The Romance of Giselle by Mer-Elf Creations

Sorry that I have no clever and catchy title. But maybe sometimes being to the point is a good thing.

Morgaine Price of Mer-Elf Creations sent me her newest release to review. She calls this Giselle and it includes tons of options, such as 3 corsets, 4 types of sleeves, a narrow and wide prim skirt as well as a wide prim skirt with a sheer overlay. I was a bit overwhelmed with all the great options given, but finally parred it down to 2 looks.

This first is the Gown with Corset, wide sheer skirt, and long sheer sleeve. Her skirts also have sitter scripts in them that can be reset or even turned off. The belt is separate from the gown and took some adjusting. Though Morgaine does include a couple of shape options in the pack as well.

With the detail of this gown I chose to use simple accessories and chose a delicate silver shell charm with matching pearl earrings.

Though there are so many great outerwear options, I think my favorite is the lingerie that lies beneath.

Morgaine has this pretty baby doll attachment in long and short. Or you can just wear it as a bra and pantie set with garters.



Giselle is 599L and comes in 9 lovely colors.

So please take a moment to check out her store and see this and other lovely designs.



Gown and Lingerie: Giselle by Mer-Elf Creations
Hair: Phoebe in Blonde by ETD (dollarbie)
Pumps: Turquoise Pumps by Maitreya (group gift)
Skin: Sylvan Natural (Blue) by Nomine
Jewelry: Mermadia Silver Necklace with Earrings. Accessories by Eolande (Was a gift. Not sure if she has released. Sorry)
Lashes: Glamour Lashes By Miriel

Brand Addiction: silent sparrow

One of my biggest inventory folders in SL (and I have a LOT, my inventory is an unweildly sort of place) is that of silent sparrow. I have a severe compulsion to the works of hyasynth Tiramisu. It's not the cheapest of addictions, but heavens, it's worth it, and keeps me out of blowing all my money in gin parlours, or something. When I decided to devote a post to one of my favourite designers, my head span somewhat. What to wear? No, seriously. WHAT TO WEAR?!?! I estimate that I've bought at least 70% of the products in her store in at least one colour. And if it's less than that, I've got some shopping to do! When people think of silent sparrow, I think the first thing that springs to mind are the gorgeous suits and gowns hyasynth makes, with their hypnotic hand-drawn textures, luscious contrasts of black and jewel tones, and a deeply romantic gothic bent. And so, being as I am, I decided in the end to show some of her less-travelled gems.

Raies Suite

The very first thing I bought from silent sparrow was the raies suite, back in the mists of time somewhere in 2007. I forgot how I discovered the store in my wanderings, but the instant I walked in, I was hooked, by the beautiful ramshackle house and overgrown garden of the build, by the atmospheric lighting, and oh...by the amazing clothes. All of it was like nothing I'd ever encountered before in SL, despite my haunting of 'goth' shops, and I wanted it all . The only downside was, I couldn't afford anything in there on my 10L$ an hour dancer's wage. I left, sadly, but never forgot it. Generous tipping enabled me to save up a little, and one day, I crept back into the store with the intent to buy SOMETHING. Anything. I just needed it. I must have agonized for about an hour, wearing a path in the floor as I wandered round the store until I decided. The raies suite, with it's serious pinstripes, sexy buckles and straps, and dainty demi-skirt. That was the outfit for me. It remains one of my favourites to this day. As do a lot of older silent sparrow outfits. The style just doesn't age, the amazing texture work keeps getting more and more amazing, but it started out from a pretty damn amazing base. hyasynth's older outfits are NOT to be overlooked. Really. They're amazing.

Meat Cake

Okay, what's NOT to love about Meat Cake? Shown to the right in Buttercream, this dress makes me hungry just looking at it. But first...look at it! The style of it is so delightful in itself, bringing to mind innocent days in the former half of the last century, with it's sweet little v-neck bolero jacket, and vintage pastel tea-dress stylings (the skirt comes in two lengths, for if you want to be even more demure), dainty little short gloves, and delicately patterned stockings. And the pattern? Could it be flowers? Butterflies? No. Why, it's meat, of course! Delicious meat! Chops, and drumsticks, and bacon, and, I think I even see some ham in there! It's like being in some wonderful 1950s Meat Advisory Council promotion. I deeply love that sort of thing. See how happy I am in that picture? In my dress, with my meat? (meat courtesy of Tableau). That's history working it's magic, right there!

