Second Style Magazine

I love leather in real life but it’s rare that I see leather in SL that looks good to me. That’s why when I saw this lovely leather outfit from Stellar Designs I snapped it up pronto. The texture looks so rich and creamy, just the way leather should. The highlighting is a bit extreme in places, but for some reason it just works here and doesn’t look at all tacky. In fact, it looks very high-end. I can practically feel the softness, and the cut is sleek and sassy. I also love the belt, which sits perfectly on my hips. The whole outfit makes me wanna reach out and hug myself!

This leather lusciousness comes in seven colors–including green, yellow, and blue–and black. The color I’m wearing is called “pink” but looks more purple to me, then there is one called “purple” that’s just a little darker than what you see here. You have to buy the top and slacks separately, but it’s worth it, as leather goes well with other fabrics and you can easily mix and match each piece with other things in your wardrobe.

Available on the upper level at Stellar Designs, 191, 24, 27.

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It’s painful for a fashionista to admit when she’s missed out on something worthy. I’ve missed a few worthy things in my day — hair by Toast Bard, to give one painful example. And there are some enduring SL fashion styles that I just can’t wrap my head around — neko being a prime example.

But I really missed out by not tracking the work of Indyra Seigo sooner. I even wrote about her Aspire produced fashion show back at the end of October, noting that the designs I saw looked pretty terrific. Well, it’s what? — three months later, and Indyra’s talents as a designer — especially of high end garments has grown. I had the chance to circle back to Indyra Originals when I was looking for lingerie to include in Second Style #7 — and Indyra’s contribution to that photo layout is no less impressive than this gown.

I’m wearing Indyra’s “Wow” gown, Madame Dumont in rose — and it’s quite a gorgeous creation. I wanted to make sure that you could see the work that she’s put into the bodice textures especially, because I think the beading along on the bodice is tremendously well done, and I love the highlighting and shading on the wide satin ribbons that cover the ivory lace panels on the front. But one of the best features of this gown is the prim work which has several beautiful budding roses that just pop right out — set at the arm cuffs, top hat, satin ribbon choker, and at the waist — front and back. Another really appealing area of high detail work is the beautiful way that Indyra’s layered an applique of antique style lace on the skirt hem.

I’m wearing Six Kennedy’s Speak II hair in these photos — and I really appreciate the attention on positioning and texturing that Six has lavished on the bangs. Her goal was to keep the bangs from being “too alpha” and thus allowing prim lashes to bleed through the alpha work — when that happens it seems like the prim lash is actually outside of the bangs and it looks awfully strange. Speak II is an updo in the style of a low-set bun chignon and has what Six calls a “gentle flex” — a few wispy strands of hair that hang just from the temple which sway as you walk. As far as I’m concerned, the ETD Couture Collection Updo is still the Queen Champion of Fancy Hair in Second Life, but I think Speak II is a worthy rival to that crown.

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In these photos: skin: Vogue (pink smokey Cashmere) by Starley Thereian, Celestial Studios; prim nails: French manicure (pink) by CJ Carnot and Roslin Petion, Tete a Pied; hair: Speak II (light blond) by Six Kennedy, Gurl6; prim lashes: Vogue size 2 by Starley Thereian, Celestial Studios; eyes: Duotone (pre-dawn) by Miriel Enfield, Miriel; earrings: Journey circle by Lucas Lameth, Earthbound; gown, hat, choker: Madame Dumont (rose) by Indyra Seigo, Indyra Originals

When I saw the ads for Faerydae a week ago, I knew I’d enjoy putting it on my avatar, but what I didn’t realize was quite how beautiful this gown looks. Usually when you compare an ad texture to actual garment in world on your own avatar there are differences — maybe in the way the image has been processed out of Second Life, or the lighting used in shooting the ad picture in Second Life or some other factor, but when I saw the way that this gown (and this color in particular, peach) had finally rezzed in world I let out a quiet “Wow!”

