[Love Soul] Here There Be Bunnehs...

So, it's Easter this weekend.

I know, I know, not EVERYONE celebrates it the same way... I mean, there are LOT's of interpretations and all that. Whatever. For me personally? Well, it means I have to get all prettied up for one of my bi-annual trips to church with the family. Oh, and chocolate; and coloring eggs! (all boiled last night, we're coloring them tonight and watching a movie).

You might have a similar plan, maybe not. Whatever, I can't judge. Either way, there's bunnehs. Creatures of mystery, skulking around your house and yard secretly placing little surprises for everyone. What do they want? What is their real agenda? Hard to tell, with their little mysterious noses twitching inscrutably beneath their deep, cute eyes.

Yah, well, bunnehs are cute, and I had to have SOMETHING for the Easter weekend post wise, since most of my 'free' time will be spent hanging around with family and mooching off the buffet table (a reward for sitting quietly in church, I guess). Anyway, I found THIS in my inventory, had it for a long while. I wanted to do a standard blog review on it but honestly, I don't even know if it's still out there.

So, ok, I went to [Love Soul] (where I picked this up like last summer I think) and looked EVERYWHERE. I found Honey Bee Wear and Kitty Wear but I just couldn't find the Rabbit Wear outfit. Weird. They're ALL horribly cute, and I almost bought Kitty Wear while I was there but I'll save that one for another day.

Anyway, so I guess there's a few ways to look at this post:

1. It could be a review of an awesomely cute Bunneh look from [Love Soul]
2. It could just be me thumbing my nose at you because I have this and you don't.
3. It's just a little HAPPY EASTER post just in time for the weekend.

Okay, so maybe it's still out there, if it is, GRAB IT. If it isn't....

Happy Easter!! XOXOXOXO

Worn
[Love Soul] Rabbit Wear Black

Fukmi/Tuli

I use a lot of strange words sometimes when I'm blogging an outfit. I use words like feel and comfortable. I use words to describe parts of an outfit that can't possibly be experienced the same way we do their real life versions.

I mean, I know you can't really feel the fabric... I know there's no way to really feel snug or to enjoy a silky touch. I know the difference between what's real and what isn't, geez.

On the other hand, go to a tropical sim and everyone's in their swimsuits. Go to a winter wonderland and look at all the furs and heavy coats. So I can't be the ONLY one thinking this way, right? Maybe it has something to do with our brains. Well, DEFINITELY it has something to do with our brains, duh, but I guess there's a switch in their someplace, something that knows how cold or warm it is, even if it isn't. Whatever, there's probably a whole heap of literature on this somewhere.

Anyway, with all the different looks and styles in Second Life, sometimes it's nice just to dress comfortably. You know, just taking some time to wriggle out of your harnesses or bustles or that horribly uncomfortable evening gown you've been wearing all day and just throw on something normal. There's LOTS of interesting fashion in SL, definitely, but thank goodness for those designers who put together something normal. Of course, we still have our standards, no? It needs to be comfortable AND well made, nothing less. Oh, and cute. I mean, we're still going out and about, right? Leave the pajama bottoms and swishy pants for RL, let's wear something with interesting textures and fun designs... but still casual.

Ohhhh, look at THIS... so cute, so fun.. but still very comfortable... we have a cute halter from *Fukmi*. Love it. Casual, yes, and still very sexy. What? Sexy without a bared midriff? Yes, it can be done, and designer Fukmi Sideways has a lot of fun, sexxah, colorful designs. This is really simple, but still so nice and fun to wear. Looks comfortable, don't it? Tuli's new Worn Denim Mini works nicely with it, and just in time for Summer (ok, so it's still technically Spring, but, a girl can dream, can't she?). I'm loving the frayed seams and the little painted details. VERY awesome.

Something else too, I feel like I should mention. I hadn't been back to Detour for a loooong time. Oh, early on in my SLife, I stopped there, I think to check out a hair I'd seen blogged. Whatever, at the time, it didn't really do it for me. It happens sometimes... it's not even a quality thing necessarily. Styles, looks... you know what I mean. Anyway, I'd moved on. Just stopped back there last week after who KNOWS how long, and wow. As in, WOW, I mean it. New styles and WOW, really nice quality. I grabbed a few and now they've made it onto my little list of designers who can't put new stuff out fast enough. Once again, proved wrong, and happy to have it happen. Detour's new styles are very cool and sexy.

