Internacional One

Who is the person behind the keyboard talking to you? You can never be totally certain. We used to assume the person was a middle-class European or American person, probably white. Now with internet access being global, the internet can be as diverse as the real world is. And SL should be just as diverse.

Your friend might be this beauty, sitting in a salwar kameez she purchased in Mumbai o her last trip home. This particular outfit, made by Annapurna Onomatopoeia, and offered for FREE, is a beautiful example of a nice salwar kameez. Annapurna has tackled the system layers and won, putting the lower part of the top on the skirt layer with the appropriate slit up the side and adjoining it to a beautifully rendered embroidered top.

My roommate in grad school, Ajantha, ran around the house in outfits like this all the time, and ALWAYS wearing a bazillion gold bangles around her wrists. I could always hear her coming from the pretty jangle of her bracelets. She also had a little nose piercing as I show here—nothing overt, just small and sexy, a glimmering twinkle in her animated face. And this face, made by sanalyildiz Yalin, is especially gorgeous with its kohl-lined eyes and luscious lips.

Photographed while listening to Internacional by the Brazilian Girls.

Hair: JF – Stephanie II (Black) by mcgeeb Gupte for Jolie Femme

Skin: *Sawode* Ada Umber Skin Makeup 6 (Hair Base) by sanalyildiz Yalin for Sawode

Outfit: Yak & Yeti * Salwar Kameez black by Annapurna Onomatopoeia for Yak & Yeti

Diamond: Aly – Diamond Nose Stud  01 by Alyssa Bijoux for Alyssa Bijoux Jewelry

Bangles: (nova) simplicity gold bangles by NovaStar Shilova for (nova)

Shoes: ::: MOON ::: 1001 Nights Harem Slippers PLUSHRED by moon Ling for ::: MOON :::

Calling You

Busy, busy, running around. That’s SL and RL. The best part of SL, however, is you can open an IM window and call your friend immediately.

This little outfit is perfect for running around SL. The top, from Lavea Alter, is a cute little offering at the Car Wash Cart Sale, ideal for summer outfits and perfect paired with this skirt, from miu Villota, which is probably more a winter piece but works as a sort of ethnic fabric.

I put on this cute new set of jewelry from Kayleigh McMillan, which completes the look and makes me look more studied and less disheveled. Even more important is my iPhone accessory from Erehwon Yoshikawa, which is a little gift for a Techie Hunt this weekend. Wear the phone and KEEP it on. It has some surprises ;)

Finally these sexy shoes from Nardya Rousselot complete the look. Stylish but comfy platforms with cute bows and just gorgeous toes. (I am all about the toes. Nardya made the bestest toes!)

Written while listening to “Calling You” by Jevetta Steele. (Remember, from Bagdad Cafe?)

Hair: >TRUTH< Melinda – caramel by Truth Hawks for >TRUTH< *

Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room LE :: Gina 03 by Tuli Asterius for Tuli (no longer available)

Top: A-BOMB Cami-green by Lavea Alter for A-BOMB, available at the Car Wash Cart Sale

Skirt: *MIU* knitskirt(green) by miu Villota for MIU

Jewelry: *ByKay* ~ Kalya ~ *Olive* (Set) by Kayleigh McMillan for *ByKay* *

Phone: YAE AviPhone (Do not lose!) by Erehwon Yoshikawa for Yoshikawa Aetheric Engineering, available in the Techie Hunt *

Shoes: NX-Nardcotix MANA Chelo Brown by Nardya Rousselot for Nardcotix *

Go Go Kanomi!

As I said in my One Year blog, I will be inviting guest bloggers to weigh in on THEIR fashion choices. My first guest is the beautiful and much-loved Kanomi Pikajuna.

I met Kanomi at a party given by Lillie Yifu over two years ago. Kanomi peeked at me shyly from under her blonde bangs and smiled a sweet hello, taking my friendship and then honoring it by inviting me to see her dance at her favorite shemale club. She later honored me by meeting me when I was in San Francisco. She is now across the ocean, enjoying the charms of her new Nordic home.

Her style has always been distinctive, based on a mix of lolita/harajuku/shemale sensibilities. I invited her to guest post to tell us about her style (and to take advantage of having such a great writer on my blog). Read more of her charged, tongue-in-cheek writing at her now defunct blog, Tiny Dancing.

