The Strand

War war is stupid

Elikatira released new hair the other day, and the style is one that works as both a professional pulled back look, as well as an adorable youthful style.I really enjoy the colours of Elikatira’s range, there is something sun touched about this one, even though a brown it has the makings of a blonde.

I was having an 80’s flashback with the look today, tulle and military looks, what more can one fashionista over 30 ask for.The skirt is tres fab because of its solidÂ sculpted structure underneath, mixed with the whirly flexi tulle above. The jacket made me giggle, because I imagined what I would get medals for, I have in the past seen such things with their own giggle worthy info, but these are left sleek and shiny and up to your own imagination. I know Whimsy deserves a medal for trying to save all the Paper Couture shoes while they burned Tableau to the ground earlier this week, that was a hoot…you can see some pics of that on my flickr.

This is definitely a fun and frivolous outfit, and I am looking forward to more fun from LeLutka in the future, there is a definite slant towards mixed aesthetics coming from over there of late, yay for 2011.

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Picture :

Hair: Later – Elikatira

Skin: Emma – Tuli

Clothes:Charlie Jacket , Sophie Skirt – LeLutka

Sweetheart dress bodysuit only – Fri.day

Knee High Socks – The Strand

Shoes/Boots: Blair Boots – SLink

Accessories/Jewelry:

Diva Lashes – LeLutka

Eyes by : Fusemelon

Poses by : Long Awkward Pose – 365 days series

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

Bam Bam Bambi

When you share space with Whimsy it is all about complete looks, where as I usually am running around in all sorts of half put together looks, generally left over from my blog posts that end up only half on, or mixed with other things. I admit to it, the majority of my clothing is all for the posestand, but that comes from having had many years of only wearing who I worked for…and being so used to the quick change into work stuff, that it has still taken me so long to feel ok withwearing stuff, mind you though again, as much as we shop and change, half the time it is never actually seen.
Last night I was talking to Newdoll about Maiiki and it’s long run, a collab that has completely lived up to it’s beauty all these years. I had a set on to show her, and tonight went to Bijoux, apparently they are closing down soon, so all items are 50% off. I grabbed a few things that I thought would be fun to pull apart, and one of them was the Bambi set, that has this great top, scarf and beltÂ (on clothing layer) it looked so great with the left over Maiiki that before I knew it I was adding shoes and socks and some incredible New Exile hair and Voila, a beautiful smart dressy look that could go anywhere day or night.

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Picture :

Hair: Nikki – Exile

Skin: Vilda – LAQ

Clothes: Shorts and Gloves ( fromÂ Belted Poof & Puff Set ) – MAiiKI (above Maitreya)

Top and Belt ( From Bambi set ) Bijou

Thigh High Socks – The Strand

Shoes/Boots: POW – LeLutkaÂ

Accessories/Jewelry:

Diva Lashes – LeLutka

Eyes by : Fusemelon

Poses by : aDORKable

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

So ho Ho

No one made me wear purple, I did it all on my own. I am thinking that might be my new years resolution actually, embrace the purple…ok no not exactly, but I am finding I enjoy it with it’s mixy matchyness, and it actually looks hot with some of my fav ‘out there’ colours. If my typing is eratic today, it is because I decided to clean the space bar, and we all know that means break it, so now it’s clean and sticking? i know right, makes absolutely no sense to me either.

As far as the toothache is going, I know you are all sitting there with bated breath just anxious to know…well it is gone o/ so now I have to just wait to be able to eat something other than cold mash and I will be right. Speaking of MASH, OMG I discovered yesterday that there is a series called After MASH which starred Colonel Potter, Klinger and Father Mulkay I don’t know how to spell it. I was in shock, watched the first few online and LOVE IT. Why I am upset though is we never had it here, and yet for the last 20+ years every single year they do the MASH reruns during off season, so I don’t understand, and as a MASH lover, am really upset with whoever does the TV crap over here.

Rambling, I know. A few weeks ago YS & YS had a big release, and I showed you the Yeti Boots, but did not get a chance to show you the fabulous Soho boots and bags. The weave look of these are great, and I love the little touch of the scarf on the bag, you can use it to coordinate with, which I did in this post.

