Fit for a Princess: A Red Red Rose

A Red Red Rose by Robert Burns

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,

That's newly sprung in June:

O my Luve's like the melodie,

That's sweetly play'd in tune.

Fit for a Princess is upon us again, with beauties raining down from above like dew! While I was taking this set of pictures, the poem by Robert Burns kept going through my head - and I simply couldn't resist a poetic flourish from a pen far sweeter than my own.

My gorgeous, ruffly, dress is a Fit for a Princess release from The Princess Shoppe; the skirt comes in eight different colors including black and brown, and the ruffles are simply to die for. They're textured on all sides, so there isn't a bad angle to take when photographing or wearing in the wild; I know it raises the cost to cover all the angles, but when trying for tricky shots, it's a blessing to not have to work around an invisible inner sleeve! The dress is also well rigged, even in the sometimes difficult shoulder and elbow areas, but it is extremely short, so remember to pack extra panties or a nice pair of tights! I love the detailing on the corset as well, complete with lacing and it's own subtle fringe, and the sleeve fall long but wide, which makes them fit perfectly around my hands with no clipping. The subtle finish of the mesh is echoed in the texture, which looks deceptively simple. The cream top has a floral shadow across it, which adds texture and interest without becoming over-wrought. The corset has a leather feel to it, with a shadowed emboss along the top edge of the bodice and perfectly placed seams. The skirt seems like it's a single color from a distance, but up close the pinstripe pattern is visible in a slightly lighter version of each color; it adds a flare to this Princess Shoppe dress that I really enjoyed.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

All those ruffles might make it hard for jewelry to stand out, but Cae was up to the challenge. A necklace, earring, and crown combo - like other Cae jewelry, each section including the metal is color changable via a HUD. I adore the line of the crown and the way it hugs my head; the design is so simple and yet elegant, and it's set off well by the dangling teardrops of the earrings and necklaces.I was especially appreciative of the size - large enough to hang over the ruffles of my dress and still stand out. When I showed this look to a friend, she actually thought they were a single piece and not a combination of awesome dress from The Princess Shoppe and gorgeous jewelry from Cae. I paired my whole look with a gacha win from NSP Florals. I was hoping for a deep red, but sadly those were all rares! There are enough flowers in the set that one can get a variety of flowers to match just about every outfit - including this lovely dull rose shade. I wanted something slim and simple to stand up to the rest of my blooming outfit, and this long stemmed rose definitely fit the bill.

I added a set of heels from .aisling. to my whole look - not available at Fit for a Princess, but perfect for a flowery look. I loved the ruffles of the petals along the edge of the heel, and felt like it echoed the ruffles of the blouse and skirt of my Princess Shoppe dress. The metalwork was also an attraction - lovely swooping curves like the stems and leaves of a living rose, and color changeable between five colors. I picked up a fatpack and have barely taken them off my feet since I bought them at the end of February!

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life shall run.

I tucked into the petals of my .aisling. slippers another gem, a anklet from Sax Shepherd Designs which will be a free gift from 21 Shoe this month - a new promotion for their group. There will be one a month, some special additional accessory from one of the 21 Shoe creators. The group is free to join right now, but I have heard on the grapevine that might no longer be the case come April - so jump in fast and wait for the glorious accessories to fall out of the notices and into your inventory!

One final announcement for the future - this time Skin Faire instead of 21 Shoe - .:Soul:. is releasing the awesome mouth I'm wearing in these pictures at the faire. In order to sell things so that people will be added to the redelivery database and to ease gift giving, Charlie has set it up so that you can purchase a gift card for a specific item at the faire, and then redeem it on any sim which allows scripts, which unfortunately won't include the Skin Faire sims. You can also pass the gift card to another person before redeeming it, which makes gift giving a breeze! I'll follow up with a more expansive post on how it will work, but this is a little note to prep anyone whose looking at my mouth and saying, "I want some of that!"

And fare-thee-weel, my only Luve!

And fare-thee-weel, a while!

And I will come again, my Luve,

Tho' 'twere ten thousand mile!

Mysteries

I love mysteries, but I get frustrated quickly - it's a problem.

