Second Style Magazine

A little about what I’m doing here…I dress in very odd ways. Mostly I wear literally everything I bought that day in some sort of giant modge-podge of layered weirdness. Sometimes I show up places with no pants on or bald…I think being a shape maker forces you to let go of having to be conscious of your style all the time. I tend to make shapes naked so I can get it just right then phase into the trying on every hair and skin in existence to get it to work with as much as possible. The changing of your underlying frame changes how you interact or wear just about anything. When I change shapes in a major way I tend to see them as a translation of a dream I had last night or someone I just read about in a book. In a world where you can be anything and everything I want to be a little bit of it all just once. So with each little post I write I’m hoping to embody one more tiny bit of visual interpretation in Second Life. What I’m hoping you do is to do a little paradigm shift of your own..:D  

Shoes-Sand Shack Kitten Heels (Citrus Blossom)-Emma Gilmour

Skirt-HS Stores-Rusty (Jailor Skirt Small)-Sarah Hollwood

Top-Luxe brand (white victorian blouse)-Lo Jacobs

Skin-Nora-Samantha (Toffee Fog-Slider to Darkest Tone)–Sezmra Svarog

Eyes-Celestial Studio (Deep Ink) Starley Therian

Pose1,2 &3- Main Photo-Long Awkward Pause-Hidden Jewels-Dove Swanson, First photo-Lotta Model 008-yuuka Hirons, Second photo- this joint is jumping-Easy Babcock

Glasses-Tres Blah (Not Released Yet) Juliette Westerburg

Shape-Lemon-Whistle Stop

Hair-Creamshop-Vanilla with Stars-SAZAE Yoshikawa

Marni Grut sent me a note the other day with those three magic words; “Sale This Week!” Actually, it will probably run a little into next week too; it seems that the gremlins running around the metaverse shook stuff loose that people, including Marni, were having trouble connecting and getting to the store. Hopefully grid performance is stable enough for you to enjoy these prices: All dresses L$100, All tops L$75 or lower, All fatpacks 50% off a reduction of over L$300. This sale is only good at her Endicott Location and will end sooner than later as Marni is redoing the shop and says that stuff has to go. Her blog.

I try to find and feature items that are not on the major feeds, or things by newer designers as much as possible. This post by Maria Gherardi of MG Fashion (blog) was on one of the feeds, but in case you missed it I wanted to feature it because it looks, at least in the picture, to be the perfect knit hat for the season. I have it on my to-do list to get to MG Fashion and check it out, if only my schedule and Second Life’s gremlins could get on the same page now!

Refuge is a blog that isn’t often updated, so when they pulled out the outfits you see to the left my ears perked up. (Blog, Slurl) In the picture you actually two separate releases as shown, the skirt and top, and the belt, which is one of many cool accessories available at the store. (The build alone is worth the trip- Refuge is a store in what appears to be an old abandoned white clapboard church!) The skirts (L$120) and tops (L$120) and knee highs (L$75) are sold as separates for mix and match, or you can buy them as a set (L$275). Studded belts come in black or brown (L$150).

If you have a fashion event you would like to include on our calendar, or a fashion blog you would like to have listed on our super cool blogroll, send me an IM or an email. (justinebabii (at) yahoo.com)

Hi Fashionistas! Greetings from your friends at SexySecond.

This week will be just a quick update because we’re all terribly busy on the new issue of SexySecond Magazine. We had a lot of response to our “tell us what’s sexy” contest and, along with some new features, should have a great read for you rolling out as we near Valentine’s Day.

But before then, so many things! On the First of February, for example, Simone Stern’s new line, Style Starts Here, opens. All week long I teased out just a couple of things at a time, wait till you see the whole collection of things that Simone will unveil, it truly is amazing. To see the items I previewed, come on over to visit us. The two gorgeous sets you see above are reviewed here, and another couple of sets are reviewed here.

