in America. A couple years ago a friend of mine in SoCal bought the BN front and sideskirts, spending over $2000 and waiting 6 months for it to arrive. By the time they came he decided to sell the car and never mounted them. Then after another few months he sold them to another forum member in Tennessee. Upon receiving the kit he started having issues with the Rx8 and had to hold off on mounting the kit. By the time everything was sorted out he also decided he wanted to sell the car, so again, the kit was never mounted. He posted the kit up for sale but of course no buyers because of the outrageous price. So I decided to finally splurge and buy just the front from him. And with a down payment on the sides, he would hold onto those for me.
The front crash bar on our Rx8’s are larger than the ones in Japan so the back portion of the bumper had to be trimmed just enough. Other than that it fit like a glove!
And it’s sort of hard to tell in this pic but I did paint the sidemarkers the same chameleon as the wheels for a nice little detail.
Got some brushed sheet metal and made a nice cover for the intake to match the metal cusco sticker on the intake tubing behind it.
In November I had a shoot for Whips N Chocolate.
My tire decided it didn’t want to hold air anymore at the shoot.
And this wraps up the 2013 season of the Rx8! Now comes the infamous Air build.
I'll start from sometime last year when I built the Rezax, the size was 18x11 0 and 18x12 0 my car was on Stance Gr+ coilovers with megan rear upper camber arms. This is when I had to do body work and such to fit the wheels.
Skip to the second post if you just want to see it start from 2014.
Fronts sit perfect after raising the coils 1/2" and hammering down the pinchwelds, there is no rubbing at all.
Here is how the rear sat with minimal pull, can't drive like this since the fender is on the tire, still looks sweet though... needs a lot of pulling.
Front camber sits at -5 and rear was at -8 but we brought it down to -7.5.
Sergey's House of Wheels completed the insane radius/pull and alignment is spot on so it was time for some body work to clean up the wavy fenders. Fender is about 20mm wider and raised so the rear can be dropped lower.
wheels fit like a charm
We heated up the rear bumper and tried to align it with the fender... not even close. That silver portion of the bumper on the edge not being covered by the blue tape was cut off. Then to fill the gap we added fiberglass to the quarter panel to have it meet the bumper. Originally we thought we would have to make a custom bracket on the inside but the rear bumper was surprisingly pliable with some heat.
3 days at the body shop and we've achieved: Fender pull cleaned up, rear bumper cut and widened, and quarterpanel extended to meet the bumper.
A few days later the fenders were finally finished and primed.
Perfect.
By the end of April I finally got the front sitting where I want it and the new sideskirts on, picked up a set of Shine Auto FEED sides and sold my old OE aero. Also realized I never aired down my tires lol. They were at over 80psi, aired them down to 40psi and it rolls SOO much smoother, oops. Since I had previously lost my jdm corner lights coming back from a show I just decided to have them filled this year on the bumper. Car was just waiting for paint but at this point I was so strapped for cash because every penny I had to save was for my trip to Asia for most of the summer.
I brought my car to the city for ONE day before the JDMC season opener and managed to smash my front bumper, the same hit also knocked out power to my entire dash… what a joke.
Rolling into the season opener, can you guess how many different colors my car was?
p.s. only one of my front fenders is primed because we accidentally smashed it when we were test fitting so it had to be fixed.
Looking like a bulldozer.
By the end of May it was difficult for me to come up with any money to paint or wrap the car, I had to save enough money to be able to survive for two months on the other side of the world. My friend hooked me up with a ton of plastidip so I decided to say “**** it” and we sprayed the car , matte white with a pearl clear coat. It looked really good for a little while so I didn’t mind at all, and it covered up a lot of blemishes. I took it off my car because I ended up hating it, but I’ll get into that later.
I sanded, primed, wet sanded, then painted some of the plastic covers in my bay to match the chameleon wheels.
The next day I had a followup shoot for Carsxhype.
By the time I was leaving I still had no clue what I would do for paint or my front bumper and adding to that, I crushed one of my fenders coming home from the most recent shoot. Fortunately, I was able to have regular internet access overseas so I was able to sell a bunch of parts I had laying around and had my parents ship them out. I was slowly able to budget more money towards my car so by the time I came home from my Asia adventure I had a bedroom full of boxes of car parts. It was magical, it was what I imagine Christmas to feel like for you guys.