Since I put this gown on in front of Six Kennedy (she was showing me her new slutty black boots ) she said something so incredibly apt that I wanted to steal it and write it here. She said, “That gown is like what Fallingwater would be if she was a dress — soft, delicate, so pretty.” It struck me as so apt because Fallingwater Cellardoor makes fabulous shoes and jewelry — everyone who reads probably already knows that, but did you also know she also has a thriving business creating strange and magnificent virtual flowers — both as adornments for your hair, hands (as in a bouquet), or your parcel.

There were only two complaints I had with this outfit — and neither of them is terribly serious. The first complaint was that Nicky’s hair adornments (both the ringlet and the triplet of flowers) uses the nose attachment point. Virtually every fashionista I know reserves her nose attach point for prim lashes only (or maybe designer sunglasses!). This isn’t a big deal — one can simply attach the hair flowers at the chin and position them correctly. Once the attachment comes off, the previous position and attachment point are stored with the object so the next time I use it my prim lashes won’t disappear.

The second minor complaint I had was that some of the skirt prims had a minor wobble or flicker even if my avatar was at rest. SL has been having some issues (to say the least!) lately, so perhaps it’s a hiccup from the First Look viewer I’ve been using or just how cranky SL has been behaving lately, but it was a little bit odd to see this wonderfully sheer shimmery peach/green tinged prim piece whimper and gambol as if it were a droplet of water on a hot griddle.

Otherwise, this was certainly a “Wow!” moment sort of gown to show off. I was also extremely happy with how perfectly Starley Thereian’s “peach” Vogue makeup meshed with this gown’s color. I put on the shimmer peach makeup and just thought it looked dead on perfect.

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In this photo: skin: Vogue (peach/glitter, Cashmere) by Starley Thereian, Celestial Studios; hair: Speak II (light blond) by Six Kennedy, Gurl6; jewelry: Journey rounds by Lucas Lameth, Earthbound; gown, wand, hair flowers: Faerydae (peach) by Nicky Ree, Nicky Ree Designs; shoes: Lola (black) by Fallingwater Cellardoor

Talyn Barrett of Analise Fashions has been super productive over the past several weeks. She was kind enough to send me a package of some of her most recent creations — including three of my favorites: the delightfully gothic Belladonna wedding gown (in black and red, shown far left), the tempting bellydance inspired Meela (on the right), and the ultra-revealing Captivating silk (in the middle).

I was really blown away by the attention to detail on the prim pieces — which since a silk is a little more than two sheer swatches of fabric — the little details make or break most of them. Both Meela and Captivating were visually striking, but completely different styles of silks. It’s nice to see the variety. Meela in particular I found especially fun to wear because unlike most silks, this design covers substantially more than most. I don’t know if it’s what I would term “demure” but it’s traveling down that path aways further than most silk designs.

I had a ton of fun posing in the Belladonna goth wedding gown with my good friend and neighbor Pushbutton Skolnick. She has this tuxedo, and the wee lil’ top hat — I thought it would be fun to take some fake wedding pictures, so there’s one of us standing on a landing on the Great Wall of China. We have a photo in Times Square, one in front of the Hollywood sign and a few in front of more conventional painted backgrounds. The gown that I’m wearing also comes in much more traditional colors, including a really dandy light blue gown with ivory accents, as seen here.

There’s been even more new releases since I took these photos over the weekend. You can keep up with what’s new at Analise by visiting the Analise blog.

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In the Belladonna photo (left): skin: Gothique (bloody) by CJ Carnot and Roslin Petion, Tete a Pied; hair: Catherine (midnight) by Calico Ingmann, Calico Creations; gown: Fairytale Belladonna Wedding gown by Talyn Barrett, Analise Fashions.