RoseNoir Limited Edition (#29, in my case)

hyasynth's limited editions are legendary. Or at least, if they're not, they bloody well should be. *stubborn face*. You see, when there is a silent sparrow limited edition release, it's not just a pile of boxes in a store, it's an EVENT. A hunt. A hunt in the truest sense of the word, free of cheat sheets, asking for help, and all the standard trappings of the modern Second Life treasure hunt. In waves, to compensate for global time-differences, small batches of strictly limited-edition colours of a recently released outfit are put out, some of which totalling to only 25, and then the hunt is on to buy these rare, beautiful outfits, packaged in animals, in the case of the most recent, spikey hedgepigs. Proudly I can report that I bought the full set, the Noir sets being close to my heart as I had the greatest honour of being in the store ad for the unlimited version, RougeNoir. It's one of hyasynth's most versitile sets, and the colours pop against the black lines making the patterns look like light shining through bold stained glass.

silent sparrow is for Life, not just for Gothmas!

Because hyasynth's style can't really be categorized, 'gothic' could never capture the scope of her work. And it's amazing fun to mix up into other outfits, too. My personal favourite mashup of entirely silent sparrow clothes was worn by ellantha Larsson at a silent sparrow party (my god I love those parties) once, where most of us seemingly used some kind of group ESP and wore purple, and ellantha fitted something together using parts I would never have thought of, to create a look I became thoroughly obsessed with. I bought all the outfits she used in her look, and have had endless joy with them. This picture is NOT that look. It lives forever jealously guarded in my mind, as an illustration of how versitile everything from silent sparrow can be if you care enough to admire all the pieces individually for the work of art that each part is. (speaking of art, you can buy SL copies of RL art by hyasynth, Jessica Ornitz and Aimee Weber at silent sparrow, which I highly recommend doing, cos, well, wow). My yummy casual look is comprised of silent sparrow's Snug Cardigan in Lime, jeans from Ryou in Dove, Fond Affections Bustier in Silver, tattoo from the Fog Limited Edition Devana set, and my feathered friends are Possum in Grape, on my hand, and Cloudy Possum on my shoulder, a SuperUltraRare custom fishing prize at the silent sparrow sim. Which you should visit anyway, because it's breathtakingly gorgeous.

My point in this epic post is this: silent sparrow rules. You should shop there.

A Tribue to Persephone

Ahoy! It is I, Nivaya Barbosa, newly-appointed other blogger for Dressing in Pixels.

Ah, but Perse flatters me with her welcoming post. The truth is, I owe a great deal of who I am in SL now, to her. In a lot of ways, if I was the kind of person who did SL families (I'm not) I would consider Perse my SL mom. She's been there for me since...ooh, let's say, day 8? I met her when I was around a week old, when I started working at the same club as her, and immediately looked up to her as a role model. She was the one who made me appreciate the importance of having good quality things, of accessorizing, of generally making an effort. Gosh I wanted to be her when I grew up. She was always one step above me on the promotions ladder in the club, shortly after I became a dancer, she became a host, when I became a host, she became a manager. And she spoiled me. It was her who bought me my first silks (what? They're PRETTY!), when I had no idea what silks were, and I still have a picture of that day, me, her, and another friend, all thinking we were the coolest people in the world in our red silks (!), when in reality, Perse's avatar desperately needed to eat a sandwich (or 5), mine needed a strong course of iron tablets, and as for our other friend....well. Watermelon ass doesn't begin to cover it.

Failed relationships, successful relationships, abandonment by (watermelon-assed) friends, my promotion to 'junior manager' of the club, shared recipes for sweet potato casserole, we went through a lot together before I really began to really feel like I was her equal.

As time passed, our own styles diversified, and at the height of this phenomenon, I took to teasingly calling her 'mom', much to her disdain. Next to her trend at the time for wearing classic vintagewear, pencil skirts, blouses, jackets, highwaist pants, perfectly matching colours and her hair in immaculate updos, my quirky eclectic neko-without-the-cat-bits look really did make her and I standing next to each other look like a conservative mother and her rebellious teenage daughter.