Cusco oil catch tank, NRG neochrome radiator cap, mazdaspeed mini filter, a set of sidemarkers to paint, and a new dash piece from the incident earlier and something else in that white box, but I can’t remember haha. I also used this opportunity to do an AuxMod on the car while the dash was taken apart.
And my new bumper <3
My JDM Revolution intake resonator cap came in a few days later, took almost a month to come from Japan.
Then we had a fender fixing party at my house with Sergey and Kyle.
I got extremely lucky acquiring my front bumper; it is the only BN Sports Rx8 front bumper in America. A couple years ago a friend of mine in SoCal bought the BN front and sideskirts, spending over $2000 and waiting 6 months for it to arrive. By the time they came he decided to sell the car and never mounted them. Then after another few months he sold them to another forum member in Tennessee. Upon receiving the kit he started having issues with the Rx8 and had to hold off on mounting the kit. By the time everything was sorted out he also decided he wanted to sell the car, so again, the kit was never mounted. He posted the kit up for sale but of course no buyers because of the outrageous price. So I decided to finally splurge and buy just the front from him. And with a down payment on the sides, he would hold onto those for me.
The front crash bar on our Rx8’s are larger than the ones in Japan so the back portion of the bumper had to be trimmed just enough. Other than that it fit like a glove!
And it’s sort of hard to tell in this pic but I did paint the sidemarkers the same chameleon as the wheels for a nice little detail.
Got some brushed sheet metal and made a nice cover for the intake to match the metal cusco sticker on the intake tubing behind it.
In November I had a shoot for Whips N Chocolate.
My tire decided it didn’t want to hold air anymore at the shoot.
And this wraps up the 2013 season of the Rx8! Now comes the infamous Air build.
2014
My BN sideskirts finally came.
Traded my painted housing headlights back for a stock pair for a project with Hazerworks. One of my last days with the Rezax too
I absolutely hated my cloth interior so I finally decided to tear it out since the right opportunity came about. As most of you know I'm going for a VIP style this year and one of the biggest parts of VIP is having an all around attractive and unique car, and one of the biggest things includes class and comfort in the interior.
The beat up silver trim extending from the front to the rear of the center console is awful so now that car was in a gutted(ish) state I decided to wrap it with piano black 3M vinyl to match the dash.
I went and picked up the new shinka interior. While I had the new interior in the truck I dropped it off at RAW details for a deep clean and condition. Now I have power seats and butt warmers too!
Creme leather with red double stitches. Inserts are perforated light brown suede with red underneath. Plus black suede headliner and pillars. The wrapped trim makes a world of a difference.
Most importantly **drum roll**
I ordered these a while ago but they took months to complete since it was a completely custom build. BUT....
Huge thanks to AirForce Suspension for building these full air struts for me!!! :banana2:
Leon Hardiritt Ordens, 18x10.5 +2 and 18x12 -10
225/35 on 18x10.5 and 255/35 onto 18x12
Hazerwerks finished my headlights!
Finished my air install, can’t believe I was able to do it all myself, took forever and it sucked a lot. Great learning experience though. I ended up choosing airlift v2 digital management. Fronts sit pretty well, rears needed a lot more camber. But I literally finished the install the night before the JDMC season opener so oh well! It was time to install the headlights, bumper, sides and roll out! I also got my hood wrapped gold because that was the color I planned* to wrap my car.
Capped lug nuts because open ends are for peasants :D
... fender is still fucked from last year too so that has to be fixed
Headlights in and bumper on!
Leo fixing the fender to perfection at Sergey's shop
installing my set of lower camber arms: compared to my bent stock arms. I already have adjustable upper camber arms installed too.
Rear was sitting MUCH better but the toe was absolutely fucked. Needed an alignment bad. Still wanted to go lower though.
Got an alignment. Drive height camber is -4 F and -9 R. Aired out its -8 F and -14 R.
yes, that is what -14 camber looks like, I had never seen this much in person before lol. SO awesome.
Oni-kyan
Cleaned up my trunk a little, thats my dual comp setup with 4 gal air tank. 250.1 JL amp and 12W3v3 JL sub.
Also took a grinder to the inside of my rear fenders and rear bumper to thin them out a few mm to give me so extra inner clearance. FINALLY got the fenders to "kiss" the lips in G's words lol. I'm reallllly stoked.
