Second Style Magazine

Bump: Come join us in Nouveau today!

The content creators on Nouveau — Miriel Enfield, Jackal Ennui, Roslin Petion and CJ Carnot invite you to attend a party — partly to celebrate the opening of the sim, more importantly to celebrate Roslin and Miriel’s rezdays! (Happy rezday, you two!)

There will a treasure hunt — with clues provided by visual models sporting creations found on Nouveau. There will be freebies, giveaways and a grand prize winner will be showered with gift certificates and the esteem of her peers. The party starts at 1pm SLT, Sunday December 17th and runs through 3pm (at least!) I suspect a good many will be carrying on for a while afterwards.

Come in decadent costume, the invitation says — so dress to impress! I’ll see you there. (In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that I’m modeling a new special something for Miriel Enfield during this event which sounds extremely cool.)

Minx in Shepherd…is there any place else to shop for boots? Well, yes, there are plenty of nice shoe boutiques in SL, but it’s so very hard to remember that when you’re in Minx. Nikki Clayton does a heel like no other. This pair, which she calls Sassy by Nature, is one of my favorites ’cause they look good with jeans. Whenever I’m wearing them, I can’t quit looking at my feet.

The suede boot comes in a wide range of delicious colors and contrasting leather trims, from pink to black and everything in between. Other boot styles also available.

Minx Shoe Designs in Shepherd (5, 84, 107)

Seen in world: Yes
Review copy: No
Friends list: No

I loved this gown so much I put it into Second Style #6 — which should be coming out sometime next week (just in time for Christmas!) This isn’t the photo that’s going in the magazine — but I sure do love the way the gown looks. The gown is named “Home for the Holidays” a wonderful limited edition gown by DoC Eldritch of DE Designs.

The picture doesn’t really fully do the textures on the prim skirt justice — it doesn’t show the etched detail, the sheen of the satin and the way these flexi prims move so fluidly. Plus this is a limited edition gown — it’s only on sale until the 25th, and then it’s gone for good. I know this is probably outside of DoC Eldritch’s comfort zone — maybe that’s why these gown releases are so few and far between, but honestly when the end product is this gorgeous, why wouldn’t you keep making more? OK, save them up for a rainy day, if you must, but just keep ‘em comin’. That’s all I’m saying.

Home for the Holidays is available on DE Island. Unlike most other DE Designs clothing, it’s no transfer, so you’ll need to contact DoC to make arrangements for gift giving.

Seen in world: Yes
Review copy: Yes
Friends list: No

In this photo: skin: Chloe (special request gold makeup) by Mallory Cowen, Raspberry and Cow; hair: ETD Couture Updo (black) by Elika Tiramisu, ETD; jewelry: Diamond Buckles by RH Engle, RH Engel Designs; gown: Home for the Holidays, limited edition (butterscotch) by DoC Eldritch, DE Designs; shoes: satin ties (gold) by Fallingwater Cellardoor, Shiny Things

First, let me thank all of the awesome content creators who set out top drawer freebies for the attendees last night at iVillage Loft: TorridWear, Simone, Shai, The Random, Gurl6, Mystikal Hair Designs, Callie Cline, Ingrid Ingersoll, and Pixel Dolls (Nephi set out freebies for guys and gals. Nice!)

OK, let me start with some of the criticisms. Yes, there were a lot of attendees, including a lot of newer SL residents who were just learning about what a HUD is, and not comfortable using one to navigate around the world, or even wear it once they had it. Suggestion (hi Cider!): We should have a Girls’ Night Out bootcamp or two on the “off week” when there isn’t a tour, so that newer residents can get the hang of the platform before we whisk around the grid at breakneck speed.

Second, given the level of participation, it might make sense to run parallel tour tracks, each track with its own guide. It wouldn’t be too difficult to encourage people to “register” for a tour until it’s “full.” It might even be possible to script a little “signup” poster which gives touristas the appropriate HUD for their chosen tour, on a first come, first serve basis.