Up top we have some hair from Kyoot, this is not new hair, it is actually really old, and has been set up at such a low price before it is taken away apparently, so you best go grab it, the Wynter one is my fav, I already had that in the black, but grabbed the brown and red today.

Royal Blue did a new release yesterday, the skirts (not shown) are to die for, and you should go and grab The Dressing Room one as it’s a great price, and will have you wanting all the others too.At the same time Marni released the Yo Bra, a nice little basic bustierre that is just perfect for over or under or on it’s own. I want to see more colours in this, so buy them all, and then IM her and ask for more :P.

A Sn@Tch notice came through today, one of the most entertaining notice senders is always Sn@tch, even if I don’t have time to shop, or look at the pics, I always try and read them lol, silly I know, but if you don’t get them, you are missing out. I went over for todays special 69L pair of skirts and tank top set, and ended up buying the other two packs that the skirts come in, so I am skirted up in the sexy Confetti mini.

Not so mini is the Denim Skirt from The Strand, the mid length skirt is sculpted and has that perfect college campus look of days past. I don’t know I just really like skirts that length in SL especially when not all flex so they tend to seem more realisitc.

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Picture :

Hair: Wynter, Self AbsorbedÂ – Kyoot

Skin: NatashaÂ Â – LeLutka

Clothes:Â Â Yo Bra -Â Royal Blue

Thermal Henley – Fri.day

Confetti Mini – Sn@tch

Denim Skirt – The Strand

Yo Bra -Â Royal Blue

RB Tank Shirt – Maitreya

Ruffle Bolero – G’Field

Shoes/Boots: Soho Boots – YS & YS

Accessories/Jewelry:

Pearls in a rush – Deco

Bratty PearlsÂ Â Â (Tinted) – Woo’s

Soho Bag – YS & YS

Diva Lashes – LeLutka

Coin Belt – Maitreya

Eyes by : Fusemelon

Poses by : aDORKable

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

Buck Up for Winmer, or Sumter

A quickie, just to get my day started…which is kind of silly as it’s 2am here. I cannot believe it is the 17th, Christmas is only days away, and yet there is nothing really Christmasy feeling about it, unless you consider funny names on plurk and of course the decorating of sims and body, such as I have done today. But are you feeling the nostalgia, the need to find that ultimate gift for loved ones, or looking forward to as many of your family and/or friends getting together on the big day ?

As I get older, it becomes more about making sure I remember that the stores will be closed, and to be sure to order enough red bull in my next delivery. It is funny too because in the past I have shuffled my Christmas day – a day ahead of most – with being in Second Life to do customer service on Christmas Eve, a hectic last minute explosion where everything hiccups and it is all awesome – I miss customer service lots and lots, may have to do something about that in the new year.

Maybe I am still not used to being so overexposed to it so early, as soon as the halloween stuff was about to come down the thanksgiving and christmas stuff went up in Second Life, and for us down here, your thanksgiving meal is more like our Christmas, so somehow I feel like I have already had my turkey and all the fixins.

Lucky for me and other Aussies, there are designers like Dakota Buck taking care of our warmer weather needs. This weeks fifty L Friday items from Whippet & Buck are these adorable tiered skirts. The two colours that you will get are divine, and so easy to mix and match. I went with black for the pink skirt, but could have easily gone with chocolate, creams or even blues.

Moving down the legs, past The Strand socks and onto the New YS &YS Yeti boots, this is so cool, as only recently did I delete some Yeti boots from 2006-7 ish. They come in a lovely range of colours. Yeti boots are so much fun, not just because they look great, but who can not chuckle at the idea of boots made from Yeti fur…the idea that man has never caught one, but we managed to make shoes from them none the less.

The tops I am wearing come from Fri.day, the one on the left being the newer Rhapsody tunic, this is a two layered look, with the top layer having only one strap and a cute puffed sleeve attachment. I was impressed with the info in the pack letting you know that with all avs being different sizes, you may need to do some editing on the sleeve and that your AO ‘may’ effect it’s movement, due to the inability to do afull shoulder covering because of the one arm template. Many don’t realise that is how clothing is done, so that info is really nice to have provided. Another part of the top that I love is the belt, the thin mid torso belt is perfect for high waist skirts or anything really, adding an extra accent to a look, so worth the tops purchase just for the belt.