In this case, I ended up in Hestium, a gorgeous little pocket full of well-decorated, adorable houses. There are hints to a greater mystery, and I wandered around a while poking at various corners and peering at various books, clicking everything I could find. One place is marked off limits - I avoided everything I couldn't walk to, and one walled garden; no idea which was the off limits place. I wasn't able to find any secrets, but I did enjoy snapping some shots and encourage you to check out this lovely little corner of the grid.

It's my hair that took me to FaMESHed - a lovely side style from Wasabi Pills with coils of hair over one shoulder, and delicate strands curling down elsewhere. I love how she has begin to use full mesh pieces for the wisps of hair, minimizing the alpha on larger pieces; not only does it minimize alpha occlusion errors, but also it leads to lovely effects like along the edge of the right side of my face, where strands of hair cling and fall in a most natural manner. I paired it with a jewelry set from Cae, bought at the same event, a wonderful necklace and earring set with dangling beads whose color can be changed. The HUD also includes three different areas where the metal can be tinted differently, and options for a short versus long necklace style.

It makes it such fun to pair with outfits, either in matching - or in this case contrasting - colors. The usual contrast for red is green, but when you have a slightly duller pink edging toward a warm orange - like in this dress from Coquet - teal actually works better to play off the color and make both more intense. I fell in love with this dress when I saw it's unusual, contrasting back and the most adorable bow in the world - one which called for a different wing than my usual. I ended up settling on Sway's chibi angel wings, one of the gifts during advent that I cached away for a brighter day. They're a very simple style form someone more known for her furniture than her wings, but the subtle layers and transparency is really fantastic, and I was able to tuck it right under the Coquet bow so that they looked apiece. The final touch were these shoes from Ricielli in a lovely bronze which contrasted beautifully with my gold Sway wings and re-appeared serendipitously in my nails, a hold-over from Fallen Gods' latest skin. I adore how intricate they are, boot in style but with large whorls which echo the whorls of my Cae jewelry. Combining contrasting colors with repeating shapes makes for a balance outfit that seems simple even while being very complicated.

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: Lacquer and Gilt

We're heading toward the end of the month and the wrapping up of Fit for a Princess, the romance edition, and I managed to make an entire outfit out of things available at the event. For instance, I'm wearing the cutest mini dress ever, from Nomi, with gorgeous detailing in the shape of elegant chandeliers and dangling chains. It's designed as overall style bands over either a white or black top, and rides the line between casual and elegant beautifully. The skirt and top look like different pieces but aren't, and sadly they're no modify, so you won't be able to tint your white shirt interesting shades of puce. The edges are extremely well done, however, with no jaggedness or oddness around the edges, and it's fully lined. It's also very well rigged and moves well in a variety of poses, even in the always difficult shoulder area. I also really liked the fit round the neck and over the bust - it's plunging without being indecorous, and necklaces layer well under it. It comes with a HUD which allows you to change the shirt color and skirt color - two colors for the top and four for the bottom. I love the growing trend of bundling colors under a HUD, even if it makes my sorting them more complicated. My largest accessories are all from Cila; the wings, bracelet, and ring all echo the same design and are pleasantly chunky. I really love the layered curves and curls which are reminiscent of wood carvings painted in gilt. They are a gacha prize, with gold as the rare set, and the other options are all pale pastels in red, green, orange, blue, and white - all lovely and tinted as if a soft lacquer was layered over them, ending up heavier in the cracks.

I paired the heavier Cila jewelry with a more delicate necklace, tiara, and earrings set from Cae. The design is curving metal woven in and out of each other in a lovely manner, with a single gem set in the larger pieces. Again, there is a fantastic HUD included; two sets of metals and a vast plethora of stone colors. The curve of the metal is the best part - smooth with delicately curling ends. I also love the idea of two sets of metals to mix and match for greater effect, though I chose a solid gold in this case. I echoed the gold in my delicate slippers, made for the SLink flat feet by Dysfunctional Designs. They are a simple round toe base with delicate metalwork over the top and down the sides. I ended up looking really closely, and those delicate balls sewn into the shoe? They actually are three dimensional. The texture of the rest of the shoe is equally well done, complicated enough to fade into interesting lights and darks from a distance, and simply lovely up close. Finally my nails, from an old favorite A:S:S, provide a variety of fleur de lis in a variety of colors, all of them simply perfect. Using just shades of a single color, A:S:S uses different shades to make the fleur de lis stand out and seem like it's shining of of each unrealistically elongated nail. Absolutely a class act.

