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.

Art Corner: Warrior in Wait

This is a more artistic, singular take where I was trying to set a mood of stealthy watchfulness. The outfit started with the Cila armor style and got filled in with old standards, like my Rosal gloves and boots, and a new gift from Stockholm & Lima that a friend gave me. The final touch was a fairly severe updo from Wasabi Pills to fit the martial sense with it's orangey-pink highlights. I started with a fairly stark windlight, to capture the shadows being cast across the layers of leaves and my clothes and played around with the east angle and time of day until I got a sharp angle across everything - angles generate interest and keep the eye moving throughout the image. I tried to narrow everything down as far as I could - aiming for texture in the backdrop instead of any individual items, and struggled for some time with what I wanted in the background - the angles didn't work well to get the path or watermill in the background, but an errant hit on the side instead of back view gave me this fantastic angle slightly off to one side. I always struggle with cutting out the face, but in this case I felt like the Grafica pose offered a sense of the person waiting even if her face was out of view.

Once set and take, I opened the image in Gimp and cropped it down to it's present size. The bamboo down the center had a line of highlights along it which was very distracting, though, cutting the image in half and causing my eye to get "caught" on it repeatedly. Using colors I picked up from the background, I strengthened the cross cuts of the shadows across it and it receded into the background instead of messing up my composition. I had already set my figure off center; the other piece was to have int he background a sense of something she could be looking at without being too specific. Composition somewhat rescued, I brightened the image slightly and amped up the contrast to make everything more vivid and visible. The final touch was using "oilify" for the brush-like effect. On the strength I liked for the background the forefigure became uncomfortably indistinct and softened around the edges, so I made a cut out of the figure alone, erased around her edges, and then used a much lower "oilify" level. The overlay was effectively flawless, as the choppier style of the leaves made blending the two layers a breeze.

I'm really happy with the use of diagonals, but I'm not entirely pleased with my composition - though I'm not sure how I would want to improve it. In thumbnail it's a striking combination of lights and darks. I'm wondering if the pink being only along one side is an asset, as it makes it stand out, or a deficit, as it makes it really different from the mottled green backdrop. I really like the angle and cropping, though; I think it conveys the sense of anticipation and watchfulness well, and
is dark without being indistinct.I'm wondering if I might want to use less contrast in world if I anticipate editing my image in Gimp.

A Tattered Page: Living Blade

"She was known as Scarlett. At that time she was selling arms, although it was beginning to lose its savor. She never stuck at one job for very long. Three, four hundred years at the outside. You didn't want to get in a rut.

Her hair was true auburn, neither ginger nor brown, but deep and burnished copper.. color, and it fell to her waist in tresses that men would kill for, and indeed often had. Her eyes were a startling orange. She looked twenty.. five, and always had."

We first meet Scarlett, one of the four Horsepeople of the Apocalypse in the book Good Omens (from whence all my quotes come), on the last days of her arms dealing with a broken down truck. She quickly shifts gears to become the most successful war correspondent in the world - she always seemed to arrive just as war was breaking out. She has peers, of a sort, spread out across the globe, each embroiled in their own concerns, waiting for a very particular day.

Genre: Curb-Stomping Kawaii

The Military has rolled into Genre-town, and the results are... mixed. There's lot of camouflage in some very interesting places, and by far one of the most interesting is this combination of Lolita and combat colors. It's lover-cut than the typical Lolita, but pleasingly fluffy with the rough edges and rounded profile of classic Curious Kitties. It's fitmesh, so trying a demo first is a good idea, and in addition to the dark green I'm showing here it comes in water blue, sand tan, and urban gray. The skirt is more tutu than flowing layers of petticoat, and it's a fun shape to mix and match with tights or pants. There are also some very nice buckly belts around the waist, setting this apart from other Lolita styles. It comes with matching boots (not shown) making it a cohesive look. It was a lot of fun to take two very different things and try to combine them, and I think I managed admirably!

The rich, jungle color was an easy match with a variety of accessories - for example these amazing bracelets from Tanoshi, which also come in a bunch of other shades - like red, brown, teal, and navy. They have heavy rifle-sized bullets pinned around the edges with enormous grommets, and half of them come with lace in addition! They match my shiny star nails to perfection! Those come from Vengeful Threads and are enormously fun. Purple, pink, the green I'm showing, blue, and red are all options, each with silvery stars and bits of camo laid into them. I rounded out my look with two non-Genre offerings. The first are these awesome, flirty stompy boots from Dilly Dolls which seem simply made for combining steel toes and ruffles. They come in solid colors, but thankfully they are editable and one can select individual faces, so I was able to add dark and bright green to various surfaces and make it fit in better with the rest of my look - I adore modifiable clothes for so many reasons, but this level of individualization is a big part of it.

