Friday, April 17, 2009

An Appreciation for the Classics

Today, I fell quite in love with Sand Shack Surf Co's new skins. While I hadn't been too sure if I liked how they looked on some others I'd seen wearing them, the moment the demo rezzed on me, I was sold. In my middle-years of Second Life, I almost exclusively wore Antonia Marat's handdrawn Lily skins from Artilleri. No other skin would tempt me, those were MY skins, I adored them. Until of course, some other skin did tempt me, and I fell into the deep pit of being a skin whore, and when I finally went back to my Lily skins, they seemed so blank and cartoonish to me, and they were guiltily forgotten. When I tried on Emma Gilmour's new skinline, it felt like coming home, and I instantly snapped up every makeup. I just looked so pretty, and innocent, and so *Niv*, the Niv I remembered from a time when buying skins and hair and clothes and shoes and everything was a major event, and I'd scrimp and save and laugh and play and all those other happy cliches from my salad days. After all, I can't do sexy. I'm cute. Cute cute cute! Completely reawakened my love for handdrawn skins. And handily happened to tie in with my thoughts of yesterday.

Those thoughts were: "Quality never goes out of style". I was going throgh one of my larger inventory folders earlier, in the naive hope of organizing it some, and I kept coming across all these designers who you never hear anything of anymore. Like, for years. And a quick check confirmed that most of them were still around, or at least still had stores open in SL, even if not active anymore, and their stuff is still SO GOOD, however old it might be. So my looks today are composed of (with maybe one? exception, aside from my lovely new skins) things that have been lying around in my inventory for years, and still rock. And I'm pretty sure are still available (I've tried to steer clear of some of my obvious favourites that are very much no longer around, such as Last Call and Savvy?).

My first look (above) is comprised of capris from Celestial Studios, which is one of my biggest cases of "Appreciation for the Classics", I still wear their skins alllllthetime, even though they were the skin of choice when I started SL, and seldom heard of now. My top is from a dress from Versteck, a store which I own pretty much all of, but didn't even realize was still around until I saw a post on Ana Lutetia's blog about some of their new releases. The cardigan is from Icing's Robot Love dress, which isn't that old and I believe was a hunt item, but gosh I adore it so, and the sandals are Fashionably Dead, long a beautiful handdrawn mainstay of my inventory, which I don't feel gets quite as much press as it should. And the hair is by Maitreya, from back in the days when they weren't so ubiquitous as hairmakers.

Secondly, a dress from a store long long inactive, but I was delighted to discover still has a location open. Argyle is a store I discovered in late 2007, about a week before the designer seemingly vanished from the face of the grid. Initially I loved Argyle for it's myriad vintagey gloves, scarves, and a neat-o suitcase with versions you could carry or sit on, what reminded me of them though was finding this dress, simple, unexpectedly elegant and a bit quirky, with exquisite texturing, like the whole store. The shoes are Jeepers Creepers' Lace Up Betties, a version of the first *good* shoes I ever bought in SL, and despite predating scupties, they continue to be a testement to how much things that were great back when they first came out can still be wonderful and current and stand up to all of today's shiny new awesomeness. And the hair, oh, the hair. I remember a time when this was one of perhaps three hairstyles I owned in Second Life, and Gurl 6 was the only hair store for me. Although today her textures may seem a little dated, my Gurl 6 folder still contains some of the most original, vibrant and versatile styles I own.

Finally, an outfit from a store that's very much still around, still active, but doesn't recieve nearly as much press as it used to. Nyte N Day used to be one of those stores all my friends used to obsess over, and now is all-but forgotten. And that's a pity, because their textures are beautiful, their prices good, and especially for basics, and components for mixing up your own outfits, they really are flawless. My shoes are Aphrodite Creations' Vintish, AC having been a massive staple of my shoe folder in times past, and are yummy. Gurl 6 for the hair again, another old favourite of mine, pleasantly informal and hippy-ish, with delighful curlybits at the ends.

A dive into your inventory can produce some great forgotten treasures, for those days when you're feeling a bit nostalgic, or just for awesomeness with the classics. Like the kind I have.

