Second Style Magazine

Okay, I’m going to shamely say that this is my FIRST flexi prim item I have. How pathetic am I? What makes me even more pathetic is that fact that I can’t stop watching myself twill and whrill around in this gorgeous dress. Blaze did a beautiful job texturing the prim skirt. That with the perfectly cut and placed prims makes for a masterpiece of pleated poofyness. Pick up ‘ELEGANCE’, offered in 18 colors here. It’s a great package, it also comes with a matching vest/tie layer for a tuxedo which can be given to a partner and worn under their tux jacket for an instant match.

Oh, and HI out there. I’m back for a little while

 

I’m going on vacation for the next 10 days — I will be roaming the beautiful color palette of New Mexico from lush mountain pine forest to high desert mesa. The trip starts in the Southern Rockies and ends in Santa Fe for the opening night performance of Carmen at the Sante Fe Opera.

While I’m gone, my lovely and talented Second Style co-conspirator HeatherDawn Cohen will be filling in. And I’ve also invited the whip-smart, keenly observant Iris Ophelia to make some posts as well. I know they will keep you informed and entertained.

For my part, I’ll try to post a few pictures during the trip. I love sharing those fabulous New Mexican sunsets — the majestic purple and orange blaze, with the vermillion pinks and lush deep blue of the oncoming night. Mmm. I can’t wait!

Have a great time in your Second Life while I’m away!

My former SL neighbor and fellow fashionista Travis Kaiser sent me word about a fashion show he’s been organizing. Make time this weekend to see the Visage Fashion Show (part of the SL 3rd Birthday Bash) tomorrow (Saturday, June 24) at 6pm SLT. Featured designers include: Daphne Molinari, Alaska Metropolitan, Rebel Hope, Tya Fallingbridge, Missbehavin Neva, DoC Eldritch (woo DoC in a show!), and Ginny Talamasca. I know the models will be sharp, the clothes will be smokin’ hot and there will be a lot of “ooohs.” Wish I could make it! Full event details here.

Who is Clara Bow?

Bow was widely recognized as an archetypal flapper and the original “It girl”.

Thanks Wikipedia! Seriously, though, what an incredibly cool period re-creation and quite an homage to America’s original sex symbol.

So much great detail in this design. The sheen and shine of the fabric make it come to sparkling life, and I love the boa and feather headband — so perfect for this style. It’s available in a rainbow of color, but this gold was by far my favorite. I couldn’t show this dress off without mentioning the incredibly cool period matching jewelry by RH Engel. He’s made a long dangling strand of pearls, an art deco bracelet and matching earrings, also named Clara Bow. Shop for them at Rebel Hope Designs on Isla Del Amor.

When was I out and about on the grid Wednesday night, I wore a few different different outfits. The two most “Where did you get that?” (WDYGT – pronounced “widget”) were Sobriety by WRONG, and Ginny Talamasca’s Serendipity.

Sobriety came from Kaysha Sion, and what an incredibly versatile set of casuals. First up is a set of semi-sheer polo cut tops. It looks fantastic with or without the included bra, but obviously one is a wee bit racier than the other! The matching bottoms that go with this set are awesome too. The capri pants come with prim cuffs which really makes them “stand out” in that excellent 3D way. There’s also a full length pair of slacks and a really cute short micro mini. Another little finishing touch I really really liked was a set of fun, funky prim buttons which are set for three attach points. Visit WRONG in Sanddalgi.

I had a really interesting chat with Kala Bijoux and Tuli Asturias last night about their new RFL outfit. (I found out — surprise! — that Tuli had completely remodeled her main store. Very nice! I really need to get out on the grid more… Hehe.) Here is a beautifully executed collaboration between Material Squrriel and Lollypop. Tuli’s incredible lace panelling work is paired up with a set of fun flexi wings in pink or grey (you get both colors) for a charity outfit they’ve named Angel. The outfit costs L$450, and 100% of the proceeds goes to for the RFL. For an additional L$200, you can upgrade the included angel wings to use a HUD controller which does things like adjust the flexi-ness of the wings, the flapping speed, auto open/close and a bunch of other stuff. (IM Kala for details about that.) The outfit can be found at Lollypop in Yelas (newly remodeled!) and Material Squirrel Wings in Eunpyung.

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Torrid Midnight released this fantastic new special edition Corset Dress by The New Zero — a collaboration between Torrid and Nephiliane Protagonist. In keeping with the Pixels in Pink theme, this beautifully detailed corset and skirt are pink, and the set comes with a lot of clothing pieces: fishnets (notice there’s almost no pattern warping! Wow!), a sheer shirt, and the jacket piece. I am in love with the the lace up back, the drop shadows on the laces, and the piping detail on the boning of the corset bodice itself. Amazing. The outfit is L$400 and again all proceeds benefit the RFL. You can find this delicious pink confection at Torridwear on Chartreuse.