Finally, it might even be better to have multiple tour guides for each group. Having a tiny bit of experience in this regard, shepherding 20 avatars around Second Life is eerily similar to herding cats. Especially if you need to offer extra help to newcomers.

All of that being taken for granted — for this avatar driver at least, I thought the Girls’ Night Out tour was immensely entertaining and *gasp* educational.

Check out Steller Sunshine’s beanstalk in Welsh! I disabled camera controls, and flew my camera up to several hundred meters for this shot! I love how tiny our avatars look at the base of the beanstalk. Listening to Steller talk about the super early days of Linden World was fascinating. Did you know there used to be a height tax on prims? (Those of you with neighbors who’ve built 300m full bright rotating boxes are probably thinking, “Why don’t they bring that one back??”) One of the best parts about Steller’s presentation was a super cool archival photo of Philip Linden wearing a box on his avatar’s arm — this was the release day of being able to attach prims to an avatar. Steller rezzed the photo on a prim at the base of the beanstalk if you want to see it in world — otherwise I sent some pictures to Snapzilla, including the M.C. Escher-like picture of a picture. Find my iVillage photos on snapzilla by searching on the tag “ivillage” to see them.

Next was a stop at Pixel Dolls in Chartreuse. (Yeah, we really socked it to those older sims last night! But neither of them crashed, much to Nephilaine’s amazement.) Readers probably already know that Nephi has been designing fashions in Second Life for a long time. Almost 3 years now, which as Ingrid Ingersoll pointed out is like 100 years in Second Life time. (I must say that Nephi looks wonderfully spry for her age — I kid! I kid! <3) This was the most interesting part of the tour for me because Nephi typically doesn't engage in interviews terribly often and she's so busy that pinning her down can sometimes be a challenge! I will admit that I sort of hogged the questioning, but hopefully the questions were interesting enough. One question which seriously piqued my brain was what sort of fashions Nephilaine would pursue if she was completely able to do so without any market influences. The answer surprised me. She said she'd like to make complete avatar kits -- shapes, skins, clothing, prim attachments, and animations. After the tour group had moved back to the loft, I had the chance to ask some follow up questions such as, "How much do you think such a thing would cost?" Nephilaine estimated it'd probably cost about L$50,000, which seems to make it a remote possibility at best.

Finally, but certainly not least, we were all back at the loft to hear a kick ass show by Cylindrian Rutabaga. She played a set featuring tunes by female singer/songwriters, some on her guitar and some on her keyboard. And for a song or two, an avatar named Pe Yue, shaped as a giant cockroach, sat right next to Cylindrian on her keyboard stool. It was a totally classic only-in-SL moment.

It was a lot of fun — although as with most things there’s things to consider for improvement next time too! I think the next event will be on December 28th, so I hope you can make it to that one. For my part, I’m expecting more goodies from a different set of content creators will be available!

And if you were wondering if Arianna Huffington showed? Well, I wasn’t physically watching her drive her avatar, but I do have two photos of an avatar that looks uncannily like Ms. Huffington, the first name of Arianna, wearing Allegro by Blaze on my hard drive. (I didn’t use them because they’re not especially good pictures, tho.) If you want to see them, email or IM me.

Here’s what Cider Starbrook wrote on the official GNO blog.

Sometimes, with all the modern fashion items available, we tend to forget how elegant fashion was before the computer era. When not everyone had telephone and operators had to connect you to the person you wanted to talk to. When television was a novelty and the entire neigbourhood would gather at the house of that lucky family that had one. Some time ago, on one of the cable channels, I saw one of the old, innocent but still very funny “I Love Lucy” episodes with the unforgettable Lucille Ball that aired for the first time in the early 50′s. I love the elegant outfits of that time, the slink feminine look of the late 40′s and the elegant “new look” of the 50′s that was made famous by Christian Dior. In a quiet sim I’ve found a small shop, where some of these fine nostalgic pieces of clothing are on sale, and I would love to share theat with you.

