Sunday, March 23, 2014

City Lights and Strangers

Look Up At Stars

I rarely wear pants, especially now that mesh alters our silhouette so radically, but this jumpsuit from Asteria Creations was so striking I simply couldn't resist. The jumpsuit part is all rigged mesh, but the bow for the back of the neck is resizable and editable, and this came in handy when I was shifting it to go around, rather than through, my wings. I think that can serve as a reminder to creators of the importance of not necessarily rigging everything - often vagaries of style and body additions (like my wings) can make being able to edit something a blessing. The shape of the jumpsuit remains a big change from my regular shape, and I have to admit I'm looking forward to the mesh upgrades with allow more variety; I'm not used to so much booty, and Deoridhe's shape in general has a small bubble butt and an hourglass figure, something not really supported in current mesh shapes where the pear shape is the ideal - sometimes with cartoonishly exaggerated hip and butt shapes.

This jumpsuit is on the tame end, with a smooth line between the legs as well which sometimes seems a little too rounded to be natural, but in most posts you won't notice. I'd imagine it's an aspect of mesh making - you need rounded and curved shapes to approach a natural look. The lines along the breast and back areas are also smooth and rounded, and look good under a variety of lighting from the soft to the sharp. The alpha layer is mostly well cut, but I found it wide along the bodice line and ended up grabbing an alpha from another outfit with a similar low back, sizing my breasts to be under the curve of the jumpsuit. This does have a downside, however, in that it leaves me topless to anyone for whom the mesh hasn't rezzed - an issue which came up when I was approached by an impolite newb who wanted to know why I was naked. I may start to get in the habit of putting on some kind of subtle nipple cover to partially correct for this, even if the shape is still visible. All in all, though, I'm glad I stepped to far outside of my usual style - it's a striking look, goes well with the city, and even works beautifully with my wings - check out how amazing they look in the low cut back!

Dark Corners Bring Out the Pervs

The rest of my look is fairly straightforward; I combined eyes and lips from different stores to make a sparkling but subtle look where the lips are the star. Fantastic Advent freebies like this eyeshadow from Musa - and the myriad of cosmetics which came with them - are why the holiday season is so wonderful in Second Life. The lips are much more recent and less free, though - on sale from Adore & Abhor right now at the Skin Faire, which has removed it's script limits for it's final days - they are part of a full rainbow spectrum of a variety of styles and levels of pastel. The glasses are another new release, this time from Sax Shepherd Designs. It's part of the 80's set that I've already tried out - the earrings I was wearing a couple of days ago - and they're totally adorable. My hair is from Wasabi Pills and is in a loose style at odds with the rest of my glam look, which is actually what I was aiming for; a bit of tousled casual is enough to make a polished, glam look natural, instead of contrived. And finally my shoes are another in a long line of special items out for Adore & Abhor's anniversary - in this case a set of pink and blue shoes from tea.s of various configurations; I'm wearing pink shoes with blue bows, but the inverse is available as are all pink and all blue versions. The double strap design isn't as visible under my bell-shaped pants, but it's a lovely, simple design for medium SLink feet.

The encounter with the noob earlier reminded me of a thousand other encounters - only this time with the added creepiness of someone claiming I was naked because they didn't see my mesh. It's the type of snafu which happens semi-regularly, and yet somehow this person commenting on it was both disturbing and embarrassing - I think because he commented on it, and because it was a cold contact. It was another time when a newb guy asked what I did, then showed no interest in it - a pattern that is as depressing as it is predictable. It's also a marker of the oddity of a virtual world like this, though; offline, people can't see you naked because your clothing took a while to phase in, but online it happens - especially when a sim is overloaded. Feelings of modesty and a wish to conceal remain in place even when the world conspires against one.

Stepping on my Own Shadow

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Kelly
Crown: Krystal, Miss Imperial
(Adore & Abhor Anniversary)
 Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Glasses: Sax Shepherd Designs, 80's Glam Pince Nez
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Musa, Advent Gift
Lipstick: Adore & Abhor, Princess Festivit

Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Necklace: Krystal, Bird Cage Necklace
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands
Nails: A:S:S, Superglitter
Outfit: Asteria Creations, Fabian Jumpsuit
Shoes: tea.s, Adore Heels (Adore & Abhor Anniversary)

Pose: Diesel Works

Location: Metropolis City
Light Settings: Phototools, Moonlight 4
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

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