The Shoe In

“You can’t by happiness but you can buy shoes, and that’s the same kind of thing.”

I have been to Heaven and back, and I’ll tell you, it’s quite a trip. Shoetopia opens today, and while I’m not an “official” blogger for Shoetopia, I was given early access and blogger samples with a bunch of other great bloggers, so I feel obligated to tell you about my visit and share some celestial enlightenment.

In true form they have made a literal shoe Heaven in the two sims. A path wanders through the clouds leading from gazebo to gazebo—a paradise of shoe shopping with some of the best shoe makers in SL and even a few designers who have dipped their toes in shoe-making (rather successfully, I must say). Highlights in my memory include Gos, N-Core, Lapointe and Bastchild (some to-die-for men’s shoes), Boom, Bax Boots, Pixel Mode, G Field, Slink, Baby Monkey, League, Kittie’s Lair, Ingenue, ArisAris, and BSD Design.

My first shoe is from BSD Design, one of the participants in Shoetopia. BabyChampagne Sass is donating 100% of the proceeds from the sale of one her shoes to Shoes4Soles (no link given in the Shoetopia blog), which is a generous donation for the caliber for BabyChampagne’s work. In fact, it seems each designer is giving 100% from one item, which is pretty damn generous. (Not positive how it works—donation details haven’t been posted on their blog and the press release they sent out was TLTR.) I pair it with a handbag from Juno Martel, proceeds going to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan from the Water Lantern Festival.

Let me tell you my impressions. First tip: Just get the Slink feet already. You can buy them right there as I did. Many shoes being sold are built around the feet. Of course, the price tag on some of those shoes is a bit high considering they don’t include a foot or the fancy HUD work that makes a footed shoe or the Slink foot cost 600 or 700L. You can get a nice Gos shoe or N-Core for the same price without having to mess around. (In other words, I willingly pay Gos and Nuria for development costs for their HUDS and webhosting. People who build shoes around a Slink foot shouldn’t be charging as much because their cost is simply not as high.) However there are a few darling and reasonable shoes that fit the Slink feetsies. I gave up and got the feet myself just so I could wear the cute shoes I keep seeing.

Second, be prepared for this event: lag is gonna be a huge issue–more than it should be. Graphical lag may well be a factor–I am not sure if textures from the vendors have been enforced at 512 or less. However, sim lag is definitely gonna get you because of the build. None of the structures or vendors are phantom and of course, all the charity vendors are scripted as well as the gacha vendors. Avatar scripts had not been turned off as of my visit there.  If the organizers experience sim lag—and they will—it’ll be about the massive amounts of collision. There’s so much folks can do before opening without asking customers to dress like newbies. They haven’t done it all.

Finally, let’s be frank: you’re not going to get in right away, kids. Agent limit is 45. That’s ok! Shoetopia goes on for TWO weeks. Don’t rush it. You don’t have to be the first one in. The shoes aren’t going anywhere and your size won’t be sold out. They are passing demos out in a group and a map is being posted on their blog so you can find the creator you like quickly. Besides, the lag during the opening days should be enough to discourage you. Take your time and wander over during the next week when you hopefully can enjoy the shopping with less lag.

Give the organizers a hand. It’s a lot of work. And goodness knows, they mean to do well because they have been at it for months. And the designers really showed up for this event. Hit Shoetopia before it ends on November 30 and drop a few on Shoes4Soles.

“Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.” ~ Marilyn Monroe

Hair: MINA Hair – Tabita by Mina Nakamura for MINA *

Skin: -Glam Affair – Elvi – America – 06 E by Aida Ewing for Glam Affair *

Eyes: [Crash Republic] Moon Eyes – blue by Isabelle Requiem for Crash Republic *

Outfit: [LG] Boutique-[ FALL-13] Drinking From The Bottle by SamanthaSJones for LIV-Glam *

Handbag: Fire Blossom Handbag Pastels by Juno Mantel for Junbug, available at The Water Lantern Festival

Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Bag Right and Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual Left by Siddean Munro for Slink

Hand appliers: Glam Affair – Slink Hands Skin Appliers ( America) by Aida Ewing for Glam Affair

Nail appliers: Nailed It – Prim Nails – Dark Set by Giela Delpaso for Nailed It *

Shoes: {{BSD Design studio}}surreal gold by for {{BSD Design studio}}, available at Shoetopia *

Poses by Rogan Diesel for DieselWorks Animations *