Eventually, the club we worked in closed down, and she and I made a brave (but ultimately unsuccessful) stab at the world of shape-making and image consultancy, before going our seperate ways, me, to focus on modelling, Perse to make her home and career in a medieval fantasy land. Happily we are both awesome. Other stuff happened in between, but that was mostly boring, the point is, we've both now developed our own unique and fantastic senses of style, based at least some on the times we've spent together. And now she sometimes even comes to me for fashion advice! And so, for my first post in Dressing in Pixels, I would like to present my homage to the many styles of Persephone Paine, my host, my mentor, my confidante, and my friend (also SL mom...but I don't do SL families...Shh!)

Outfit Credits

Pic 1:

Skin: Nomine -Sylvan - Ultralight - Dita Purple

Hair: Ingenue - Jitterbug Doll - Red

Dress: Ingenue - Polynesian Princess - Pink Leopard

Shoes: Shiny Things - Retrosweet Pumps - Powder Pink

Earrings: Miriel - Teardrop Earrings - Gold

Eyes: Miriel - Aqua - Standard

Lashes: Nuclear Boutique - Vintage Lashes

Manicure/Pedicure: Candy Nail - Basic Silver

Pic 2:

Skin: 42 - 118 Freebie Skin - Pale

Hair: Calico - Emily - Blood

Dress: Evie's Closet - Saiyge - Ocean

Wings: Material Squirrel - Storm

Eyes and Lashes: (as above)

Manicure: Candy Nail - #16 Diamond Elegance

Pic 3:

Skin: LF Chai - Cream - Vixen

Hair: ETD - Ginny - Scarlet

Shirt and Jacket: Last Call - Frida

Jeans: Naive - Damaged Jeans Blue

Boots: Bax Coen - BAX Black Suede Ankle Boots +

Lashes: Magika - Reall Prim Eyelashes

Pic 4:

Skin: Ashia Designs - Victoria Fire Fundraiser - Timeless 2009

Hair: Refuge - Alex - Red

Dress: ETD - Floral Babydoll - Fresh

Boots: Maitreya - Dune - Brown

Bracelets: Chaoslotus - Starlusty V-Day Hunt

Lashes - Sin Skins - Tipped Fluff lashes

NEW DRESSING IN PIXELS BLOGGER

Please give a warm welcome to one of my best friends Nivaya Barbosa. She claims to be a "Wannabe Fashionista" however she has more style in her little finger then I can ever hope to achieve.

Niv is a pro at putting pieces together for the best quirky and fashionable looks you can imagine! She will lead you to some of the best hidden fashion treasures SL has to offer.




She is definitely a "Priceless" Addition to this blog and my life.

It's Good to be NAIVE!

I am embarrassed to say that I have known Leah McCullough for months and did not realize she was a designer and shop owner. She is a phenomenal photographer and a model too. So, the minute I found out I headed over to her shop .:NAIVE:.. Leah not only does Clothing but skins as well. The other day she gave me a preview of her new skin Camille in the Light tone. She has promised me a more tan tone is in the works.

Camille comes with 3 Make-Ups and 3 different tones of eyebrow, Light Blonde, Light Brunette and Light Dark. The eyebrows in the following pictures are here light brunette ones.





The eye makeup is also slightly different with each brow town to flatter.

She also did a great job on the body shading with soft natural highlights that accentuate rather then exaggerate. Plus, She did a great job on the fingernails and toenails. I don't have to wear a manicure of pedicure. Click here to see a Full Body Shot


Now onto the clothing. Yesterday I needed an outfit for a Scanty Panties Event. I really wanted lingerie that was fun and not buttfloss . This Bra and Pantie Set is called Comic! Its covered in Anime! Plus though not shown it has a tank top and gloves as well.





NAIVE is a definite place to check out. From Skin, to Lingerie, Casual Wear and Formal Wear she has something for every occasion. Be sure to grab her give in the back corner too. Specially created T-Shirts for those who just love to Plurk.