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The Bride: Go-Go, right?
Go Go Yubari: Bingo. And you’re Black Mamba.
The Bride: Our reputations precede us.
Go Go Yubari: Don’t they?
~ Kill Bill, Vol. 1

Quentin Tarantino is a stellar director, with a distinctive over-the-top, comic book style that jives with our more juvenile sensibilities yet at the same time is clever, punchy, and layered with passion and complexity.

Now it would be pompous to compare a legendary Hollywood auteur to one’s own clothing, but sometimes if the metaphor fits, you have to wear it!

Kanomi’s style is also a bit over the top; with her, I try to walk a fine line between trashy and classy; something that’s evolved over time from a mash-up of schoolgirls, strippers, harajuka, gothilolita, sugar pie kawaii and London-town latex.

So when on the same day Harper invited me to write this piece, I serendipitously stumbled upon Danika’s Gogo Badgirl! ensemble — a no-frills, fun get-up based on Kill Bill‘s Go-Go and which fit Kanomi to a tee. The rest, as we say in the highly profitable world of Second Life blogging, is history.

Danika’s designs are on the opposite end of the fashion spectrum from those who dress their models up in light bulbs and burlap sacks; she works within the clay of the common dream: schoolgirls, cheerleaders, nurses, teacher’s pets.

Yet these same eros-tinged eidolons are buried much more deeply in the collective zeitgeist than most runway recherché.

Finding these kinds of clothes done right is a happiness. To be indulged in her eye for detail and practicality is to be pampered. To be able to afford her sensible takes on genre tropes is a victory; clothes like these belong in everyone’s come-hither arsenal.

Sure, the collar details could be clearer, the color options broader, but at these prices, her work is an oasis of fun in a desert of schoolgirl schlock.

The prim skirt in particular has a unique cut that lifts the whole look beyond the usual cookie-cutter “lampshade around your waist, jutting out at peculiar angles” look so prevalent in schoolgirl sets

Besides the pigsticker, this ensemble also comes with white tennies and some of those oddly thick J-school socks, but we swapped those out for some Sweet Goodbye walking boots and some Axienne nylons to take us up-market a bit.

Today’s skin is a new paint job for an old shape, a bit of freckled Eurasian pastel from Tuli to help us stand out on dance floors thronged with six foot six tan-amazons “whispering” in Gorean silks.

Now let’s top off our ice cream cone with Zero Style braids, light enough to make those Caribbean blue eyes pop, and voila, it’s konichiwa, bitches!

— Kanomi Pikajuna

‘Cause I’ll hammer your toe
Like a pediatrician
Saw you in half
Like I’m a magician
— Robyn, “Konichiwa Bitches”

Hair: Octavia Golden Wheat by Rei Gully for Zero Style Japanese Hair

Skin: Sayuri 1:002 freckle by Tuli Asturias for T U L I skins

Blouse, jacket & skirt: GOGO BADGIRL by Danika Knelstrom for Danika Designs

Stockings: Shiny Tan by Axienne DeVaux for Nylons by Axienne

Boots: SG Get on! Boots Black by Morphine Janick for Sweetest Goodbye

Pantyhose: Light Basic by Toshy Mohr for SHOP Toshy

Heels: CourtX black by Adrina Welders for AW Design

One Year

What’s one year? It’s really a blip in the greater world, a very small increment in a long long long time of infinity. It’s also the time it takes a tree to make a complete cycle from green leaf to green leaf or for a little boy to grow 3 inches and learn how to read Magic School Bus on his own. It’s 365 days or 52 weeks and change or 8760 hours or 525600 minutes or 31536000 seconds, if you have to be pedantic. It’s also how long my blog has been going.

I have created in total 365 posts (a few not of my own making, a couple twice in a day and three days missed—one for my mom’s surgery and two during SL7B). Akismet has protected me from 5526 spam comments and 761 comments have been approved. I have accrued 1763 tags.

