Fantasy Faire: A Traveller in The Golden Delta

The Golden Delta glows under the sun like a jewel, and the wonders available there are equally glorious. Beginning with one of my favorite hair stores, Wasabi Pills (The Golden Delta), I have this adorable pigtail style which is - glory be of glories - perfect for my enormous ears. So often pony tails are set to be tight to human ears, so it's really a treat to have one which tucks around and under my ears perfectly. I thought they were a cute style for a jiniri, and fit the light and playful style I was going for to contrast with my more somber surroundings. The ends of my hair are tied with simple cords in two colors, and a HUD lets you color them separately. The rough and thick style is echoed in my bracelets from BluPrintz (Twilight Illusion), heavy forearm guards which work as well as jewelry as armor! The color and weight are awesome, and they really add to my overall styling.

Fantasy Faire: A Traveller in Twilight Illusion

Twilight Illusion is a place of contrasts, and a broken angel seemed like a perfect traveller to go through these unforgiving and extreme environments. The demonic angel part could only come from BluPrintz (Twilight Illusion). The horns are part of a gacha - commons get you horns of various colors and the shown rare adds a halo for a really confused creature. The severed wings on my back come in black or white - I chose white but the black is equally well done. Finally, the Cerafina Heels are striking in their focus on just being the heel part, except for a band over the ankle, leaving one in a precarious if pretty situation! There's matching armor, and one of the RFL vendors sells a prism set that includes the heels.

Genre: Olive Underworld

Darkness walks the grid for a little while longer as Genre continues with the theme of Underworld. Deamons, death, darkness, and everything that goes bump in the night is represented, from Death herself to the accoutrements of terror. The Underworld is Greek in origin, but since the days of Athens it has been expanded into a variety of religions, worldviews, and fantasy realms. Genre's Underworld covers the gamut, from traditional Greek dress to batwings and thorned horns and even the odd Japanese influence. I went more fantasy Christian, with the horns and batwings of a demon dressed up in a pretty frock.

The horns are courtesy of BlackPearl and curve out of my temples in a swirl of wires, bands, and metal leaves. I love the combination of natural and decorative, with triads of leaves all over the top and back, and long mental wires hanging down like branches and twigs. The crown is included - an inverted cross at the brow and hanging metal strings from brow to temples. In addition to the dark metallic texture, the entire headdress is materials ready and is cleverly applied so that it looks like metal gleaming through dark rust, catching the light in bits and pieces through a dark haze. My wings, on the other hand, are from Chimeric Fashions and have a matching horned mask I'm not showing here. The shape is a simple, wonderfully curved batwing accentuated with curls of olive. Each bone is left in shadow while the membrane thins to a dark olive brown. I especially appreciate how the curls leave gaps where the forearm bends down, and how each finger goes in a slightly different direction. I also was tickled when I realized the hue matched the browny-black of my headdress and the bulk of my Blue Blood dress with it's green accents. Blue Blood has long been a favorite of mine, and I'm so glad to see her step fully into the world of articulated mesh. In this case, it's a sleeveless, deep v-necked gown that beautifully mixes revealing with full. The folds and gathers at the waist are full and broad, meaning that it moves smoothly with my movements and looks natural even with wide stances. The fabric has a good heft to it as well, and fit my body perfectly. I also love the details, like the buttons at the bottom of the v-neck, and the grommets on the belt and collar. The fatpack is your purchase, so you get all of the colors along with a color changing HUD - offering eight riffs on this dress with the lapel, belt, and underskirt all changing color while the rest stays the same.