The first outfit is a 40′s day suit. But it looks a lot like something Lucille Ball used to wear in the series. I have it in grey, but it’s available in a selection of beautifully tempered colours. Fabrics were scarse througout WWII and stayed that for some time after the war, so clothes had to be durable. Hence maybe the loose collar and cuffs. It is easier to change some worn off white popeline details than the entire outfit. Clothing was on ration back then during the war. In the US it started with 66 coupons a year, but by the end of the war that dropped to 36! Only by the early 50′s al rations were cancelled. This outfit is a bit of a build, but when you have it on and adjusted to the shape of your avie it looks just fine. I like the vintage look and feel of the entire suit especially when worn with the appropriate stockings and slingback shoes. Now At Bettie’s there are also matching hairstyles available as well as a fine collection of matching shoes, underwear and stocking, but since I have more than enough hair right now, I just decided to wear my own (Calla, Orange Blosoms).

The other one is more playful. It’s a 50′s suit (Tweed ‘n satin in pink). Society had definately changed by then and people were more optimistic about their future. The bright pink tweed is a feel good fabric and the satin details are way too luxurious for a suit from the 40′s. Jacqueline Boehm , the designer of these clothes states in her profile: I love the glamor of  the Golden Age of Hollywood, the dapper suit of the men in mafia and the crisp, simplicity of uniforms during WWII”. Well, this is a suit for a walk in the park on Sunday and having tea at the pavilion or for going to the races with your beau.  Amethyst earrings are included in two sizes.The cuffs and belt are either in the tweed fabric or, as I chose in satin. With the suit there come two hats as well, a tweed and a satin one. But I look awful with a hat and I’m vain… so I’lleave the discovery of the hats up to you.

1-800 BETTIE’S 1930′s – 1950′s is located in Kyung (25, 140, 68)

Seen in world: yes

Review copies: no

Friends list: no

Update: Girls’ Night Out is tonight, starting at 6pm. Please plan to come by — the first tour’s stops have been posted at the GNO blog. In addition, there are some really beautiful freebie items available at iVillage Loft right under the Christmas tree! Fashionable freebies, lots of fun new people to meet, including the incredibly perky Cory Edo. SLURL: Sheep Island See you there!

As noted over at Cory Edo’s ESC Blog and Walker Spaight’s 3pointD blog, Electric Sheep in partnership with Electric Artists are sponsoring an iVillage branded Girls’ Night Out in Second Life. The concept is a guided tour starting December 14th and running every two weeks. The guide around SL will be provided by a HUD (presumably this one) and some in world assistance by an avatar leader. Cory Edo’s on the hook to provide the first couple tours, but after that the tours are open for others to lead.

Talking with Cory last night a bit about the project I was surprised to learn that iVillage (and various other corporate masters) were willing to even consider “edgier, sexier” topics. Teledildonics, even? Perhaps! But I think they will probably kick off the event with topics/tours are entertaining, if a little more conventional.

Although the project officially starts on Monday, I stopped by the iVillage loft on Sheep Island last night to have a look around and took a few pictures. If you want to vicariously participate in GNO, iVillage set up a blog to follow the developments.

If you’re interested in guiding a tour around SL, contact Cory Edo or Forseti Svarog (for now — there may be other in world liasons in the future.) As Cory points out in her blog post:

Ivillage foots the bill for the things you’d normally need to invest in to organize a great discussion/tour group. They take care of the land, the loft, the tour HUD, and the promotion – you just come up with some great ideas and organize a tour. You’re free to concentrate on the stuff that really matters – the tour you organize, and being host to a wide variety of people from across the globe.

She says guys are invited too, if they want to participate. I hope to attend and I hope many others can be there as well!