In the Meela photo (right): skin: Paris athletic light (red / dark shadow) by Ambyance2 Anubis, Naughty; hair: Ember III (dirty blonde) by Calico Ingmann, Calico Creations; silk: Meela (red/gold) by Talyn Barrett, Analise Fashions

Elika Tiramisu sent out a group notice last night that she was holding a Valentine’s Day themed scavenger hunt on ETD Isle, and just a few minutes ago, the hunt has expanded across the four sims of Dazzle, Canimal, Celestial City, and ETD Isle. Your object: find the heart shaped boxes shown right in order. There are some additional rules and conditions — all of which are clearly detailed here in this post on Elika’s blog. There are some really amazing prizes up for grabs, including big cash prizes, but each heart shaped box will have a little gift inside of it — your prize for looking for love!

The fun starts tomorrow on ETD Isle at 10am, with two more events occurring throughout the day.

A couple days ago I wrote about the Caledon fashion design contest. One of the sponsors of the contest is Shenlei Flasheart of Prim and Proper. In real-life, Shenlei is a designer of fashion accessories — she has a degree in millinery design which a) impressed the heck out of me and b) made me a little envious of her day job! As one might expect, Shenlei has created more amazing period hats than I’ve ever seen. She must have pretty close to 30 or 40 different hat designs from a time period ranging from Regency through Edwardian times. Due to her day job and her own interest, Shenlei tries to focus on historical accuracy when she’s creating fashions in Second Life.

Recently, though she’s been constructing a set of limited edition turn-of-the-twentieth-century evening gowns in various colors. The gown I’m wearing in the photos to the left above are in a dark fuschia color, but every color I’ve seen looks incredibly fetching. The beading on the bodice of this dress is really unreal — so ornate and elaborate it must be seen — a complete feast for your eyes. I also really enjoyed the highlighting on the satin textures that were used to construct the flared skirt. And of course, the gown flows and moves so wonderfully — something that I had ample opportunity to witness when I was able to attend the end of a Valentine’s Day gala dance set in Prim and Proper’s gorgeously a-bloom cherry orchard. (Search “orchard” to find a teleport if you’d like to visit it for yourself.)

For a lover of Jane Austen (or perhaps in my case, Vanity Fair novels, Caledon will be a perfect place for you to spend some of your time in Second Life. I had such a wonderful time meeting the other residents there — all of whom were scrupulously dressed in period clothing and willing to roleplay their speech with each other. (If you value manners and politeness, you really must make plans to attend a Caledon soiree.) Even the men have delightfully charming hand kiss animations, for when a couple has finished a waltz.

Aside from the period splendor of Prim and Proper, Shenlei sometimes like to have a little fashion fancy — and that’s where the dress to the right comes into play. The shape of the dress is taken from an 1850s vintage evening gown design, but as you can see, it’s been turned right side down with the addition of loads of black lace and skelleys festooned over the garment. So whether you want to find your own Mister Darcy or you just want to add something beyond the usual gothic uniform to your clothing inventory, Prim and Proper is a fun place to shop.

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In the photos to the left: skin: Au Naturelle (minimal) by CJ Carnot and Roslin Petion, Tete a Pied; hair: Catherine (midnight) by Calico Ingmann, Calico Creations; hair rose: Dark Pink by Fiachra Lach, Essentia; jewelry: Moonstone set by Shenlei Flasheart, Prim and Proper; gown: 1900 vintage evening gown, limited edition, fuschia by Shenlei Flasheart; on location: Prim and Proper Orchard; pose by Torrid Midnight

In the photo to the right: skin: Gothique (ennui) by CJ Carnot and Roslin Petion, Tete a Pied; hair: Stacey (red/black) by Six Kennedy, Gurl6; necklace: pale ruby set by Shenlei Flasheart, Prim and Proper; gown: 1850s gothic by Shenlei Flasheart, Prim and Proper; pose by Luth Brodie

Last lørdag (whenever that was!), Antonia Marat released her Johnny shirts — inspired by a Johnny Cash music video. Mmm. The Man in Black (r.i.p.) which I decided to pair up with Nephilaine Protagonist’s Sleek pants in Silver. As usual Six Kennedy has been really running through a ton of new prim hair releases, but like my parcel mate moo Money, I was really taken with the funky punk Fierce hair — as she writes, “It’s about as girly as you can get with a hardcore mohawk style.” Truth! Finally, I needed some shoes to perfect this mash up. The Lola shoes by Fallingwater Cellardoor, as written up here on Appearance Mode by uber shopper Jellybean Madison proved to be just the right look. I’ve been wearing the Lola’s a lot lately. I just love the style they bring to the table.

A little bit punk, a little bit country, a little bit urban chic, a little bit boho. Something for every fashion taste in one outfit. Sometimes you just have to love how much freedom Second Life enables to express yourself.

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In this photo: skin: Charmed (Rubies/Greatest Hits, Tone 30) by Starley Thereian, Celestial Studios; hair: Fierce (black/white) by Six Kennedy, Gurl6, shirt: Johnny (white/black) by Antonia Marat, /artilleri/; pants: Sleek (silver) by Nephi Protagonist, Pixel Dolls; shoes: Lolas (black) by Fallingwater Cellardoor, Shiny Things

Radical Twang of Reaction Surfwear started making clothes for girls in the new year. He was kind enough to send me a selection of his latest bikini sets — that come complete with boardies too. The bikini top and bottom are on the underwear layers — but I asked Radical to please not make us choose between bikinis and tats — so he came back with the same collection on the shirt/pant layers — always good news for girls who like to be inked when they’re out relaxing beach side.

The styles in this collection are pretty mellow — there’s a selection of styles from geometric pattern (like Mastermind, shown left), to skelleys, to girly-girl flower power (like the cute brown/cream hibiscus set on the right.) It’s been fun to wear these around especially because it’s been so chilly in my real life! Fortunately, as Radical notes, it’s always summer in SL.

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In the photo on the left: skin: Vogue (aqua/smokey, Cashmere, freckles) by Starley Thereian, Celestial Studios; hair: Amber II (golden) by Calico Ingmann, Calico Creations; bikini/boardies: Mastermind by Radical Twang, Reaction Surfwear; prim nails: Art Hearts by CJ Carnot and Roslin Petion, Tete a Pied; pose by Luth Brodie.

In the photo on the right: Charmed (Earth 2, Tone 30) by Starley Thereian, Celestial Studios; hair: Amber II (golden) by Calico Ingmann, Calico Creations; bikini by Radical Twang, Reaction Surfwear; prim nails: Art Hearts by CJ Carnot and Roslin Petion, Tete a Pied; pose by Luth Brodie

Another cute top to wear with your jeans, or anything else for that matter, is the Tango top from DoC Eldritch of DE Designs. This one comes in a variety of styles and cuts, but what I like most about Tango is the lacy outer garment and optional flexi skirt that allows it to be dressed up or down.

On the right, I’m pairing the bare midriff version, in white lace on black, with His and Hers 758 jeans, also from DE Designs, for an edgier look. But the top can be worn with a dressier pair of slacks or even a skirt. In fact, Tango comes with an elegant pair of dark brown slacks as seen in the ad on the left.

Tango comes in the bare midriff style and another that features a flexi skirt attachment. It also comes in either white over black, which I’m wearing here on the right, or black over white. Lots of choices here.

Available at DE Designs (91, 25, 38).

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Trinitee Trilam of recently renamed Refuge (and ETD model!) posted an article about the “Denoobification” Process. In the post, she suggests

[W]ouldn’t it be great to sell a Noob kit? Like for men and women.. different styles but these be exclusive products just for them at a price that they could afford… or i should say.. their mentor/helper/person can afford without having to skip all over the grid? I would LOVE to do this.. but I can’t make hair really nor do I wish that upon any poor noobs head… I can’t make skins… Clothes I can do.. but no shoes or ao for me. I dunno if this thought will ever come into play but if any designers wanna partner up with me.. maybe we can come up with a couple awesome denoobification kits.