The fluffy furry stole I have on over the Dion shirt is from SDB, this stole is NOT mod though, my version isn’t anyway, so you will have to pray to the heavens that it fits. I am not sure if that is still the case with the item in the store, but yes, it’s a really pretty item, but unfortunatly with no glitch and no mod, it is not going to fit all. So if your breasts are bigger than a 65 and your larger than I look, be warned.

Speaking of warnings, the fun antlers I am wearing need a big tag hanging from them saying DON’T TOUCH MEEEE – watch that youtube it is adorable – but back to antlers lol. These come with emotes built in, so if someone clicks on you, well all sorts of things could happen in open chat, but thank goodness they do have a lock option, and they sparkle and look fabulous, and you know you want to find out what they say, let’s just put it this way. If I wasn’t partnered and Newdoll wasn’t partnered, we would have to get married now.

I have used and added another stock image to the Second Life Stock Images Group, some incredible photos have been added for people to use, I cannot wait to play with some myself. If you do use them, please mention it in comments, it is an amazing thing to know your images are helping others with their pics.

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Picture :

Hair: Betty Boop , Paper Tiger – Curio

Skin: Jadis – Glam Affair

Clothes: Cindy Ruffle – Whippet & Buck (This weeks 50L friday item)

Rhapsody Tunic, DIon Shirt – Fri.day

Thigh Highs – The Strand

Shoes/Boots: Yeti Boots – YS & YS

Accessories/Jewelry:

Medallion Earrings – Essentia

Xmas light antlers – [BedlaM] ( XRated options but lockable functions so no one can use)

Nails – Mons

Knit Stole – SDB

Diva Lashes – LeLutka

Eyes by : Fusemelon

Poses by : Glitterati

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

As I went down to the river

I have been having a lot of fun with the stock images I have taken, in these pictures again it might look like they were shot on location, but no, all done in my VR Studio. I was absolutely floored by the picture that Anya OhMai did in a post the other day using one of the backgrounds from the Second Life Stock Images flickr group, she is so talented, that it rocked to have something from the group used by someone so wonderful.

Both backgrounds are from Lula the home of Mon Tissu, that finally opened today, to much aclaim. Everyone I know has gone gaga over the release, and I myself was so impressed by the detailing of the items, you really cannot understand how amazing they are just off the vendors. An item I haven’t shown yet is so well structured it totally had me fooled.

The other day while Whimsy was swanning around in her Mon Tissu goodies, I was intrigued by how ‘real’ the skirt she had on looked…now don’t get all persnickity about photosourcing, because there is a big difference between sourcing and just taking a pic or downloading an actual garment and shoving it on a template. Things are sourced in SL all the time, for instance try handdrawing a knit pattern, can you imagine having to draw some wool make it look like wool, then mold that piece into what would look like one part of a stitch? then to repeat that hundreds of times until you get one row of knit, to then again copy that over and over to be able to get a patch big enough to make a texture for a scarf.

Or good luck getting really beautiful leather shoes/boots if leather in some varieties wasn’t sourced. Anyway, not saying these things cannot be achieved, just saying it isn’t always practical, and if there is true work done to the item, and the sourcing is just a small part of the overall finished product, then you need to learn the difference when throwing around accusations. This is all coming out ranty, but that is not the intention.

What I was getting at in a round about way, is that the skirt had me totally fooled, what ‘looked’ like it might be more sourced than not, wasn’t even on the mesh texture at all, the skirt was done so well at the front with sculpties that I had to zoom and cam and turn and go ‘OMG’. That is what you will never realise from a flat image, that often what can look flat or have a more realistic look than you assume it should, is actually just made so well that it looks real.

Just like I remember when Maitreya Gold first came out, people were actually accusing the pics on flickr as being images from another programe that they couldn’t be second life, Maitreya sure showed them. Anyway, I will show that skirt one day soon, and you will see what I saw, because the Mon Tissu blending of real and handdrawn is wonderful, and I cannot wait for more.