In contrast, the gray matches the bullets of my bracelets and the spines on my headband. That headband comes with the matching hair from Wasabi Pills with a fun single shoulder flow. I'm wearing it in mottled cool shades and gray to carry the color scheme further; I didn't want to go to warm and unsettle the effect. Look at how seamlessly the hair curls over one of my ears - and Wasabi Pills has moved more and more towards individual strands of curling hair, which make them really stand out. The final touch is my necklace, a heavy round shape like dog-tags but a little more sinister - this is one of my favorite necklaces from Eclectica, an octopus hugging a stone. I love every little coil of its tentaclely goodness, and it really pulls the whole outfit together - so to speak! Now I'm ready to take on all comers in the jungle, the prettiest General you've ever seen!

Fantasy Faire: Sylvan of Spells Up Close

Although I centered this post around Sylvan of Spells, Odyssey is getting a tiny call-out for this really fun hair from Wasabi Pills, called Jasmine. It has Wasabi Pills' standard awesome curls and tendrils, with an added dose of her fun 50$L Friday colors. I tucked into it's waves a wonderful lily circlet from Talevin's Designs (Fantasy Faire Location), the first of a long selection of items you can find on the sim Sylvan of Spells. The sparkling staff in my hands is from the same store, along with a whole slew of other accessories and weapons - definitely more than I could show here! I love the sparkled on it and the shape is mesh and editable - I made it a bit smaller, to fit my hand, then lengthened it out with complete ease. Thank you editable mesh!!! My accessories are actually a combination of two sets, both of them RFL Donation items, from Plastik (Fantasy Faire Location). They sport gems of official Fantasy Faire purple, and in addition to the necklace and earrings I'm showing here there are circlets and rings and second necklace styles galore. Each sign states exactly what comes in the set. which includes the gold metal I show here, silver, and black.

My outfit is a fun recolor of one of my favorite fluffy mesh dresses from Tayren's Fantasy Fashions (Fantasy Faire Location), and the purchase actually includes an entire avatar, including skin, shape, and shoes. I love the sparkles, which catch the similar sparkles in my Talevin's Designs (Fantasy Faire Location) staff - above you can see the striking pinecone top which made me fall in love with it. I couldn't resist the pink-to-yellow fade even though wasn't immediately obvious it went with the rest of my accoutrements! I think everyone has one of those days they want to combine sparkles and combat boots, though, and clearly this was my day. And finally, said combat boots come from FDD Stories (Fantasy Faire Location) and are part of another full outfit. I'm showing off the dark brown, but there's also a lovely antique blue. I fell in love with the design of these, from the button up the front, to the added knee pads, to the band over the ankle to hold everything in place. They're fitted mesh, which means they fit out of the box, and I had to increase my foot size to bring myself into proportion - definitely a first, and a welcome one at that.

All in all, my look may be unconventional, but I rather like it!

The building in this and the one after the next are from Independent Objects (Fantasy Faire Location), a pair of fascinating Moroccan style houses with open entrances or roofs. I really like the shape of them, and the included door hangings and sun shade are  festively patterned. I had fun placing a bunch of other things around them, like this rose bush from Fantasy China (Fantasy Faire Location), a full mesh rose bush inside of a simple stone urn. The lanterns - which are lighting this whole scene - are both from Gypsy Wolf (Fantasy Faire Location) and come in five different colors - more of them shown below. They have a lovely shape and pattern on them, and light up an area prodigiously. Finally, the welcome sign up front is a free gift from Kaerri (Fantasy Faire Location), and set to match the other floral and fairy themed offering from her at the Fantasy Faire. I love the little animals perched all over it; such fun!

I filled this Moroccan style building from Independent Objects with a bunch of offerings from Kaerri (Fantasy Faire Location), all with a floral and cafe theme. The relay for life offerings are the piano and clock, both of them sweet additions to any set. I really love how the flowers are woven in and how the grass sprouts up from the ground - even on this stone floor it looks surreal and soft.I'm definitely keeping these for the next time I want to plan a real garden party!

I hope you enjoyed brief peek at some of the lovely things available on Sylvan of Spells at the Fantasy Faire. Please drop by to see the rest - there's more than I could cover in a month of Sundays!