Arabeth Laval did one of the most thorough skin reviews I’ve ever read, reviewing the new line of skins from newcomer Joan Philbin of SLippery. I don’t know which impresses me more, Joan’s skins or Arabeth’s ability to find new and talented designers! I’ve completely fallen for SLippery’s tanlines release, and will hopefully find a minute to review them soon. I was thrilled to find good skins with good tanlines for a day at the beach, and to find them for only L$250-300 a skin is like a virtual dream come true.

Nemi McCoy stopped by this week to show off a new and very sexy outfit by Indyra Seigo that you’ll have to see to believe. I took off my new duds from Simone long enough to review a couple of cute sweater outfits from Gracie’s, and Justine Babii stopped by long enough to tell us about a contest being run by Scarlett Niven and about a hot selection of pro cheerleader outfits from Spirit.

The next couple of weeks will be crazy at SexySecond as we put our magazine machine into high gear and get ready for Valentine’s Day all at the same time. It’s always a pleasure to be able to visit here, take care and we’ll see you next week!

Oh how the weeks seem to fly by…and what a week it’s been over at On Your Toes. It all started off by announcing our Show Us Your Toes photo contest. There is still about a week left to submit your photos and we are really impressed by what we’ve seen so far.

As far as the shoe scene goes, the lovely Anessa was as sleuthy as ever and brought us some great finds. Included in her list were her sexy maid slipons made by Lyanis Sin of Sin Shoes that go with the Battered Boutique sexy maid outfit. Rrrawr!

I’ll have to be honest and admit I was a shoe slacker this past week…just lots of RL stuff compounded by the fact that our amazing male counterpart Joel is under the weather…But I was able to make a couple contributions this past week including some slippers and leg warmers from Fuel and some cute ankle boots from Adam n Eve.

Oh and I did spend some time plugging the contest and accepting the amazing submissions…so I’m not a total loser.

Anessa, thankfully picked up the slack and really added some flava flave to some of her posts. Like a potpourri display of really the SL What Not to Wear for your feet!

Also, she showed us all something that I’m itching to go buy myself…in fact I’m going as soon as I hit the publish button. These boots…Oh these boots! The Sara boots by Siddean Munro, really tickle my fancy, and I think they will your’s too!

So shoe shop happy and I can’t wait to see what submissions you all will send us for the Show Us Your Toes contest!

I popped onto the grid just in time to catch Second Style’s Spotlight III Fashion Showcase tonight at Le Zoo and I’m super glad I did! Show organizer Valena Glushenko puts together a show that moves along well and has a friendly vibe, and as always the clothes were incredible. The Spotlight Series is designed to feature designers who are not yet household names. This show did that, but also focused on designers who have shops at Le Zoo, so it was a great mix of talented newcomers and some experienced and seasoned SL fashioneers. The show featured Abby Coalcliff of Devilish Cupcake, Alaska Metropolitan of OPIUM Everyday, Sh Oluja of *Sheer*, Megg Demina of Chapeau Tres Mignon and Eolande Elvehjem of Accessories by Eolande and there were way too many great things to choose a favorite or two from. So while I have a month until the next SS Magazine deadline to pick my faves, in the meantime I will share with you this wonderful design from Sh Oluja of *Sheer* modeled by Voshie Paine. The outfit is called Shiver, a layered silk mini-dress with torn stockings so realistic it will make you cry. Take a trip over to Le Zoo, I think you’ll like what you find!

So yeah, I’m sort of taking a blog break. My RL is pretty demanding at the moment, and I lack the energy to stay on top of fashion ins SL . That does not mean that not every now and then I run into something that makes me want to TP to my studio right away and take photos for the blog, and I just hate it when SL makes me crash again while TP-ing.

Anyway eventually I made it back and this is what it is all about… Aden… the talented Aden Bryer, made new hair and cleaned his shop on the remodeled Appearance Mode sim (formerly Random Industries).  Lots of the old styles are gone, but thank goodness he replaced them with some totally cute new ones. I spotted the windblown on Appearance Mode a couple of days ago, it’s in the center here and it blew my head of. Then there is (clockwise, starting at the upper left) Suri, a laid back and feminine, softly sideswept bob; Edie, sassy and moddish, one of my favourite short styles ever; Charlize, a low pony tail that you get two versions of when you buy it, a long and a shorter on and last but not least, Scarlett, which is a very feminine updo that will do great with either a very casual look but will not look weird with a great formal either.