The demon is in the details, and for this look I went with a combination of eyes, cosmetics, and accessories for the succubus on the go. Eyes and lipstick both come from Senzafine, and have a fantastic pearly effect to them. I mismatched two of the six varieties and punched up the glow a little. One of the advantages to mesh eyes is that they can be paired hetero-chromatically, and I loved the idea of an off-color demon. The purple lip is shiny without being too obvious, the sort of glow one might get off of feeding from the life-force of the wicked before their inevitable descent into darkness. It stands out well over the striking Gauze base - also available with red highlights along the side for date-night. I wanted something simple but non-human, and this fit the bill perfectly. The final touch was this collar, stolen from the neck of Cerebus himself, and shared with the rest of us from Hate This. Being more of the brief than swanlike in the neck department, I often find collars a but of a trial to fit, but the narrow design of this one and the fact it is editable made resizing and placing a snap - and I only pricked my fingers a couple hundred times on the lethal-looking spikes! Unlike a lot of collars which pass on the verisimilitude for the extra-spikey, this collar not only has grommet detailing on the front, but the back has a perfectly rendered buckle, complete with slightly extended tongue and beveled collar end. I'm not normally a spikes kind of girl, but the delicate placement of the spikes, and the differences in length of spike around the collar, gives this a classy, polished feel.

Swing by Genre this week to pick up accessories to make your inner demon sharper and give her lips some of that pearly, soul-eating sheen!

Deoridhe of the Silver Hand

The Genre theme this month is Rockabilly, and the creators have gone all out. Please believe than I can only show a fraction of the wonders available to you; there is more than I could possibly show off, though I'm going to do my very best. Rockabilly is not my typical style, but I'm quite enjoying the blast from the past and dressing it up in my own indomitable manner!

For this first look, I started with this fun overall dress from Distorted Dreams in black and gray - setting the color palette and the style early. It is very slim cut in the waist and hips with a wide flowing hem edge that is rigged to the legs. I especially like the large folds of fabric, which means the skirt has a natural effect no matter how you're posed. The shirt has a plunging v neckline with tiny buttons along one side of it; it's cut low enough that the faintest hint of bra can be seen through, which I thought was a really sexy effect. The suspenders, ended with tiny bows, are separate from the shirt, which means in profile you get the lovely curve of them a short ways from the curve of the shirt. To continue the dense black styling, I added a set of cat's eye sunglasses from BluPrintz, finished with a lovely curve of pale gems. The reflections in the glass are particularly fun, light and dark capturing the effect of reflections in a world without them. They inspired me in a musical direction, which made the microphone-topped headband from Sad Harlequin particularly apropos. I'm wearing the genre-exclusive set with the black and white polka dots, but there are also bows and headbands in a wide variety of colors and patterns, and microphones in silver, copper, and gold in addition to the black I chose.

The plunging neckline of my Distorted Dreams dress highlights the lovely scattering of freckles on the Lumae skin I'm wearing. There are more freckles on my cheeks and limbs, and the skin itself has well defined lights and shadows, especially along the collarbone.  The red lips are also included in the skin - and you can get the skin in a variety of shades from the quite pale I chose here to a quite dark brown. It comes with a ton of appliers, Omega - including for petites, The Mesh Project, SLink, and Maitreya for the whole bodies, and then add-ons including AMD Bump, Loud Mouth, Nyam Nyam, Sweetlips, and Kissers. It's available with and without the freckles, too, but I quite like them in this case - they're well placed and add a nice counterpoint to my pale skin and very red lips. The red lips defined the accent color I chose - I had considered going with a strictly black and gray effect, but the splash of red inspired me to select black and red accessories like the cherry-drenched shoes and nails from Bliensen + MaiTai. The nails themselves are simple, a single pair of cherries on a dense background, and the shoes are a charming pair of bowed heels reminiscent of the fifties, though the contrasting colors and the wide swath of fabric from the sole to the top of the foot give them a lovely elegance.

Once I was mostly settled on my look, pulling largely from Genre offerings, I added a couple of rares I lucked into from the TAG event. A combination gacha event and grid-wide journey, you can pick up the TAG Hud for free in front of the big top - you'll have to walk along a wall to get there, but once you know what you're looking for, it's pretty easy to find. Once you are wearing the HUD (click the menu permissions to let it teleport you), walk into the big top and up to the stage to trigger your HUD to populate with all of the stops across the grid, and then click "spin"to start your journey. You'll be taken on a random tramp to different stores where you can click the sign and check out the gachas - in this case I poured Linden into C L A Vv and .aisling. - and try to land some wonders.