My Alpha and my Omega, and All that was Ever Mine

It's been a rough year so far, and I can feel how it's affecting what I do - making every step and every moment of focus more of a challenge. I've also been thinking a lot about Canary Beck's words for [SL] Blogger Support on why someone should make a niche for themselves and the challenge I have with making any sort of niche which would show up on a list of Second Life blogs. In the terms of Second Life blogs, my blog would seem to be a fashion blog - and women's fashion in particular. I view it as more of a personal travelog that includes some details on what I like and why, but I can't deny that one of the things which drew me to Second Life was the opportunity to create unique and beautiful outfits for a mostly-static avatar of myself. I think part of why I bristle so much to be included in the masses is because I'd like to think there's something which sets me apart, even while being afraid that nothing does - and as such I find it impossible to respond to what she says in any sort of measured way; it's all snippy hand-wave and airy defensiveness. I'm reminded of a dynamic I experienced a while ago, early on in my receiving items from creators to blog, when I would write about my mixed feelings about that and confuse one of the creators who was sending me things! I am, if nothing, a giver of mixed messages and a writer of mixed blogposts. Consider this a uncentered splurch of feeling to my blog, expressing some mix of tension, fear, annoyance, and general malaise - it has been a very conflicted year, and we're only three months in.

The new Omega Point sim fit my mood very well, being lovely and natural where one lands with gorgeous shadows cast by the trees, and rapidly descending into a nightmare of blood, lightening, and the depths under the earth where all fear to tread. This is an updated sim in much the same spirit as the old one - the color palette is very similar but the build is much more detailed and economical, and the texturing is more naturalistic. I also really liked the huge maze of passages under the ground, found by following not-at-all-subtle giant teal arrows down into the ground. Around the entrance to the depths and within those depths there is a fun combination of primitive and futuristic, wild and violent animals goring bodies next to piles of manufactured steel supply crates; durt passageways that give way to malfunctioning doorways of light. I am a fan of high contrast, and Omega Point is centered around the meeting point of dirt and steel, all of it bathed in blood.

I centered my look around my hair from Wasabi Pills, currently on sale at FaMESHed, a versatile style that can be aged up or down depending on dress and accessories; in this setting it felt rather like the business woman, taken aback by the land she is unceremoniously dropped into. FaMESHed is much more sleek and professional than my usual trend, but I've been trying to find the challenges within all of the events going on within the grid, and I felt I was up to the challenge. The Wasabi Pills hair on sale there this month is a high ponytail that drapes over one shoulder and can be styled a number of different ways. The asymmetric nature combined with the heavy fringe can play very young, especially when combined with an adorable headband like this one from Dream Things that's currently being sold at Fit for a Princess. The blossoms on my headband are color changing, and it's natural enough to work in non-royal contexts and on adult heads. I played up the youthfulness by adding in this group gift from .:Soul:., a rainbow cupcake styled on my actual platform and given out to try to cheer everyone up in the face of a very challenging year - Charlie is always so sweet to me! Combined with more mature clothing with a simple silhouette, though, these childlike touches at whimsy and charm without seeming underaged, and the Wasabi Pills style adds a touch of elegance with the simple flow of hair over one shoulder - one of the more formal qualities of the hair style.

One of the nice things about a sheath dress is that it can be dressed up or down, professional or casual, and while this dress from Valentina E. Couture, also at FaMESHed, flirts with the risque by showing a bit of lace along the low bodice line, adding in a jacket buttoned high would do a lot to turn it from slinky evening wear to stunning professionalism where the lace hints at a naughty side without being too sexy. The three tone tartan caught my attention as well, the pattern standing out but remaining more simple than a complicated or starkly colored tartan might. By limiting the color palette, Valentina made it much more versatile and set the dress up to be paired with a lot of different accessories. My absolute favorite touch is in the mesh, though. Look at the line along the upper thigh - a shape often seen on offline dresses. It looks like a texture added for verisimilitude, but it's actually cut into the mesh in such a way that the dress bends at the thigh in an incredibly realistic manner. This is often a tricky area where the bend can look rubbery, but with the addition of this curving inward to a bend at the upper thigh and some clever rigging, this dress looks wonderfully natural as you move. I would have never though of it, and now I don't want a sheath dress without it!

I reinforced the "classy" read of this outfit and balanced out my more playful accessories with this lovely necklace and earring set from Ariskea. It was the necklace which caught my attention - I'm a sucker for wire wrapped around stones, and these dual-colored stones were particularly striking, with the blue catching the darker blue in the dress while the pink bridged some of the distance between outfit and headband. I echoed this combination of peachy-pink and steel-blue in my shoes from Eclectica, available at her Main Store. They are texture changing, so I combined steel blue on the main shoe with touches of pink and black trim - echoing the main look both in the sleep shape of the shoe, and also in the ornate swirls of the pattern, which capture the swirls of my jewelry. The ultimate effect is a classy date look with hints of playfulness and whimsy, sleeking out my style without losing the essence of a silly faerie who loves rainbows.

