Second Style Magazine

While I certainly enjoy finding new talent (and there has been a considerable amount lately – more on that next post!), I’m still excited when my favorite oldbie designers come out with new fun pieces…

Here, I’m showing off three new creations…the dresses are called “Indyra”, a flouncy dress that makes me think of first dates, and the insane search for the “perfect” ensemble. This is an example of patterns done right, with highlighting and trim eliminating the monotony that many pattern-based pieces have. Be warned though, when I say flouncy, I mean it – the skirt swings rather freely.

Indyra comes with the shirt, glitch pants, and prim skirt, and is available in seven colors at Vitamin Ci.

The hair is also new from Analog Dog, darling of flexicurl lovers everywhere. “Claire” is one of their first short flexi ‘dos and has a classy flip at the end. It’s also important to note that, if you’re unfamiliar with their hair, that the hair comes with two pieces – the bangs and the hair.

Normally the bangs are a must-wear due to the hair fit – but for Claire, I found that I actually prefer the look without bangs (after taking the picture, of course…heh). Also, the hair is incredibly tintable…they even sell a HUD for coloring, if you so desire. Available in three different color packs at Analog Dog.

And lastly, poses! It appears that Tuli Asturias is branching out into poses, and the four I used are a sampling of what she has for sale in her main store. There are some perfect poses (with smooth transitions) for runway modeling, as well as quirky “I’m too sexy for my avie” poses.

My next post will showcase a few fun hairs and accessories…stay tuned!

(Skin by Karamia, shoes by Digit Darkes)

Seen in-world: Yes | Review Copies: Yes for Indyra, No for everything else | Friends List: Yes for Ciara, No for everything else (nobody loves me… >.<)

Hot on the heels of Tenshi’s receipt/blogging of their Dancing Pirate Outfit, the mysterious Wilhelmina Whitfield, designer for the not-yet-open couture house Mercury, dropped a few fabulous ‘dos (and accessories!) on me…and here they are!

On left: Mercury Bouffant – Poofy. Classy. It’s the hair on the crazy elderly woman in the giant Transylvania-esque manor at the end of every proper street. Or at least, it’s the hair I’ll have when I’m crazy and elderly.

Center: No-Hawk Hair – Beautiful construction on the scalp, and then OMG INSANE knotted spikes.

On right: Elaborate Mercury Hair (no bird) – Well, this hair may not have a bird, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my (and probably everybody else’s) missing inventory is in there somewhere. Definitely my favorite of the three, I will be wearing this everywhere from now on. Chilling in jeans and a t-shirt? Yep. Waiting for my man, lounging on our plush chaise in the latest Insolence? You betcha.

Here, we have aviator glasses, and a necklace/earrings set, with a closeup to the detail on the necklace.

Along with the jewelry came a note – apparently, Aspire! is running a fashion show for Mercury soon. I for one can’t wait for their opening…their over-the-top designs and skilled construction definitely make this designer a must-watch for this summer.

Seen in-world: Yes | Review Copies: Yes | Friends List: No

Okay, anybody who knows me, knows that I’m not typically the type of girl that roams SL in lace and poofy skirts…but every so often, it’s fun to doll Jay up and take her to the ball in the most fabulous dress I can find in my mess of an inventory before my potential beau/lady for the night gets fed up and leaves without me. I admit, I tend towards thin skirts, but when this designer’s work – with her full skirts and satiny fabrics – caught my eye, I just had to see more.

The store is Diva, and the owner is a lovely woman by the name of AnneJoy Paine, whom I had the privilege to speak with last night. She was kind enough to provide me with a few gowns to try for myself, and display to the lovely readers…

This little gem, called “Morrigans Edition III”, is the gown I originally saw that had me alt-zooming on the ad like crazy to see if the detail really was as good as it appeared to be from a distance. A few points on this dress that I was particularly thrilled about, were the level of detail, and the creative use of the system skirt. If i had to make one complaint about it, it’s that the lace overlay on the top is not a separate layer from the bodice. Overall, this is a very well-made gown, classy yet edgy (bared legs on a formal gown? Wowie!)

(Hair by Calla, skin by Sin Skins, shoes by Prim Seduction)

AnneJoy confided that she loves silk and lace, both of which are seen in this next piece, called “Beret”. A sexy, sparkly gown, it boasts a satin skirt/top with lace covering along the middle. Arm cuffs hold flowing strands of lacy ribbon, and an un-ladylike lift of the skirt (wheee!) shows the included shoes…simple shoes, but very convenient for making a quick change into a formal. In the interest of honestly, I saw a few seam gaps (as in the gloves), but nothing extreme that would prevent me from buying it. Also provided is a lace bolero for a more covered look.