Anyway, call it casual cool. Call it summer sexy... whatever. I love it.


Skirt
[]::Tuli::[] Worn Denim Mini
Top
*Fukmi* Kiss of the Skully Halter (Blue)
Skin
[Curio] Juxt
Hair
[Detour] Placebo D. Sand Mix

Elixir~Latex Dress Uniform

Minx fun fact: I'm kind of a movie freak.

I mean, probably not as big a freak as some people; but, my room mate and I like to sometimes have movie nights and invite a ton of people over. Y'know, margaritas in the blender. Popcorn. Snacks. The whole thing. We like to watch a pretty wide range of genres too: scary movies, comedy, science fiction, even kung-fu stuff sometimes. We'll do subtitles even, but we usually avoid really sad dramas and serious ones. I like them, and so does my room mate, but those we'll watch usually with a smaller crowd. It's a party, right?

So, yah.. movies. I like to compare Second Life to movies sometimes, it's a pretty short jump really. The whole visual narrative thing I guess. While, yes, sometimes SL can be almost a bad porno, there's plenty of room for space opera too. That's what jumped in my head when I saw Elixir's latex 'Dress Uniform'.

These are really my favorite types of outfits to blog. Costumes, looks that put you someplace else... looks that conjur up worlds and fantasies. Looks that make a story. Khorus Magne's latest does just that, and does it well. The latex texture is lovely, but the real star of this one is the cool epaulets and sashes that really make this something interesting to play in. There's optional particle effects for the shoulder attachments too, so you can get a real glowing sci-fi thing going on too. It's awesome. I mean, I don't know what it's for exactly, but who cares! It's still a lot of fun.

So suit up and go explore that alien planet. Make sure to watch out for the carnivorous plants and the mysterious indigenous lifeforms.

I'll make the popcorn.


Elixir Dress Uniform

*Snowflake Skin* Ebony-Burgundy

Sadistic Hacker Ciel (Gold)

Moonshine Designs~Sheer Tops

Shelly Toonie is dangerous.

So, not really dangerous like you wouldn't trust your cat with her or anything. I don't think she's actually violent at all. I mean, I can't be sure really, but I usually have a good instinct on these things.

Nope, not dangerous like that exactly, but wow, look at her latest release. Moonshine Designs Sheer Top sets are a reworking of an older Moonshine Design release and again, wow. I'm not going to spend much time on the original Sheers, I mean, they were really nice, but what's the point.

Shelly's updated sheer tops are gorgeous. I still have one of the original tops in my inventory, and while the basic idea has stayed the same the execution is really breathtaking. Sheer includes the eponymous top, along with a matching cross halter style bra and... well, here's the really dangerous part, a short short prim skirt beautifully crafted. This is not an outfit for you if you're shy. Still, the lovely sheer top with it's really detailed embroidered designs is absolutey stunning and enough fun to wear to make you maybe get over your giggling, blushing self.

Love it!

Moonshine Designs

[Gauze] Ouka Saki Some ni Keri

You know how sometimes you're just minding your own business, scrolling through your inventory and then suddenly you spy a folder you haven't opened in a while? Click. Sometimes you find some maybe some scary freebie and promptly delete it. Sometimes you find some stuff maybe you thought you lost and go ahead and put it in the correct folder. Sometimes though, just sometimes, you find something really special.

It's a pretty common really. After you've been in SL for long enough your inventory can just become this horrible unwieldly mess. If you're like me, you have a couple favorite standbys and just search down to them and put them on so you don't have to fight your way through your the rest of the disorganized chaos. Still, it's nice sometimes to kinda rummage through the clutter to look for something different to play with.

Ouka Saki Some ni Keri isn't something I'd forgotten about, actually. I've known it was always there, a special gem. I've photographed it before, not for Purely Visual but still, I always wanted to kind of re-explore the outfit. My graphics card is a lot better than it used to be, after all, and I like to think I've learned a little more about SL sliders to maybe bring out some new details that I wasn't able to capture before.

Ouka is not something new from Yukio Ida, it's older. Ok, older doesn't sound right, it's classic. Yes, much better. It's a beautiful design that still really shows Yuki's skills with textures, mood, and stylings. We've seen some new releases from Yukio Ida's now rebranded Gauze shop, but Ouka Saki Some ni Keri is still one of his loveliest designs, and a very special find.