The party dresses in the first pic are so adorable, and I can see wearing the tops or skirts of the dress as seperate pieces for other fun looks. So many bows, even my hair is a bow, loving accented with some divine and delicate pieces of jewelry from Whippet & Buck another incredibly talented duo. Wouldn’t you just love to sit in a room and pick the brains of creators like these two fashion brands, I know I would.

Boot love all over the place, how Elie Spot – otherwise known as Emma Gilmour – was able to top her recent cowboy boots with these ones is just amazing. If we could somehow convince her to spend the next two months only making shoes and boots OMG. The cardigan in its beaded vintage beauty, with the underneath beaded tank, is a true showing of how meant to be Mon Tissu is, and how it’s creators are really in eachothers creative space in such a great way. I took the belt from the Park Avenue top and wriggled it down to the hips, stretched it and voila a great bow belt for the jeans as well. Even the jeans are mod, which is just amazing.

I am wearing Curio hair in the top pic, and Exile new and old in the second pic. The new hair is Hannah and so cute, love the loose braid on the side, again Kavar just makes such stunning and feminine locks.

Make sure when visiting Mon Tissu you take your man with you, he can look around the incredible sim, add pics to the stock images group :P and get used to being there, because future releases are going to include ones for men.

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Picture :

Hair: Bow , Jade – Curio

Skin: Amber – League

Clothes: Party Dress – Mon Tissu

Knee High Socks – The Strand

Shoes/Boots: Provence Boots – Mon Tissu

Accessories/Jewelry:Â Gilded Virgin Necklace, Diamond & Pearl Stack – Mon Tissu

Ribbon Straw Bag – Sabbia

Diva Lashes – LeLutka

Eyes by : Fusemelon

Poses by : Glitterati

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Picture :

Hair: Hannah, Majandra (heavily modded to fit under hat ) – Exile

Skin: Amber – League

Clothes: Joli Beaded Tank, 1929 Cigarette Jeans, Prudence Cardigan, Park Avenue Top – Mon Tissu

Knee High Socks – The Strand

Shoes/Boots: Provence Boots – Mon TissuÂ

Accessories/Jewelry:

Deer Stalker Hat – Mon Tissu

Park Avenue Belt (from Park Avenue top ) – Mon Tissu

Diva Lashes – LeLutka

Eyes by : Fusemelon

Poses by : Glitterati

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

In Protest

I did another backdrop today. I am definitely having fun with them, and I do hope that someone gets some use out of them other than me. But regardless it is fun, and it makes me push myself past my regular white background. Plus I do find it easier to fake depth with the backdrops, having a floor on them so to speak, lets me arrange my cutouts in a way that gives them more of a 3D quality. You can find it and others at Second Life Stock Images . You have to see some of the ones that Whimsy has done too, they are awesome.

The first picture is of a dress I have been waiting for for AGES. Marni of Royal Blue made this Tank about 2 months ago, if not more, and has been making me wait for it for all that time. Well worth the wait though and so cute, the colours are wonderful and you can dress it up, or make it super casual. I went with both ways, for the pics, and the dressed up way also features her latest bow necklace and gloves.

Today Whimsy and I started the day doing some of the 25L Tuesday shopping, it is a more Gorean focused group of stores, and I love them all. They have such an incredible range of goods, not just clothing, the basket of cookies I am holding is one of the goodies I snapped up. The hair I am wearing in this pic is all from Magika, and not only is the hair as cute as already, but Sabina has outdone herself this year with her Christmas Hair, every year she does something fun, and this year my favourite is the mistletoe one. The one in the centre is a new one with the added length worn as a seperate attachment, so you actually get two looks in one, and with her giving you the mirrored as well, that is really four.

The second pic is of the Royal Blue trench coats, these are more of a dressed look than an actual coat, because of it’s total closed style. But with leggings, socks or pants, you can mix up a different look for each day. The detailing on the coat is wonderful and the belt and buttons just give it that little extra class. I am wearing the new Candy Clogs by Shiny Things with these coats, a little lower heel than regular heels, with an open back of clogs, but a maryjane style front. The colours are so pretty, and the button has a mix of colours allowing for a nice flow into mix and match.