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.

The Snow Queen is Lost in School

The Xiasumi School Faire has only a few hours left - and sadly I didn't get much of a chance to take pictures on the very cute sim associated with all of the sales! I did pick up quite a lot of kimono, though, and some very tasty sushi (not shown). This lovely gown is revealing and sweet, with a bodice line reminiscent of a Korean chima, worn without the blouse-like jeogori, a style popularized in beautiful manghua like Bride of the Water God. I'm an enormous fan of the manghua and the art, so was drawn to the drama of this gown from Junbug immediately, though I went in more of a Snow Queen direction with it than any proper Korean Royalty. The bow of wings in the back are more reminiscent of a butterfly tie for a Japanese kimono, and the fall of the fabric reminded me of how an Indian sari often falls across the front - though the cause in that case is very different. The event itself is pure Japanese, though, from the build of the schools, to the rows of shoe lockers, to the decorations each class did for their hallway. One of the things I love about Second Life is that I can step inside of worlds created by people for themselves and people they know, and be inspired to know or, at least, to learn more. The regular reminder that the world is so much bigger than I can ever know, with subtleties I can never grasp, is both humbling and inspiring.

The idea of a Snow Queen is, of course, much broader than Asia; I first met this frozen ideal of womanhood in Hans Christian Andersen's story of a young girl pursuing and saving a formerly ungrateful boy, and watched with no small amount of bemusement when Disney removed most of the women from the story and yet recast it as a story of sisterly love. To keep with the theme of white - the color of death in some places, purity in others - I selected a pure white ribbon collar from Boom as one of the sole accessories. It's color changing via a HUD, including this pure shade of white, and it's simplicity would work well in a variety of genres. My second accessory is from Mandala, a large and gorgeous corsage to be worn in the hair. It's large and fat, with a bright gold center and lovingly created petals each standing out on their own - no mean feat in Second Life! Finally the hair, in my traditional gold, is a recent release from Wasabi Pills. She's continuing the trend of using small, thin mesh tendrils instead of textures with semi-invisible strands, and I love how that works around the face and ears in particular - all very hard places to place hair, as there is a tendency for layers to overlap. She also tucked some loose bits in under the bun in back, as if it's been rather a long day and some tendrils are escaping! I love both the simplicity and the elegance of this look, and I'm so glad I had a chance to take some pictures in the Xiasumi school's gorgeous build.

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.

Post Apocalyptic Style

I know my biggest worry when I think about the apocalypse is what I'm going to wear. It's just impossible to face the inevitable end of all humankind without being stylish and styling - though that doesn't mean such paltry matters as whether my shoes and handbag match! I settled on Tableau as the perfect place to face the end, and it proved to be a gorgeous and wonderful  My base is this amazing dress from FATEplay, which I totally didn't make our of some sort of extra uniform from creepy end-of-days militia, or anything silly like that! In all seriousness, I love how the dress looks retrofitted from other clothing; the ragged edges like arms were cut off, the wrinkled t-shirt middle, and an arm for a tube top. It is actually three separate pieces - the tube top, bodice, and skirt all in different parts which fit together beautifully. It comes in a wide variety of colors for mixing and matching, but I went for a straightforward orange and white, like a creamsickle, in the clean version (each comes with a dirty version, too; very rustic, but I'm a cleanly apocafashionista). Released at the same time is the origin of this dress - an all-over jumper suitable for men and women both. I know what I'm wearing next time I need to fix something mechanical!

I accessorized with a mace purse from Adore & Abhor which serves double duty as clutch and weapon. I figure that in the ends of days a girl can be both self-protective, and fashionable, and this does well at both - love the golden spikes. My hair is a new release from Wasabi Pills, a fantastic herringbone braid over one shoulder. This is a rarer braid, as the pieces laying over each other are much smaller and thinner than in a standard hairstyle, and I love how it lays across one shoulder. The hair tendrils are actually mesh pieces instead of a semi-transparent texture over longer pieces, which is really amazing and adds a great deal of verisimilitude to a casual style. Trying to keep the styling to more found items than mall fair, I added a necklaces from Bleinsen + MaiTai with a scientific bent. I just have this image of a futuristic woman slicing apart an extra table of elements to augment her newest look. And finally, most adorably, are these fishbone shoes from Lassitude & Ennui, which I have struggled to place in a cohesive look since I saw them. I totally adore the simpleness of the sandal which lets the literal herring-bones stand out under gold paint.