If nothing else, it's an excuse to check out the new Gauze location at the new Sn@tch City sim.

[Gauze] Ouka Saki Some ni Keri

Lionskins Forbidden 20

Discord Designs~Katja and Lydia

So, it was just a couple weeks ago I got to play with Boingo's Leather Sets, a really cool sexy ensemble with lovely texturing and a very post apoc feel. Loved them. A collaboration between Kallisti Burns of Discord Designs and Jeela Juran from Boingo, these were an awesome example of what can come from two minds looking for something new and creative.

Of course, at the time, there were rumors that Kallisti wasn't really done with the project. Oh, no... not her. No, Kallisti is one of those obsessive designers SL seems to create every once in a while. You probably know one or two yourself. They endlessly link prims or build or whatever it is designers do while the rest of us are living our carefree SLives. They're either under or over medicated or at the very least supporting some kind of caffeine addiction.

Anyway, so Kallisti kept on working. If you remember, the original Boingo set came with hoods with some hairs options, but at the time there weren't any full sets of the hairs. Well, the wait is over... at least partially over I guess. This week Kallisti started dropping full versions of the hair sets featured in her collaboration. Today we're looking at Katja and Lydia, which go with the Boingo Rogue and Valkyrie styles, respectively. Don't go thinking you need one for the other though, Katja and Lydia stand on their as hairstyles just fine. Lydia is a cute, short shaggyish cut if you're looking for a more messy, casual feel. Katja is pulled back tight from the forehead and moves to a long, beautifully crafted braid. These are both really nicely done, and of course come with Discord Design's signature scripted sizing menu.

So, WIN! And get over to Boingo to check out those leathers if you haven't already!



Discord Designs

Boingo Headquarters

*Snowflake Skins* Battle Angel and Dark Drow

I think that how we each decide to define Second Life has to do with what we bring into it. Coders and programmers might look at the metaverse as kind of a technical exercise. Video gamers might see it as a huge game. Artists might use SL as a new forum for their work. We can be whoever we want, of course, but who we want to be comes from where we started.

I've always seen SL as a sort of story machine. I never played video games too much and I don't have any technical expertise at all, but I've always been a reader and a movie freak. I've even been known to pick up a comic book or two. So, when I found myself in a world where pretty much everyone communicates in text in a really interesting visual landscape, well, movies and books were the only real experience I've had that even came close.

We're all really in a story, whether you look at it as a video game or comic book or whatever. Even you strictly business types get to play a role, since you pretty much have to accept it on some level; especially when chatting land prices with an 18 foot tall dragon or neko cyborg.

There are a lot of stories in SL. We've got our Star Wars sims and Gorean sims, you can play as a knight in shining armor or a futuristic bounty hunter. Each sim has it's own theme sometimes with pieces inspired by if not outright borrowed from someplace else. For the immersion, well, we've got designers making skins, attachments, weapons, hairs, accessories and everything to make the world a little more real.

Snowflake Skins aren't all that new to the metaverse, Snowflake Chaika's creations have been inworld since 2007 at least, but they still deserve mention as beautiful and imaginative examples of adding to the story of Second Life. What's interesting about Snowflake isn't their realism, these aren't haute couture runway skins. These are skins straight from the world of anime. Tones, shading and makeups are straight from the painted pages of your fave mangas, and if you're a fan of the genre, these are the skins for you.

What's really cool about these skins is that while more 'traditional' skinmakers have seen their work sometimes maybe fail under the increasingly realistic glare of the latest and greatest windlight viewers, Snowflake's won't. Realism isn't the point here. The Battle Angel and Drow skins are beautiful because they're so unreal, not in spite of it.

Snowflake Chaika also has a shop called Bleach with some anime inspired hairs to add to your look. Not a huge selection but what is there is really quite nice too.

So enjoy! Pop in your Akira DVD and log in. Snowflake Skins are gorgeous examples of just another possibility in everyone's favorite metaverse.

Worn:

Pic 1:

Skin: Snowflake Skins Battle Angel (light tan)

Hair: Bleach Apocalypse (Black)

Bodysuit: Graves G87 V-Body


Pic 2:

Skin: Snowflake Skins Dark Drow

Hair: Emo-tions Wildlife Hair