[Gauze} Harajukubox Skin Fair Wrap up

You ever have one of those times where you feel like you're hiding out but you're not actually?

There's a lot of life, and when you add a Second one to your First, well, commitments can be weird. Seriously, take Purely Visual for example. I love it, it's pretty much my reason for enjoying Second Life. Oh, yes, I mean, there's friends and all that, but everything: fashion, friendships, styles, looks ideas, it all filters through this blog eventually.

So it's tough sometimes when I can't actually get here to blog, or get the time in Second Life to do photos, or even keep myself from being distracted long enough by some random sim or shop or LM to do either. in the meantime, days go by without a blog post, review items get dusty in my folder, and that little pearl of guilt starts to grow deep inside (justified or not).


The big news since my last post was the Harajukubox Skin Faire this past weekend. A lovely little skin showcase featuring blog faves like Gauze and Trap. I'm sure you went, at least, I HOPE you went. It's over. i actually got the chance to spend some time there this weekend, and it was really nice. It's smaller than events like Hair Fair and I think a little more intimate. You don't get the chance often to look at skins from different creators side by side, and Harajukubox really provides that unique opportunity.


And oh what lovely goodness Yukio Ida brought the the Fair. Gauze and Illuminati creator Yukio Ida has always had a skin line in his shop, ranging from neko to Visual Kei. It's his most recent creations though that really shine, and I think these are the best I've seen.

Actually, I did get a sneak peak of some new bases he had done a month or so back, so I did have a sneaking suspicion that there was going to be something really cool in the works. Wow these are awesome. I got to try 3 skins: Shiva, a skin fair exclusive but simply gorgeously weird tattooed skin in a light Creator or darker Destroyer tones. Not available post fair but still I'm sure a nice indication of things to come. Then there's Lamia and Glitterdust: both slightly more traditional skins with colorful makeups and some of the nicest body shading I've seen from Illuminati. These are really lovely skins with some interesting makeup choices and a range of tones from very pale to a richer tanned glow. Each tone has 2 different makeup choices as well, making these easy to coordinate with your favorite magical mystical look...

Anyway, loving these, and looking forward to this new direction from designer Yukio Ida.

Illuminati [Gauze]

Beliria Lumley Designs~Wings!

I think I just have to stop looking for things in Second Life. Well, not things, I mean, then what would I write about? No, I guess what I mean is I have to stop looking for specific things in SL.

Of course, that won't really work either. See, the problem is I can't seem to find what I'm looking for most of the time in SL. Grr, this is hard to explain. Ok, so I actually CAN find what I'm looking for in SL MOST of the time, it's just that I don't know that's what I'm really looking for until I find it. So, I HAVE to look for the specifics, I guess, even though usually I'm doomed not to find them.

Clear? Read it again, it took ME a couple times to get through it. Ugh.

To sum up: I have to look for something I really want even while knowing that it's not going to happen but something else wonderful might. I can't skip the first step though, coz then the whatever other thing I find becomes that first thing and wow we just keep going around, don't we...

So it started like this. I was logged in and I remembered this awesome feathery coat I bought a long long time ago. What's that designer doing now? I asked myself. So I went through and found the profile and got an LM for a new shop she had and, well... lovely, but nothing really hooked me. Hmmm... but NOW I had feathers on the brain.

Feathers became wings became me popping through Search using different terms and landing here:

Wow, gorgeous angel wings with a little difference. The lovely feathers each move beautifully, and, unlike your traditional wings flowing from your shoulders, Beliria Lumley's wings, from Beliria Lumley Designs 'natch, attach along the arms, making for a lovely silhouette and and avoiding those embarassing angelic moments when you accidentally whap! some poor passerby in the head with your wing tip. These are simply gorgeous, and I'm so happy I didn't find what I was originally looking for and I managed to run across what I was really looking for in the first place.

Really fun, and a shop I hope to share more from in the future.


Worn:
Wings: BLD BM Wings (Black and White)

Skin: Nomine Ultralight pierrot lunaire

Hair: *~*Damselfly*~* Katlynn Black Pearl (Cool)

Outfit: Ripped Oasis Silks (Black)

Goth1c0~Giger and the Bitch

I spend a lot of time making pictures in Second Life. If you've read the blog before you might have checked out my flickr stream. Yah, most of it's blog related, lots of fashion shots and backgrounds... but, I like to just play too. Actually, I spend a lot of time just playing with photos, lots of time. Enough time, actually, to get an odd remark from a friend every once in a while like 'sounds like work to me' or 'are you getting paid for all this?' and blah blah.