SL11B: Despite all my Gauge, I'm still just a Fae in a Cage

I love cage dresses. I have a bunch of them, but they are much rarer to find across the grid since mesh hit - largely because by they're very definition they cannot easily be rigged. The cage part of this The Library dress isn't rigged, which means it continues to make interesting shapes around my thighs and calves no matter how I'm posed, and I fell in love the second I saw it. The bodysuit is rigged; I'm wearing the small, which was smaller in the bust and larger in the rear end than my normal shape. The bum shape in particular is very fine - high enough to seem sexy and be striking, but not so high that it looks like things should be hanging out. I love the rivets up the front and holding the skirt to the waist, and I completely adore the narrow wire of the cage skirt. The entire outfit has a really industrial feel, so I tried to soften and make it more fey using curvy, curly, clothy accessories. First the french hood - which is a release from Aisling I picked up a while ago and dates back to the Tudor era in style. It's built more like a crown or a headband, without the usual veil, and it has a lovely trim of pearls which drapes over your hair and leaves a single bead on the forehead. It reminds me of Florence for some reason (maybe the pearls?), and it was a headdress style which traveled across the European Continent and all the way to England as well, thanks to Anne Boleyn. Blessedly, this gorgeous hood comes with a color changing HUD, which means I will probably indulge in wearing it many more times in the future since I can match it up to so much of my inventory.

The Wasabi Pills hair I paired the hood with was a simple style with a part in front, but wasn't the usual completely pulled back style of the Sixteenth Century. I love it's simple, curved back style which lets me show off one of my earrings, from Bliensen + MaiTai, and highlights the matching necklace. Wasabi Pills has been adding in lovely wisps of hair which make the styles feel much more natural - less like something fresh from a stylist and more like a person pushing their hair back and heading out into the world. I fell in love with the Bliensen + MaiTai spirals, and the metal width is reminiscent of the cage skirt I'm wearing which also bringing in a curved edge. I love how the swirls fade together and change direction, and the curve of a circle through my earlobe. The swirl is echoed in my other hardware, also from Aisling but this time in a more fantasy mesh shape, and echoed again in these amazing shoes from Lassitude & Ennui. Clearly, this is pure evidence that they love me, because in addition to all of the usual lovely shades of shoe, Lassitude & Ennui made Rainbow Shoes. Rainbow. Shoes. Nevermind that they are also swirly, and curly, and lovely, and have delicate heels which make it clear anyone who is anyone would have wings. I don't even have words for how much I want these shoes on my feet forever; it's as if someone wonderful went into my brain, took out a dream, and then handed it to me - what bliss!

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Ellie
Hat: Aisling, Godelieve
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Damned, Rainbow
Lipstick: Mock, Brown Sugar
Wings: Una, Steampunk Wing
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: Nine Inch Nails, Ying & Yang
Jewelry: Bliensen + MaiTai, Voluta
Bracers: Aisling, Lady of Highgarden
Clothing: The Library, Iron Maiden
Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui, Fey Sandals

Pose: Ploom

Location: DJ Stage on Impressive
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Visits from the Depths of the Inventory

I've been trying to sort through my inventory a bit more, and I hit my "petite" folder, which hasn't seen much light in the last year or so. I do still adore the avatar, though, despite being unable to give her my face. I took my pictures at Imagine, the RP Shopping sim associated with de la Soul's store which has a simply lovely setup. On aspect I always love about the petite shape is using it in contrast to much smaller locations - setting myself up on fountains, on desks, even on signs. It's the size contrast which really amuses me - in Second Life things tend to be so over-sized, so being undersized is simply a ton of fun. My default avatar is Fallen Gods, a pretty elven petite with pale skin and shiny purple Wasabi Pills hair. I try as much as possible to mimic my larger size in smaller, and in this age of rigged mesh hair, Wasabi Pills makes the best possible petite hair and Fallen Gods has a lovely, solid, simple skin tone for his petites which simply make me gleeful. Like my larger form, my eyes are always de la Soul in shiny rainbow tones and they fit perfectly in my head.