Although all shown in black (you can’t blame a girl for having preferences) these hairs come in a neat selection of natural colours and will cost you L$ 100 (or L$ 150 for Charlize with 2 options included) for a single colour.

Credits: skin by Pxl Creations, Linda_coffee_cateyes and College Bound coat by Total Betty

Phew, what an exciting time it has been Fabulously Free in SL officially opened up in world and my Rez Day came right after where I gave out a skin to the FabFree SL group to celebrate. Located at the FabFree HQ are freebies from several designers including Jem and the Holograms & Misfits skins that I did up.

On the 13th, we did some exploring of Japanese sims can came up with Shop RAN had a belted Peggy Bundy outfit that went great with the Hair Up Free from Mayamaya and the nail freebie from Candy Nails. Then we took a run over the Curious Kitties for a slew of free clothes and shoes with a Lollie flare. Hazel showed us Bis-Daisy Casual Wear’s cute sweaters and chiffon skirt set in rose.

The next day we took a stop at Luxary by Vindaloo to grab several gowns for women and a diamond tuxedo for men. Hazel took advantage of the many freebie options at Vanilla Designs that included clothing, skins, and shoes. Lucky for the Calla update group members because we received a full color pack of Petunia hair which we wore with the heartbeat freebie outfti from InStyle, pixie blush skin from Fancy Fairy, and a bangle & sweater wrap from Orchid Dreams.

Style Your Destiny released 3 new shapes and a pink hart skin for Valentine’s day. Identity Outfitters showed us the clothes of the future at the RPM Car Dealership of the Future that needed the final touch of metallic tights from G.L.A.M. Hazel showed us some cute tops and a Sunday dress from new-find Fluky.

After several tips I had to head over to Cartunno Clothing for their star qipao dress that we paired with Oh My Lye hair from Adimu. A great new store opened called Free Speerit opened and gave their update group a beautifully textures Sandra outfit. Fancy Fairy gave their update group another free skin with a yellow hue. Sidonie showed up great casual wear and glasses from Star Hitter’s that she paired with shoes and a cami from First Egg. Hazel jumped over to Ingenue for the fantastic new lingerie sets.

Everything but the kitchen sink was free at Nylon Outfitters that included skins, accessories, clothes, jewelry and more. Earth and Sky has an unisex down jacket that I wore with the new boots over at YeeVee Designs. Hazel showed up some items from Babydoll Wishes which caters to child avatars. I started my quest to try and sort my inventory coming across hair, hair ribbons and even a ginger cat from Virtual Creations which I wore with the leather jacket I came across from The Boddysock Shoppe. Another inventory clean up outfit was new free hair at Lycee Feelings Shop that I wore with a button up shirt from Ash Style and gloves & boots from Ac Boutique. Hazel got to show off the cute new $1L hair from Truth called Berri.

Style Your Destiny gave their update group a basic male skin for all those guys itching for some freebie love. Free Speerit kept their new fantastic love with a dress outfit that allows you to be creative and style it yourself. Rave Nation put out some Valentine’s makeups that Hazel showed off and then she headed over to both Liquid Velvet Studios and Sy Designs for some cute clothing options. I had the pleasure of meeting Cat Magellan who set up The Pink House for everyone to unpack boxes and dress.

The day before the headquarters opened we had a busy, busy day. Hazel showed of a rose velvet outfit from KK Fine Quality. On a tip I was over at The Super Real Body for hair and eyes which lead me to stumbled upon ELFA Shop for several free pairs of shorts. The shorts reminded me that I have been saving cute tees from Pushbutton Industries and a bracelet from Argyle that are at the Le Zoo Gift Shop. Another tip brought me over to Elise’s for a green lace dress. The last hotline tip of the day brought me to Izumiya for pants, shirts, boots, dresses, jewelry, hair, hats, and more.