It’s been quite an amazing year for me. I started the blog for various reasons: I was helping head the fashion bloggers group that Callie Cline started, and I had a few suggestions for the bloggers in the group. Some balked at them, so I decided, ok, I am going to see how hard these suggestions are to do. (They included blogging on a regular schedule with a consistent format, honestly referencing creators, linking slurls, and making photographs that were clear and honest but also compelling.) And I had a very full inventory that needed showing off.

I found that the blog has done several things for me, least of which is to bring an obsessive discipline about writing in my life, which I very much needed. Every single day I have to write, whether I like doing it or not. Some days my writing is inspired; some days it’s disappointingly flat. But every day I am compelled to do it; if I miss, I feel miserable.

The payoff has been great in other ways. It has also made me quite a few new friends–designers, readers, fashionistas–and has given me the opportunity to work out some thoughts I had about SL, about fashion, about representation, about being a virtual citizen. And I have had the privilege to review work by some of the best and brightest of SL. (At this point I was going to make a list but it was tremendously long. Let me just say, thank you, dear designers, for contributing items for this blog and being willing to be seen through my eyes.)

One topic I have explored on this blog is the idea of identity and the representation of identity in SL. Of course, a lot of the blog is about my identity, but often I have tried to think of other “characters” and “persona” existing in SL, especially men, lesbians, and people of color (none of which I am). (Oh, and a pig.. yes, I was a pig once.) I intend to keep doing this. I think it’s important that I represent the world that uses SL—diverse in color, culture, lifestyle, and belief.

I also intend to invite new guest bloggers. SC Tracy was kind enough to contribute a few blogs during the year, but now I will be reaching out to friends who have contributed to my life and who have an interesting perspective on SL. I think you all will find identity and the virtual fashion that helps shape it is a many-splendored thing.

If you have been a regular reader, thank you.

If you are reading back, keep reading back.. and read forward.

Thanks for a great first year!

The Darker Side

To enter a fantasy world means, sometimes, to enter a world of darkness and grief. It’s actually really about the emotional depth, the passion of touching that which is most frightening, succumbing to the.. well.. inevitable.

This ensemble might be perfect for such a time. First, the dress is by Avrele Guisse. I have had the pleasure of watching Avrele’s development as a designer—her line exists under the umbrella of House of RFyre. Avrele has pushed her abilities and aesthetic over the year she has been in SL. She recently released this gothic dress under my nose, one of her best, in my opinion. She did all sorts of things right with this, from the great use of a draped texture on the skirt with shifting repeats, a sheer mesh bodice, and a sexy low cut back with a provocative spine decoration.

I paired it with this pale skin from Keiko Morigi of &Bean, one of her offerings for The Potter’s Field. With its blue eye and cateye liner, black lips and delicate shading (especially under the eyes and around the lips), it’s a painterly representation of a gothic look. It’s certainly not for everybody, but for those who like a more deathly look, they can’t go wrong with this romantic skin.

Written while listening to “My Body’s a Zombie for You” by Dead Man’s Bones. (“I’m a Z-O-M-B-I-E. Zombie! I’m a Z-O-M-B-I-E. Zombie!”)

Hair: Exile Emmanuelle violetdawn by Kavar Cleanslate for Exile

Skin: &Bean – Old Bones Arsenic by Keiko Morigi for &Bean, exclusive to The Potter’s Field

Dress: Avrele ‘Epine Womans Necromonger/Goth ensemble: Plum by Avrele Guisse for Avrele *

Shoes: [MIH] Lolita Shoes Black by Suigin Manamiko for [MIH]

Dancing in the Heart

Some days it’s just great to find a dance partner and enjoy the beauty of seeing yourself twirling across a dance floor. In SL, dancing is one of the deepest cultural activities, rich with cultural meaning and social interaction.

Yesterday I got a call from Adam Peliatropis, a friend of mine and co-owner of Foxxie’s, a romantic dance club. He was trying to push the number of avatars in the sim up and asked me to stop in. Fortunately, I had this beautiful dress from monica Outlander, a brand new offering from her. I threw it on, gazed dreamily at the luminescent texture monica has made it from (and wondering how she manages to make it look like it’s embroidered silk), and adjusted nary a prim (she also builds amazingly).