My outfit I picked up during a lovely sale by Evie's Closet, which thoroughly packed up my inventory with shiny clothes for petites - though I will admit that my all-times-petite alt got the bulk of my purchases. This one is flexi mesh, which works beautifully on a small scale since there is so much less volume than a full sized gown that it falls so smoothly to the bottom in every pose. It comes with the flower crown and beautiful fluffy sleeves, which make me so terribly happy. I added to it some of the incredible petite jewelry by Elemental that I have in my pocket - chunky and large with undeniable style. It's a combination of crescent and full moons, with gold balls as stars. In the past, I've had my old faithful Fancy Fairy wings,  but for this new petite Deoridhe I simply had to add in my favorite wings from Deviance and they worked beautifully. I left them much larger, to keep the contrast between the tiny body and enormous wings, and part of me now sort of wants to see the same contrast on my full sized avatar - it's so much more realistic. I had such fun revisiting my petite history; I'm definitely going to be trying to do this more often as I sort through my voluminous inventory.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Body: Fallen Gods, Petites Pale
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Monique
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes
Jewelry: Elemental, Petite Moonglow
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Dress: Evie's Closes, Tuala

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Imagine
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Precision Blue
Water Settings: Blackwater

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Rose in Bloom

One of my favorite books from my teenage years is Rose in Bloom, a sequel to the serially released Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott. It is a dated book, I'll admit, and her virtuous tone is all but laughable in the face of a modern era, but there's much I love about the enduring friendship between Rose and her housemaid cum lady's maid cum cousin-in-law. It stands in an odd intersection of racism-in-description of one of the Chinese men Rose and her cousins meet, and an odd sort of equality when one of her wealthy friends marries the Chinese man. It is feminist and progressive for it's age, especially with Rose's determination to be a philanthropist as well as wife and mother, but has unnerving classist assumptions, especially in regards to Phebe and her role vis a vis showing what "good" poor people were like. It is problematic along a few different axis, and I love it even now and even knowing it's many flaws. I love the equality inherent in it, the transformation of Rose's cousins from children into adults, and Rose and Phebe's own transformations. I love to imagine myself as Rose, sweet and unspoiled, surrounded by people who love her.

My gorgeous Rose in Bloom dress is from Petite Mii, and I knew I had to have it as soon as I saw it. I love the overall shape of the gown, the sweet puffed sleeves, the high collar, and the lovely pattern. It is a wide sweeping skirt, which means sitting can be a challenge, but I adore the ruffle along the bottom and encourage you to invest in tights or underwear with good coverage. To continue the Wa Lolita style, I added Tama hairpins with lovely winter cherry blooms hanging from them; I picked these up in a wide variety of colors ages ago, and I'm so glad to have a chance to show them off. I especially love the additional earrings, which are open on the front to show the tiny cherry inside. I tucked them in around one of the latest updos from Wasabi Pills, and gloriously they fit around the twisted band of hair as if they had been made for each other. I love how the crown and pouf make it seem more formal, while the tangling twists over the shooulders give a slightly more casual vibe - something perfect for the quasi-formality of Wa Lolita. My lovely little purse is a recent release from Adore & Abhor, a set of pastel coffin purses which simply make me giggle endlessly. The colors are all very muted, which gives them a sweet yet disturbing edge. Finally, the quintessential shoe for any Lolita look is the Mary Jane, and I chose these adorably simple ones from Reign, which fit over the SLink medium foot. They have a nice chunky heel, and a lovely line.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Sanna
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Jewelry: Tama, Japanese Lanterns
Earrings: Illusions, Mystic Chains
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Mock, Silver (light iced)
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss
Wings: Deviance, Seelie
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & feet
Nails: Orc Inc, Rich Darks
Clothing: Petit Mii, Asian Dress
Purse: Adore & Abhor, Coffin Purse
Stockings: Stellar, In Bloom
Shoes: Reign, MaryJanes

Poses: Grafica

Location: Tropical Serenade
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Sad purple
Water Settings: mirror water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fantasy Faire: Turned to Stone

The Fantasy Faire itself is over, but tendrils of good will and good wishes continue on into the future - not only swinging around to next year, but also in the form of the second half of the Fantasy Faire Hunt (First Half Guide Here) in the Palace of Tears. It also continues in many of the Faire Stores, where Fantasy Faire Donation boards are transplanted when the Fairelands close. My skin was a release for the Faire from Fallen Gods - an amazing stone skin texture which came with an outfit and eyes (not shown). I was so very glad that it included SLink appliers for the skin - the effect is as flawless and wonderful as I had ever hoped, as you can see from my perfect stony fingers above. I don't see a sign of this particular skin at his store, even in an extended Faire Donation Option, but if you like this skin just check out the myriad of wonders he has available to all - and if you meet any noobs, let them know about his Newborn boxes; for the first seven days, you can get a free skin. I layered over the stone rainbow sparkles from Folly, and they look quite lovely and give me a bit of a glow of health - setting me apart from those scary angels who might eat your time. Check out her store for a run on Fantasy Faire Donations - we're still counting up to a final total.