FH Skins opened and is giving out a free blue fairy skin. Vintage Clothing Reproductionshas a fantastic flapper dress with several options for the skirt. I just had to use one of my new poses from Long Awkward Pose’s return to Second Life. Most of the day was spent with my excitement over the opening of the Fabulously Free in SL Headquarters where you can see pictures and details on the blog.

This week we welcomed a new writer to our staff, Lisbeth DeCuir, and Lisbeth immediately stole the show by reviewing this gorgeous little heart themed lingerie set from Simone, as well as a burlesque stage outfit from Reasonable Desires. Lisbeth’s passion is for vintage designs and she has already wowed our readers with her impeccable taste and her ability to write, so we’re thrilled to have her on our team and look forward to the many vintage goodies she will find for us around the metaverse! The heart themed lingerie from Simone, shown left, retails for just L$150 and looks perfect for Valentine’s day. I do hope you’ll come by and read more about it, as well as the review Lisbeth did for us on the French Black Swirl stage costume by Reasonable Desires. With her interest in burlesque costumes and vintage lingerie, I have found myself already looking forward to what she’ll find next!

Arabeth Laval reviewed some very interesting pieces this week. It’s always a pleasure to see Arabeth with something new from Nymphetamine because she clearly enjoys examining the details drawn by Paeoti Pomeray and then stepping back and enjoying the piece in its entirety. The new set Arabeth reviewed this week, shown left, is not named well for a PG blog, so you’ll have to come take a look at SexySecond to see the review. Come over and see another couple of things Arabeth reviewed as well from Zipz!. Lunar and Red Fire are the outfits and after seeing them I just had to go and take a look at Zipz! for myself. Arabeth has a knack for finding great designers just before they go big time on us, and I think that Dunja Hian of Zipz is another.

This week even I got into the reviewing spirit and showed off some nice underwear from Lingerie by Hollee and at the same time gave a long rant about the importance of having some nice undies in a handy folder. I also gave a sneak peek at some lingerie that will be coming from Simone Stern’s huge new project (picture left). I have a couple of more of her as yet unreleased lingerie, which I must add will be perfect for Valentine’s Day, that I will be showing off this week.

Finally, we are accepting advertisements for the Second Issue of our magazine. If you would like to advertise your Second Life Product, please feel free to contact me!

 What a week of fabulous finds over at On Your Toes.

Anessa started us off with a great feature of the Barcelona slingback from Armidi. Using her love for sales as her muse, she really pieced together a couple cute outfits.

But she did not stop there. Check out her review of the Tainted Boots from Fuel, not only are the boots something to be seen, her write up is adorable.

 One of my highlights of this past week was when Anessa and I were able to slip into Onyx LeShelle’s new colors in her Patent Leather Slinky Stilletos (shown in photo 1) and head on over to the totally noir Silent sim and take some amazing photos!

I also have to give big kudos for special Agent Stine, shoe sleuth extraordinaire for finding some of the most unique and awesome pumps. The Succubus pumps (shown in photo 2) are outfitted with amazing detail and the coolest tiny skulls in top hats, yes you heard me…skulls with top hats! Agent Stine was also able to get a sneak peak into the next release from Kumii Yoshikawa.

As for me, I threw in my two-cents this past week by showing off the Kitten heels from Emma Gilmour’s Sand Shack Surf Co. and some of the new releases at She’s So Unusual Shoes (shown in photo 3).

Finally, I’m very excited to announce our first Reader Photo Contest! Details can be found over at the On Your Toes blog, but up for grabs is a $2000L shopping spree at the shoe store of your choice! So run on over and check it out! Photo submissions are being accepted until Midnight February 5th.

