I've never been to Southeast Asia, but I have a love for many of the things which came along with it's expatriates - religions, food, clothing, music - and then was filtered through an entirely different culture, commodified and redefined into entirely new forms as all things are eventually transformed by the simple transfer of experiences between people. I have mixed feelings about the power dynamics that I sense in these transfers; even now the scars and legacy of colonialization remain in the assumptions of many people of many cultures, and in how we relate to each other. These questions - what do we share, what do we honor, what do we avoid - remain the leading edge of my thoughts and right now they're a tangle of living wickerwork as knotted as any climbing plant. A few flowers of certainty stand out - avoiding things which are of particular sacredness in another culture, for example - but they are few and far between on the vines. Some things seem obvious, though; as near as I can tell, the sari and the patterns of India are joyfully shared; henna seems to be shared but not all of the patterns, as some are sacred; I have mixed feelings about the bindi, though I'm wearing a gorgeous one in these pictures - it seems woven more tightly into the identity of thousands of women who are not me. Most of what I have are edges I'm feeling my way along, though, and I don't feel like I'm alone in this at all.
One of the joys of blogging an event is being handed piles of things and then seeing what one can make out of them! Genre has everything, even this wonderful woven hairstyle from Alli and Ali, which has a gorgeous, glistening texture under this windlight. It's editable, which meant I could scale it down a little to fit smoothly behind my ears, and I love the tumble of curls on the top which makes this classier than a simple chignon. I accented it with two additions. Firstly, there is this lovely diadem from Distorted Dreams, pairing lotus shapes and delicate chain that goes across the brow and back into the hair. One lovely touch are the little dangling charms next to each temple; I can almost imagine them ringing if there were bells on them. Secondly is this delicate jeweled bindi from Lumae, one of four different styles she's offering in a ton of colors. This was my favorite of the four, the large center jewel accented beautifully with smaller ones and a bit of dangle. I left cosmetics out of it entirely, choosing instead to focus on this gorgeous henna collar from Jalwa. It comes in three shades and on multiple layers with a HUD for Physique included as well. The shape is fantastic, and ornate without being formal.
I paired the henna collar with hand henna from #adored, which is a SLink applier; I've actually been wearing this for several days - it's subtle and lovely, and comes with a variety of darknesses if you want to mimic different levels of saturation. Adding some weight to my arms are an enormous set of bangles from Anachron, which come in a variety of bright colors so they can be matched with any outfit. I love the balance between color and metal, with a few large jewels and a couple thin bands with enameled hearts. The different textures and offset rings adds some verisimilitude as well, making it seem like I threw on several handfuls of bracelets on my way out the door. Finally, the largest piece is this gorgeous gown from Artizana. Like my bangles, the gown offers layers of color and style with a shimmer of metal on top. I love both the texture, which reminds me of several sari's I own, and the shape; one gift that mesh has given us is spaghetti straps, and this gown not only takes full advantaged, but it adds a delicate string bow in the back which really made me smile when I saw it. This is a well rigged gown which adapted to a variety of poses as I went while keeping its style and shape largely intact. Look at the curve above the shoes in particular, and see how the ripples curve without becoming overly distorted.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Alli & Ali, Yindee (Genre)
Crown: Distorted Dreams, Lotus Hope (Genre)
Bindi: Lumae, Etasha (Genre)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Collar: Jalwa, Ornate Collar Henna (Genre)
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Henna Hand: #adored, Rising Lotus (Genre)
Nails: Adore & Abhor, MSO Duets
Bracelets: Anachron, India Bangle Bracelets (Genre)
Clothing: Artizana, Giselle (Genre)
Shoes: Bliensen + MaiTai, Hanalei
Pose: !bang
Location: Basilica
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Sad Purple
Water Settings: Glassy
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
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