Credits:

Pic 1-

Skin: Surf Couture - Sun Care - Zinc Oxide - Gone Surfin'
Hair: Maitreya - Rae - Red
Shirt: Versteck - from Pipette dress
Cardigan: Icing - from Robot Love
Pants: Celestial Studios - Lulu Faded Cuffed Capris
Sandals: Fashionably Dead - Strappy Sandals - Black
Manicure: Celestial Studios - Deviant Nation - Black and Red Duo
Pedicure: Frick - Dark Red
Eyes: Miriel - Marine (standard) [in all pics]
Lashes: Sin Skins - Tipped Fluff Lashes [in all pics]

Pic 2-

Skin: Surf Couture - Sun Care - Zinc Oxide - Italian Ice
Hair: Gurl 6 - Softly - Strawberry
Dress and gloves: Argyle - Pete Plaid Party Dress - Grey
Shoes: Jeepers Creepers - Laced-Up Betty
Choker: Caroline's Jewelry - Kitten Cameo

Pic 3-

Skin: Surf Couture - Sun Care - Zinc Oxide - Flip Flops
Hair: Gurl 6 - Hard Candy - Strawberry
Outfit: Nyte n Day - Seraph Black
Shoes: Aphrodite Creations - Vintish - Black

Pose Credits:
Pic 1 - [LAP] (from the Simmer Down set but I forgot to make a note :(]
Pic 2 - [LAP] Cat's Meow - Starlet; Got the Time
Pic 3 - [LAP] Chubby set - C-Barbie1a; C-Barbie10

Friday, April 10, 2009

Perfect Vlintuition!

When I logged in this morning I had received a notecard from the Vlintuition Subscriber. Designer and owner Vlinder Reitveld is hosting a Happy Songkran Sale. The Songkran Festival is the Thai New Year Celebration. (Yeah I had to Google it).

To Celebrate Vlinder has marked down all her items to 100L or Less! Vlinder was my first taste of Ethnic Clothing in SL.. She has created traditional yet sexy outfits from India to Thailand to Korea.

You know me I can't resist and sale and the fact that I had just finished watching a show with a India/Hindi Inspired Wedding my first selection was her Sculpted Sari.

Finally I got to use my [LAP] Bolly all the time poses! The Sari comes with 4 choices of tops, the Sandals and the bindi/eye jewels. She has the jewels attached to the nose so I edited to attach to chin due to my lashes.




Though here you see me in a pink and black sari she has several textures and colors to choose from including the tradtional Red and Gold for weddings. Plus this is only one of many style variations she has


She also has a couple of great outfits for men! Here I got the Churidar in Green for Davey. I love the fact he lets me dress him!




The men's outfit come complete with sandals as well. These sandal for for a size 35 foot and are no mod. So men will have to alter their foot shape to get the right look. I also had to stretch the scarf .

Lastly is the Enchantress gown. Not so much an Ethnic Feel, but is a beautiful gown that comes with 3 skirt options, stockings, Gloves etc. Not to mention plenty of texture/colors to choose from. Since the gloves and the socks had the same texture I decided to mix it up a bit to give this Springtime gown a bit of Umph.



Paired with the long gloves from Sn@tch and jewelry from Alienbear I am ready for a night out on the town. Just don't ask me to walk too quickly in this tight skirt. *winks*

This Sale is only till April 15, 2009 so don't wait to long!

As usual store links are throughout the blog in BOLD Script.

Have a great weekend!


Look 1

Vlintuition Sculpted/Flexi Designer Sari (Pink and Black)
Includes 4 tops options, bindi and sandals
Hair ETD - Bonita - Black (Freebie)
Skin Curio :GP: Sundust [dark] Pin Up-Starlet 1
Lashes and Eyes: Miriel Eyes- Smoky Quartz
Jewelry: Analise *tal* Bangle Hoops and Earrings (Comes with Meela Silks Outfit)
Pose from [LAP] Bolly all the Time Pose Set

Look 2 (Davey)

Vlintuition: Men's Churidar Kurta Suit - Moss
Includes Sandal (size 35 foot)
Skin: Belleza - Ewan - Vain Grid wide Kissed Hunt
Eyes: Miriel - Standard Eyes - Earth (free)
Hair: Calico Creations - Romeo - Dark Midnight (Kissed Hunt Gift)
Pose: FallnAngel Creations -Falln God Stand 2


Look 3

Vlintuition: Enchantress (Violet Bouquet)
Skin: Curio :GP: Sundust [light] Pin Up-Cats Pajamas 1
Jewelry: Alienbear - Princess Felicity Set - White
Shoes: Zhao - Chelle - Silver
Hair: ETD - Aiiyana - Chestnut
Gloves: Sn@tch Long Purple Gloves
Pose: [LAP] Female Blogger set (system skirt)

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Making Filthy Feel Good!

My friend Elysia Mai has just opened her first shop in SL called Filthy*Pussy. The name is a bit extreme I know but once you get beyond it you will find cute stuff with a bit of edge to it. Her store is small with just a few items, but she is busy creating new designs every day! I made a point to be her first store customer and grabbed a couple of items before she had time to just send them too me.