I wore this sensuous skin from Tuli Asturias and beautiful jewelry from Kesseret Steeplechase. I bought the set because I visited Kesseret’s store during a hunt of some sort and she put the item right out front rather than hiding it, which gave me more time to shop. I saw this beautiful set (that includes a gorgeous vintage-looking necklace) and had to have it. I love the rectangular stones.

You can dance anywhere, even if only in your heart.

Hair: :Liriope: ELN black by Ilze Erin for :Liriope:

Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room :: Gina 04 by Tuli Asturias for Tuli *

Dress: Miamai_Lorelei Rose Gown by monica Outlander for Miamai *

Jewelry: *KK* Victoria Jewelry Set by Kesseret Steeplechase for KessKreations

Nails: [ Love Soul ] Posing nail*Oval-Natural* by BlueStarRUI Villota for [ Love Soul ]

Shoes: Maitreya Gold – Aequus Silver by Onyx LeShelle for Maitreya

Dance Me to the End of Love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I’m gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

There is something so romantic about a dark song about love until death. This song seemed a perfect accompaniment to Babyhoney Bailey’s offering for the Potter’s Field, which will be going on from July 24 – August 24–an artistic and design challenge to some of the grid’s younger and more interesting designers based on a dark theme. This dress is a beautiful and dramatic piece from Babyhoney Bailey, built from a foundation of simple but well done system pieces accompanied by dramatic prims including a glowing monocle.

I wear the ballerina boots Babyhoney offers for the dress (at a mere 44L!) because they are actually pretty. I was never in love with this weird contorted shoe shape (that is as painful looking as foot binding),  but for this ensemble it works. Babyhoney also offers the outfit as a lingerie set complete with parasol (because it’s rainy in those dark romantic other-lives). I was particularly impressed by how she used the system skirt layer to make a bottom for the bodice—ingenious!

Finally, the skin is also from Babyhoney Bailey. Her skins are getting more refined as she gets more experience. I like the asymmetrical nature of this skin—the mouth is slightly uneven, the mascara tears streak down crookedly. The whole look is enhanced by a huge hair from MiaSnow Myriam that may no longer be available.

Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn…
~”Dance Me to the End of Love” by Leonard Cohen as sung by Madeleine Peyroux

Hair: MIASNOW Hair – SPECIAL DAY Red Dark by MiaSnow Myriam for MIASNOW

Skin: Djinn & Tonic  <MUA> Potter’s Field, The Mistress N-Black by Babyhoney Bailey for Djinn and Tonic, exclusive to The Potter’s Field *

Dress: The Mistress, Gown by Babyhoney Bailey for Djinn and Tonic, exclusive to The Potter’s Field *

Lingerie: The Mistress, 2.0 by Babyhoney Bailey for Djinn and Tonic, exclusive to The Potter’s Field *

Boots: Djinn & Tonic – Potter’s Field, The Mistress Boot by Babyhoney Bailey for Djinn and Tonic, exclusive to The Potter’s Field *

Funny How Time Slips Away

Well hello there
My, it’s been a long long time
How am I doin’
Oh well, I guess I’m doin’ fine
It’s been so long now and it seems that
It was only yesterday
Ain’t it funny how time slips away

~ Willie Nelson, “Funny How Time Slips Away”

Today’s post was inspired by an old recording of a Willie Nelson song, “Funny How Time Slips Away,” the one recorded in 1962 with the ladies crooning in the background. He also wrote “Crazy,” very famously performed by Patsy Cline. Hence today’s look, which is built on the foundation of a great skin by Keiko Morigi, poignant in its illustrative character (so unlike the many airbrushed looks we see around the grid). I top it with a great vintage ‘do from Bubbles Clawtooth, one of many vintage pieces he offers.

The shirt’s from Floatie Hock, who has a good thing going with her vintage wear (and great sims). This can be worn by a man or a woman (as most of her items, they look great on either sex). I wanted to find a big full skirt, ala Patsy Cline at the Grand Ol’ Opry, but nothing was turning up, so I ran over to Antonia Marat’s and found these cute rockabilly-style highwaist pants. Finally, the cowboy boots are from Cerberus Noel and appropriately decorated. No cowgirl would be seen dead on a horse on these but in front of an audience of music lovers, yes indeed!