The hair is from Amacci and I am loving the Rhoda on the left, and for those of you that can’t do the hair base thing, the new ponytails are similar to prereleased attachment ones, but with hair all over, so you get your cake too.

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Picture :

Hair: Sandara, Cinta, Mistle CoriÂ – Magika

Skin: Natasha – LeLutka

Clothes: Striped Oblivion Tank – Royal Blue

Thigh Highs – The Strand

Shoes/Boots: Night Out Booties, Secretaries Dream Pumps, Treading lightly flats – Royal BlueÂ

Accessories/Jewelry:

Snowflake Cookie Basket – MP

Gifting Clutch – Royal Blue ( Happy Holidays Hunt Item avail 10th Dec )

Put em Up Gloves, Bow good times Necklace – Royal Blue

Diva Lashes – LeLutka

Eyes by : Fusemelon

Poses by : SLC Body Language AO animations

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Picture :

Hair: Liz , Rhoda, Liva – Amacci

Skin: Natasha – LeLutka

Clothes: Trenching through colour coat – Royal Blue

Thigh Highs – The Strand

Allure stockings – Maitreya

Marina Tote – Indyra Originals

Shoes/Boots: Candy Clogs – Shiny ThingsÂ

Accessories/Jewelry:

Take it Easy tote – Boom

Diva Lashes – LeLutka

Eyes by : Fusemelon

Poses by : Body Language SLC AO

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

SL Stock Images Group on Flickr

A long while ago I was inspired by Cajsa Lilliehook of It’s Only Fashion, to make a Flickr Group. So what is so different about this Flickr Group than others you may ask? Well it is called SL Stock Images, which might actually give you a clue of its purpose. The reason it was inspired by Cajsa, is that she is one of those bloggers that can find the most amazing of locations to shoot her images, and actually compiles a notecard, which she updates often, and sends out to the other blogger groups. But when “I” – this is one of those moments you want to make the word I bigger than it is – try and shoot on location, I can never find the right looking sim, or get my lighting sorted, or not crash a million times, or just everything works against me, that hours go by and I just end up tping back to my VR Studio and taking all my pics there and working on them in PS.

But when I am NOT looking to shoot something, I find awesome locations, or get inspired by just the way a planter pot is leaning against a wall of some delapitated shed somewhere. Somewhat like the things you see when you actually google stock images, that you may want to use for post processing, and often the ones that would be perfect are not free to use, so you end up back where you started.

So I made the group, and then Hair Fair and other things distracted me, and with Cajsa being not so well lately, I felt it was time to actually do something with the group. So today I went to a location that I knew was kind of interesting, and took some pictures, with various lighting and shadows…and uploaded them to the group. Once the pictures are put in the group they are for anyone to use, in Second Life ads, photography, blog pics and so on, they are not to be used commercialy or given away, and to submit pictures in the group means that you took them yourself, or made the backdrops in PS/Gimp yourself.

I could have take a picture in this wonderful location while I was there, dressed as I am, but decided to instead do my own merging using the stock image. So you can see the blending of the image above with the pic of me in the VR Studio, and then the after work and final image. I hope many contribute to the group, and find some inspiration to use the stock images for their own work…if you are a location photographer blogger, consider every time you shoot a scene doing one or more pics without you in them, and adding them to the group. They could even come in handy for you yourself to use again in the future, or even if something goes wrong, you can use them to mend your other work.

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Picture :

Hair: Rhoda – Amacci

Skin: Claire – Tuli

Clothes: Trenching Through Colour Coat – Royal Blue

Wool Sock Thigh Highs – The Strand

Shoes/Boots: Tall Round Boots – J’sÂ

Accessories/Jewelry:

DeNile Earrings – Flair – free gift for members of fashion emergency at The Deck this weekend only

Diva Lashes – LeLutka

Eyes by : Fusemelon

Poses by : Marukin

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck