Devae's New Old Release

A while ago - I'm not saying exactly how long - I got handed a folder of miniskirts. This was in the confusing days when Rue was rebranding herself Devae, which is an awesome name but I don't exactly have the longest attention span, so I kept switching back and forth between names. This made finding these pictures an absolute blast, as apparently I had nothing even approaching consistency.

In addition, there are many people on Second Life who rock a miniskirt, but I don't tend to be one of them. However, the color palette was as amazing as Rue's palettes always are, and in the days since I've found them incredibly useful for dealing with a variety of single pieces of an outfit with a very specific style - not my typical style, but one I enjoy playing with.

Water Color

It's that time of year, when things grow cold and I wear short skirts and hang around in rivers! This is a decidedly spring-like look, from the gorgeous mesh flowers by Sweet Lies, to the crinkly dress from LeeZu. I put on a brightly hued updo from Analog Dog, who does some of my favorite ombre shades, and finished the whole look with rings from Eclectica and shoes from Hilly Haalan. It's also what I call an inventory look, meaning the majority of it were things I picked up while I was out across the grid, and then I threw the look together while sorting things out of my main inventory folders - liking different pieces so much I wanted to photograph them before I sorted.

The LeeZu dress is one I've been eyeing for a while and picked up during her recent sale; I love an unusual silhouette, and LeeZu does amazing, angled, crinkly silhouettes. I also really liked the texturing, from the band down the center to the thin, contrasting colored shapes that reminded me of medallions on Indian carpets and fabrics. It's a delicate spaghetti strap top, a wonder mesh has given us which I will always cherish, and the colors are clear but muted, a tone which would determine the rest of my look. The Sweet Lies flowers, put on soon after, were a purchase from the last iteration of the Fantasy Room - to give you a sense of what a mess my inventory is - and they are a wonderful set of simple flowers in a muted but diverse palette.

The shoes were the hardest part, but I had happened by some Hilly Haalan shoes recently and they were floating near the top. One of the wonderful things about SLink feet is that it allows for many more open sided and open toed shoes, even for people who have difficulty making feet! In this case, the open lacework of the shoes was a perfect and simple counterpoint to a much more fluffy and fussy look above, and the silver echoed the whites elsewhere without becoming too sucked in. Finally, I had the great luck of seeing these rings, Eclectica's new release for the Jewelry and Accessory Expo. They are gacha prizes, a veritable slew of rings, all of which are lovely. I went with a different color on each hand, one to echo the golds of the medallions on the fabric of my dress, and the other to catch the hues of the flowers I'm wearing and my hair. The final touch were my nails - a textured ombre from Devae that I picked up ages ago but return to over and over again. That's also the only bit of purple in my look, completing my somewhat inverted rainbow nicely and settling us firmly in the realm of spring shades and pastel hues.

It's interesting to see where I fall in step with the prevailing north Northern Hemisphere cold and snow, where I react to my local weather which is not at all and where I push back against that, clinging to the timeless and spacelessness of Second Life. The biggest strength and weakness of this world we create together is that it is the sum total of our imaginations. We bring in our own experiences, assumptions, biases, and prejudices and then build a world that replicates the ones in our own minds. I don't think there's any way we can actually know why people bring what they bring - so much of what can be made is as much a product of our subconscious expectations and values as anything consciously held. I think about that sometimes, looking back at a history of images bright and dark from the last five years - the times when I dressed in bright and cheerful clothes when I was feeling sad or upset; the times I threw on whatever and tossed it into the world; my own quiet jealousies and envies, sublimated into a sort of frenetic energy with no outlet.

Winter is a time for drawing in, self-reflection, and facing hard truths about ourselves in harsh environments. Spring is about growth and optimism, and the eternal promise that This Too Shall Pass. I feel like I'm in a swirl of energy, chasing my own tail to avoid my greatest fears about myself. There's a strong temptation to skate over the darkness, to stick to pastels and sweetness and kind words; I have no way to judge if that impulse is a kindness, or an ultimate cruelty.

Boho Culture Faire

The Boho Culture Faire is going on right now, and for once I'm vaguely ahead of the event curve on this one. Good thing, too; one blessing the faire brought back was the civilized and inventory-enriching custom of free gifts in nearly every stall, and many of them are not only quite good, but include an image so you can easily pick and choose which suit your style and inclination. I ended up picking up these smart shoes, fitted to the SLink flat foot, from LaGeeny for a single linden. They are colorful, simple sandals with a cute bow on the ankle which fit beautifully - perfect for afternoons at the park. My RD Style romper, a sort of tank top and short combo which has become very popular in Second Life due to the heat this summer, is also one of the gifts for a single linden, and it's incredibly cute. I love the sealife texture, especially against the brown backdrop, and the shorts made it fun to pose with. Finally, my earrings from Bliensen + MaiTai, are available in her booth at the Boho Culture Faire, and the necklaces - lovely drippings of large jewels, are available from a gacha nearby.  The nice thing is, since the earrings are color-changing you can match them to any of the necklaces you win!