C L A Vv has a gacha full of mechanical, glowing things and quite unexpectedly I landed the rare coupon which can be turned in once the Coupon Room is unlocked by visiting all of the stores. To my complete glee, it was a set of mechanical wings to match with the mechanical insect and arachnid pets I'd already collected! .aisling. was somewhat more straightforward, offering a bunch of metal feet in lots of colors, including everything from flat to on one's toes. The rare coupon in this case - I have to admit I spent more than I should have to get it, but oh how I wanted them - brings a matching set of metal gloves. They are all wearable on a single limb, and I was reminded when I put the hand on of the story of Nuada of the Silver Hand. He lost his Kingdom when he was no longer perfect, and returned again to rule when his hand was restored from silver to flesh. This hand is color changeable by HUD, so I was able to make hand and roses a rich silver while echoing my outfit in black chains and red berries. I don't often manage .aisling. rares, but I'm very glad I did in this case - I think it really adds something to the overall look!

Genre: Reversal of Fortune

I am not only decked out in a bunch of amazing Genre exclusives, but I also built a fun set in the moonlight from the same source; the Dark Arts has been fertile for pushing my style in directions it doesn't often go and this time I did a cool teal look for an icy fortune teller, in contrast to the fiery fanatic of my first look. I also went significantly sleeker and more modern, wanting a high contrast with my prior appearance.

My outfit is actually a combination of items from two stores - a mini-dress turned shirt from Vengeful Threads, and a pair of leggings from Sn@tch that match so perfectly that they seem made for each other. Both of them are textured with rich colors - a deep black with pale gray highlights, and a wonderfully rich teal that fades in and out of the blackness it is placed upon. The teal seems almost enameled, with hints of the black base beneath and some lovely light edges around the flames of the halter top. The Vengeful Threads halter top itself is quite sexy, with the teardrop cutout and low slung sides holding up a spiked waistband. I love the shift from dominant teal to dominant black, with the veves glowing magically out of the darkness of the skirt. This same effect is echoed on the leggings from Sn@tch - a black background with a pattern of inverted crosses glowing out of it. The effect is nearly a smooth one until the ankles, when the fabric buckles naturally and forms a perfect base for either the standard Second Life foot or the SLink feet I used here. The two together work wonderfully together and make a cohesive look that forms the basis for a truly impressive selection of accessories.

The first set of accessories all come from one store - Zanzibar creationZ - and work together wonderfully. Firstly the circlet with the soft sea green sliver of moon is one of a variety of crowns with a similar design but different seals on the gray metal "shadow", each representing a different demon from the Ars Goetia. All of the colors come with a different sigil and is named for the demon represented by that sigil - so take care whom you place upon your brow! They come in packs of two - for example, my Leraje circlet also comes with Amon in red. Also from ZcZ is the rings in blackened metal on my fingers - worked in the shapes of runes from Norse and Germanic cultures. Manaz, Uruz, Othilo, Dagaz, and Sowilo make up both hands, placed on various fingers with Sowilo tucked before the second knuckle. They're fit for the SLink Relaxed hand but each ring is editable independently to fit them to any hand of your choice. They are also resizable, which means that even on my unusually sized girl paw it was a matter of stretching them a little to make them fit. At the same time, I added the symbolic black and white manicure and pedicure from ZcZ, including a variety of other symbols - including the anhk one I'm using. I love them for their simplicity, and for symbols with directions there are options for coloring the nails appropriately.

ZcZ set a high bar for accessories, but luckily the rest of my accessories clear it handily! Over my eyes is an amazing mask and horns from BluPrintz with lovely dangling crystals. It's color change between several options - I'm showing bone horns with a black mask and yellow jewels, but there are tons of other options for other looks. I found the fit to be easy and there are even small bands which hook over the ears for verisimilitude. I paired it with the lipstick from Sn@tch - also featured above for leggings - a dull color with simple sheen which is a perfect match for the brighter, gleaming eyeshadows you can pick up with it. The final touch to my whole look is this amazing, color change via HUD necklace from LOULOU&CO, which comes in eye and gem styles. I chose the eye, of course, since I even seers need some way to see! It fits perfectly into the keyhole of my Vengeful Threads dress, and the petals and beads can all be shifted to different colors and patterns. It's a creepy and yet lovely accessory that I think all of the blind seers will be selecting from now on!

