RFL: Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Lighthouse of Alexandria (Teleport Point) is sponsored by [sYs] Designs.

Built around 250 B.C.E. on the island of Alexandria, for the purpose of guiding ships into port, the Lighthouse of Alexandria stood between 400 and 450 meters high and was built by Ptolemy I shortly after Alexander the Great (who founded Alexandria) died. It was made of light colored stone in three parts; the base was large and square, with an octagonal section on top, and finally a round section which lead to the light source. During the day, a large mirror reflected the sunlight; at night a fire was kindled there. Interestingly, the builders used liquid lead as mortar in order to help the stones resist the awesome forces of the sea. It remained intact until 796 C.E., when the top section was damaged and left unrepaired, however there are reports it was still used as a lighthouse. Earthquakes finished the damage; the initial one in 956 left it still functioning, but the twin ones in 1303 and 1323 turned it into a ruin which could no longer be entered. In 1480 the last remnants of it vanished below a fort built atop the lighthouse platform by Pharoh Qaitbay using stones from it's wreck. It wasn't until 1994 that stones which had fallen into the East Bay of Alexandria were discovered by French archaeologists and raised for display so that the public could see them.

The Lighthouse at Alexandria was by far the most complicated to navigate to find the stores, as they weren't in any clear order but were rather laid out like stands of cattails in a marsh. Displays were hung from trees, facing a variety of directions, which added to the confusion. It was completely lovely, though, so I had a difficult time complaining, even though I'm not sure I found all of the stores! Like the Pyramid and the Temple to Artemis, the Lighthouse creator Bryn Oh, whose work I adore, took the ancient structure as a jumping off point rather than something to even attempt to reproduce or represent. I have mixed feelings about this; although I love Bryn's work, and the lightbulb orrey is simply wonderful to watch, the difficulty in navigating and finding the RFL items seems to at least somewhat undermine the purpose of the Fashion Faire and I really wondered what it would be like to move around a more faithful representation of the Lighthouse at Alexandria. I really enjoyed the sense of stepping back in time which came with a few of the other sims; here I was very aware I was walking within Bryn's idiosyncratic world. There is probably a lot here about the relationship between personal style and historical inspirations, but I'm mostly left with space for questions than any answers worth writing about.

It wasn't just the navigation which caused me problems; I also had some difficulty finding clothing that suited me on this sim as well, though there were many more demos in evidence than in other places. I finally settled on this gorgeous set of blue and pink silks (also available with pink silks and blue roses) from Likka House. While I'm more attached to her Lolita or historical fashions, her silks are really lovely and the chain over the hip is simply sublime. They are prim, which meant I could resize the arm bands to fit my larger-than-average arms, and the silk lengths move when one moves. I kept the jewelry from my last look, from Designs by Sebastian because the translucent colors and chandelier style fit so well. All of the rest of the action is around my eyes, where three items from three different stores work some absoluter magic. The bottom glow of color is from our old friends Pin Me Down, the RFL Nacre release which has gotten me so far through these seven faire looks. Layered over that is a gorgeous eye tattoo and faint eyeshadow from White Widow, who specializes in artistic paint around the eyes. Finally, I layered on top these amazing branch eyelashes from Boudoir. I had to alter them pretty radically to fit my eyes, as my eyes curve downward on the outsides, but that was easy to do since they are on a single curving prim away from the eye. I really love the effect, at once natural and bizarre.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Boudoir, Fairy eyeliner (RFL Donation)
Eyeshadow: Pin Me Down, Nacre 8 (RFL Donation)
Eye Decor: White Widow, Evasion (RFL Donation)
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss
Hair: Alice Project, Momo II
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Designs by Sebastian, Babylon Set (RFL Donation)
Silks: Likka House, Rosephilia Silk - Daybreak (RFL Donation)
Feet: SLink, Mesh Feet

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Lighthouse of Alexandria
Light Settings: Places Midian
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only