There are a fair few things that Australians have a sense of pride over, and one of the biggest is our thongs ( I am making this up for dramatic effect, I have no idea what level of importance it rates for the average Aussie) ….well into the 90’s the things you wear as underwear were still called G-Strings down here, because the very idea of calling them a thong, even though it does make sense design wise, was just ridiculous, Thongs are for your feet! Now while I myself was not a thong wearer on my feet for decades – my Mum having a very strong opinion on good footwear growing up – so I never did form that hardened skin between my big toe and second toe that is needed to really lean into thonging…it was later in life that I went all rebelion and got a pair, also because they got pretty, and I am way too girly for the base thong’s that we had in the 70’s and 80’s. Then the internet comes about and suddenly people are calling them Flip Flops, you hear it in TV shows and Movies randomly, and I am not the only Australian that feels this way, but you get all indignant about it.

One day Siddean of Slink sent me a folder, and the folder was named that horrible FF name, see I cannot even type it now, I am all ranty. I saw red, oh em gee did I see red, there was smoke coming from my keyboard as I bashed and pounded on the keys…if I had had Siddeans phone number in RL her landline would have started melting before the first ring finished. Now, this sounds extreme, I mean it is footwear, it is Second Life, but – pauses for dramatic effect – SHE IS AUSTRALIAN! I was so fiery, again if I could have teleported to her wherever she was, I would have started kicking her in the shins or something insane – I mean obviously this was a thing, because I am still feeling the fire 10 years on, ok 8 years on, I checked my inventory. She spluttered and rolled her eyes at me, I know this because she probably typed it out that she was doing it, because she loved doing that to me, that and sighing dramatically, and she defended this abomination of a naming thing as being because everyone else calls them Flip Flops. I huffed, and I puffed, and I blew her IM down – I really am a lovely person I swear. I of course won this fight, and so much so that they ended up not just being called Thongs, but they got called Aussie Thongs…yes, I was happy, I calmed down, and I wore them often and proudly.

Sometimes you do have to adapt, you do have to say, this is how everyone else knows of this item, like I have seen people call something a kitten heel, but it was 6 inches high. I have seen someone call a dress with a full skirt and bows and puffy sleeves a bandage dress. The whole reason for this ramble-a-thon, is that we see something in a store, we like the something, we buy the something…possibly we pay 32% attention to the name of the something, maybe just enough to find it in our inventory, even though it should be at the top of the recent items etc – gosh that tab is just awesome. When it comes to Marketplace though, while sure, we may go there and see something while looking for something else, or you open it and notice the most recent item sold is something that you like, or you use that best selling items button on the bottom left and see what everyone got excited about the week before etc. More often than not though, Marketplace is used like a proper resource, you have a name, you look up said name, and you find said item…this name could be the exact name of an item, because you saw someone else wearing it, you heard about it, or you got a notice about it and cannot be bothered to click to teleport and do all that walking, so decide to jump to marketplace – funny how it is just as much button clicking either way.

Then there are the times you are actively seeking something out…so you need to finish off an outfit, fix out a room, landscape your pool area etc. You go to marketplace, because again it is an incredible resource and you type in THONG – avert your eyes kids, this search is going to shock you. I get that, I understand that, it is going to happen, and that is why Keywords are great, because while your item may be called Aussie Thong and be for your feet, if you are Australian and you are searching for footwear to wear with your bikini, the natural way to look for it would be to type in Thong, if FF has not been beaten into you, you will and still should type in Thong, and because of keywords, it is possible that you will find your footwear you want, because some stores consider this when listing, they consider that their Flip Flops (PAINNNNNNNNN) or Geta or Sandals, may be looked for by someone from Australia ( or even New Zealand, but at some point they called them Jandals and I just don’t know what to say or even think about that ) that just cannot change their ways, it took 20+ years for me to give up Gaol for Jail – again internet things, you can life your whole life spelling things correctly in your RL bubble, but then get online and pfft broken –  so I do not see FF ever being ok.

I just checked Marketplace, I typed in Thong and to my absolute delight, on the first page, of newest first there was indeed a set of footwear, and they are not your rubbery thong variety, they are actually more traditional Japanese footwear, and the name of them is actually sandal, but if you do as I do and right click the page and choose page source you can see under the keyword hood…Full perm,full perms,full permission,full permissions,fp,fullperm,fullperms,mesh,meshes,creators,designers,kit,asian,chinese,japanese,zen,geta,zori,japan,traditional,footwear,shoes,thong,geisha,yukata. Now there are a lot of options going on there, but this person knows, that three from the end THONG was going to hit for someone, and I am very happy at this, because I only just saw this now, and I feel validated in my rambling. So next time you are stuck for keywords when listing an item, consider asking the internet if there are other words an item is commonly known by, we have such diversity in Second Life, that that kind of thing may increase sales with little to no effort really made.

The footwear in question is really cute and by The Kiwi Co. I love the extra effort and attention given to such a basic style, you get flat regular thongs, or high heel versions, without the heels of course, this is Second Life sometimes you just get to break the rules and decide that you can walk around in such footwear on your tiptoes. It was however the HUD letting me two tone them that had me extremely pleased, as you may have noticed I am all about colour coordination, it makes me super happy. So being able to do this with the footwear and the shorts from the same set, was bouncing in place delightful. The shorts are sporty fun and they also have options, the option being long and short shorts, and believe me when I put these one I thought that they had been mislabeled, then I put the short short ones on and they seemed the same, and I was very confused, and then I turned around and let me just say Peaches set is aptly named, so go and get your fruit on.

I am wearing the spaghetti strap top by Lamb with this outfit, because it was just the perfect match up, the Peaches set does have a top, but I am saving it for another time. I like to mix and match a lot. I am also wearing hair by Lamb and as soon as I saw it it was love. There are also optional heavy wisp ended bangs that come with the hair, but I just adore the centre parting slicked down under the long straight hair, with great long layers it is definitely a must have hair. I was feeling so much love for all the things, I even made myself new face hearts, I love bakes on mesh so much.

Equipment Used

VR Studio and HUD/Library  – VR Foundry Marketplace

Important: Moles featured on face or body unless otherwise stated are created by me, for me personally. If wearing moles or freckles etc layers by other creators they will always be credited. As my face moles are the same always, it will be clear to know it is mine not part of the skin.

Poses & Props

OMY Poses 

Body Parts

Body :

Reborn – EBody

Head:

Milena Head – Akeruka 

Appliers:

Nail appliers – Flair 

Skin Worn:

Dara – PumeC

Ipanema Body Skin – Velour

Head and Body BOM Layers:

Peaceful eyes – Insol Mainstore

Lip Scar Elena – She Said Destroy

Evelyn Eyebrows, Strapless Bra and Panties (always worn underwear)– Nuve

Sinner liners – Tutti Belli

Hair Worn:

Wisp Hair – Lamb

Wearing:

Spaghetti Strap Top – Y2K set – Lamb

Peaches Set – Shorts – The Kiwi Co. 

Footwear :

Flip Flops (typing that hurt my soul) – The Kiwi Co.

Accessories:

Hoops Forever Reboot – Dark Mouse

Balmain Gemstone Headband –  Flair