Earth Mother

The Swansong at the Black Swan sim, soon to be closed by Rezzable as they leave Second Life with only Greenies, is quite a round-up of fashion designers in Second Life. As I was helping Raven set down her panel for “Black Flame,” I cammed around the area, feeling that familiar twinge of the need to shop as I saw everyone’s creations.

That same evening, Lorac passed over a photo of her new Wheat/Desire skin, and I realized the perfect look was in my hands. With Dezi Jarvinen’s Mother Nature Gown in Earth, I was able to put together an earth mother look that appealed to the Taurus in me. Dezi designed a dress with beautifully rendered leaves and branches and a cleverly designed sheer green skirt. It compliments the vision of natural beauty shown with Lorac’s skin.

What is also clever about this outfit is that the pretty underneath pieces turn into a sexy bikini when you take the prims and outer layers off. So Mother Earth can get down-to-earth and down to business in a split second. Dezi did the kind service of providing the clothing on all layers, which many may be considered convenient but made the ensemble confusing for me.

The natural look:

Hair: Maitreya Moon – Ginger by Onyx LeShelle for Maitreya

Skin: Pulse Skin-Valeries T: Wheat/Desire AUB by Lorac Farella for Pulse

Dress: *Staged* Mother Nature Gown Set_Earth by Dezi Jarvinen for *Staged* being sold now at Black Swan until August 17.

Fresh Melon

One of the best parts of summer is a sweet melon salad. The cool greens of honeydew and sweet oranges of canteloupe mixed with a little ripe red watermelon—delicious!

That’s why this dress from AnaLee Balut is so perfect for summer. Light, flowing, and sexy at the same time, this lovely piece is a beautiful piece for mid or late summer. She has made a semi-transparent skirt attached higher on the torso as an empire waist with a sexy peek-a-boo quality to it that looks sweet while it still shows off the shape and a little skin.

I am showing one of Pulse’s newest skins, the Wheat/Blush from the Valeries series. When Lorac first sent this to me, I knew it would be a winner with its sweet blush and beautiful lips plus Lorac’s unmistakable eyes.

I included the talented Ryker Beck’s Prathivi earrings and bracelet and the beautiful Dylan from Maitreya’s Hair Fair 2009 entries.

Finally, I am wearing Jamie Holmer’s beautiful Bellucci shoes in Gold. I’ll admit I originally went to look a them because of the name. (Monica Bellucci is who I would want to be in an alternative life.) However, I bought them because they were strappy and elegant. Jamie has not bought into the prosthetic foot/toe craze yet, but she does have resizer scripts in these shoes (which can and should be killed when done). She was smart enough to include another pair without the scripts for people who simply don’t want the hassle. Available in 12 colors, these gems are only $325.

Fruit salad, yummy, yummy:

Hair: Maitreya Dylan – Autumn by Onyx LeShelle for Maitreya

Skin: Pulse Skin-Valeries T: Wheat/Blush AUB f by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins

Dress: ALB LOTTA honeydew dress by AnaLee Balut for ALB

Earrings and Bracelet: :: Exodi :: Prathivi Set by Ryker Beck for :: Exodi ::

Shoes: INDI Designs – Bellucci gold by Jamie Holmer for INDI

Eshi, my sweet Eshi

You fit into me
like a hook into an eye

a fish hook
an open eye

~ Margaret Atwood

Eshi Otawara has a lot of fangrrls and fanbois. I happen to be one of them. Actually, I am more than a fan—I am her “stalker.” Almost every night I call Eshi on her home phone and leave her a message, usually in the vein of “Where are you? Pick up!” I “stalk” her because Eshi is a real life friend of mine, a great friend, one of the best I have.

So with full disclosure, I am showing you this stunning piece Eshi donated for auction for RFL named Kabuki limited. I modeled it and then snatched it out of the hands of another bidder because from the moment I first laid eyes on it, I had to have it. Besides Eshi, I have the only existing copy in Second Life. Lion Jonesford of Lion Skins was generous enough to make the skin for this ensemble, which is also a one-of-a-kind.

Why is it that Eshi is such a big deal? Well she has a big community of fans behind her—that’s true. One has to wonder how—she is outspoken, abrasive, rambunctious and obnoxious.

She also has one of the warmest hearts of anyone I have met. She has great integrity, generosity of time and spirit, and a real talent and vision for creation in Second Life. She is the genuine deal.

Her personality is clearly exhibited in her work. While there are billowing, almost airy skirts, brilliant saturated colors juxtaposed with black and white, shimmering curves and sweeping feathers, beautiful Asian-inspired birds and lovely floating petals, there are also signs of her bold, almost aggressive personality—an oversized hat pin shoved through the head (complete with ironically sweet anime flower), hair pulled back in a long exaggerated ponytail (but not one millimeter longer to push it from artistic into absurd), arms thinned and elongated by shimmering toruses, fish hooks emerging from a skirt and hovering around the body as a sort of armor. The tension between Eshi’s incredible goodness and her deep darkness imbues her work.

Eshi is a brilliant designer, taking the challenges of building in SL and making them seem like “features not bugs.” She combines tortured prims, sculpties, and flexis in ways no one has thought to do and does it effortlessly. And she echoes the true shapes that are now being seen on real catwalks. (One just has to look at the current roll of new designers to see Eshi’s toruses perched on heads and clustered on limbs, her feathers sweeping behind.)

Here’s the Fishook dress. (One of 30 in SL, and no longer available. Y’all should have bought it when she was a fledgling dressmaker!)

Eshi will be the first to admit she doesn’t have graphics training. Her Photoshop skills are still developing. This isn’t about skill (though the girl can do things with prims and textures on prims that the rest of can only dream of).

What Eshi has is a beautiful and unique vision and an ability to think around the normal artistic and design discourses we all fall into in and out of SL.

There is simply no one else like her.

The info:

Hair: Otohime Black Kabuki by Eshi Otawara for Eshi Otawara /Chambre du Chocolat

Skin: Eshi & LionSkins-Kabuki (one-of-a-kind) by Lion Jonesford of Lion Skins

Dress: Kabuki (one-of-a-kind) by Eshi Otawara for Eshi Otawara /Chambre du Chocolat

More info:

Hair: ::DK:: Rigel – White Black by Helyanwe Vindaloo for Deviant Kitties

Skin: Pulse Skin-Climax/Valeries T2 Venetian Red BLK by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins

Dress: Fishook Dress (black)- Chambre du Chocolat (Limited) by Eshi Otawara for Eshi Otawara /Chambre du Chocolat

Eshi’s store is gone. If you would like to see Eshi’s work exhibited in a manner that befits it, visit her exhibit at the Locus sim designed by DB Bailey. Eshi’s pieces are shown with textiles from the Stanford University Library.

Princess for a Day

Sky Everett, in her usual manner, has given the Black Swan Swansong sale an incredible hair piece with Princess Liante. With it’s paradoxically ancient and futuristic shape, this will adorn women across the grid either as high fashion or as role-playing accoutrement.

A furniture designer and a home builder, Sky has lent her considerable texturing and prim building talents to making hair for ladies all over the grid. Sky makes hair like no one else—it’s big, it’s beautiful, it’s many women’s fantasy. Princess Liante comes with a gorgeous jeweled ponytail that snakes around to the front. With hair pulled up in back, it comes with or without facelights.

Even better, it comes with a variety of jewels. You get a pair of beautiful earrings and two collars, one that faces backwards and one that faces forwards. You also get a set of jewels that can be worn on the back of the hair piece or on top as a crown.

The crown suits me….

I chose to show the hair with Mallu Mayo’s dress Etherna. This hair has to take center stage but it has to be accompanied by a simple classic dress. Mallu’s work is clean and well-constructed. As someone remarked when they saw me in this, “Not everyone can pull off an empire waist in SL. Looks great!”

I love AOHARU’s Suede Lace Up Sandals with this dress. I show them here without the dress so you can see up close that prim toes/feet don’t have to cost a lot and don’t need to have the fat ankle and mismatched skin.

What the princess wore:

Hair with jewels: Sky Everett Designs – Princess Liante (full set) by Sky Everett for Sky Everett Designs

Skin: Pulse Skin-Climax/Tone 2-Makeup 3 by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins

Dress: * REALE *Etherna Dress (Pearl) Bay Mallu Mayo for Reale

Shoes: AOHARU_WALK_SuedeLaceupSandals_White by machang Pichot for AOHARU

A quick shout out to some friends who have helped or been helping me with this blog including Winter Jefferson of In Cold Blood, Raven Haalen of Raven’s Roost and his partner Isle Lunasea, and my two biggest critical advisors–fashion photog buddy Wilhelm and architect Stephen. (They don’t have blogs.. they do this stuff for real. So they are kind enough to fuss at my photos in-world while they are trying to relax.)

Thanks also to Saeya for hooking me up with that Photosphere! My own hollowed-out sphere was getting to be a drag.

And moo, I love ya, babe!

Cute as I can get

Thing is I just am not cute. I am funny, I am beautiful, but “cute” eludes me. I have never been cute, never will be.

But this darling outfit, which I got ON SALE at ~GypsySoul~, makes me feel cute without feeling twee.

With its gray sweater, sweet (but not too sweet) plaid skirt, striped socks and blue camisole, it’s just right for a girl who wants to be cute but not TOO cute.