Decided against the gold wrap, my friend flew in from California to wrap my car. I'm so happy with how everything turned out. Just some finishing touches now.
I just really like this photo. Took the car in for some service at Mazda.
Some of the interior goodies:
Junction Produce silver Tsuna
Platinum stitched shift boot to accent the Garson **** with Swarovski elements and the new silver tsuna. All in the details
Two tone diamond stitched arm rests done by Executive VIP out in Cali
Wrapped the same color as my car
Dash cover to cover up my cracked dashboard, made by Executive VIP also, matches the arm rests.
Camber is -7 in front aired out. I ended up bringing the rear camber down to -12 in the rear aired out to reduce toe to spec while driving. At lower driving height camber is about -5 front and -9 rear. I’ve put 3000 miles on the car this summer on this setup, no issues. Thanks for the read and support!
here are a couple of my favorite shots from the Mazda Fitment feature.
My BN sideskirts finally came.
Traded my painted housing headlights back for a stock pair for a project with Hazerworks. One of my last days with the Rezax too
I absolutely hated my cloth interior so I finally decided to tear it out since the right opportunity came about. As most of you know I'm going for a VIP style this year and one of the biggest parts of VIP is having an all around attractive and unique car, and one of the biggest things includes class and comfort in the interior.
The beat up silver trim extending from the front to the rear of the center console is awful so now that car was in a gutted(ish) state I decided to wrap it with piano black 3M vinyl to match the dash.
I went and picked up the new shinka interior. While I had the new interior in the truck I dropped it off at RAW details for a deep clean and condition. Now I have power seats and butt warmers too!
Creme leather with red double stitches. Inserts are perforated light brown suede with red underneath. Plus black suede headliner and pillars. The wrapped trim makes a world of a difference.
Most importantly **drum roll**
I ordered these a while ago but they took months to complete since it was a completely custom build. BUT....
Huge thanks to AirForce Suspension for building these full air struts for me!!! :banana2:
Leon Hardiritt Ordens, 18x10.5 +2 and 18x12 -10
225/35 on 18x10.5 and 255/35 onto 18x12
Hazerwerks finished my headlights!
Finished my air install, can’t believe I was able to do it all myself, took forever and it sucked a lot. Great learning experience though. I ended up choosing airlift v2 digital management. Fronts sit pretty well, rears needed a lot more camber. But I literally finished the install the night before the JDMC season opener so oh well! It was time to install the headlights, bumper, sides and roll out! I also got my hood wrapped gold because that was the color I planned* to wrap my car.
Capped lug nuts because open ends are for peasants :D
... fender is still fucked from last year too so that has to be fixed
Headlights in and bumper on!
Leo fixing the fender to perfection at Sergey's shop
installing my set of lower camber arms: compared to my bent stock arms. I already have adjustable upper camber arms installed too.
Rear was sitting MUCH better but the toe was absolutely fucked. Needed an alignment bad. Still wanted to go lower though.
Got an alignment. Drive height camber is -4 F and -9 R. Aired out its -8 F and -14 R.
yes, that is what -14 camber looks like, I had never seen this much in person before lol. SO awesome.
Oni-kyan
Cleaned up my trunk a little, thats my dual comp setup with 4 gal air tank. 250.1 JL amp and 12W3v3 JL sub.
Also took a grinder to the inside of my rear fenders and rear bumper to thin them out a few mm to give me so extra inner clearance. FINALLY got the fenders to "kiss" the lips in G's words lol. I'm reallllly stoked.
Decided against the gold wrap, my friend flew in from California to wrap my car. I'm so happy with how everything turned out. Just some finishing touches now.
I just really like this photo. Took the car in for some service at Mazda.
Some of the interior goodies:
Junction Produce silver Tsuna
Platinum stitched shift boot to accent the Garson **** with Swarovski elements and the new silver tsuna. All in the details
Two tone diamond stitched arm rests done by Executive VIP out in Cali
Wrapped the same color as my car
Dash cover to cover up my cracked dashboard, made by Executive VIP also, matches the arm rests.
Camber is -7 in front aired out. I ended up bringing the rear camber down to -12 in the rear aired out to reduce toe to spec while driving. At lower driving height camber is about -5 front and -9 rear. I’ve put 3000 miles on the car this summer on this setup, no issues. Thanks for the read and support!
here are a couple of my favorite shots from the Mazda Fitment feature.
