:+:Studio Sidhe:+:~Flower Bangles

I am totally into these bangles. Like, almost hypnotized into. Seriously, I mean, just look at them. Is that like a cat or something in there? I could be, I mean, is it supposed to be there? Do you see what I'm talking about?

Maybe it's not actually there. It could just be an optical illusion... y'know, like when you used to make faces in the clouds all summer? It could be something like that.

Whoa, see what I mean? You can totally get sucked into these, right? Wow. Hypnotic. Totally. How is that even possible?

Seriously, this is Second Life, right? It's two-dimensional. It's not real at all (wow, now there's an argument I don't want to start!). So how how how is it even remotely possible to make something like this? What can I even say to add to this?

Simply, Faery Sola makes some of the absolute best accessories in SL. I'm always blown away by her detail and prim work, and of course Studio Sidhe is a bling free zone, which is always WIN! Faery's 'Flower Bangles' are so real you can almost feel their cool touch on your wrist, and the painted designs are just perfect.

So... just go there. I'll grab you by the arm and take you there myself if you're nervous.

The artist: Faery Sola. The Place: Studio Sidhe.

:+:Studio Sidhe:+:

~Discord Designs~ Avril

I think real artists are never really happy with themselves. I know it sounds cliche, the whole 'tortured artist' thing. Maybe they're not all about to slit their wrists in a fit of existential torment or anything, but most artists I know just are never 100% happy with their own work. Nothing's ever finished, and even if it is, it's more like 'well that's about all I can do' instead of 'YES, PERFECT! I may now retire...'

Of course, it doesn't matter at all if we're happy with their work. We. Us. The consumers. Nope, we can compliment them or throw all our money at them and a lot of times, it just doesn't matter. Even worse, usually we don't understand WHY their so unhappy all the time so we just call them divas or something and write them off as artistic weirdos.

Personally, I think it's awesome. I want my artists to be unhappy. Not like suffering unhappy or anything, I'm not a sadist, but unhappy enough to keep working to make their work better or different. Unhappy artists are innovators and explorers.

Kallist Burns is one of those. She's awesome, artistic, fun, witty and creative... but she's unhappy enough to be constantly looking at her work and portfolio and finding ways to make things better. Which is great, because no matter how good her work has been in the past... well, I've been a huge fan for a while, and mostly featuring her unique and VERY well made braidwork. Avril is something new.

First, of course, Avril is NOT braided, but I think it's a really good example of something else in Kallisti's work. Art, building, all that stuff are more than just about technical skill and personal obsession. There's a character in the work, a feel and a mood. Styles don't need to resemble each other overmuch to be recognizably something. Avril is a really lovely, shaggy shoulder length style that just screams rockstar. Simple but filled with character. It's got a personality all it's own; a little bit of Kallisti I'm sure.

Technically, I can't really call this a departure from her normal work. Discord Designs has had many straight styles before. It is, though, something new and very very cool. It's a total rockstar afterparty feel with texturing that's very natural and enough flexi bits to keep the hair feeling authentic. Of course, the menu driven sizing menu is really cool too and makes modding a snap. Avril is a very real-world style that anyone can wear. It's casual cool and fun.

So yah, love it. Avril is a new experiment from Kallisti, and if there's more on the way I can't wait to see it.

Worn:

Hair
Discord Designs Avril (Midnight)

Skin
Curio Classic Nightshade

Tank
Sn@tch goth army Bauhaus tank

Skirt
Sweetest Goodbye Tik Tak skirt

Jacket
Muism Skinny Biker Jacket Black

Gala Phoenix~Newness

It's nice to share.

Look it up, seriously. It's nice to share. Share with your sister! your mom used to shout, be nice! Wikipedia even has an entry on it. Yah, it's THAT important.

Second Life is kind of an experiment in sharing. I mean, sure, there's the whole economy thing. Of course there's buying and selling... not exactly sharing there... but every once in a while a designer or artist decides they want to share something with the rest of us. When we're lucky, they're sharing something beautiful.

Now Gala Phoenix, well, her mother taught her well. Last week Gala decided to share some of her new skins with group members. Some? Okay, a TON of skins. And of course they're gorgeous. The timing was perfect for me too, since I'd just recently started playing in my Curio folder and wearing some of Gala's older skins. Still lovely, still cute, still fun. Beauty seems to be the standard for Gala's skins, and her attention to detail and just lovely makeups are just soo much fun.

Freckles? Yah like em? She's got em. And not just a few scattered about the nose like a few skin designers. Nooo, Gala's 'Frex' options have a very natural full-body covering. Maybe not liking freckles too much? Well, whatever, but you'll be happy to see really nicely drawn and shaded textures along the skin... naughty bits and all. The new skins come in tones like Acorn, Sundust, Moonbeam, Petal and a few others, with freckle and plain versions for each along with 7 or 8 makeup options.