I put this awesome hat/hair from lamb. on top. I do have an inquiry for hair makers.. do you just plop a hat on top when you find you can’t solve the top-of-the-head prim puzzle? Sometimes I think hair makers find themselves at the top of very thorny puzzle and go, oh screw it, and throw a hat on top. I saw a few like that at Hair Fair this year, including one with a big ol’ rose on top.

I am not sure that Lamb Bellic did that with this—the hat is pretty stinkin’ cute and the hair suits it perfectly.

I also used my FAVORITE EVER grungy boots from Shiny Things-the Old Boots. They cut down on the cuteness and are comfy, like old boots are ‘sposed to be. These beauties are full prim, done the old fashioned way, with kickin’ textures and the sweet little buckles. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore (she says in her old man voice).

The scoop:

Hair: !lamb. Dog Roses – Twix by Lamb Bellic for lamb.

Skin: Pulse Skin – Climax/Tone 2-Makeup 1 by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins

Outfit: ~GypsySoul~ Autumn (sweater, skirt, tights—the whole shebang) by Solitude Hermit for ~GypsySoul~

Boots: (Shiny Things) Old Boots – black by Fallingwater Cellardoor for Shiny Things

Feeling Suede

(nova) by NovaStar Shilova has been hovering below my radar for a little while. I got a cool kimono from RFL made by her, but I really didn’t think much more about it until my friend Valeries suggested I check out her stuff.

(nova) has a variety of cool clothes–swimsuits, kimonos, evening dresses, and some really cute pre-assembled ensembles (all styled from top to bottom for you). However, I went straight to the wall of suede, and I was hooked. I could *smell* the suede—you know that rich smell when you walk in a store that has fine leather and suede goods. (nova) has suede pants, suede jackets, suede vests, suede cinchers and hotpants, suede catsuits, suede corsets, suede bikinis, and she has this hotter’n heck suede minidress which comes with a hoodie and an optional skirt that can be worn over pants (like a little jacket).  They come in a variety of colors—cream, mocha, caramel, chocolate, espresso, and black.

The details are something else… check out the zipper down the back…

Then she has belts, bracelets, cowboy hats, driving gloves, mules, pumps, cowboy boots, ankle boots, and these killer riding boots—all suede.

I chose to style this outfit with two pieces of jewelry. The necklace I got after wandering around a great little sim looking for something from Beanie Canning’s blog, Beanie Loves Japan! The middle stone is color change, and it cost something paltry like 50L. The bracelet is from the incredible Fallingwater Cellardoor.

The suede facts:

Hair: Armidi Hair – The Angel I – Hazelberry by Lola Marquez for Armidi

Skin: Pulse Skin-Valeries T: Sienna/Citrus BRN by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins

Dress: (nova) suede dress CHOCOLATE by NovaStar Shilova for (nova)

Boots: (nova) riding boots CHOCOLATE by NovaStar Shilova for (nova)

Necklace: ~~Sakka’s Studio~~ Leather strap necklace / Color ring by sakka Flow for ~~Sakka’s Studio~~

Bracelet: (Shiny Things) Brown strung leather bracelet, red beads by Fallingwater Cellardoor for Shiny Things

Lady in Red

I have been a redhead almost since the first day I was in SL. I am not sure why I went this way—I have brown hair in RL. However, red—its heat, its passion, its vibrancy—are part of my SL self.

So when I saw this dress last night while I was hunting around for watermelons (and that is a whole other discussion that starts with “Why?”), I spotted a little store named LOOKR and bought a sexy looking dress that would match a pair of red shoes I had gotten the week before. (And we all know it’s all about the shoes.)

System pieces are not easy—especially not system skirts. Adam Soler has made a sexy system skirt for this piece, resisting the need to add to complete the look. On a modified skirt shape, this dress looks delicious.

And the back is strappy and sexy.

I opted to add the Nyte N Day’s Pith Necklace and bracelet, full perm pieces I purchased a while ago and never think to pull out.

Finally the shoes. These sexy sandals, made by Delfi Lane, are a fierce competitor to the prevailing “leaders” in SL. With 12 nail textures, gold or silver metal, on or off toe ring, and easy fitting and skin coloring, at 425L, these shoes are a steal. Available in this Lucious Red, they also come in Black, Blush, Chocolate Brown, Silver Gray and Golden Sand. The fat pack retails for 2000L.

What it is and where I got it:

Hair: (ZF) – Tiff Hair – Vivid Red by Zyrra Falcone for Panache Hair

Skin: Pulse Skin-Climax Tone3 Makeup 5 by Lorac Farella for Pulse

Dress: LOOKR ~ Elegente ~ Red by Adam Soler for LOOKR

Shoes: S@SS Leather Bound in Luscious Red by Delfi Lane for S@SS

Paisley Harper

A few months ago, Callie Cline called me and asked to name a dress after me. I don’t know why, she said, but this dress reminds me of you.