The backdrop I build is in the forests of Lasting City, a lovely sim designed and created by my dear friend Charlie. I shamelessly took over a grove, filling it first with the fountain and stone surround from Frogstar, which also include the curving stone frame and the hanging glow stones. I love the use of materials on this in particular - the stone looks slightly damp in the moonlight, catching the light sharply in contrast with the softer and duller ground. In the center I placed an enlarged crystal ball from Noctis - the one with the skeletal hands holding the stone in place. It also moves as you look into it - an eerie effect even in a much smaller globe. Arranged around the fountain are a set of candles in cross bases from Artisan Fantasy, seven total candle colors available. The wood is set to gleam glossily and the candles themselves give off a soft, golden glow. And finally, tucked off to the side and captured above in the shot that took in my non-Genre shoes is a wonderfully programmed Tarot Deck from Anachron which uses the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck that passed into public domain. There are a bunch of spreads available, and more astonishingly the deck is set to give a short description of the card, with additional notes if it's reversed. It's an amazing set for Tarot Readings in Second Life, and I can't recommend it enough!

Genre: Dark Summoner

Genre's theme is the Dark Arts this round, and the inspiration covers a lot of ground - from traditional practices of Tarot and Demonology to popular fiction. It also gave me a chance to get in touch with shadow!Deo, who lurks in the places least seen and comes out... well, best to leave those considerations unspoken. My face is made up of a combination of things; layered underneath is the base tattoo from Spyralle, meant to go with a variety of forehead decorations - foreheads were popular this month! It's a webwork design you'll see more of in future posts, but I liked the effect of the lacy edges under my mask, an incredible creation from Eclectica. It's formed and textured like leather, ridged and edged very realistically with simple, smooth curling horns coming from the temples. I love the texturing on this in particular, from the gleam of the eyes to how each section captures the light. It looks sharp and wild, yet still retains it's mask-like quality, which I really appreciate. My jewelry is also from Eclectica, but isn't a release at Genre, and after this round of Genre is over, the mask will join the rest of Eclectica's creations at her store.

My dress is from Wimey, and manages to somehow be both adorable and menacing - a Wimey special, in my experience. I am a sucker for outfits with snakes on them, and this one does not disappoint - with a python lovingly hugging waist and breast both. The snake part is textured with a dappled metallic effect, like beaten metal, while the corset top and skirt both have the heavy, thick quality of leather. I particularly like the embossed pattern on the bodice and how the bottom v of the bodice is more heavily creased, as if the wearer has sat a lot in it. The effect is a wearable garment, even though it's all leather. I added on some flash nails from Vengeful Threads, a field of red trees on a black background - certainly appropriate for the overall look and very slick. My shoes, in contrast, look like they were decoupaged from old Tarot cards - a fun and misty effect from Sense-able Fashions. The shoe shape itself is simple, a perfect base for the overlaying of brightly colored cards to really be shown at their best.

The final touch to my demonic fashion is a curse from BluPrintz - swirling flames which can be connected by a series of particles to form stars of different numbers of points - from three to twelve. The options for colors are immense - there is a way to change both colors of the flames as well as the color of the links; I went with a dull, bloody red for the star, and left the points as bright orange and red flames. In addition to flames swirling behind, there is a second set included which swirls around the body perpendicular to it - rather like the magical effects of anime, or what happened last week when I summoned that... oh, well... nevermind. It's not important.It's definitely critical to make it to Genre before ...whatever happened last week catches up with us, though - remember, salt and circles, and try to make sure what you summon isn't on the same side of the barrier as you are.