(Hair by Calla, skin by Pixel Deep)

More gowns under the cut!
Read the rest of this entry »

Being one of the US girls lucky enough to have today off, I’ve been able to read my FashCon notecards as they come in (a rare luxury) and found a hair designer that knocked me onto the ground, rolled me off of my studio (all 400m up!) and sent me into excited little yips of joy. I present to you, hairs from Lucky, a new store that is most certainly now on my to-watch list.

“Crinaeae” looks to be a normal style…until you turn to the side. Gravity-defying curls held together by a crazy gemmed hairband…almost like something I’d expect to see on a Star Wars girl. The bangs are very face-framing, making them complimentary to the wildness in the back. I’m not sure what else I could say about this hair, other than yay, something a little different!

Next is “Reiko”, a wild pigtail ‘do that has little folded ponytails at the top, and soft-looking hair flowing down from the pigtails. I love the little details in this one…the little hairs poking out from the top ponies, and the tiny pieces in the bangs that add a little more funkyness to an already unique hairstyle.

This store, owned by Rikka Koi, is just a baby – a week old! – but already has a decent selection of hair. I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Go try ‘em on at Lucky! (Skin by CS, shirt by Savvy?)

Seen in-world: Yes | Review Copies: No | Friends List: No

Patrice from Gracile dropped some new skins on this pale girl a little while back, and I snapped up the chance to wear something a bit different for a change.

“Shanice” is Patrice’s attempt to give more options to the ladies wanting quality skins in dark tones. To the left is a facial shot…what really stood out about the face was the shine, and subtle use of makeup (I’m modeling the Copper tone here, but the skin’s available in six different makeups).

Cut below for boobies and random nether regions (okay, maybe not so random…)

Read the rest of this entry »

Although, I can’t say that I’m upset over the absence of polyester leisure suits…

And now that I’ve put that less-than-lovely image in your head, on to some much more pleasant images.

“Farrah” is the newest release by Vitamin Ci, and gives me the urge to head to the nearest discothèque and shake my groove thing. The top, designed with the same shape as Ciera’s “Swirve”, is patterned with muted paisley textures, and the coordinating pants are textured with a butterfly buckle and include gigundo prim bells for the discerning Dancing Queen.

Also, if the giant square in the middle of the picture didn’t catch your eye…there’s a butterfly tattoo included as well. While Jay’s typist is a big pain wussy and wants to scream just looking at the tat, I like the little dots that make up the butterfly…it’s very unusual to see a tattoo created that way.

Available in four colors, and comes with top (shirt layer), pants, prim legs, and tat (undershirt layer).  And if you haven’t seen Ciera’s new sim, here’s the SLURL: Vitamin Ci @ Hefferoo

(Hair by ETD, skin by Celestial Studios)

Seen in-world: Yes | Review Copies: Yes | Friends List: Yes

And now, I’m off to finish laundry, find my good lip gloss (it’s been evading me!), and head out of town for a week, where I will likely spend my time relaxing, visiting family, and bemoaning the lack of high speed internet.  <3 to you all, have a fantabulotastic week!

I’m so sorry for that. Apparently not sorry enough to replace the title with something respectable, though. The reason for my silliness? Fab new releases, and a good dose of sugar. (If I start to mutter unintelligibly and drool, you’ll know the sugar has run out.)
When Patrice Fierrens, designing fool for Gracile, dropped these boots on me, my first thought was “ZOMG, pirate boots!”, although it likely wouldn’t occur to anybody but me, because I’m weird. Fashion-wise, these boots (called Marlene) are very much a classic style with a twist, showing off a simple suede fabric trimmed with chunky straps and buckles. I modeled two different looks for these, so you can see the versatility – wear with your favorite jeans to bring out the trendy girlie in you, or with a fun skirt and corset to play pirate wench. And like her other boots, these are color-change (menu-driven) with a click…not just the boot, but the straps as well. Wheeee! Wait…I mean, yarrrr! (I promise, I’ll have some other phrase to annoy you all with in short order.)

(Pants by LF Fashions, skirt by Material Squirrel)

I was also lucky enough to get a copy of her new (sculptie!!) hat, named Justin after Justin Timberlake, and is dead sexy (not unlike Justin…oops, did I just say that? >.> <.<). I had hardly wore hats pre-sculpties – they were too much of a hassle to deal with unless I had to for a theme I was going for – but my opinion has completely turned around, as one prim hats make adjustments fifty thousand times simpler (you have the ability to resize a sculptie prim just like you would any normal single prim – up, down, sideways, without having to do an equal stretch across the whole piece.) The hat is sized for men so I had to resize in the back to fit my hair, and it took all of thirty seconds. Perfection.