In the end, she made six colors of the dress and named them after some pretty spectacular ladies in SL including Babyhoney Bailey, Graciana McMillan, Gorgeous Yongho, and Summer Deadlight.

Callie let me choose which dress I wanted to model, and I chose the copper color. Why? Well it’s muted, it goes with the muted skin and red hair I usually choose, and oh, it was fall. And I think I knew Gogo would want the blue.

Here is the Harper’s Bizarre version of the dress in copper….

This is what I like about the dress. Callie used a great complex texture on the system pieces that stretches well over the avatar—check out the decolletage with the pretty lace insert and how Callie has framed the paisley around the bodice. And look at that sexy low cut back. Callie also includes some great details, like a double-stitched hem around the top skirt and the sleeves and matching lace in the sleeves, the back and front and the hem.

Then she included with the outfit the ultimate in girly jewelry—diamond and black gem earrings, bracelet and ring. Check out the stone on that ring!

Callie is a fantastic lady with a great brand. Period.

What I’m wearing:

Hair: :bijou: Hair [Cindy II]/Brown01 by Kotobuki Jewell for :bijou:

Skin: Pulse Skin-Climax/Tone 3 Makeup 3 by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins

Dress: haRpeRs biZZaRe paisley party dress (copper) by Callie Cline for caLLie cLine

Shoes: J’s Real Toe Cross Belt Sandals BROWN by JB Gazov for J’s

Chinoiserie

I stole the name from today’s outfit because it’s so fitting. “Chinoiserie” is French for “Chinese-esque,” and was often applied to precious pieces of European works with Asian influences. Miko Omegamu of Icing has put out this most exquisite dress, a piece of beauty. In true Miko form, every pixel is in place, every prim perfect, the shape of the dress and skirt perfect. Miko is a goddess of good clothing design in SL.

One thing I don’t read a lot about in fashion blogs is proportion. Miko proportions this gown perfectly—the print is just the right size to suit the avatar. The skirt is the right angle and size to balance off the gown. The sleeves fall at the correct part of the upper arm.

Another thing not always addressed is the construction of a piece. Miko has ensured that the seams match on the sides as well as from the top to the skirt. The piping around the top extends down to the skirt perfectly.

Finally, the issue of prims is rarely addressed. Miko is, first of all, a great builder. Every skirt she has ever made has been flawless. Second she knows what she is doing with alphas. Some people don’t know how to control them. But Miko knows just what she is doing with them. By allowing the alphas to do their work, she gave the skirt a shifting diaphanous quality. I see lots of people do this, but that generally means they don’t know what they are up to—you can see a shadow of the body through the alphas and they just don’t look right. However, Miko MEANS to. The skirts shift subtly and with a quality that makes them beautiful. And gosh, how well did she finish the edges?

The killer about all this is this dress is a mere 350L! I have blown three or four times that much on dresses not as beautiful or well-constructed.

I don’t/won’t generally go on and on like this but Miko’s work has to be given it’s due respect. Yes, I know Miko—I guess I could call her a friend. But I bought this dress myself. Even if I didn’t know her, I would go on and on.

One other item I want to mention are Caliah Lyon’s earrings from Muse. The Chinoiserie Crimson and Gold Fan Earrings are an example of her amazing tiny prim work. Me? I let the prims tell me what they want to do. Caliah? She tells ‘em what they’re gonna do. Amazing.

Here’s the facts, Jack:

Hair: ETD Carolyn – Jet by Elikapeka Tiramisu for ETD, Elika Tiramisu Designs

Skin: Pulse Skin-Climax/Valeries T2 Venetian Red Blk F by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins

Dress (including flowers in hair): * *ICING* Chinoiserie by Miko Omegamu for *ICING*

Earrings: ~Muse~ Chinoiserie Crimson and Gold Fan Earrings by Caliah Lyon for ~Muse~

Beginnings

After much going back and forth on my part, viewing everyone’s beautiful blogs on the fashion bloggers group in SL, I have decided to take a crack at my own blog. My closet is big, my inventory daunting. It’s time to take some of these pretties out and let the world see them.

With that, I begin this first blog. I will doubtless feel my way around, learn how to show these things better, get more proficient in writing and PS (hey, I did the header all by myself).

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So pardon the mess while I try this out. In the meantime, here is the styling information:

Hair: Tori (Hazel) from Aden Breyer for Aden

Skin: Pulse Skin-Valeries T: Sienna/Champagne BRN by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins

Dress: NX Nardya Noir No.1 by Nardya Rousselot for Nardcotix

Shoes: N-core INFINITY XtremeHeel Black by Claire Messenger for N-core