Last edited by Danmn858; Nov 18, 2014 at 04:30 PM.
I personally don't care for the look, but I do appreciate all the time and effort you took in pulling off the look.
+1 for completeness, most of the Honda guys that try come nowhere close to this.
+1 for completeness, most of the Honda guys that try come nowhere close to this.
Not everyone's style. Definitely unique and I can appreciate the work put in. 
P.S Is this in the right section though? Shouldn't it prob be in the multimedia section. We need a section for build threads.
P.S Is this in the right section though? Shouldn't it prob be in the multimedia section. We need a section for build threads.
I just put it under suspension since it has to do with air sus. lol *shrugs*
I don't understand.
There is so much camber in your wheels that it looks like they are falling off. It's no wonder your "camber bars" were bent.
I'm also pretty certain that the wheels and fenders on a car are *not* supposed to touch. I mean, I guess if your goal was to make your car look like it was broken so nobody would try to steal it then that's pretty clever.
The seats and arm rests look really well done. Other than that, I don't really like the way any of it looks but I get it; it's a personal style choice.
At least you didn't plastidip the wheels, too. That would have ruined the whole thing.
There is so much camber in your wheels that it looks like they are falling off. It's no wonder your "camber bars" were bent.
I'm also pretty certain that the wheels and fenders on a car are *not* supposed to touch. I mean, I guess if your goal was to make your car look like it was broken so nobody would try to steal it then that's pretty clever.
The seats and arm rests look really well done. Other than that, I don't really like the way any of it looks but I get it; it's a personal style choice.
At least you didn't plastidip the wheels, too. That would have ruined the whole thing.
Archwisp, he doesn't want "purists" in the thread. From that I gather he doesn't wany anyone that has a predefined idea of how a car's suspension is supposed to work.
So if you have a level head on your shoulders or if you dislike it when people intentionally damage a valuable car, please avoid commenting.
So if you have a level head on your shoulders or if you dislike it when people intentionally damage a valuable car, please avoid commenting.
I don't understand.
There is so much camber in your wheels that it looks like they are falling off. It's no wonder your "camber bars" were bent.
I'm also pretty certain that the wheels and fenders on a car are *not* supposed to touch. I mean, I guess if your goal was to make your car look like it was broken so nobody would try to steal it then that's pretty clever.
The seats and arm rests look really well done. Other than that, I don't really like the way any of it looks but I get it; it's a personal style choice.
At least you didn't plastidip the wheels, too. That would have ruined the whole thing.
There is so much camber in your wheels that it looks like they are falling off. It's no wonder your "camber bars" were bent.
I'm also pretty certain that the wheels and fenders on a car are *not* supposed to touch. I mean, I guess if your goal was to make your car look like it was broken so nobody would try to steal it then that's pretty clever.
The seats and arm rests look really well done. Other than that, I don't really like the way any of it looks but I get it; it's a personal style choice.
At least you didn't plastidip the wheels, too. That would have ruined the whole thing.
I don't even know where to start:The car is professionally WRAPPED not plastidipped. My oem camber arm bent from hitting it, not from camber, the new camber arms are perfect. Also, the car is on air suspension, being as ignorant as you are, you probably wouldnt know what that is.
Good job not reading any of the thread.
Archwisp, he doesn't want "purists" in the thread. From that I gather he doesn't wany anyone that has a predefined idea of how a car's suspension is supposed to work.
So if you have a level head on your shoulders or if you dislike it when people intentionally damage a valuable car, please avoid commenting.
So if you have a level head on your shoulders or if you dislike it when people intentionally damage a valuable car, please avoid commenting.
6" and 7" lips
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From: Ireland
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Posts: 25
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From: Clayton, NY
I've seen this on Mazda Fitment. Lots of work for sure, and I love the headlights! I also like the quad tips, and was wondering what exhaust that is, or is it a set of stainless tips welded on? Thanks man!
It a custom Y pipe welded in places of the oem muffler. Thank you sir!
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 405
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From: I am a leaf in the wind...
VIP may not be my style, but that is INSANELY WELL done. Those headlights are mind blowing, and the whole look was pulled together amazingly well.
I'd love to see how she looks when you raise her up for driving around.
The articulation of the suspension as it moves up/ down is one of the coolest things about a "demon camber" VIP-style car
I'd love to see how she looks when you raise her up for driving around.