I got the chance to spend several hours in conversation with the delightful Etain Peregrine of Dark Eden. Etain’s been in Second Life for over 3 years (Etain is her 2nd account; her first account had a beautiful long, but virtually untypable name.) We chatted about the changes in Second Life between then and now, the crazy heights of the top 20 classified ad prices, and the general zeitgeist of fetish boots. It’s this last topic which drew me over to her store in Magenta (178, 84).

Over the past 10 days, Etain has been creating a huge library of interchangable fetish boot pieces. It all started with the revision of her Phobos boot design — she swapped the textures and split the original into more discrete ala carte packages. (Note to Etain: I’m glad I’m not the only one who ever played Infocom games.) Then, came her buckle-icious Lilith boot designs in crimson, white and black (or mother, maiden, and crone as she puts it.) And finally, the boot no true fetish diva should leave out of her virtual closet: the ballet stilleto. And yes, all of these pieces can work together.

On the left, I’m wearing the Lilith boots (along with a slick sexy latex dress by Sweet Dreams), but on the right I’ve mixed together the thigh top pieces from Phobos with the lower pieces from Lilith. They’re connected together by a free set of “boot extenders.” But there’s even more potential for mix-n-match. You can take the tops from the ballet boots and pair them with just the shoe shape of the Lilith boots for a really cool looking hard core ankle boot. One other nice feature about this troika of boot designs is that they all have compatible system shoe components, so you can wear the ballet boots with the Lilith tops or the Phobos tops. Dancing in thigh high ballet boots? All I can say is that I’m glad my avatar’s poor feet (and calves) are just pixels!

Not only are these boots some of the best looking boots I’ve worn in Second Life — they’re also inexpensive! You can buy one color for just L$200, or all three colors for L$400. The Phobos boots are currently available in black and red. (White is forthcoming!) L$175 for one color, L$350 for the set. And the ballet boots are also available in black, red and white. L$150 for one color, L$300 for the entire collection.

Seen in world: Yes
Review copies: No
Friends list: Yes

In the left photo: skin: Paris light athletic (red/dark shadow) by Ambyance2 Anubis, Naughty Designs; hair: Peppy in blonde-red by Elika Tiramisu, ETD; eyes: Midnight Sun by Miriel Enfield; lashes: Hollywood long by Lynnix Muse; dress: Caberet (black) by Vanity Glitter, Sweet Dreams; stockings: Sweetheart latex (red/black) by Vanity Glitter, Sweet Dreams; boots: Lilith (black) by Etain Peregrine, Dark Eden

In the right photo: skin: Paris light athletic (red/dark shadow) by Ambyance2 Anubis, Naughty Designs; hair: Shagness II in blonde-red by Elika Tiramisu, ETD; eyes: Midnight Sun by Miriel Enfield; catsuit: Burning Bush (black/red) by Vanity Glitter, Sweet Dreams; gauntlets: Phobos (red) by Etain Peregrine, Dark Eden; boots: Lilith (red) + Phobos (red) by Etain Peregrine, Dark Eden; on location: Dark Eden

There I was, sipping my morning coffee scrolling through the new products feed at SLB on my RSS aggregator when I came across this! And Celebrity said, “Ooooh. Gorgeous!” But not aloud. Because talking aloud to oneself is a sign of impending mental collapse. Where was I? Oh yes, Pixel Mode.

There’s nothing quite like sequins against black to make a dramatic fashion statement. If you’re off to a gala, the Midnight Ice gown is sure to make to an unforgettable impression. When I stopped by Pixel Mode to go buy the black gown this other gown — done in four lush jewel tones, ruby, sapphire, emerald and amethyst caught my eye as well. I had to show them both in one of the most beautiful builds in Second Life, Opera Populaire. Opera Populaire is inspired by the exquisite Opera Garnier in Paris — the grand staircase in the SL version looks eerily familiar to anyone who’s haunted the halls of that famed venue in France. Midnight Ice comes with the sequin bodice, satin skirting with sequin hem, satin gloves and a flexiprim satin scarf. I think it’s a real bargain at L$300 too. It certainly looks twice or three times as expensive. Find Pixel Mode in Missuake. The holiday gowns are in the entry hall, just past the door which leads to the main Pixel Mode showroom.

