Irish Spring

St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.  ~ Adrienne Cook

My kid’s birthday is tomorrow on St. Patricks’ Day. I never thought very hard about the significance of this until he got older and I realized his birthday was always the cross from winter into spring. After his birthday, it was bound to never snow and never get below zero. I am counting on him to hold open the door to spring again.

I am looking forward to the daffodils and narcissus blooming, so I carry one from Taiko McCaw from her gacha at Luck of the Irish. I dressed accordingly in a green dress from Azure Electricteeth from Collabor88, one that is off the shoulder so I can show off my beautiful claddagh set from Abraxxa Anatine. She has put scripts in the jewelry so you can choose from a number of stones and gold or silver, of course, allowing you to avoid yet another HUD. The set includes a necklace, earrings and ring and there is a necklace available for gentlemen as well. My cute little shoes are VaVaVaVixen’s flats at Luck of the Irish.

I feel fresh and beautiful in Nicole Button’s amazing new skin for Skin Fair. Her skins are all hand-drawn and so amazingly detailed and lovely with gorgeous features. This skin, in particular, has pretty bow-shaped lips that have an exquisite outline to accent their prettiness and the luster so indicative of Nicole’s work. The skins come with appliers for just about anything you can think of, including the Eve body. It looks fantastic on the Maitreya body, as you can see. Bubbles Clawtooth is in this round of Kustom 9 and she is offering two casual and pretty styles this month, ideal for dress up or every-day casual.

Hair: Clawtooth: In Bloom by Bubbles Clawtooth for Clawtooth, available at Kustom 9 *

Skin: Egozy.Tahliah (Tan).SOFT with Egozy.Tahliah.Eyebrows Brown.(Add)(Tan) and Egozy.Mesh Ears Left (Tan) by Nicole Button for Egozy, available at Skin Fair *

Eyes: #adored – moon eyes – dk green // b by Constance Daehlie for #adored, available at Skin Fair *

Body: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V2.1 by Onyx LeShelle for Maitreya

Dress: Tee*fy Kira Off-Shoulder Dress – Emerald by Azure Electricteeth for Tee*fy, available at Collabor88

Jewelry: EarthStones Celtic Claddagh Necklace – Hers with EarthStones Celtic Claddagh Earrings and EarthStones Celtic Claddagh Ring by Abraxxa Anatine for EarthStones *

Flower: *N*SUISEN Rez or WEAR by Taiko McCaw for NAMINOKE, available at The Luck of the Irish *

Nail appliers: #adored – get lucky mani {maitreya} by Constance Daehlie for #adored, available at AnyBody *

Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) Flat by Siddean Munro for Slink

Shoes: Riske – Slink FLAT – Mode Flats (Floral) by VaVaVaVixen for Riske, available at The Luck of the Irish *

Poses by Fanny Willis for Everglow *

A Spot of Pink

As the clocks fall forward (and we gain an hour of sleep), the skies will suddenly appear dark early in my part of the world. So a bright spot of pink on an outfit lends cheer and brilliance.

Joy Laperrier and Magnifico Miggins have recently opened a lovely sim called Euphoria which contains some of the grid’s best shopping. Included with the shopping is a rewards program based on purchases made on the sim. Hit the minimums and you begin to feel the pleasure of being a valued customer by getting discounts on your purchases. This dress by Azure Electrictooth is an exclusive item on Euphoria sim. With its retro styling and beautiful satiny skirt, it’s definitely a must-have.

I love this retro hair from Kin Keiko with this look. A girl wearing a dress like this doesn’t need something loose and sexy. She needs something just a tinge done up, a little uptight. My skin is from Kira Ahn’s line, which may still be on sale if you get there fast enough.

I love the line of these pumps and the amazing textures. (Check the seam on the inner side of the shoe—now that’s accuracy.) Cici Vonderheide offers these absolutely drop dead platform pumps in a full compliment of colors. I love the contemporary shape.

Pink perfection:

Hair: kin-Jennifer-[black] by Kin Keiko for Kin Keiko

Skin: [dekade.] SKINS BARDOT-Vivienne Tan /Dark Brows/Make Up 09 by Kira Ahn for [dekade.]

Outfit: Tee*fy Sophia Dress by Azure Electricteeth for Tee*fy, available exclusively at Euphoria *

Gloves: *+*JILL*+*ribbon gloves-Pink by Jill Lemon for *+*JILL*+* (no longer available)

Shoes: p.c; Suede Platform Pumps – Pink by Cici Vonderheide for Paper Couture

Red Blossom

“In this world
love has no color
yet how deeply
my body
is stained by yours.”
— Izumi Shikibu, Lady from the Heian Court

I have been steeping myself in wide-ranging East Asian culture lately—nothing specific or well-defined—just wide-ranging. I have been watching Korean dramas on crunchyroll.com and have recently picked up The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby, which is a novel about Mirasaki Shikibu, a lady in the royal courts of Heian Japan and the writer of The Tale of Genji. Ladies at that time wrote romantic poetry—it was part of their education and part of being wooed during court romances. The Tale of Genji was incredibly popular in its time and still is considered a classic. It’s no surprise I am taking on an East Asian look.

It’s easily done with these coordinates from LeeZu Baxter, which she recently released. I love the sweetly ruffled, almost-Lolita top that turns into something more sexy at the midriff. But I have covered that midriff with LeeZu’s equally sexy Mia corset, an older piece that shows LeeZu’s ingenious styling and art. I pulled on stockings from the same set as the blouse, slipped on the gloves, and topped it all with the darling tassled hat.

What really cemented the look is this new skin from Brendon Papp with its clear geisha influence (though I wonder if it would also suit a Prince Poppycock look). The freckles would normally bother me but in this case they are charming and contribute to the Lolita look. My hair is a cute ponytail from as001 Littlething, who also has a nice line of other hair.

Finally boots with sweet large bows, which give that final flavor of Lolita to this look. Cerberus Noel has deep influence from current Japanese style but always has the necessary touch of sophistication that transcends the cutesiness of a lot of it.

“It seemed to me that people do a rather good job of creating levels of hell all by themselves, and this was something worth writing about.” ~ Liza Dalby, Tales of Murasaki

Hair: [kik]hair-Tsubaki II(black) by as001 Littlething for [kik]

Skin: !Imabee: Petal – Serene – Only Love Matters by Brendon Papp for !Imabee

Top: [LeeZu!] Miss Tre`s Blouse /red by LeeZu Baxter for LeeZu! *

Corset: * [LeeZu!] Mia Corset Pants – Corset Dress /red by LeeZu Baxter for LeeZu! *

Stockings: [LeeZu!] Miss Tre`s Tights by LeeZu Baxter for LeeZu! *

Hat: [LeeZu!] Miss Tre`s Hat by LeeZu Baxter for LeeZu! *

Gloves: [LeeZu!] Miss Tre`s Gloves by LeeZu Baxter for LeeZu! *

Bag: Tee*fy My LunchBag (Red) TCP by Azure Electricteeth for Tee*fy

Boots: *GF* Short Ribbon Boots “Anna” -red- by Cerberus Noel for G Field