This skull ribbon sweater has to be my favorite of her items. She includes a pair of capri/tights on a pants layer but I chose to combine it with leggings I got from the .:Malt:. hunt last week.

I am also wearing on of the new hairs by Aemelia Case of Philotic Energy. This one is called Stephanie. I really love the little tendrils and the fall in the back that makes it less formal.



Another cute little dress she has done is call the bubblegum dress.. Sweetheart pink with a touch of tulle and a black corset with buckles.



With all that pink its really easy to overload on the cute meter. I don't know if I helped or hindered by adding the star tights from Bingo and the Sweater Boots that were a group gift from Sweeter Than Candy.

You may recognize the new ETD hair from my earlier post.

My last pics were inspired not only by this hair from Philotic Energy but seeing Gilles dance the Argentine Tango on "Dancing With the Stars" (My drooling really bruised the boyfriends ego) But really it wasn't so much Gilles that did it it was the overall dance! I would love to dance a tango with that kind of beauty and passion.



This dress is by Kellie Iwish of Elate! Perfect for an evening of dancing I combined it with shoes from Maitreya a dramatic skin from Curio and this gorgeous Portia Hair. I just love that flower!




So here ends this post. If you like any of these places the SURL is attached to the store names within the blog above.

Now, I need to convince my partner to log in and tango the night away. See you all soon!

PS. If you aren't doing anything Sunday at 6 PM SLT come dancing with me at Triskele for my weekly Sunday Social featuring Club69 Radio DJ Wyldchild Raven. No prizes and no scantily clad dances to tip. Just fantastic time dancing to good music and socializing with great people. This week the Theme is A Semi-Formal/Formal Dance so get out your tuxedos, suits dresses or evening gowns. Click here to join us at Wintersong Woode in Triskele!


Credits:

LOOK 1
Top -Filthy*Pussy - Ribbon Skull Sweater
Pants- .:MALT:. - Capri LACE Tights- Silver 1
Shoes- *Kookie* Ella Petite flates Noir
Jewelry - {Violet Voltaire} Harajuku Girls Pink Earrings and Bracelet
Hair - Philotic Energy - Stephanie - Auburn Black Tipped
Skin - Curio/Gala - Sundust [light] Pin Up- Jitterbug 2
Eyes - Miriel - Violet Plant (standard)
Lashes - Miriel - Glamour
Full Length Pose - Striking Poses- Katie Holmes Dollarbie Pose

Close Up Pose [LAP] F-Blogger3-Mirror PR4


Look 2
Dress: Filthy*Pussy Bubblegum Dress
Tights: {Bingo} Starry Tights Black
Boots: Sweeter then Candy- Sweater Boot Black (group gift)
Jewelry:{Violet Voltair} Harajuku Girls (Necklace, Bracelet and Earrings)
Skin: Curio Gala- Sundust[light] Pin Up Starlet 2
Hair: ETD- Chel- Chestnut
Eyes: Miriel - Violet Plant- Standard
Lashes: Miriel Glamour
Pose: [LAP] F- Blogger2 PR4

Look 3
Dress: Elate! Juliet in Flame
Hair: Philotic Energy - Portia - Auburn
Shoes: Maitreya - Solace - Black
Sking: Curio/Gala - Sundust [light] Pin Up-Apple Pie 2
Earring: Redgrave - Long Silver
Nail: Adam and Eve- Rouge Fingernails and toenails
Eyes: Miriel _ Violet Plant
Lashes: Miriel Glamour
Pose: (full body) [LAP] F-Blogger4-Pursehold-Mirror PR4
Close-up: [LAP] F-Blogger4-Pursehold

Landscape Skins!

It is with greatest pride that I would like to announce my new skinline. Those who know me may have noticed me working diligently on it when I am AFK over the last few months, and today I can proudly state that I am ready to unveil it to the world!

The Vision

In these competitive days of fashion, I realised that it is not enough merely to match your accessories to your clothes. It was woefully inadequate to simply dress for the season. What the top skinmakers of the day have so far neglected to note, with all their exquisite makeups and realistic skin textures, is that surroundings must be matched too!
With this in mind, I seized upon the singular idea of skins to match your environment! You'll be sure to be the most appropriately dressed avatar in your location, and people will fawn over your impeccable style.

Currently, the line includes skins to match the landscape of popular hotspots Glitter Poof Unicorn Sex Island (formerly known as Starlust Motel, and seen above), Cupcake, silentsparrow, Haute Couture, and Akhsharumova, with more to be added in time!

Stay tuned over the next few days for details on how to purchase Nivaya Barbosa's Landscape Skins!