The articulation of the suspension as it moves up/ down is one of the coolest things about a "demon camber" VIP-style car
VIP may not be my style, but that is INSANELY WELL done. Those headlights are mind blowing, and the whole look was pulled together amazingly well.
I'd love to see how she looks when you raise her up for driving around.
The articulation of the suspension as it moves up/ down is one of the coolest things about a "demon camber" VIP-style car
I'd love to see how she looks when you raise her up for driving around.
The articulation of the suspension as it moves up/ down is one of the coolest things about a "demon camber" VIP-style car
Registered
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 405
Likes: 1
From: I am a leaf in the wind...
Drive height looks really good. Cambered out but not outlandish, very japanese VIP (pronounced "vippu") really good articulation on the suspension (sitting on the ground it has extreme camber on the "tuck" and a perfect lip peek/ tire tuck)
This look is normally done with luxury sedans, but you've made it work on a sports car, well done
Those LED clusters on the headlights are showstoppers! It d be interesting to see plans on a similar teatment to the tail lights.
This look is normally done with luxury sedans, but you've made it work on a sports car, well done
Those LED clusters on the headlights are showstoppers! It d be interesting to see plans on a similar teatment to the tail lights.
Last edited by WhiteDealershipRice; Jan 11, 2015 at 11:08 AM.
I found the definition of VIP for those who were wondering.
A car in which is perfectly decently looking and a nice daily driver, totally modified to resemble a car a VIP would supposedly drive in. Now, understand that this is the derivative of this style.
Occasionally referred to as Bippy's, modern VIP'd cars are normally just the ricer equivalent of a luxury car. This usually includes a fugly body kit, dropping your ride to the ground using air suspension (ride is horrid), putting huge beveled rims on it, and completely screwing up the camber so that the wheels can actually spin when driving the car. Oh yeah, and it must have at least 4 doors for a "Very Important Person" to fit in the back.
Essientially, a VIP'd car is the opposite of what a Very Important Person would like to be seen in.
Victims of becoming VIP'd usually include the following:
LEXUS'S
Toyota's
Acura's
Honda's
xB's
Minivan's
...basically any other JDM import sedan they can get their hands on, along with the occasional Euro car.
Person 1: Yo' ese, you see mah new BIPPY's?
Person 2: What? Oh, your ricer?
Person 1: NO MANG! MAH VIP Cars!
Person 2: There is no way in hell a VIP would ride in those.
Person 1: Man, you've been reading too much of that ST:A crap.
Person 2: Whatever dude, those are just luxury ricers, nothing more. They're uglier than the stock models.
Occasionally referred to as Bippy's, modern VIP'd cars are normally just the ricer equivalent of a luxury car. This usually includes a fugly body kit, dropping your ride to the ground using air suspension (ride is horrid), putting huge beveled rims on it, and completely screwing up the camber so that the wheels can actually spin when driving the car. Oh yeah, and it must have at least 4 doors for a "Very Important Person" to fit in the back.
Essientially, a VIP'd car is the opposite of what a Very Important Person would like to be seen in.
Victims of becoming VIP'd usually include the following:
LEXUS'S
Toyota's
Acura's
Honda's
xB's
Minivan's
...basically any other JDM import sedan they can get their hands on, along with the occasional Euro car.
Person 1: Yo' ese, you see mah new BIPPY's?
Person 2: What? Oh, your ricer?
Person 1: NO MANG! MAH VIP Cars!
Person 2: There is no way in hell a VIP would ride in those.
Person 1: Man, you've been reading too much of that ST:A crap.
Person 2: Whatever dude, those are just luxury ricers, nothing more. They're uglier than the stock models.
Legot, I already clarified who he wants out of his thread above...
Anyone that is willing to spend the kind of money he is on pursuing it is never going to be disuaded from his goal, so please don't start a flame war trying.
Anyone that is willing to spend the kind of money he is on pursuing it is never going to be disuaded from his goal, so please don't start a flame war trying.
Also, the style originated from japanese mobsters liked to be driven around in or preferred to drive, it is meant to attract as much attention as possible and to be completely out of the norm to represent individuality and choice of lifestyle.
I encourage you to check out this awesome video and you will understand, only 7 minutes long. Titled "Love to hate me"
Last edited by Danmn858; Jan 13, 2015 at 03:26 PM.