Sharing is nice, definitely... but even if you missed the gift, Gala's skins are definitely worth your $L. With a huge range of makeups from clean and cute to sexy glam, Gala Phoenix has created a line of skins that I think add a lovely touch to our shared universe. It's a vision I'm glad she's let us take part in.


Gala Phoenix Skins @ Curio

*Powers of Creation*~Sexy Science

Naming stuff is hard.

No matter how inspired or creative a designer seems to be, sometimes the hardest part of a new release is just coming up with a NAME.

There's a lot of places to find them, of course... some designers have releases named after a friend or partner. Sometimes their named after a favorite song, or even maybe the name comes from whatever inspired the outfit to begin with. Sometimes... well, sometimes it's just totally random.

Poor Kai Heideman... He ran out of names.

Oh, ideas? He's got a TON. Some of the best latex and fetish clothing in Second Life? AB-SO-LUTELY. Names? Wellll, I guess that's a bit of struggle. He even blogged about it here, if you don't want to take my word for it. Honestly, there are worse problems he could have. The lovely textures and designs at his shop,Powers of Creation, make it pretty easy to forgive him.

Today we're looking at 3 outfits: Watch My Back, Dirac and Fermi. As far as names, well, Watch My Back makes sense. WMB is a full-length full-body latex 'hobble' style with a dangerously sexy open back laced from hem to neck. The gorgeous shiny latex texture is just perfect, and Kai manages to put the system skirt to good use.

Soo, then there's Fermi and Dirac. Ummm... what? Yah... physicists. Now, Fermi I'd heard of, there's a whole government lab out by me that's named after him. Dirac? I don't know, maybe I'd heard the name before. Who knows? Anyway, they're both pretty important names in the whole science world; this, I'm pretty sure, is the first time they've been associated with fetish wear. (of course, I COULD be wrong. Is there such a thing as a physics fetish? 'oooh, make my molecules GLOW!' or 'YES YES, I'm MELTING DOWN'). Either way, while MAYBE Kai was grasping at straws as far as coming up with names, it really doesn't matter. Dirac and Fermi are some lovely releases with a lot of options. There are a lot of different ways to wear both, with bodysuit and catsuit cuts and just some different color combinations. Each outfit comes boxed really with so many different looks it's almost 2 or 3 different ensembles in one.

Love it... it's not about the name anyway. It's about quality, cut and design, and whatever Kai wants to call it, it's sexy.

*Powers of Creation*

*Illuminati* Designs~Filth in the Beauty & Jolly Tank

So today's post took about a week to do.

Well, its not really that it took a whole week... more like it's the result of a combination of things that happened to me this week. Not totally rare, actually... I mean, I usually do a post and then add a little bit of whatever's on my mind at the time. The thing is, generally it's the look that gets the thoughts going, not the other way around. I'll play with an outfit and take some pics and while THAT'S going on the first little bits of a post start percolating. This post is backwards. It's inside out.

So how did this happen?

Well, I'll try to start at the beginning. I guess it started with Yukio Ida from Illuminati Designs dropping the Jolly Tank on me last week. Kind of a new thing from Yuki, who might be a little better known for his more exotic visual kei inspired costumes and weirdly gorgeous skins. Jolly is a simple, but really well made, sleeveless top with prim collar. Inspired too from Japanese fashion, just a bit more punk than his usual releases, the texturing along the fabric has a really natural feel to it, and looks sooo real. There's some very nice detailing along the collar too, with laces and just a bit of mesh on the shoulder.

So, I have this top... oh yahhh, and there's a caveat, right? It's not released yet. 'Oh yah?' I said,'when's it coming out?'. A shrug. An 'I don't know'. Hmmm... So what can I do? I've got this really cool top but do I post it? I mean, what can I do? Well, what I did was file it quietly away in my inventory for a 'post to be named later'.

THAT didn't last long... I decided this week I had to share it. So I'm going through my inventory for the perfect ensemble for it. Maybe a skirt with stripey tights... maybe some big boots... it was a project. ANYWAY, so after I FINALLY have a nice ensemble I get an IM from Yuki AGAIN. 'Oh here..' or something like that. Oh, JEANS... a folder called 'Filth in the Beauty' magically appears. 'Wow', I say, 'awesome... so when's it coming out?' Do I even NEED to tell you? I do, I can tell. 'I don't know' he says. Now, one of the things you might not know about keyboards is this: you can't stab anyone with them. Seriously. I looked around. I think this may be one of the secret reasons computers are so much more popular than pens or pencils. We're not just saving trees here, we're saving people.

So OF COURSE the jeans are gorgeous. A really lovely ripped look and prim cuffs that look just beat up enough to feel like that favorite pair of jeans. The texturing is especially nice, especially along the seams and stitching. There are even some cute patches.

So there I am, I've fallen in love with this new direction from Illuminati. It's different, yes, but made with the amazing attention to detail that Yukio Ida puts into all of his clothes. I love them both, and of course the jeans look perfect with the tank; but I have no idea what to do.

