20L Tuesday Fall Fete: Teal Temptress

This is another set of shots at the Open Studio Project, this time in the Subway Set - which includes a cute little shopping area and a few vehicles for posing on! I'm wearing a variety of things from the 25$L Tuesday Fall Fete, a one week event including hunts, special events, and a whole slew of things either significantly discounted or for only 25$L! The fascinator, from On A Lark (charmingly fringed and with a really cute veil), is made to match one of her outfits, but I found it matched this adorable rigged mesh dress and warmers from For F's Sake! Isn't that the cutest store name ever? It's a very pear-shaped mesh with a cute theme overall; the only flaw I could see is that the dress is set to fullbright and can't be edited to change it, but in most lights that won't matter; it just doesn't take shadows in the same way. The zipper up the front is, indeed, what you think it is; there's a second version of the dress which ...shows off all of the goods, so to speak. Kept zipped and with the included undies, though, it covers enough for the persnickitiest of sims. I capped off the outfit with adorable feet from N@N@, with color changing toenails and a really cute design. They come with coin anklets that fit over the feet and hook around the second toe, not shown here.

*Edited 10/25/2012: The designer from For F's Sake (sorry about the name and addy mixup!) dropped me a line to let me know the dress was fullbright accidentally, and she's fixed all versions of it; now that is awesome customer service!

This is the kind of outfit which would attract comment most places, but which is positively prudish in Second Life, a contrast I find alternatively charming and maddening. One of the interesting things about the tendency toward nearly nonexistent outfits in Second Life is that they lose a lot of their cache. On the positive side, this means that by and large one can wear as little as one wants with very few ill effects - something not often found for women in general in the world. The downside is that being alluring, even with traditional pin-up poses, becomes increasingly a challenge because the full monty is a teleport away. Being sexual, and sexy, can be a mixed blessing and brings with it a lot of assumptions.

At the same time, a world where a woman must be sexy in order to get any attention is not a world I'm particularly fond of - I have mentioned before the acquaintance who literally said he wouldn't bother paying any attention to me because I wore clothing which covered more than 50% of my body, because I wasn't attractive to him in particular. Just a small glimpse into the differing goals of men and women when interacting, the different agendas, how those effect how everyone views everyone else... I've been dwelling a lot of these in connection with this post at Metafilter, where I ended up referring back to this blog to give examples of the sort of treatment women receive at the hands of men not interested in me, but rather in what they think they can get from me. There are a million different voices on this topic, and the ones related to it, but one which struck me recently was from a woman who spent a while cashing in on the cache of being attractive enough, "Beauty is powerful because it is pleasing. Real power means not having to please."

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Hair: elikatira, Flattery
Hat: On A Lark, Mysterious Fascinator
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Eyelashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyeshadow 1: Virtual Insanity, Fairy - Sea
Eyeshadow 2: Virtual Insanity, Paintbrush 16
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Apple Blossom
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Outfit: For F's Sake, Eve Teal
Feet: N@n@, Bare Feet

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Open Studio Project: Subway
Light Settings: Places Betham
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Hrive

I'm showing a couple of promotional items this time - and I have to say I'm starting to feel like a Real Fashion Blogger! Both the eyes (from Les Fleurs du Mâle) and the outfit (from On A Lark) were gifts from store owners I have no prior relationship to, were not given through part of a bloggers group, and were not given as part of me being an "official blogger" for anything! Incredible, hmmm? I've been kind of bouncy since then, though it took me ages to finally unpack the eyes (would you believe they got hidden in another folder and I ended up having to hunt for them? Apparently, I clicked-and-dragged a bunch of stuff into a random folder; go me!). I suppose that makes me less than professional as a blogger... but at least I'm realistic about my weaknesses! The outfit is quite a recent one, though, and available for the next two weeks only at the Gorean Room. Well, I should say this color - the others are all available at the store On a Lark, but the blue one, called Ice, is special.

I'm not normally a Gor-type girl (I prefer my kink more safe, sane, and consensual), but I have to admit this outfit from On A Lark (obviously for Kajira in cold weather, since everything is form-fitting and the tops of my boobs are getting frost-bite) is really charming me. For those who don't know, women in Gor have limited spheres of influence which are clearly indicated by their clothing; Kajira - slaves - are required to wear form fitting and revealing clothing, even at the risk of reddened cheeks and frozen fingers. There's this whole thing with shoes, too, which I find very confusing! The longer skirt means that with the right face and chest covers a Free Woman could wear it, but the leggings and bond skirt are all Kajira and maybe... whatever poor wives are called (they aren't called wives; Gor is very term-specific).

I'm a bit short and plump by Second Life standards, so I had to do a certain amount of modding to make everything fit. It's modify ok, so I was able to shorted the bond skirt panels manually after I shrunk the entirety to hug my hips. Unlike the last On a Lark outfit I fitted, this one didn't require any individual prim-moving, which was good since the "fur" along the edges is all individual prims exquisitely placed. They don't stop you from shrinking it, but they do make it very high prim; entirely worth it in my opinion, though. Even if you are not toward Gor bent, I highly recommend picking this up (and I may actually swing by and sneak out a few other colors for myself when my Lindens balance right! There's a lovely moss green one I have my eye on).

On to the eyes! I'm usually very eye-faithful; rainbow eyes are such a treasure - but these are from a new-to-me store named Les Fleurs du Mâle. These are gorgeous eyes, though, and I took pictures of a small selection to give you some sense of the breadth of hues - though this isn't all of them by any means. They also come with a prim attachment which gives a charming sense of glow and sparkle. I adore the fact that several are dual color; I'm a huge fan of fades, and these are really well done, as you can see! A set of the gray are a promotional gift in the store, and the Succubus eyes (the lovely pink ones) are a midnight mania gift. My only wish could be for a set of rainbow eyes - they might tempt me away from my usual pair (don't tell Chelle)! I had to fit the prim sections a little - I think my head is oddly shaped! - but they add a bright shine to the eyes which I really like.

The sim I'm on is Falln Sanctuary, the home sim of a dear friend Azriel. He recently redid the Hrive (winter) area which has become a private, lovely two-level graveyard. Look for snow, and a series of gates leading up toward the lower graveyard. There are Hitodama floating around eerily, lighting up the frightening skeleton protecting the graves from all hostility. If you look off to one side, there's a path leading up from the general graves to a more private, gorgeously designed privater-graveyard which I really adore. You absolutely have to go check this out (then sneak down the hill to see the new swamp! Totally gorgeously creepy!).

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Chapping: Pididdle, Chapped Lips & Cheeks
Eyes: Les Fleurs du Mâle, Alive - Various (Promotional Items)
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 5A
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations, Brenna - Platinum
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Outfit (includes shoes): On A Lark, Snug - Ice (Promotional Item)
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Falln Sanctuary
Light Settings: TOR, SCIFI Rainbowtek

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only