Hmm... well, so the photography might be making me a little anti social, but I'm always curious about what sorts of things we can make in SL. Work? Yes, but it's all about that 'flow' thing. Paid? Heh... well, apart from the odd profile pic request and even some advertising I'm not exactly what you'd call 'professional'. Actually, sometimes I just like to scroll back to some of my older pictures in the stream and see what I've learned. It doesn't HAVE to be about money or whatever, it's just fun. I'm hardly the only one doing it anyway, Flickr is an absolute treasure of beautiful images from and inspired by Second Life.

Now, think about your favorite designer. I'll bet they're not at the same level they were a year ago or six months or maybe even weeks (depending on when their epiphany hit). Nope, odds are they're much better. They've grown, or at least they've found new ways to make that thing in their head come to life in Second Life.

Of course, there's always commerce with designers. I mean, they're in business, right? Even with that though, I think there is still that love of making something new, trying a new trick and experimenting. For someone like me? Honestly, it's a hobby. For a good designer, it's an art and a profession.


Which brings us to Keishii Roo.

I've always been a fan of Goth1c0, Keishii's gothic twist on fashion ranges from the lolita-esque skirt and look to some things a little more punk. Everything so very Goth1c0 and so very sexy and fun. So I know sort of what to expect when I TP there or visit Keishii Roo's blog. I have to say though, Kei's latest, Giger leather pants and The Bitch mini dress, are my absolute faves from the shop. There are some similarities in the textures on both of these actually, but used to create two very cool looks that remain very distinct from each other.

Kei's Giger leather pants are schmexxy, and the alienish texturing on the legs give these a really awesome, stitched look. What can I say about The Bitch? Oh, so sexy and scandalous, with patterns that really make this an..umm... interesting and fun minidress with a lovely, satiny feel. Each are available in a range of colors, and you definitely need to see these up close.

Anyway, my new faves from a designer who isn't afraid to experiment. Good business? Maybe, but I think the attention to detail and interesting ideas reveal an artist still working to get those little pictures out of their head.

Worn:

Pic 1

Pants: Goth1c0 Giger Leather Pants
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gemmed/186/248/22

Top: *Sheer* Torn Nylon

Bra: *AnneRose* Happy Spring
http://slurl.com/secondlife/ANNEROSE/128/4/40

Gloves: [Gauze] Stained fingerless gloves
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Snatch%20City/238/220/31

Belt: Sn@tch Oblivion Belt
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Snatch%20City/123/212/30

Boots: [Gauze] Miyaku Stomps
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Snatch%20City/238/220/31

Skin: Curio Lumine (Nightshade)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Curio/128/130/38

Hair: RocX Mistaken
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Epilais/22/45/2510
Bangs from UnVeil

Pic 2:

Mini: Goth1c0 The Bitch in White
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gemmed/186/248/22

Skin: Nomine Ultralight Pedrolina
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nomine/203/50/49

Hair: Bishwear Vidal
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cecil/138/86/77

Fab.Pony~Bikinis!! or In which our heroine finds herself enjoying an afternoon at the beach...

Oh, I know, I chatter on all the time about how much I love summer. The sun, sometimes a vacation maybe... warm weather.

Well, at least that's what I look forward to. Summer's gotten off to a sort of weird start where I am. We had some real heat followed by temperatures in the 60's (um, that's fahrenheit by the way) and just a lot of rain lately. Ugh. Of course, that's the real thing about Second Life... can't make it to the beach? Well, just teleport to one!

VERY useful for the winter, but it works just as well for those sometimes un-ideal days that make up just another summer in the midwest.

So, it was perfect timing when I found out about Fab.Pony's latest releases: swimsuits! Tatianna Faulkes' Fab.Pony has just come out with a very sexy, cute and colorful line of bikinis. If you've never been to Fab.Pony, Tatianna's designs are a lovely collection of retro-eighties chic and bright colors. I've always loved Tatianna's taste in patterns and colors, 'vibrant' I think is the word I'm looking for.


Anyway, today we're looking at Fab.Pony's Zebra, Elika and Wild Child bikinis. It's always the little touches that I think make a look come together, and Tatianna has added some fun primmy accents like tassels and rings. Another nice thing is to find a bikini in SL that isn't a g-string. Elika comes with a still sexy boy short for the bottom, and it's a nice reminder that coverage can be fun and sexy too (hint hint).