In the meantime, there's Plurk. You know Plurk, right? I think, a million years from now, when alien archeologists are digging through the ruins of our planet, they'll find proof that the reason we're all dead is because of Plurk. It's horrible, I love it... anyway, so Plurk. I spend way too much time there, philosphizing and carrying on really serious and important conversations with other creative minds and intellectuals. Oh yes, it's what we do. So anyway, I'm popping through plurk 'profiles' and run across Ivey Deschanel's page. Wow, the hair. Well, it's a great pic actually anyway, but the hair! Perfect, it was one of those moments... all the sudden I saw the top and the jeans and the shirt... I'd pulled a Gala Phoenix skin out of my inventory and DONE! There it was... I knew exactly what I had to do.

So, here's the pic, and the post. Jolly and Filth in the Beauty should be out this weekend, I had a late update... so no, they're not there now, but maybe they are. Still, I'd stop by Yukio's shop anyway. Illuminati is one of my all time personal faves in SL, and even if Jolly and Filth aren't maybe there, there's PLENTY of gorgeous goodness for you to explore.

There are a few morals here too I guess... there should be, after a story that long anyway. First, artists are totally unreliable and frustrating (actually, kinda like drummers I guess), but I love them anyway. Second, an overly caffeinated Minx writes REALLY LONG posts. Third... well, Plurk is a horrible, addictive, possibly planet-destroying timewaster that I could not have finished this post without.

I love you all.

Worn:
Jeans/Top:
*Illuminati* Designs
Filth in the Beauty
Jolly Tank Top

Skin: :GP: Classic~Carbon

Hair: !BooperFunk! Wormies~Noir
(bangs from House of Heart)

Sn@tch~So Last Year

So last year...

As in: oh gawd, that's SO last year. Like, look at those shoes... look at that hair... Really? I mean, really really? Hmmm... I don't think fishnets have EVER been out of style. They're either current or retro chic as far as I'm concerned... Sexy and ironic all at the same time. There's real history too, with fishnets, from the Flapper Jazz divas of the twenties to the goths and ravers of NOW... well, I don't know, maybe the name is a commentary? Fishnet could just as easily be called 'so next year.' *Shrugs* Look it up, the fishnet has a long and lovely history in fashion.

Of course, Sn@tch's 'So Last Year' is all sexy and no irony, even though the name might be. Fun, definitely, but THAT'S something I've come to expect from designer Ivey Deschanel... but who doesn't want some fun with their sexy?

It's not so much SLY is as sexy and fun either, it's the totally AWESOME selection of styles in the release. Maybe THAT'S why it's called what it is... maybe Ivey decided to jam an entire year's worth of schmexy lingerie into a single pack. I don't know. I actually could have solved this whole mystery by just chatting her up but honestly, it's more fun to just make stuff up.

SLY has multiple cuts on multiple layers; from the g-string bottom or booty shorts to bikini tops and baring boybeater style cuts. There's two versions of stockings that go along with it too. Great selection, love it.

As for the name? Who knows. It had to be called something I guess. Doesn't really matter... it's a sexy number and a rose is a rose is a rose and all that.

Worn:

:::Sn@tch::: Mainstore So Last Year

Nightshade Designs Emilie Autumn Skin

*Illuminati* Designs Mainstore Eclipse Boots

!ElfPyre Pro!D!u!X!ions!~ PUnked

Daarc Dagger from ElfPyre designs is weird, and I LOVE it!

There's a LOT of weird in SL. Lots. Funky avatars. Strange sims. Odd dialogue. It's all there, weirdness. There's a range of weird, of course: Good weird and bad weird.

Bad weird, well... it's just annoying sometimes. Bad weird is the stuff that makes Second Life scramble to do some PR fixing and image maintenance. Bad weird is the stuff that makes us shake our heads and sigh while we try to explain this obviously demented virtual universe to our skeptical RL friends. Bad weird, well, sucks.

Now good weird, well, THAT'S a lot more fun. Good weird is the sims and events that make us laugh and share LMs. Good weird is the stuff that makes Second Life a more interesting a beautiful place.

So yah, Daarc's got her finger on good weird. She'd never admit it, of course, but Daarc's designs are a little bit of that weird art that I think adds to the unique world that we all love.

Example? Well, here's ElfPyre Productions' True Love skin and Punked prim ears. A really interesting and weird skin... NOT for the type-A modelesque clones running around Second Life STILL. True Love is bright, colorful and definitely weird. The Punked ears are scripted, so you can change the tone and even the piercing sets to match your mood. It's a look that's easy to have fun with, and a very interesting offering from a designer who definitely deserves your attention.

So yah, be weird. Be good weird, anyway. Hollywood beautiful's been done. Beauty in SL is pretty much cliche at this point anyway, isn't it? Try something colorful and adventurous... try something ugly/beautiful, weird/beautiful.

Worn:

!ElfPyre Pro!D!u!X!ions!

Punked Ears

True Love Skin (Super Pale)