Genre: It's Like Magic

Genre's theme is celebration, and it definitely offers up a lot to celebrate about! My fun party dress, with layers of skirt I particularly appreciate, is from Anachron and comes in a wide variety of colors and decorative additions. I love the multiple colors woven into the skirts, the delicate rope belt, and the way Anachron used materials to add texture into some of the levels - you can see it along the rim of the green skirt, catching the light beautifully. It moves very well, folding up in soft curves when my leg goes up and adapting well to wider stances that can sometimes bring heartache to skirt wearers. I also like that the bodice line isn't straight  the angles up to either side set this apart from many other sleeveless gowns of a similar silhouette, as does the symbols woven into the center panel and flanked by darker bands textured very much like leather. I'm also wearing a very sweet, golden ring from Oddfish Studios on my right hand - I didn't get the best shot of it, but it's a lovely bit of glitter that has an accompanying pose for couples, letting them gaze lovingly into each others eyes. I love the shape of the ring, scroll edges supporting a single stone and with the words "Love that moves the Sun and other stars" along the band. It's absolutely lovely.

My final bit from Genre for this look is my top hat from BluPrintz and the HUD which comes with it is so incredibly detailed it blows me away! It lets you tint every part of the hat separately into any color you want - yes, any color; all of them. It has a veil (not shown) and comes in clean and tattered versions. If you want a top hat, this is the hat to buy! The shape is lovely as well, with a tapered edge and the cutest, thinnest brim. I am beyond thrilled with it and how I was able to easily fit it to my hair - something not always easy with hats! My final note is about my adorable shoes from The Little Bat, the freebie that accompanies today's look. They were a midnight mania, which has now been shifted out for a cute platform in orange, and she has new midnight manias regularly, often including some very nice shoes - one of the harder things to find for freebie hunters. Definitely swing by and check out what's on offer - and maybe pick up an outfit or two while you're there!

Fit for a Princess: Thistledown Fae

Fit for a Princess is having a quieter month, exhausted in the wake of a very busy December, but what's on hand is as gorgeous as ever. I've shown off this dress from Evie's Closet before in different shades, but the delicate texturing of the silver version is simply out of this world - from the pillowy pale velvet of the bodice, to the delicately hued shadows of the puff sleeves, all the way to the ribbon texture down the arms, it is utterly gorgeous. I had fun placing it in front of patterns of white and gray, seeing how the shades and shadows played over each other. One other thing I liked was the fit along the bodice and the arms; often, invisi-layers cut in over the breasts, leaving one with a cut-out triangle that makes extreme angles difficult to shoot, and the entire effect seems slightly off. Here, though, the edges are all thicker and textured over so that it is a smooth effect over the skin, a blessing for photographers. My one wish would have been for the effect to continue under the skirt, perhaps in the form of layers of ruffles or something of the like - or at least some fabric up to the knees, to make shoe shots possible. The ruffles of the skirt are wonderful, though, allowing for a variety of poses without ever stretching too far to make the texture seem stretched, or cutting to close and making the mesh buckle - a true balance in a challenging area.

My hair is a new release from BluPrintz with this charming crown worked into the style itself. It has some lovely detailing on the texture, giving forth almost a glow depending on how the light hits it, and I love the shape of the spires. The bang line is an unusual one for me to try, cutting rather lower than is my usual tendency; the severe line works in this case, though, drawing attention to my eyes in closeups and offering a hint of mystery from a distance. I'd love to see the flyaway bits done using mesh strands, but the fit on the head is excellent - loose enough to seem like a regal chignon but close enough to remain elegant. I love that it tucks neatly behind my ears - always a challenge with fae and updos!

The delicate ring on my finger is from Cae, and lives up to their usual unique and detail-rich style. It's a single pearl set into a ring of gems, the settings for the gems arching upward from the band in delicate swoops. The band itself is set with a row of gems on each side of the setting, and there is a HUD which can recolor pearl and gems alike, offering up a remarkable variety in a tiny package. As a bonus, the rings are sized both for the Second Life mesh hand and for the often narrower mesh hands that are all across the grid, now.  

My necklace is actually won from a gacha at Fit for a Princess, a delicate snowflake pattern which I simply couldn't resist. There are tons of colors available for very few Linden, and I'm looking forward to gradually filling out my collection as the mood hits (and passing my extras out among my long-suffering friends). The chain the snowflake hangs from is actually woven from several silver strands, which makes it more textured and unique - a touch I appreciate!