Following the inspiring work of Cherlindrea and her girls over at FabFree, Brookelyn Georgia has put an outfit together that didn’t cost her a thing. Here’s the photo and her comment:

I made it a personal challenge to see if I could make a good looking avatar completely free. This is the result. Skin: Another Store – Se brow1, greed Shape: Original shape modified in appearance Hair: Diversity: Free Hair Voucher – TrystII Dune Eyes: House of Zen – Freebie Eyes Package – green Glamour Face Light and Prim Eyelashes: Alady Complete Outfit and Shoes: DD’s Freebee found at Calla Jewelry: Miriel Free Jewelry found at The Free Dove

Ultimately there are so many great freebies available that it really does not have to cost you much to look good. I’d like to end this reader style with a quote from Cherlindrea’s blog about being gracious about freebie items:

1. Do not whine to the designers about their freebies.

2. Do not whine to the designers that the freebie is not your favorite color, style, etc.

3. If you don’t like the freebie, say thank you and move on with your life.

4. Stop trying to ruin all the freebies and specials for the rest of us.

5. Be grateful you got anything at all.

6. When complimented on your freebie wardrobe, thank the person and offer them the landmark for the store you got the item at. (Suggested by: Devilish Cupcake)

7. When unpacking your boxes in a build area, do not be a litterbug. Pick back up or delete your empty box. Do not leave any object on land without the owner’s permission. (Suggested by: Lyselle Munro)

8. Do not resell your freebie. (Suggested by: Io)

Feel free to add anything to this list.

Thank you Brookelyn for your lovely outfit, and thank you Cher for your great work on the Fab free blog!

If you would like to participate to Reader Style and be elegible to feature on Second Style blog, it’s easy to participate. Here is how:

• Wear something fabulous.
• Take a picture of yourself against a neutral background (or somewhere really cool in SL), and make sure you are the main topic in the photo. A lot of snapshots feature an itsie bitsie avatar against a huge background.
• In the snapshot dialog, one of the buttons reads, “Send an email postcard.” Click that option!
• Send the email to “rs@slpics.com” Please include your outfit notes (i.e., who made the blouse, who made the jeans, etc.) as the message text so we know where you shopped!

Your picture should quickly show up in the Live Panel feed here on the blog!

I started in Second Life two years ago today. In celebration, I’m starting another Fashion Challenge. This one — should you decide to play along — is to give your best and most humorous riff on lolcats. We want to see lolnekos, and prim cats with humorous expressions. I’ll pick my top three favorites around the end of the month and we’ll vote to choose the winner.

It’s easy to participate. Just find a spot to photograph you or a willing victim, choose “email postcard” in the viewer, caption it appropriately, and send it hurling toward this special email address: fc@slpics.com – it’ll automatically get added to the sidebar on the blog.

Good luck! I’ll be thinking about you while I’m away to the Carribean on a cruise with my sweetie!

Greetings Blog fans! I had a mini vacay as the blogmistress while we sorted some of the kinks out of the blogroll, but I’m back and rested and ready to go.. Waiting for me nicely in my inbox was an email from Joan Philbin telling me about her new shop, called SLippery (Blog, SLurl) which just opened in Scion South and asking me if I would include her blog on our list. Since she asked so nicely I simply had to go look and OMG! look at this skin! She says that she doesn’t have much on display yet, but she does have 15 makeups and each is only L$250 or you can get all 15 for L$2000. Save room for me, I’ll be there right after work.

Speaking of OMG! have you seen the newly redesigned Slinky Stilettos from Maitreya? (Blog, SLurl) (Since there’s a picture of them next to that sentence, I realize I am not exactly asking the tough questions). While it is not my real life goal to change my name from Kitty to Karen or trade my MG for a white Chrysler Lebaron, the part of that Cake song I actually do aspire to is to own some heels that cut, so again, save some room for me at Maitreya too, I’ll be there right after I get done at SLippery, right after work.

Well, with my skin and shoes taken care of, all I need now is a dress and some hair. I’ll look at Ivalde (Blog, SLurl) for a gown because I see that Neferia Abel has two new designs, Agnetha, seen here, and Susie. The combination of classic designs and fine detail and set Neferia’s gowns into a class all their own and these latest sets look to continue that tradition.

If you have a blog or an event you would like listed on our blogroll or on our calendar, send me an IM or an email. I’d love to hear from you!