Seen in world: Yes
Review copies: No
Friends list: No

In the left photo: skin: Blizzard (Tone 30) by Starley Thereian, Celestial Studios; hair: Dutchess Too (light blonde) by Six Kennedy, Gurl6; gown: Midnight Ice by Tya Fallingbridge, Pixel Mode; on location: Opera Populaire on Intempetua Nox

In the right photo: skin: Paris (blue shadow) by Ambyance2 Anubis, Naughty Designs; hair: Glamour (light blonde) by Six Kennedy, Gurl6; gown: Sapphire Ice by Tya Fallingbridge, Pixel Mode; jewelry: Tiffany black pearl/sapphire by Elexor Matador; on location: Opera Populaire on Intempetua Nox

I first met Neferia Abel when I talked to her after her fashion show at Expressions Cafe a few days ago. She told me then that she loves finding old treasures and often gets her design ideas from them. The inspiration for many of the dresses she has designed recently comes from dresses her mother got in Singapore 50 years ago.

Her clothes do indeed have an old world touch to them. Yet they are decidedly modern. When I saw the gowns displayed at her show, I oohed and aahed like the other participants and I was tempted to write about them here. But Grazia had beat me to the punch, having recently written about Neferia and I hesitated. She has several small shops in Bryggen, with so many lovely gowns and dresses, but we had recently written about that.

Then Neferia dropped this deep red pantsuit on me. Ouch! I thought–hot, hot hot! For the first time since starting to write for Fashionista not long ago, I decided to review something offered to me. The reason for that is simple. This is the kind of outfit we need to see more of here in SL. It’s an everyday outfit that looks unique because it’s a blend of contrasts that come together as one. Simple, yet bold. Old but new. Sleek and strong.

Neferia describes it as a kind of romantic, goth-lolita style, feminine, yet rough. I love how the bold antique buttons contrast with the soft, plush fabric. The back detail is so superb that I trimmed my beautiful locks just to show it off to you! (Although thanks to SL, they will be back in all their nappy glory tomorrow.) I like to add a belt (from DellyBeams) when I wear it, because I like pairing clothing that has simple lines with a touch of something unexpected, but the suit works well without it.

Invalde, Anma (8, 137, 64)

Seen in world: Yes
Review copy: Yes
Friends list: Yes

I love that Second Life gives both residents and consumers so much freedom to explore and express themselves. In my earlier sale round up, I noted that Portia Sin of Sin Skins was having a half-off sale every skin in her store, including holiday and “specialty” skins. It doesn’t get too much more speciality than a drow skin. And Portia has not only made one skin — she made three different Drow skin tones too! And as if that wasn’t enough niche, she even made cleavage boosters for all three skin tones.

Well, being the curiousity-cat-killer type, I put on some of the drow demos. And then, just for fun, I put on the fantastic new Liselle limited edition by The New Zero in frost, and the new Amethyst eyes by Miriel and Spank Too hair in Snow White by Six Kennedy and the absolute coup finishing touch these awesome Dolfie boots by Santana Lumiere (That’s the “Sadist” boot design in the photo far left.) So, yeah, I’m all set now in my so-called Drow life; I ended up buying the drow skin — and the cleavage booster. (Who knew Drow needed boob jobs?) All joking aside, it does make a dramatic difference in the way the skin looks, especially under a corset top like the one I’m wearing in the photo.

But there was still one missing piece: a little “Attitude.” Most of my pose sets are sort of girlie girl with bended arm, dangling leg, coquettish half step back affairs. This new pose set from Torrid Midnight adds a lot of ‘tude to your avatar’s idle time. Five new poses — full on, ready for action, get outta my grill bitch — type stands, plus the hand-on-hip walk as an added bonus. You can buy these poses pre-loaded in an AO or you can buy just the animations and add them to your own AO.