Well ain’t it surprisin’ how time slips away…

Hair: Clawtooth: True Betty – Uptown brown by Bubbles Clawtooth for Clawtooth

Skin: &Bean – hounds of love LIGHT Rav  1  brow by Kieko Morigi for &Bean

Top: HB – Wyatt – Black by Floatie Hock for Hell Bop *

Jeans: /artilleri/ nina highwaist pants *black* by Antonia Marat for /artilleri/

Cowboy hat: **DD**Resistol  II Cowboy Hat White Leather by TOmmy Fairplay for Dragonfly Designs

Earrings: Earring – Pearl Stud – Black – Unltd by Random Calliope for Worthwhile *

Nails: *[PM] Sculpted Nail V2 – Platinum Edition V2 : Gloss by Tya Fallingbridge for Pixel Mode

Boots: *GF* Short Western Boots -black- by Cerberus Noel for G Field

Intrigue

I am a little stir crazy, a bit restless.

I decided to dress it up. I put on these sexy flowy pants from monica Outlander, a slinky top, just out from Sysy Chapman (who does these sexy little separates so well), a pretty necklace and earrings that get some glamour treatment from Quinlan Quimby and some killer heels from Viktoria Brandenburg.

But the story is really about the skin and the hair. First, the hair—from MrSigmund Fride, this hair is quite dramatic (intentionally so). I wanted big and I got big. And then the skin, from sachi Vixen. You know I don’t think sachi envisioned it this way but it works. The subtle make up, almost glimmering under this big pile of hair, is perfect for this look. It’s already so over-the-top, the makeup doesn’t need to be so.

Written while listening to Aum a Go Go by Kammerflimmer Kollektief

Hair: MrS – Venice hair by MrSigmund Fride for ***TUTY’S & MrSIGMUND** CREATIONS

Skin: Adam n Eve Skin – Bianca t3 – Baby with ae bianca manicure baby by sachi Vixen for Adam n Eve *

Eyelashes: Detour – Klee Dot Lashes by Keri Clip for Detour

Top: SYSY’s Ruffle tank black by Sysy Chapman for Sysy’s *

Pants: Miamai_Azanea Black by monica Outlander for Miamai *

Necklace: TOSL *Chandelier* Necklace v1.1 Purple Haze by Quinlan Quimby for TOSL

Earrings: TOSL *Chandelier* Earrings v1.1 Purple Haze by Quinlan Quimby for TOSL

Shoes: VvB ShoeBox-HEDONIC-Black Shoes V3 by Viktoria Brandenburg for VvB

Summer Soiree

“In the dusk of the evening, he could see across the lake the twinkling of the lights from the gazebo rippling on the waves, and hear the laughter and murmur of relaxed voices, the susurring of frocks as ladies fluttered from one table to the next, the clink of ice in the gentlemen’s glasses. A loon cried across the lake. The band swung into upbeat.” (Imagined quote from some F. Scott Fitzgerald story.)

monica Outlander keeps putting out a steady stream of vibrant and quality content, never ceasing for holiday (as so many of my European friends) or even a bathroom break (which might sound silly, but I sometimes wonder about monica). This frock, one of four colors, arrives just in time for a summer soiree, one in the heart of the season when the heat still lingers past dusk. With its bare shoulders and low cut back, this dress might be structurally impossible in real life, but perfect in SL where a show of skin is de rigueur.

What a beautiful skin it is, too. From Hart Larsson’s newest line, this pale painterly beauty gives any woman a quality of sophisticated beauty, from its cat eyeliner to the subtle beauty mark near the eye to the matte and sumptious lips. AvaGardner Kungler’s beautiful orchid necklace, with its super-real tints of blue shell, is a perfect accompaniment—ocean and sky and blossom all in one piece.

“I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore. . . .
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.” ~ William Butler Yeats

Hair: >TRUTH< Jocelyn – seaspray by Truth Hawks for >TRUTH< *

Skin: [PXL] Candy PALE CE PaleLips LEB by Hart Larsson for [PXL] *

Dress: Miamai_Milena Blue by monica Outlander for Miamai *

Necklace and earrings: (Kunglers Extra) Orquidea – abalone by AvaGardner Kungler for Kunglers *