A couple notable non-Fit for a Princess things - my gorgeously textured nails are from By Snow, and I picked them up ages ago. This is the chrome set, which offers up a white, silver and single color selection - in this case blue to match my gorgeous necklace. I love the circuitry patterned onto it and how that is layered over a French manicure. My wonderful poses are from Grafica, which has massively expanded his sets over the past year and sent out some wonderful group gifts. The sheer variety, from dance poses, to floating ones, to straightforward casual poses offer a lot of options for a photographer in the wild. One thing I appreciate in particular is how well he poses shoulders; with other stores they can become deformed and twisted, but that never happens with a Grafica pose.

Fit for a Princess: Growth in Black and White

I'm back with couple new pieces available at the Fit for a Princess event - which I highly recommend you check out, as it's wrapping up in the coming days! The gown, an elegant shape with interestingly cut sleeves and fascinating bodice detailing, is from Enchantment! and comes in a variety of colors besides this rich green with it's satiny kirtle. The sleeves are short but full with a scalloped edge which looks interesting from every angle - a real bonus in a world of cuff sleeves. The deep V neckline contrasts nicely with the otherwise conservative look. The corset itself is heavy and solid, with large ribbons holding it together down the front and a fun, spiky edge along the bottom to add some interest. It's also well rigged, staying close to the legs but not splitting with wider leg stances, and the textures work well with the movement of the mesh through a variety of poses. Speaking of textures - it is fully lined, something which I appreciate as a blogger given to somewhat extreme angles; I was never in the position of having to shift perspective to cover up invisible insides, which I really appreciated! I paired it with BluPrintz's necklace again, this time in a dark brown wood to pair nicely with the bodice shade. The reflective quality of the stone can be clearly seen in my pictures, offering up some nice verisimilitude in addition to chunky adornment. I love the shape and hang of it in particular; it falls so nicely over the collarbone.

My hair is from Wasabi Pills, a lovely swath of curls and wisps which is delightful. It has a fantastic brown line in particular, the hair curling up and over in a waterfall of waves. One of the wonderful things mesh hair gave us were these fantastic details of tiny wisps of hair curling out from the whole - not only does it guard against the ever-present and unfixable alpha occlusion error, but it also is simply lovely and detailed. The curves are also wonderful, especially where they fall over the breasts in loose and realistic waves, and the cut of the hair works well with crowns and flower bands, like the one from Persefona (sold at the Seelie Court Event) which I indulged in. The twists of branches around the brow is very realistic and lovely, and I adore the leaves attached to it. The leaves floating around the head are an attachment, and are fantastic for a sense of motion. Autumn, winter, and other shades of leaves are also available, so you can match yourself to the season more successfully than I have.

This entire look was inspired by a sense of young growth cut off in an untimely manner, something which has been occupying my mind over the past few weeks. There are so many young people who leave this world long before they should, so many wonderful people whose potential is cut short. Who knows what futures we are doing without due to the murder of the young.

Fit for a Princess: Flowers with a Metallic Tang

I am a huge fan of Cica Ghost's whimsical worlds, and her newest creation, Little Town, is a pleasurable romp of hills, dales, blinking buildings, floating beds, and a fun car to drive! It seems to me to be a spiritual successor of her Rust - one in which what was rusting has become overgrown with plants and life. It's been really neat to watch how she's changed over her different builds, and seeing what has stayed the same. Her sense of playfulness is probably what I appreciate most - a lot of art in general tends to become all but leaden with meaning and implication, but Cica's builds always make me want to frisk and play like a kid. This one is nicely interactive, too, with flying cages, floating beds, and the cars - if you sit in one you can drive it around!

