Ever meet someone in SL and feel they were you psychic twin or soul sister or something? I have had that happen a few times (Raven, Callie, KK, Chatty, Lanna, Eshi, Delora) but recently it has happened again—that magic of friendship. (And isn’t that what SL is about, deep down? Making friends.) I met my latest “soul sister” through a series of unfortunate events which led us to talking and then laughing and then just liking each other.
I am taking it casual because with your sisters, you can be casual—you can take it easy and be yourself. You can show up in a casual tank top (this from Dick Wiesel), put on your cords (made by Janie Marlowe) and slip on some cute deck shoes (such cute ones from Renee Harvy) and run over and hang out, sip some wine, and chat and commiserate and laugh.
My jewelry is from Maeve Mortlock, who just knows what girls like me like. I love how she has handcrafted the pieces, making them LOOK handmade with eclectic findings and beads and a collage of textures. She is offering this set at the 2010 Jewelry Fair, and I highly encourage you to visit her there or at her store because each piece is a very reasonable 59L. She has branched out beyond earrings, blessedly, and this set even includes a cute purse with sunglasses.
Finally, my hair.. my luxurious curly locks that look remarkably like my real life hair. This beautiful head of hair comes courtesy of my aforementioned soul sister, Queue Marlowe. (Am I allowed to speak so enthusiastically about a friend so soon? Is it creepy?) Queue started working on this hair, sent it to me saying she was naming it “Harper” (which made me nearly dance around the room). I sent a RL photo of my RL hair late one night, taken right then and there, and she had to agree it looked very similar. It was kismet. Queue “got” something about me right off and channeled it into this hair. It shows her amazing curly textures, her skill with shaping hair in SL, and her terrific aesthetic. Thank you, Queue.
This is for all of you:
In thee my soul shall own combined the sister and the friend. ~ Catherine Killigrew
Hair: AD – harper cinnamon by Queue Marlowe for Analog Dog *
Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room LE :: Gina 03 by Tuli Asturias for Tuli *
Top: :. WoE .: Madison Lace Cami (Mustard) by Dick Wiesel of :. WoE .: (not a soul sister but good enough ;))*
Pants: JANE – cozy corduroy.khaki by Janie Marlowe for Jane
Jewelry set: Ear Candy Vacation Set by Maeve Mortlock for Ear Candyavailable at the 2010 Jewelry Fair *
Shoes: ::Duh!:: Women’s Deck Shoes Fall Plaid by Renee Harvy of Duh!
A Passion for Virtual Fashion 
oh, i love the hair, harper, fabulous work, i ran and got the darks.
thanks for the great recommendations you give us on your blog!
P.S: this skin suits you great, very lady!
Yay! Thank you :) :)
I just wanted to say I liked that hair on you :D. Guess I wasn’t the only one !
Thanks for pushing me to “branch out”, Harper!! : )
WOW great outfit, but sadly I have to say that the designers of the top and pants are using templates =(……this is why the creators of “original” clothing in SL are closing shop, cuz now with templates for sale, everyone thinks they are a designer! Tisk Tisk, cant anyone be original and create their own stuff????
I don’t begrudge someone using templates or photosourcing if they use them well and legally. And honestly, I can’t say authoritatively that templates were used for either system piece– how can you? It’s at a consumer’s discretion to purchase what they like. Both designers from this blog are well-established (Janie having been in business in SL for five years now). And both designers did a great job.
Love, love LOVE the new AD hair, and this one is beautiful on you!
Thank you! I have to say that Queue is definitely an artist!
Great post, and to comment on Abe’s remarks about the templates: how do you know they even used them, I’m pretty sure Dick doesn’t use templates. Even *if* i agree with what Harper says, to use them legally and actually do something with them is no problem in my eyes. But again, i’m pretty sure dick doesnt’use those and its harmfull to say he does, when he’s making this all by hand. Thats all. *goes back to solve the murder in the creek*
Uh – Dick does NOT use templates. As someone who practically watches him draw the things he makes, by hand, every time he’s made anything for as long as I’ve known him? *I* can say that with authority.
So “Honest Abe”? Shut your mouth, son. And don’t open it again unless you know what you’re talkin’ about.
Thanks for confirming that, Ryker and Sysy. In all truth, most use “templates” to make their system pieces–the ones provided by LL. It’s really a silly criticism.
Normally it would not be worth my time to respond unfounded accusations from someone hiding behind an anonymous username – however I need a diversion and you amuse me. First I would like to talk about how the last part of your argument if fundamentally flawed.
You claim that “creators of ‘original’ clothing in SL are closing shop, cuz now with templates for sale, everyone thinks they are a designer!”. Let us ignore the fact for right now that there are far more content creators that have NOT left SL than have. Let us focus on the basic premise of this argument. You are suggesting that the SL consumer base actually prefers to see the same things in every store and that this preference of uniformity and/or androgyny has crippled the business of other content creators so bad that it caused an exodus from SL that could only be rivaled by the Israelites from Egypt.
Personally I think that is an insult to the SL consumer base and/or a disservice to those that have left SL due to a myriad of other challenges. There are those that have left for personal reasons, monetary reasons, health reasons and some simply because they cannot tolerate the childishness that only belongs on Jerry Springer.
You also seem to think that clothing templates are a new thing (“cuz now with templates for sale…”). Let us ignore your wonderful grasp of th English language for a moment and look at how long “templates” have been for sale. Templates have been sold in SL in one form or another for longer than I have been in SL. There were a good number of them given away to the community as a whole. To suggest that this is a new phenomenon is a very shortsighted and uneducated point of view. In addition, given how long templates HAVE been for sale, and that they are driving content creators from SL, this would make it about the longest, drawn out exodus in history.
Now, let’s move on to the “create their own stuff” section of your comment. The article in question here is a simple tank. Surely you are not suggesting that I need a premade “template” to make a tank. A tank is the simplest shape that can be made in SL (outside using the system clothing) so thinking that I use a template for a tank, well, that is just absurd. There are a total of 6 circles that are cut into the texture – two for the neck (front and back) and 4 for the arms (left and right/front and back). Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Microsoft Paint can do that.
This is where something as rudimentary as 6 holes ends and my work begins. Attention to how the seams line up on the left shoulder of the avatar, decisions about the proper shadow bake to use and the blending mode, using and smudging the wrinkles (even across the side seams) to make them look more natural, bending of the fabric texture so that if follows the curvature of the avatar mesh, depth of color – these are things that you do not see in any “template”.
I would continue on with discussions about the 3D capabilities of Photoshop and the SL avatar mesh, techniques for blending shadows across the clothing texture seams, advantages of TGA files over PNG files and alpha flash that can happen with each, or even the advantages of using vector masks over raster masks and when each is appropriate… however, this has been a sufficient distraction and I am no longer amused by you. So – excuse me now, I need to find that tutorial on “Bucket Fill” in Photoshop… I have a hunt prize to make.
So say we all :)