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Glittering goodies at Chic Boutique
By Celebrity Trollop | March 19, 2007
We fashionistas are reaping the rewards of an especially talented set of new designers in Second Life. A prime example of this “third wave” is Arielle Ceres. Arielle is the owner/designer of Chic Boutique and is probably best known for her denim and lingerie collection, so it was quite to my delighted surprise to see her recently branch into the businesswear SL mini-craze and debut a line of impressive looking gowns at the Second Convention Fashion show last weekend.
First is one of Arielle’s new business wear sets, a dynamite pin striped jacket and prim-slacks combination. It’s available in several power colors: black, grey, navy and this tan/cream pin stripe set. I matched it with a khaki cami from Blaze Columbia’s business suit collection. Pin stripes are notoriously difficult to master in Second Life, mainly due to the way the avatar mesh warps textures as they wrap around your avatar shape, but I think Arielle’s done a good job of minimizing the warp — and I love that she chose to use prim flares on the slacks instead of the built in flare features on the system pant mesh. It gives the hems of the pants such a clean finished look to them — and they don’t flap around in the invisible “wind” either.
This lingerie set was so visually stunning when I saw it on display I just couldn’t wait to photograph it and show it to you all. It’s glitzy, it’s glam — it’s over the top and out of sight.
No man could stand a chance against your feminine wiles if you deigned to show him all of your sexy curves in this outfit. I love the depth of detailing here — the cutaways, the crystal and the sequins. I don’t know if Arielle bakes her textures in a post-processing application like Lightwave, but she has done a masterful job of punching up the sparkly pieces. Note also the lovely way she’s brought the thin bra straps up and over the shoulders — another major garment construction problem area for Second Life designers.
And then we come to this — dare I say it — chic gold gown. Look at the way the satin folds have been shaded below the bust and note again the painstaking attention to detail on all of the crystal beading work — work which shares the same highlighting and illusion of sparkle as the lingerie above. I don’t know if there was a RL inspiration for this gown — if it was an actual couture design — but this SL gown certainly bears all the fabulous hallmarks couture gowns display so richly: the luxe fabric, the minute beading, the stunning lace work.
The gown comes with several components, including a delicate gold lace overlay on the jacket layer which is optional (I’m wearing it in this photo). My sole complaint about this gown is that the physics on the flexiprims are somewhat more “sproingy” than “flowing.” But this is Arielle’s first set of gowns, and with her caliber of talent, I am certainly looking forward to future gowns.
You can shop Chic Boutique at several different locations on the grid. Check Arielle’s picks, or look up Chic Boutique in the classifieds.
Seen in world: Yes
Review copies: Business suit
Friends list: No
Topics: Bottoms, Businesswear, Flexiprims, Gowns, Lingerie, Tops |
OMG I love the hair…..whose is it?
BTW LOVE YOUR BLOG!
Posted by: Pixie Daidig on March 19th, 2007 at 2:33 pmCalla Marigold. (See entry above… :-)
Posted by: Celebrity Trollop on March 19th, 2007 at 2:34 pmthanks for the hint about looking in classifieds. i always just use the places tab for search…and i couldn’t find chic boutique. But just found it using classifieds. I learn something new every day!
Posted by: Abby Bloxome on March 24th, 2007 at 9:05 amIs it sad that I just noticed this entry? Ha!
Thanks, Celebrity ;)
Posted by: Arielle Ceres on March 24th, 2007 at 8:08 pmA pin-striped jacket with prim-slacks sounds nostalgically classy to me! Was Arielle showing that on both men’s and women’s models?
Posted by: Fashion Gal on March 29th, 2007 at 12:16 pmAnd I love the Blog, too!!!! :)
Thanks Fashion Gal!
As far as I know the business suits were for women only. Although I didn’t get my boi Celebrity shape on to see how it looked. :-)
I suspect the shading around the bewbies would look really weird on a boy shape.
Posted by: Celebrity Trollop on March 29th, 2007 at 12:26 pm