My skin is an absolutely new release from .:Soul:., the image rebranding of De La Soul - maker of my eyes as well. I went with a slightly darker shade of Frappe in Catalina, as if I'd gotten some sun. The skin texturing is soft, and the lips are very sweet. I also quite like the knees and cheeks - both can be problem areas, but the texturing is smooth and naturalistic. This skin is individualizable to the extreme - including brows and no brows versions, and brows in many colors including a white, tintable one. Pixie-cut style hairbases are also included in all of these colors, offering a soft hairline for stubborn hairstyles. There are several breast shadings, and also a 'soft belly' shading for larger and plumper avatars. It comes with a ton of appliers - including Lush, LOLAs, Loud Mouth, and Slink - for no additional cost. And then, as if to tempts us all, he includes a series of cosmetics to go over the skin, most of them applicable to any skin shade. I'm wearing the rainbow lips and rainbow eyeliner because of course I am - they are for me, after all! There are pink, purple, autumn, and spring sets, among others. The sheer volume of things included fair take my breath away, and all of it packaged in HUD-style unpackers with a tree growing on them. Who could ask for more?

My outfit this time was entirely driven by the Nomi dress - which was the first thing from Fit for a Princess that I put on, and which stole my heart completely. I really loved the combination of a heavy sweater dress with a hem of creamy lace. The sleeves are long, which is only a problem if you look where my palm cuts through the fabric. I think they work perfectly with the short skirt, though, all ending at about the same level, which allows for a playful sense of consistency. The collar is very high, which means the majority of skin showing is thigh and down - which allows for a sense of innocence and sweetness; more skin showing would have made it seem much more adult. I selected a more restrained shade from the number Nomi made available in the fatpack, a peach and pink design with little flowers, and kept the lace white instead of going with the black that was also available. I wanted to keep that playful sense in the rest of my look, and I really lucked out with the single hair available at Fit for a Princess this month - this adorable bow updo from Sweet Thing. It also is a slightly more mature version of cute, with the slicked back sides and the restrained size of the bow; larger and the whole look might have tipped over into childish, which is always the risk with looks like this. It had been pink tips on blond when I put it on, and I liked the effect so much I left it that way - however the blond set comes with a number of shades, both solid gold and with a variety of different tips.

All of the poses are also Fit for a Princess releases - this time from Sweet Sacrifice. I love the playfulness of them, which worked well with my overall look, and they all worked really well with the often finicky Second Life body. Even in the lying down pose, the shoulder isn't distorted or bent - quite an accomplishment and a sign of a good pose-maker! The inclusion of lying, sitting, and standing poses also allowed for a broader variety in images.

The rest of my accessories I aimed toward mature with. Firstly, I selected a slim tiara from Apple & Eve, with a strong shape that curved well over my brow in a simple gold shade to match up with the yellowish-peach of my outfit. I wanted to keep the entire look warm. The simplicity of the tiara keeps this elegant - something with more frills and gems might tilt the entire look immature. Green was then brought into the look through the addition of these adorable pink flowers from NSP Florals which came in a hair ornament and in an enormous bouquet. The green is a warm rather than cool green, which was important to me overall. Another lucky stroke was with the necklace from BluPrintz, with it's very high and simple shape. I went with white to echo the ring of lace at the bottom of my dress - a sort of visual echo - and then I tried several shades on the stone before settling on green. It's a cooler green, but it's also quite small, so I hoped the bit of chill wouldn't be too discordant. One thing I like to do when I'm covering an event, as opposed to just making a look or working with things from a specific store, is use as much as I can from that event while still making it all look good. In this case, I managed to combine things from six different stores at this round of Fit for a Princess without it seeming forced or inappropriate, and so I was very happy.

I rounded out my look with shoes from outside of Fit for a Princess, however, from Bliensen + MaiTai. I have loved the Dahlia shoes for a while, but the combination of sleek and flowery was difficult to match harmoniously with a full look. In this case, however, they were perfect. The smooth, simple curves of the shoe contrasts nicely with the sweet and spiky flower. I went with the green shoes with a soft pink flower, and then selected the shoes separately (something I was able to do because the shoes were modify ok - thank you!) and tinted them with a very strong yellow to bring the green more in line with the yellow-green of the flowers. While the stone in my BluPrintz necklace was small enough to not overset the overall warmth of my look, I feared the green of the shoe was large enough to upset the balance; being able to tint saved the shoes for me in this particular look, and it's something one can use to combine items from different stores which might otherwise be too differently shaded to work together. This is one of those tricks I sometimes wish I could teach budding fashionistas as they begin the difficult task of matching and contrasting colors in their outfits.