Skin: Camille By .:NAIVE:.
Bra and Panties: Comic by .:NAIVE:.
Shoes: Kat Platforms by Kookie
Hair: Lesley in Chocolate and Natalia in Chocolate by Truth
Hair Ornament: Color Change Skull Flower by Artilleri
Lashes: Glamour By Miriel
Eyes: Violet Plant (Standard) by Miriel
Choker and Belly Ring: Infatuation Set (Vain Inc Hunt Gift) by Sn@tch

A Totally Vain Valentine and other Fashion Goodness

In all honesty, I hunt for fun. The idea of going from place to place searching for treasure has always intrigued me. Plus the designers that participate are some of my favorites. Valentines in the past has not been a really exciting holiday in the past, but this year I am totally in love and apparently the Valentines Bug bit me hard.

First we have Ivalde. This cute dress is covered in Kisses. I paired it with Tights and the cute special offer shoes from Kookie. This is the first time I have actually been in a Kookie store and I look forward to go back a shop there again. The skin is a Vain Inc, Hunt gift from Rockberry. The dramatic lips are a very nice touch.


Ivey Deschanel of Sn@tch also participated in the Vain, Inc. Hunt. However this dress was a group gift called Pink is the New Pink. I combined it with shoes from Indyra Originals.




I had to include the awesome box that the Group Gift came in. Its the coolest flaming heart and is so staying in my inventory.

The Skin I am wearing is the Vain, Inc Hunt Gift from LessThan3 Skins.




Evie's Closest had a LTD Edition Release called Queen of Hearts. She offered it in Pink and Red. I had to go for the Red one and extremely happy since I totally missed out on the last LTD Edition release she had.


This set included the Dress and a Very Pretty Beaded Net Veil. She is now doing alternate sizes on her prim sleeves etc so very little modifying is needed. I accessorized it with Jewelry from AlienBear and Hair by Sky Everett. The Skin is Another fantastic Vain Inc. Hunt Find from Fleur Skins.



I wish everyone that reads my blog, (if anyone does LOL) A Happy Valentines Day filled with Love.



First Pic:

Hair: Elizabeth 2 by Truth
Skin: Lily (PoE) Hunt By Rockberry
Shoes: Elle Petite Flats (Valentine Special) by Kookie
Dress: Vain, Inc Hunt Gift by Ivalde
Tights: Marthe Blackstar Footless Tights by Ivalde


2nd and 3rd Pic:

Dress: Pink is the New Pink (Group Gift) Sn@tch
Hair: Polly by Truth
Skin: Candy Hearts (Vain Inc. Hunt) LessThan Three Skins
Shoes: Clarissa in Silver by Indyra Originals


4th and 5th Pics:

Dress: Queen of Hearts (LTD Edition) Evie's Closet (sold out by check out the Saiyge Gown with Add On Pack!)
Skin: Vain Inc Hunt Gift from Fleur Skins
Hair: Kiera in Black from Sky Everett Designs
Jewelry: Heart Teardrop Diamond Set in Red by Alienbear Designs

Evie's Closet gives Saiyge Advice!

One of my Favorite places to shop for Elegant Fantasy Gowns is Evie's Closet. Every time a new gown comes out I am there buying it. Evangeline Miles, the designer behind Evie's Closet is a very sweet and generous person and has, I think, the best group tag ever: "Be Enchanted by"

Recently she had a Photo Contest. The requirements was to dress in her new gown Saiyge and have the pic taken at the Sim Oubliette. This is where here main store is located. If you get a chance this sim is a beautiful place to visit. I did take some pics for the contest, however, I took to long and missed the deadline. (seeing the entries, I didn't have a snowballs chance *grins* )



The Saiyge gown is a lovely flowing gown with a small train (pictured here is the gown in Ocean). She has included 2 sizes of sleeves as well which mean little or no modifying to fit. My favorite part is the flower wreath for the hair. She makes the best I ever have seen and I keep trying to convince her to sell them in fat packs.


Voting is still underway for the Photo Contest, so if you have time stop by and see the lovely works of art at these contest entries are and vote!

Publish Post

Dress/Gown: Saiyge in Ocean - Evie's Closet
Hair: Sadie in Dark Chocolate - Calico Creations
Skin: Takako 008 (Have Fun) - Lazolli (may still be free.)