Fun, and just in time for those little SL retreats we all sometimes need.

Fab.Pony Mainstore

Elfpyre Productions~More Drudishness

Checked your bag lately?

I'd say 'baggage', but there's all kinds of negative stuff that goes along with that word. Nope, I like bag better. Handbag, magic bag, baggies filled with questionable substances... they're all much better than 'baggage'. Anyway, the bag I'm talking about isn't even real, I'm going for more of the 'metaphorical container of your imagination' type of bag.

Mine's a mess. Occupational hazard maybe. Maybe just part of the whole attention span thing. Maybe I'm dizzy from the heat. Whatever.

I'm sure it's mix of RL and SL, because what we find and love in Second Life is still seen through our own personal filters and ideas. So, when a designer puts something up you like, well, most likely you have a totally different reason for loving that piece than the creator does. Oh, you both landed in the same place, that's the way I look at it, but you have your own route.

Hmmm, soo, my route's been a little crazy lately. Not crazy bad, just, a little hectic. Fun, but just a little bit shy of frantic.

So, it starts a little while ago with a post I did on Elfpyre Productions 'Drude' Ears and skins. LOVED the Drude ears... had to look up a little history on Drudes on Wikipedia (yes. I know. Hardly the most reputable source for research, but seriously, it's not like I was writing my dissertation on it. Anyway, Germanic witches... cursed people and possessed them I think. I didn't take notes. Either way, it was funny, because I'd just started watching Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere series. Actually, there are no Drudes there, BUT, it has some lovely accents and a really cool story full of magic and lovely accents. Oh, and the accents were lovely.

(Ohhhh, new dream sim! Someone should totally do a 'London Below' sim. Wait, actually, I haven't even searched to see if there IS one in Second Life. Note to self: do that.)

So, yes, Neverwhere. So, no drudes at all, but, it kept me in a magical mood whenever I found myself thinking about it, and usually before I logged in too.

I loved photographing the Drude ears, and they were such a simple but original twist on some of the fae styles in SL, I wanted to feature them again. Lucky! Yes, Daarc Dagger has just released some new pierced versions of her Drude ears. These are really original, and the touch script color change feature lets you match with any of Elfpyre skin tones, along with a few that haven't been released yet.

So, anyway. Check your bag to see what you can bring into Second Life, even if it's just a different point of view. I'm going to hunt for London Below.

Catchya later!!


ElfPyre Productions

Grim Bros~Bone Dress Mesh

So I had a conversation the other day about the sometime lack of diversity in design in Second Life.

Well, it actually started as a conversation about Hair Fair, and hair styles, and then just style in general. I think the basic thing is that most of the time Second Life isn't anything like what I expected it to be when I first decided to rez and explore our favorite metaverse. I mean, YES there's some amazing things going on in SL, and that's what usually inspires me to share on the blog. On the other hand, well... let's just call it 'user error'.

It's not always 'bad' designs either, I"m not trying to be an uber-critic or anything. Usually though it's that some designs are just plain, well, boring. I guess, in the end, I always thought there'd be more space ships or something. This IS a world of the imagination after all, right?

I think Cutea Benelli of Grim Bros gets that too. I'm not sure if she came to Second Life looking for space ships, but she definitely came here looking for something; and what she couldn't find, she made.

So, on the one hand, you have a designer making victorian and steampunk designs for the discerning SLifer (possibly ALSO hunting space ships)... on the other hand, oh my god, these are insane! YES, I'll bang my art hammer again. YES I think this is another lovely example of the 'story' in SL. YES Cutea's Bone Mesh Dress is possibly one of the weirdest and definitely one of the coolest outfits in my inventory right now. This is definitely art as fashion. Call it 'virtual wearable sculpture' or something, although that's kind of a mouthful. Whatever, maybe just wearable sculpture.

This is a really well-made dress, though this might not be your first choice for that pool party this weekend. Lots of primmy goodness, and the dirty, rusty metal feel is a lovely touch. From the steampunky wired spine to the really cool prim skirt it really is all about the details, and I think Cutea's designs are really gorgeous examples of the absolutely not boring potential of Second Life. I mean, LOOK at the details, just look. I'll wait. There are 3 different options for the hat, and there's also a skirt layer that I didn't use for these pics, I think it works either way.

This is really awesome, and if you're getting burned out on the same old stuff from shop to shop... well, maybe take some time to visit Grim Bros.

Dress Grim Bros Mesh Bone Dress

Skin: Nomine Pierrot pedrolina