(Outfit by DE Designs, tie by Canimal, hair by Lost, skin by Celestial Studios)

Okay, time to stop listening to my rambles, and to go take a look for yourself! Hat and boots available at Gracile.

Seen in-world: Yes | Review Copies: Yes | Friends List: Yes

sas-sa-fras (n) – an American tree, Sassafras albidum, of the laurel family, having egg-shaped leaves and long clusters of greenish-yellow flowers.

There. Your botany lesson for the day.

Following a FashCon notice I saw about these lovely flowery jeans, I went to look at this store, named Sassafras (weren’t you hoping that’s where I was leading with the random dictionary entry?). So far the selection is small, but filled with some sweet little hand-painted numbers.

If there are two truths in my (real and second) life, they are this:

1) Jay likes ducks.

2) Jay likes pirates.

So of course, in addition to the jeans (really, take a close look at them…the flowers are beautiful!), I had to snap up these tops. The Duckie tops are just too sweet for words…until you look closely at the Alternaduckie version (both are included in the same purchase, shirt layer) and realize there’s more to the top than just a pretty duck face. The light tones of the shirts make them seem very soft and worn, and make me think of the type of piece that you find in the sleepwear section of your favorite clothing store and buy with the intention of wearing as daily wear (oh c’mon, you know you’ve done it once or twice).

And then, the Haul Away Joe top. Now, remember my #2 truth? Yaaarrr. (I had to, sorry.) Pirate gear meets cutewear with this soft little number. Yes, it’s on the jacket layer, and has some very nice shading and detailing. The one thing I noticed about this top though, is that the skull-and-crossbones emblem seems to be a little faded. Well, I wore it while swimming away from my captivity from the evil pirates, and salt water wreaks havoc on cotton…what did you expect?!

(Skin by CS, hair by Random, earrings by Earthtones, shoes by Kaguya).

Get your cutewear at Sassafras.

Seen in-world : Yes | Review Copies: No | Friends List: No

Sorry I haven’t been around much lately…SL and RL have both not been very kind. But I submit as a peace offering, goodies for your perusal!

Also, I have been messing around with the new Firstlook viewer (yay to Windlight’s pretty skies…boo to hardware lighting and creepy glowing eyes), so until Windlight is part of mainstream SL, I will mention if the photo is taken in that viewer, because lighting will not be the same.

My normal MO regarding the FashCon group is to click through every notice without looking, then at some point during the day, go through the notice archive and pick out the notices from new vendors, and from the older ones that I’m interested in. One name that I’ve seen come up consistently, yet kept passing by due to lack of time or whatnot, is Second Wave Apparel. It wasn’t until a bikini short freebie came out, that I thought to myself “Okay Jay, march your butt over there and look.”

What I found there was a store full of charming jeans, casual corsets (hooray!), t-shirts, and sexy, soft tops. I’m modeling the Crop Tops, which have some of the most convincing fur and brocade patterns I’ve had the pleasure of slipping onto my pixel body. The shading is very soft yet made with broad lines, giving the illusion of heavy fabric. These come in a variety of colors and fur types, and (joy of joys!) in all three top layers.

(Hair by ETD, skin by CS, pants by Last Call, necklace by Essentia)

And here’s the shorts-bikini, one of the two that was passed out in FashCon. Yes, free – so there’s your initiative to check this designer out for yourself.

(Hair by Sunshine Designs, skin by CS, earrings by Earthtones – photo taken in Firstlook Viewer)

The store can be found here: Second Wave Apparel

Seen In-World: Yes | Review Copies: No, the bikini is a freebie to all | Friends List: No

Sculpted prims…similar to the introduction to flexible prims last year, the announcement was met with a lukewarm response. Many were excited…others were concerned about the effect it will have on designing in Second Life, and the potential changes to the learning curve in building.

I for one am always thrilled to see Second Life advance to new stages, and this is a revolutionary one. And of course, when fashion designers are beginning to implement sculpties into their clothing, I’m jumping up and down with glee.

Hats! Rejoice, my ladies, at the first “omg I don’t hafta take out half of my hair to wear” sculpted hat! I had to chuckle, as it’s rather fitting (no pun intended) that the first scupltie hat in SL has cat ears. Called NMB, this design only has seven prims…the main hat, the two bows (both sculpted as well!), and the four ribbons. Available in 12 colors at Curious Kitties.

True Bell Sleeves. This sweater is totally buyable on its own merits, but add honest-to-goodness bell sleeves, that don’t look like the little paper funnels you put on your dog to prevent them from biting themselves, and you have one fantastic idea. Comes with the shirt (jacket layer, one piece). Available in 8 colors at PixelDolls.