That’s today’s Drow fashion mash-up. You just have to love Second Life sometimes; it’s too surreal.

In this photo: skin: Drow (dark, makeup 4, corset cleavage boost) by Portia Sin, Sin Skins (no review copy); hair: Spank Too (snow white) by Six Kennedy, Gurl 6 (review copy); eyes: Amethyst by Miriel Enfield, Miriel (review copy); outfit: Liselle by Nephi Protagonist and Torrid Midnight, The New Zero (review copy); jewelry: Croix by Astry Mirabeau, Digital Adornments (no review copy); boots: Dolfie (Sadist) by Santana Lumiere, Nevermore (no review copy); pose set: Attitude by Torrid Midnight, TorridWear (review copy)

You will certainly look divine in any of these angel costumes, but whether you’re naughty or nice — well, I think Santa will probably have check his list more than twice for some of you!

This is Ginny Talamasca’s “Miracle” release. Part of a festive triptych, Miracle comes complete with ribbons, gorgeous wings and a full bright halo. Set your viewer to midnight and enjoy the luminous glow. (In Second Life, no one will know if you deserve a bright halo or not!) Take the wings and halo off and you’d have a lovely ivory hued winter gown with an empire waisted skirt. You can find it at Dazzle. (S: Yes, R: Yes, F: Yes)

Next is one of the very first holiday themed releases — this one is Angelique by Rebel Hope. Angelique features a gorgeous set of fairy-style wings, a halo (of course!) and some really fun poofy fur accent pieces at the wrist cuffs and bodice neckline. Angelique also comes with a star scepter and a harp to really get yourself in the mood for spreading peace and goodwill! This isn’t intended as a criticism, but this set looks and feels a little more “costumey” than the others, so I think it’d be an especially good choice if you were attending a holiday time costume gala. Find Angelique at Rebel Hope Designs on Isla del Amor. (S: No, R: No, F: No)

This is Angel by sachi Vixen — released in a bunch of colors and configurations. If you’re feeling good — go for gold, but if you’re feeling a little tarnished, try on the red or black versions. The full costume version comes with wings and a halo, naturally! But also eyes, and a skin too with custom makeup. If you just want the pretty lace dress — no wings, please; we’re British — then go with the gown version which comes in even more colors choices than the full Angel kit. I thought the gold lace looked especially beautiful against darker skin tones, but the included skin is also quite lovely. I told sachi the full outfit, skin, wings, eyes and all — reminded me of a RL Christmas ornament. Find Adam-n-Eve on Genesis sim.(S: Yes, R: Yes, F: Yes)

A few days ago, starting jewel designer Lucas Lameth invited me to his shop to see what he has been up to. He has build up a small but well done collection of non bling jewelry and working like crazy to get more ready. He works with silver and gold combined with beautifully textured beads and gems.

When I went there for the first time I was struck with the high details in his work. His Chelsea Pink! Collection (not just in pink, but also in a lovely jade colour and the red that I’m wearing in this picture) is witty and playful with different shades of the theme colour and a lovely ribbon that closes the necklace in your neck. The matching earrings are outspoken and quite big which makes this set good for wearing with a neutral outfit and let the jewelry do its enhancing work.

Later that night Lucas sent me an IM asking for my opinion on a piece he was working on. Opinionated as I am, I headed over to his shop again and we sat together for some time discussing the details on his new work. The set is ready now and out on display in his shop. It is available both in silver and in gold with eight different colours of gem beads. He has called it Grazia, since he felt I inspired him to make it the way it looks today. What can I say… I’m honoured Luc. Thanks.

Lucas Lameth’s Earthtones is located in Tersa (177, 104, 396).

Seen in world: yes

Review copy: no

Friends list: yes