Sunshine Design’s Adriana Christensen has released a brand new design named “Nina” in three stone colors: blue, red (shown), and turquoise. This is a really lovely, thin and elegant looking set featuring long thin teardrop style color splashes and some very delicate, very fine prim work. Each set includes the necklace and a pair of matching earrings. I hope (and suggested in IMs) that Adriana also releases this set in a white/ivory and/or black stone edition too — those two colors would suit more of my own wardrobe colors. Sunshine Designs can be found on Couture Isle in the Salon section of the build. (That’s by the hair.)

Thanks for the correction, Elika.

Torley Linden was kind enough to leave a comment that Second Style magazine and this blog (and Linden Lifestyles and PXP) are linked on a special Second Life landing page surrounding the virtual fashion industry.

There’s a really cool super high resolution PDF file by Ginny Talamasca that talks about why she finds value in creating fashion within Second Life and a (very) quick overview of her process from paper sketch to finished product.

Update: Hmmm. Willow says PXP isn’t there. It shooould be!

This is a “Why didn’t I think of that?” moment! Myst Panther has set up a really great consumer protection blog named Caveat Emptor which aims to document scams and scammers who operate in Second Life.

I like it so much I’ve put a permalink to its RSS feed on my sidebar. There’s also an in-world group too, named “Caveat Emptor Association” (Click here for more information) which is free to join. (Look it up in Find->Groups or IM Myst Panther for an invite.)

(Note and link found at Iris Ophelia’s blog. Thanks Iris!)

Bump: There will be an in-world roundtable with the author of the original Harvard Business Review article, Paul Hemp, as well as the web presence director for American Apparel and several other notable SL residents this Friday, June 23 at 12 noon SLT. Details here on New World Notes.

Forgive me for another business focused post this morning — Mark Wallace (also known as Walker Spaight in his Second Life) posted a short note about an article at the Harvard Business Review by Paul Hemp concerning marketing real world items to avatars in virtual worlds.

Although Second Life culturally retains some of its opposition to the encroachment of “real life” brands in the virtual world, I think the vast majority of residents would be willing to consider shopping at, say, a virtual incarnation of GAP — or let’s get realistic — Frederick’s of Hollywood (heh) as long as the quality of goods available at this “real world branded store” matched what was already available in the marketplace for such things. (Myself, I’d stack the lingerie from LapGirl up against Frederick’s any day of the week!)

And I totally disagree with the premise that the cost to a real world company to enter Second Life (in apparel) at least is going to be minimal. Because the quality of goods on offer is the single most essential attribute for establishing the word of mouth marketing that’s crucial for an item to sweep the grid. With respect to apparel, there’s a huge learning curve for every different virtual world platform — how to make clothes look right on an avatar template itself can take someone a while to figure out. That’s going to cost something — and maybe in comparision to the sea of cash a company might spend on promotions it is “nothing” but from a different point of view — especially residents who make their primary income in world — “nothing” can seem like an awful lot of something.

Although the first couple of real world companies would get the publicity of being “first movers” to splash into the Second Life swimming pool from in world and out world media, once the water’s warm no one in world or out world cares any more. It’s the “been there, done that” syndrome.

A real world brand alone isn’t going to be sufficient to pull Lindens out of my virtual purse — even if it’s a brand I might enjoy in my first life. And I think there’s a sort of irony that the best way to market something in Second Life is (currently) external to the world itself, either on forum posts, or virtual fashion magazines, or blogs. In world, the best form of marketing remains the oldest form: word of mouth from your friends. And that isn’t going to change even if Old GapNavy and Fitch sets up shop in world tomorrow.

Antie Marat has a couple of tasty new releases today. First, Basement Jeans, and next, a set of cool tats, which may or may not be inspired by Antie’s basement.

The jeans are super weathered and have lots of character — patches, color washes, and little rips there and here and a painted on thin belt with lots of grommets. Her tattoo set doesn’t include the bikini, she noted in her forum post. (Yes, Antonia is just shy about showing off her boobies in the PG rated forums. ) Shop artilleri in Gama and see for yourself how shy Antie really is!

Ginny writes:

[I] put a lot of time and thought into the detail-work on this one. a wonderful friend told me that my designs are simple but it’s the textures that make them so special.

Yes!

Etincelle took my breath away when I saw it in my inbox this morning. It comes in six colors, but this gold metallic Ginny uses has held a special place in my heart since Celebrity. (OK, I’m biased about that design, but it’s still an amazing fabric texture!) This fabric is a bit more “antiqued” than the shiny metallics she used on Celebrity, but I still love it. The texture work is phenomenal — I could spend an hour just looking at the way she’s added sequins, sparkle and sheen to the skirt prims. It’s the perfect compliment to her bodice design with its generous scoop neckline and the same shiny sparks of light glinting all over with every step. This dress sings; it’s Renée Fleming as Turandot: the most beautiful princess in the world! It’s at Dazzle in Innamoramento.