Seen in-world: Yes | Review Copies: Sweater – Yes, with blogger card; Hat – No | Friends List: No

So I’m curious…what would you all like to see scupltified?

Ciera Bergman was kind enough to send me a landmark for an up-and-coming designer that she knows. And so during one of the rare points where my packet loss was low and I was able to maneuver throughout the grid somewhat successfully, I took a look in her store, and was faced with one of those moments of “I can’t draw a stick figure correctly, and this woman can do it all…life is soo not fair” jealousy.

The name of the store is Gracile, and the designer is Patrice Fierrens. Her main stock right now lies in shoes, but she has also dabbled in eyes, skins, and clothing, as I’ll be showing you.

A well dressed leg is very pleasing to the eye, and Patrice seems to know this well. Here my legs are modeling her stockings, named “Collette”, and available in 12 different colors, from tame to bright hues. A very opaque, traditional thigh-high, with a very attractive sheen and lace bordering. And what well-dressed leg goes without jewelry? (Well, normally mine, but then again, my legs are normally scandalously nekkid. But anyways.) “Aphrodite” is the shoe I’m wearing, dubbed “shoewelry” by Patrice, and she certainly wasn’t kidding. I’ll be honest – these shoes weren’t exactly my cup of tea – but personal preference aside, they are put together well, and even have a gem in the middle that spins – which amuses me for some strange unknown reason. Bling/script warning (but not excessive).

From left to right, “City Girl” and “Shirahime”. “City Girl” is a sleek suede-type of boot, fantastic over slim pants. (Tip – if your pants are mod, and you want to wear high boots and eliminate the pants-through-boot effect, edit the pants and reduce the length…you can always change them back later.) “Shirahime” is a chic set of furry boots. The great thing about both of these sets, is that they are color-change – texture-change in the case of the City Girl boots, and the Shirahime set has the option to change the trim color.

What I was most impressed with though, were the skins. Although I don’t know firsthand (again, stick figures are my artistic limit), I’ve heard that skins are not an easy undertaking at all. So, I was very excited to find some great skins (the one I am showing is called “Laura”) available at Gracile. And no, not just because I get to prove that Grazia is the only chicken amongst us. (Just kidding hon, we like you just fine as a chicken.)

Also, pay close attention to the eyes…these were also designed by Patrice, are very nicely detailed and look quite realistic.

Cut for NSFW pictures (well, not suitable for anybody, really, who wants to see nekkid Jay?  Not I!)

Read the rest of this entry »

I am Nephilaine’s pixel groupie. Seriously, I am constantly awed by the work this girl does in our world, clothing and otherwise. I would follow her around all day and just gawk, but that’s not my style. (Besides, her lawyer is finalizing the restraining order this week…)

Ahem…anyhoo, here are the new releases!

(Skin in all pictures by Celestial Studios, hair by Naughty Designs)

“Lucie” is a darling-meets-daring dress with poofy prim sleeves, a wee touch of a decolletage, beautiful lacy fabric with straps along the bust and waist line, and a prim skirt with bows adorning the bottom trim. The skirt is actually a single prim which in theory sounds weird, but it works well for this dress, and is also a snap to adjust correctly. Wear with a normal skin to get the uber-trendy look, or with a goth skin to pull off the Goth-Lolita look you know you covet.

Available in 12 colors, and comes with the shirt, glitch pants, prim poofs and skirt.

“Amoreaux” is a lovely little dress that makes me want to go out dancing (in RL, where I hear there’s less lag…astounding). Made with a shimmery fabric that appears to reflect light just enough to catch the attention of the nearby cuties, yet not enough to blind them if the light hits just so (if you’ve ever been to a RL club, you’ll know exactly what type of dress, and girl, I’m referring to). The skirt is short, ruffly, and leg-baring, exposing the thigh right below a cute little heart. Wear this, when you want to be the showstopper.

Available in 12 colors, and comes with the shirt, glitch pants, prim skirt, and fishnet stockings (on underwear/sock layers).

From left to right, two new tops…the “Twist T” and “Button Tank”. The Twist T is shown here in the cherry print, and is the new shirt that I will be randomly tossing on when I’m nekkid and need a quick outfit change. More info than you needed to know, I’m sure.

The Button Tank is modeled here in the gingham print, and is a very girly, casual shirt, for when you want to dress up, but not appear dressed up. “I just threw this on, isn’t it fabulous”…that kind of look.

Both of these are available in PixelDolls’ 15 patterns. Shirt layer.

Buy these at PixelDolls.

Seen in world: Yes | Review Copy: Yes (with blogger gift card) | Friends List: No