My hair is another faire donation, this time from Wasabi Pills, one of my perennial favorites. It's a lovely, curving style which I thought set off my stone skin beautifully, and had a lovely braid detail that I simply fell for. I also really liked the forehead line and center part - it really makes me look the part of a stone statue, doesn't it? It's now available at her main store for purchase. My gown is from Sakide, and I picked it up my first day in the faire and then took forever to figure out a look for it - this will be a continuing problem, as my Fantasy Faire Folder is quite brimming with gorgeous things. Sakide has all the RFL vendors out, so you can find a wide variety of options at her main store, including this one. I love the design - from the short skirt, to the sweeping train, to the face that the belt and skirt are color changing between several options - I chose gray here, but there is black, pink, purple, gray and white all available to you. To this final look I added a couple of items from the depths of my inventory. First, a gorgeous set of jewelry from Elemental Earth Designs with a large, chunky quality which I thought looked like something a statue might wear if she got to choose. Secondly, I added these fun shoes from Eclectica which are some of my favorites. I adore the teardrop shapes on the framing of the shoe in particular.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Fallen Gods, Lacrimosa (Fantasy Faire)
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Darienne (Fantasy Faire)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Earrings: Illusions, Mystic Chains
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Wings: Deviance, Seelie
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & feet
Nails: A:S:S, Royal Purple
Jewelry: Elemental Earth Designs, Kiowa Set
Clothing: Sakide, Maestitia Dress (Fantasy Faire)
Shoes: Eclectica, Crush Velvet Pumps

Pose: Exposeur

Location: Sanctum
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fantasy Faire: Christmas in May

There is one day left to the Fantasy Faire, and there is so much to be done and so far we have gotten. There are nine total sims and this one, Medhir Woods, is the sixth I've visited. It's a lovely, simple village style of venue, with a simple gazebo overlooking the small pay in the heart of it. The lighting is quite red, and so I wasn't sure that my lovely gown - purchased on sim - from Apsara would work; it was a vibrant lime green that had caught my eyes as soon as it hit the feeds. It turned out simply lovely, however, with the red muting the green without completely overwhelming it. I particularly like the style of the dress - the halter-corset combination is one I'm fond off, and the long skirt was a lot of fun. One flaw is around the bottom of the skirt, though; sadly it "sticks" a bit too the feet and can make some odd, jagged edges depending on your pose; most of the time it's barely noticable. The colors are simply gorgeous, too; a rich olive, a bright lime and lemon, and hints of red worked into the complicated pattern of the bodice.I knew I had to have this as soon as I saw it, and now I'm so glad it's mine.

I've had some difficulty finding shoes and oddments to augment my outfits, so I dug deep into other things I've been picking up along the way. The butterfly mask, for example, is from 22769 and is one of a variety of colors which I simply fell in love with. The design is particularly nice, with smaller butterflies perching on the skin and then a small stream of them fading away, and it also come sin a hand-held version if you want something for a Masque Ball. I paired it with a Wasabi Pills hair which would overlay it slightly, giving it a naturalistic look. I also love how the hair flows over the bodice, catching here and there without being overwhelming. My Dark Passions nails I picked up ages ago, but each outfit I would try them with didn't work out - finally, with this one, it was a perfect match, even to the bits of gold on the nails to echo the bright lemon of the dress. And finally my shoes, something I've had kicking around in my inventory for ages looking for a home, matched so perfectly they could have been made as a cohesive outfit; these pointy toed flats from Bliensen + MaiTai match in style and color perfectly, from the olive of the shoe which picks up the green of the bodice, to the delicate metal which echoes the darker shades of red worked in. I really like how the curve of metal over the toe and the toe itself don't line up - it's such a charming little detail.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Hanako
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Mask: 22769, Mes pensees sont des papillons
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Coal & Green
Lipstick: L. Fauna, Red 3
Wings: Illusions, Apsara
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: Dark Passions, Irish Tips
Clothing: Apsara, Kairavi
Bracelets: G Field, Floria
Shoes: Bliensen + MaiTai, Brennil

Pose: Grafica

Location: Medhir Woods
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fantasy Faire: Faeries in the Mists

I pretty much only purchase donation items during the Fantasy Faire, and Blackwater Glenn offered me two of what is part of a growing slew of purple clothing to make awesome outfits out of. The two section gown is from Luas (Fantasy Faire Location here), whom I'm not sure I've run into before, and it combines a relatively modest top and bottom with a super shapely midriff revealing style - not my usual style, but I loved the curve along the rib cage and the narrow band of skin in the back. The top section has a ruffled edge and two bands holding it up, which is novel for Second Life where defying gravity is routine. I really liked how natural it felt, and how the ruffle moved as my arms did - very well rigged. The skirt is even simpler, a narrow banded waist and heavy skirts with a slight train, but again they are very well rigged and move well with animations. I particularly liked a couple of the deep ripples in the fabric, which led to an interesting hem line in pictures and offered some variety that ankle length skirts often don't. It ends up being a fun, casual, realistic style that I really liked.