I was really taken with the idea and I threw it out to a couple of different content creators for consideration, but I didn’t really push too hard on it. (Magazine deadlines will do that to a worthy cause.)

A few weeks later, Maia Blackthorne created the beginnings of a really nice little kit — along the lines of what Trinitee’s talking about — 3 modify OK shapes, 2 pairs of eyes, 2 skins (in medium and tan), a top and some jeans sold together for L$50 to avatars under 30 days old.

To realize the total kit, a newbie would have to find her own hair and a pair of shoes — so anyone who makes poses, shoes or hair want to step up and complete this kit? If you want to help out, send a note to Maia Blackthorne. She’d be interested in hearing from you.

I personally like Maia’s skins — they’re not airbrushed perfection — they have pores and freckles and moles. But if that’s not your thing, I also tried the shapes out with different skins by creators like Ambyance2 Anubis, Lost Thereian, Starley Thereian, Canimal Zephyr, Portia Sin, Second Skin Labs and they all looked pretty good. This kit would be a great base to denoobify your next SL beginner.

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At StyleDisorder, Canimal Zephyr posted an entry about the abuse of review copies by Second Life fashion journalists — be they bloggers or magazine staffers or whomever.

I understand that her post was not specifically directed at Second Style Fashionista or any specific staff member here, but I think we have room for improvement — and I certainly know that I personally could improve how, when, and from whom I request review copies.

There are two issues that Canimal points out in her entry. One is the professionalism surrounding requesting a review copy — and the other is coverage once an item has been provided. In the interest of transparency, I wanted to make a public note here of our policy regarding review copies.

Regarding professionalism, I apologize if I or any of the other writers at Second Style magazine or this blog have given offense in the manner or style in which we request items for review. Review items are the highest courtesy that can be extended to us as fashion writers, and we are certainly grateful when they are provided. Although we may ask, I don’t ever think we’re entitled to receive them. If you are a content creator and do not wish to supply review items, please politely tell us so.

Regarding coverage of items, on a going forward basis, the writers at Second Style Fashionista are committed to covering solicited review items within seven days of receiving the item if it is provided. If we decline to cover an item once we’ve “tried it on,” we will provide a rationale for that decision on request to the item’s creator.

If there are ever any questions about the conduct of our magazine staff or the bloggers who post here, please contact me via email or in world. I am always happy to hear from readers about how we can improve. And if you want to discuss my behavior as a writer please send a note to Josie Hamilton in world.

Second Style may be a virtual magazine about virtual fashions, but we are striving for real professionalism and integrity.

Yuriko Muramachi of Silver Rose and Shenlei Flasheart of Prim and Proper are inviting submissions to their Caledon themed fashion design contest.

Caledon, if you didn’t already know, is a group of simulators in an “alternate” Victoriana (including steampunk, if you’re so inclined) theme — so these designs should be period in style and format.

To get you started, the Design Contest posters contain a “starter kit” which contains a full perm transparent texture to be used in designing the upper pieces of a dress (the shirt/jacket layer for example), and a set of “untextured” full perm prim attachments which can be used to create the lower skirt and bustle pieces of a dress. In the photo to the right, Shenlei used the starter kit pieces to whip up this tapestry textured Victorian style gown, adding a couple of her own touches including a bonus prim bow on the bustle of the gown.

Entries in the contest are due by March 9th (full submission rules can be found on the notecard that comes with the starter kit) and winners will take home quite a bundle of goods including a cash prize and items from Prim and Proper, Silver Rose and WBA — a QuickTime based SL advertising firm, along with 15 second of fame.

If you wanted to try your hand at designing and you’re looking for a little nudge in getting started, the Caledon contest starter kit might be just the thing. You can find more information, including an incredibly detailed notecard about the contest, the starter kit and some additional Caledonian-style freebies at Prim and Proper or Silver Rose.