My hair is a fun and playful style from Ploom, and like usual I couldn't resist making it a rainbow of color. Melon also has a sister hair called Splayed, which is perfect for lying down if you want to keep the style contiguous; I really quite appreciate the opportunity, and ended up storing them together for photography purposes. I love the idea of having hairstyles that work in multiple poses, as if they were responding to gravity or wind. My lips are part of one of the large color packs from Adore & Abhor, and honestly I recommend anyone who wants a solid base for lip color to pick these up; they both work beautifully alone, and equally well layered under more transparent gloss textures. I love the lipline they give me, and how they accentuate the expression of my mouth. Finally, my nails are a release from Devae and are one of a bunch based off of her horn textures - all of them incredibly lovely. I love her fades in particular!

The spot where I'm taking these pictures is new, and associated with a new website focused on covering events called EloquenceSL.com. Along with the website is an area with a wide number of group gifts and then a small tea room in the center - quite a lovely spot in the sky. It's more tightly packed than the usual Second Life location, which for photography purposes made it perfect - every inch had some lovely or entertaining bit, and there really weren't any bad angles. In addition, the website nicely puts the reoccurring events front and center. When you mouse over any of them, an orange screen pops up to give the rotation schedule, duration of event, and date of the next one. I love how the timing gets put front and center, since at this point I lose track of which is which and when they all start and end. The page for each event gives details and images of what's available, which is very useful. The coverage right now is fairly extensive, and there is contact information for individuals wanting to add their events to the mix. You can also apply to be a blogger for them, though it clearly isn't for the faint-hearted!

Fit for a Princess: Ice Princess in a Tower

There is less than twenty four hours left for Fit for a Princess, so if you were planning on checking out all of the awesomeness, now is the time to go. It closes at 3PM on Tuesday the 26th, though many of the items will be rapidly winging their way toward stores everywhere. My awesome set pieces are all from Fit for a Princess; first there is a fantastic table with a filled goblet on top of it from the Jewel Garden. It's 7 land impact made up of a variety of different pieces, and it is editable so that you can shift things around to fit your individual style. The goblet itself, it's stone filling, and the flower tucked against the side can all be moved around or used separately, and they are quite lovely both together and apart. The scroll I show on the wall is one of a set, all wit images and beginnings of fairy tales on them. They are made by the Second Star and are both perfect for being piled up on a desk, and hung gently on a wall as decoration. I love the artistic flourishes - a rose for Beauty and the Beast, or a tower for Rapunzel. The lovely light fixtures, which come in three different styles and one with three different heights, are all from Alouette and they give off a gentle glow. I love the different styles and the gentle glass holding the candles, each with a flickering flame. Each is freestanding, and they work extremely well against wood and stone.

My look was inspired by the blue and white gown from Les Femmes à Barbe, beautifully colored on a well made mesh basis. I love the Celtic pattern along the neckline and hem, soft gold layered over the blue of the outfit. The ribbons wrapped around the torso are actually a separate element, so you can show the dress with or without them - a lovely touch which can let you customize it for a variety of situations, and there are also arm ribbons in a similar style up to the elbows. The dress is pretty well rigged - tied to the legs but loosely enough that it doesn't distort too badly with unusual leg configurations; the wrists get a little hinky here and there, but that is likely because I wear SLink hands. The final piece from Fit for a Princess are my amazing shoes - a new release from Eclectica. They are astonishingly three dimensional, especially with the jeweled pieces over the toes, and the texture is layered and sumptuous. I highly recommend you run over to Fit for a Princess before tomorrow - this is only the tip of the iceberg of awesome.

My necklace is from tea.s, and is one of the items you can purchase to get stamp cards for the Enchantment Event this month, which also likely will be ending sooner rather than later. It's another event i highly recommend you check out, as many of the items are simply divine. I ended up with an enormous folder of awesome things, and I'll try to show more of them off soon. It's been a busy month. My final note is something just starting, though - Devae, formerly Rue and always awesome, is having a 75% off sale at her main store in preparation for reworking her store. My amazing nails are one of her releases, and I got them for pennies you guys - pennies. Everything currently released is there, including her completely saturated skins of many colors, some wonderful horns and eyes, and even a little clothing - a tempting example of what she can make if inspired. I live in eternal hope for her to turn her alien eyes toward something rainbow, but even if she keeps with her usual entirely gorgeous textures, I will remain a happy faerie.

