Rust in the Moonlight

I have been planning this post for weeks, ever since I saw the chest lace from Aisling at We <3 RP, and I'm so thrilled to finally have pictures so I can share it with you all, albeit later than I had hoped for. This look is a sort of unholy alliance of Aisling and Alchemy, and eventually they will take over the grid in a wash of amazing As, and we will all be kneeling in supplication and look really awesome. Starting at the top, this amazing headdress was a rare in her gacha at The Secret Affair (now closed), and I was lucky enough to get two of the Mother of Dragons headdresses, which is completely amazing, and then I was lucky enough to meet up with someone who had two of the Hear Me Roar headdresses, and by the end of our meeting we were both feeling very bouncy. The gacha isn't (yet?) available at the Alchemy store (which is lovely, even under construction), but hopefully it will be as I want many people to be able to enjoy this headdress/crown combo based off of a creamy colored dragon like Viserion. I especially liked the nose guard with the hanging chains, which gave it the air of a military helmet while retaining the delicacy of a queen. The curving horns around the face are also a lot of fun, though it can make it difficult to match with hair - I ended up focusing on bangless styles, which worked the best with the shape of the headdress, and found that I could layer it into my hair for verisimilitude, with little strands caught up in the tines.

The dress and armor pieces are all from Aisling, from We <3 RP and The Secret Affair (both closed). The Secret Affair gacha is in place at the Aisling Mainstore, which is awesome and tempts me to try once more for the gorgeous headdress that matches the jewelry and armor pieces. The Lady of Highgarden are available in black, gold, and silver in shoulder, arm, and hand armor (commons) a necklace for each metal color (rare) and a headdress which I believe is texture changing (ultra rare). The chestlace, which isn't yet available in the main store, has all of those metal colors plus more via a HUD system and is editable - something which came in handy when I was trying to fit it over the Quarth dress that had been available at The Secret Affair and hasn't made it to the Mainstore yet. The delicate open lacework matched so well between these different items that I simply couldn't resist trying to fit them all together, and I think I managed to do so pretty well. I had to resize the hand flowers (which were HUD controlled and not editable, but the HUD allows you to expand things along a single axis) to fit over my SLink hands, but the resulting effect was largely realistic and natural. I think the slightly lighter shade of gold added some texture and variety to the overall look. The rigging on the dress was well done with the fabric falling naturally, and the texturing remained solid in most reasonable poses - no dress likes a Captain Morgan pose. I also liked the varieties available - multiple metallic highlights, the shoulder flutters which can be various levels of transparency, and in the case of the exclusive release for The Secret Affair, an entire second set of textures for this aqua gown. I am really pleased with Aisling's continued work in accessories and their foray into clothing, and am vibrating in anticipation of their next releases.

My Sax Shepherd Designs shoes, which I've been unable to take off since I got them, are now almost finally available to everyone at the Fantasy Gacha Carnival - also known as Deo's Wallet Cries - which is open on the fourth. The shoes themselves are commons with the anklet as a rare, which I think it an elegant way of adding a little value to the rares without depriving people of awesomely colored shoes. They both fit over the SLink high feet, and like so much of Sax Shepherd's stuff, they come with a HUD which lets you change to bunches and bunches of colored jewels, really adding to it's re-wearability. I particularly appreciated the natural stone effects he included, which make the jewels appear burnished. Mother of Pearl is a relatively rare jewel effect, as is opal, but you can see how well they are fitted into the band of the sandals to really make them look natural.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Magika, Bliss
Crown: Alchemy, Mother of Dragons
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Metallic Aqua
Lipstick: Izzie's, Fuyu
Wings: Sax Shepherd Designs, Filigree Wings
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: A:S:S, Glamour Silk
Dress: Aisling, Quarth Lady (The Secret Event)
Chest: Aisling, Chestlace (We <3 RP)
Bracers & Necklace: Aisling, Lady of Highgarden (The Secret Event Gacha)
Anklet: Sax Shepherd Designs, Fairy Tale Tease (Fantasy Gacha Carnival)
Shoes: Sax Shepherd Designs, Fairy Tale Tease (Fantasy Gacha Carnival)

Pose: Don't Freak Out

Location: Rust and Stardust
Light Settings: Phototools, Moon Light 4
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Hoofing It

Sometimes I make a look from odds and ends, and after events close, and I really like it, and this is one of those times, so apologies for anything you can't get yet. I put on the dress from katat0nik, which came out of the last collabor88 event (we've already started the new one - nope, haven't been there, yet). It hasn't made its way to her Main Store yet, but her other collabor88 outfits have, so it's just a matter of time. This is a cute miniskirt with color matching collar and necktie, something which can be dressed up or down depending on your mood. I did both; to dress it more casually, I added this ponytail style from Wasabi Pills, a release from during the Cutie Moon Faire that's now at her Main Store. See what I said about everything being a little late? It's gorgeous, but one of the effects of all of these events is that I feel like I'm perpetually behind the eight ball. But I look so pretty when I'm scrambling to catch up! In light of the scramble, I kept my cosmetics casual - a nice eyeshadow from Mock dark enough to make my eyes stand out, and a double layer of lipstick from Blacklace in an orangey hue of my symbol of power.

I dressed this look up with said symbol of power, this awesome crown from Alchemy, one of many I got when I did my casual drive by of her Gatcha at the Secret Affair Event, which goes until the end of the month. I did one of those, "Oh, just passing by give me a rare" walks a couple of times and hit the jackpot - but you'll have to wait a little to see the fruit of that particular luck. The Iron Crown is lovely in platinum, though, and I love the jewel in it - though I have to admit, my color obsessive soul really wished the jewel was color change. I know, I know, common in a gacha, but it would have been cool. How it fit in with the bangs of my Wasabi Pills hair, though, is as accidental as it is awesome (and a big part of why I kept the hair even while I was dressing my look up), and I really love the boldness of the design. The final bit of formality for this look is these amazing shoes from Lassitude & Ennui, which I have been trying to match with a look for ages because they're simply awesome. Reminiscent of Seventeenth Century France, at least to me, they come in frosty shades and fit beautifully on a standard foot. I especially like the large buckle across the front.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Bunny Mesh
Crown: Alchemy, Iron Crown
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Mock, Less of a Blues Girl
Lipstick 1: Blacklace, Beauty Pout Gloss
Lipstick 2: Blacklace, Beauty Pout Clear
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands
Nails: A:S:S, Precious 2
Dress: katat0nik, Working Girl
Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui, Versailles

Pose: HopScotch

Location: Miskatonia
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Herr Gracken
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only