The only part of my look, in the end, that doesn't come from the hallowed halls of August's Fit for a Princess is my Adore & Abhor hair, which was a Hair Faire release and is now available in their main store. It's a lovely, slick updo with the cutest hairbuns ever, and I completely fell in love. My favorite touch has to be along the back of the neck, though - always a challenging part of the head. In this Adore & Abhor hair, though, it is a perfect curve under my skull. It is also made up of a number of shapes, which means that if your head is not the same as the creator that you can resize things to cover the necessary ground. It also fits beautifully behind my ears, which is always a bonus with updos and pulled back hair. If you're looking for something cute and perky, this hairstyle is one to try the demo of.

Fit for a Princess: Modern Girl

Fit for a Princess has begun again, this time with a theme of Modern Princess - which means sleeker silhouettes and a bit more skin for our modern rulers. I'm wearing a brief, sleek outfit from Sew Chic, a new-to-me store, with a high waisted skirt and a bandeau top. It runs a bit large - I usually wear a medium, maybe a small, but in this I'm wearing extra small - and depending on the size there might be a gap between the top of the skirt and the bottom of the bandeau. I found I rather liked that sliver of skin as an effect, so instead of using the included invisilayer (which occludes it), I wore my smaller shape and modified it to fit (mostly in the bust). It's well rigged along the bottom of the skirt, meaning it works well even with some bent-leg poses, which can be a challenge for short skirts. I also quite liked the soft texturing of the bandeau, like a soft edged lace. I paired the dress with a lovely set of jewelry from Cae, set in a bow style with sleek attachments to the head and neck. I would have totally adored bracelets to match - I know, I'm a greedy cuss - but it does come with cute rings, pre-set for either standard or SLink hands. The fact that the gems and metal are both color change via a HUD (10 gems and 2 metals) makes me extremely happy, and makes this a lot of fun to match up to an outfit. It In this case, I went with silver and gold to pull together my shoes and the dress. The final piece from Fit for a Princess are these amazing poses from An Lar which are in a modest and direct style, with a little bit of sweet floatyness.

I wanted a simple hair to fit with the pretty bow Cae gave me, and I ended up finding this lovely, simple and sleek style from Underscore with a lovely, add-on braid. Since the braid is rigged separately, it can be easily removed, but I liked it as a bit of embellishment, and the bands are color changeable as well, which adds a bit of color to your hair. You can also tint it separately using the hair color HUD, though I didn't in this case, which adds some room for personalization. My shoes were an old 21 Shoe purchase from Hucci, though similar shoes can still be found at her store; it's a sexy open lacework shoe style in a shiny gold color with a light wood wedge heel. Into the shoes I tucked bright pink nails on my hands and feet, all from Orc Inc - I decided to go for a "pop" of color, as I believe it is call in the industry - which match up to my shiny hot pink lips courtesy of Adore & Abhor layered under a Mock gloss. I love how cosmetics can be combined; Mock is particularly good for layering over other lipsticks, as it has a rare transparency that adds gleam and glow and tints of shine. The dark gunmetal gray around the eyes - also courtesy of Mock - might be a little over the top, but I felt it was warranted. I'm really looking forward to continuing to explore what it means to be a Modern Princess, and I hope you'll come along for the ride.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Underscore, Sidhion
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Mock, Gunpowder Indifference
Lipstick 1: Adore & Abhor, Shreveport Lips
Lipstick 2: Mock, Lucir Lipcolor
Wings: Deviance, Seelie
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & feet
Nails: Orc Inc, Dark
Clothing: Sew Chic, Pink Summer Vintage (Fit for a Princess)
Jewelry: Cae, Alice (Fit for a Princess Event)
Shoes: Hucci, Benton Harbor Sandal

Poses: An Lar (Fit for a Princess Event)

Location: BaC Conflict Management
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only