An Interesting Question

For a while now I've been considering slipping in some simpler posts - just a single picture and the credits - as part of having both a more regular blog presence and getting through my inventory faster - as I often stall at an outfit until I feel up to typing up a more elaborate copy and sending out notecards to people. I've gotten a lot of feedback that creators love my copy, and I definitely wouldn't stop writing - dear gods no way could I - but there are times I want to pull together a look, take some pictures which might or might not be good, post them up, and call it a day. I'd love to hear other opinions, though - one interesting thing about blogging so much with intermittent feedback is that it's hard to know what really works, so I'd love to hear what anyone reading this thinks.

This is a fun look that I mostly pulled together to show off some amazing stuff people sent my way, and to serve as a contrast to all the pastel I've been mainlining recently. I think I ended up looking like a hooker - Charlie assures me I look like an expensive hooker, but I'm not so sure. Speaking of Charlie, he's just recently opened a sim for gathering Roleplaying Shops and Information in one place - the sim Imagine. I have a small spot dedicated to rainbows which has a few links to my website and a bunch of items I really like; the bulk of it is a little mysterious, so make sure to look around for nooks and crannies. There are a bunch of spots for affiliate stores, and events which will come later on, and hopefully it will be an excellent resource for roleplayers of all ilks. I particularly like how Charlie combined multiple genres smoothly throughout the sim. I stuck mostly to what I call his "Roman" section, because the shadows were a lot of fun, but believe me when I say the sim has a little of everything.

Anyway, back to my new attempt to support my Gacha habit. The shirt is a new release from a rename old favorite of mine. What was once Rue is Devae, and while the name has changed, the awesome textures have not. It's a delicate, wispy sort of thing, which reveals a lot depending on the angle. Pairing single pieces of clothing is always a challenge for me, and in this case I was helped by an old Rue miniskirt which has come to my rescue before, and which pairs beautifully with her new release. I added panties from Adam n Eve simply because the alternative was flashing everyone, and I ended up with a pretty little lace line along the top of my skirt that I rather enjoyed. Around my neck is a new I <3 RP release from Eclectica so that my allegiance to Death that Rises from the Deep can be demonstrated. To top it all off, I added an old crystal-style hair from Wasabi Pills which I really love. The crystal hair colors are ones she sometimes releases of Fifty Linden Fridays, and they are a wonderful addition to the spectrum of colors she uses. I also really enjoy the delicate hair strands of this style and how well they're rigged to move when my head turns.

I added in a bunch of new releases from Sax Shepherd Designs to my basic building blocks, some of which are meat to go together and others which are clearly not. The petals waist cincher and mules (available at The Theme Park) match beautifully and added a bit of pastel to my look - what can I say, it's a weakness. I was amazed at how well the cincher in particular fit; it's rigged mesh but it fits like a second skin and tucked easily under my shirt. The earrings - huge and fun - are in high contrast but really fit my anything-for-Linden aesthetic. They (along with a series of monocles) come with a HUD to change the colors of just about everything, which is a Sax Shepherd hallmark. The wings are also a new release, and I am so thrilled I can show these off. I got a lucky chance to see them a little early and simply fell in love; they manage to be at once metallic and delicate, and now that I have color changing you will likely see them flutter in and out of my life at regular intervals. The final touches were my cosmetics. My bright and rich eyeshadow from Souzou Eien was just released and comes in a variety of soft fades and heavy eyeliner that I think really make my De La Soul eyes stand out. I added an orange tinted shade from Pink Fuel - one of several shades of metallic lipstick which I simply fell in love with. I echoed it in a fun polish from Flair which has the same saturated shade of orange to contrast with the soft pinks in the rest of my look. I had a ball putting this together, and I hope you enjoy looking.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Ivette
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Earrings: Sax Shepherd Designs, 80's Glam
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Souzou Eien, Fairy Eyes
Lipstick: Pink Fuel, Metallic Lipsticks
Wings: Sax Shepherd Designs, Filigree Wings
Necklace: Eclectica, Octopus Neckpiece (We <3 RP)
Hands and Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands and Feet
Nails: Flair, Applier 178
Shirt: Devae, Threads / Poet Cami
Corset: Sax Shepherd Designs, Petals Waist Cincer
Panties: Adam n Eve, Ana Lace
Miniskirt: Devae (Rue), Threads / Artist Miniskirts
Shoes: Sax Shepherd Designs, Petals Mules

Poses: HelaMiyo

Location: Imagine
Light Settings: TOR, DUSK Siennarel
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only