There is nothing realistic about my footwear, however. De La Soul (Fantasy Faire Location here) has broken into new ground with an awesome pair of shoes, SLink compatible, which give us a chance to squish Cthulu beneath our heels - literally. I adore these shoes, form the delacate tentacles curling under the ball of the foot, to the giant nobby octopus head supporting the heel, to the tiny tentacles sliding around my toes, it is a delight from stem to stern. Charlie has also made up a bunch of add on packs of different colors which can be mixed and matched with the included HUD, allowing enormous buckets of customization to match any outfit.

A couple notes form outside the Fantasy Faire, which has not yet completely consumed my soul. My jewelry set of the multiple colors, which really added some sparkle, are from Elemental Jewelry, which also offers a wide variety of petite jewelry in her lovely, chunky style.I particularly like her style because delicate jewelry so often vanishes against the big clothes and hairstyles in Second Life, and her jewelry can stand up to the biggest look. In addition, I have amazing hair from Wasabi Pills which came from an old Arcade Event, but which might still be available at the myriad of yardsales that bloom every month, or a similar style might be found in her Main Store. I love her pull-back styles for their casual elegance, which work well with a variety of styles.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Melissa (The Arcade)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands
Nails: Bliensen + MaiTai, Pixiedust
Jewelry: Elemental, Moonglow
Dress: Luas, Cenedra (RFL Donation Item)
Shoes: De La Soul, Cthu Shues (RFL Donation Item)

Pose: Glitterati

Location: Fantasy Faire: Mourningvale Thicket
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Hoofing It

Sometimes I make a look from odds and ends, and after events close, and I really like it, and this is one of those times, so apologies for anything you can't get yet. I put on the dress from katat0nik, which came out of the last collabor88 event (we've already started the new one - nope, haven't been there, yet). It hasn't made its way to her Main Store yet, but her other collabor88 outfits have, so it's just a matter of time. This is a cute miniskirt with color matching collar and necktie, something which can be dressed up or down depending on your mood. I did both; to dress it more casually, I added this ponytail style from Wasabi Pills, a release from during the Cutie Moon Faire that's now at her Main Store. See what I said about everything being a little late? It's gorgeous, but one of the effects of all of these events is that I feel like I'm perpetually behind the eight ball. But I look so pretty when I'm scrambling to catch up! In light of the scramble, I kept my cosmetics casual - a nice eyeshadow from Mock dark enough to make my eyes stand out, and a double layer of lipstick from Blacklace in an orangey hue of my symbol of power.

I dressed this look up with said symbol of power, this awesome crown from Alchemy, one of many I got when I did my casual drive by of her Gatcha at the Secret Affair Event, which goes until the end of the month. I did one of those, "Oh, just passing by give me a rare" walks a couple of times and hit the jackpot - but you'll have to wait a little to see the fruit of that particular luck. The Iron Crown is lovely in platinum, though, and I love the jewel in it - though I have to admit, my color obsessive soul really wished the jewel was color change. I know, I know, common in a gacha, but it would have been cool. How it fit in with the bangs of my Wasabi Pills hair, though, is as accidental as it is awesome (and a big part of why I kept the hair even while I was dressing my look up), and I really love the boldness of the design. The final bit of formality for this look is these amazing shoes from Lassitude & Ennui, which I have been trying to match with a look for ages because they're simply awesome. Reminiscent of Seventeenth Century France, at least to me, they come in frosty shades and fit beautifully on a standard foot. I especially like the large buckle across the front.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Bunny Mesh
Crown: Alchemy, Iron Crown
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Mock, Less of a Blues Girl
Lipstick 1: Blacklace, Beauty Pout Gloss
Lipstick 2: Blacklace, Beauty Pout Clear
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands
Nails: A:S:S, Precious 2
Dress: katat0nik, Working Girl
Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui, Versailles

Pose: HopScotch

Location: Miskatonia
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Herr Gracken
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only