The Unofficial Second Life® Fashion and Shopping Blog

As CronoCloud mentioned, as sort of a last goodbye to the blog we’re sharing with everyone a few of our favorite things we’ve found during our time in Second Life. While I haven’t been around as long as some of the others here, and I don’t have quite the inventories they do, I have run across a few things that I can’t live without.  (Turns out that CC and I made some of the same selections… what can I say, she has great taste!)

First, a couple dresses. The one on the left is from Marly’s, it’s a delightfully polka-dotted, full-skirted number called Spanky’s Spots, and I’m wearing it in Sage. I have soft spot for just about anything retro, but what really endears this dress to me is that it was my first real fashion purchase in Second Life. Just under a year ago, I was wandering the Retrology sim and desperately holding on to my first 300 Lindens, when wham… I knew I had to have this dress. From that point on, I was a goner. Thanks, Marleen, I’ll pay you back one day…

On the right, a much more recent purchase. Even though I rarely have the occasion to wear ball gowns in SL, I still have a hard time resisting buying them, especially when they’re as beautiful as the Miss Hathaway gown from ICING that I’m wearing here. If you happened to catch Anne Hathaway’s gown from this year’s Oscars, you know exactly what the inspiration was for this dress, and how amazingly well Miko Omegamu duplicated the look with this design. The primwork in the bodice rosettes alone makes this gown worth every Linden.

Since my job here at Linden Lifestyles was to focus on hair, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a couple of my favorite styles. I have gushed about the hairstyles that are sold at Aden before, including the Sarah ponytail pictured on the left. But it’s worth repeating here that this really is one of the best ponytails on the grid. I find myself going back to it every time I need a casual look.

On the other hand, sometimes you need something more formal, and my favorite for such occasions is the Vivian style from ETD. As you know by now, ETD is my first love when it comes to hair textures, no one else does a mahogany shade like Elikapeka Tiramisu. The Vivian style is an elegant French twist updo, and as someone pointed out in the comments to my ETD review, it weighs in at a very stingy 37 prims. I reach for Vivian whenever I’m looking for something elegant but also want to do my part to fight lag. (Then again, those prim savings might be outweighed by the rosettes on my gown - which you can see in better detail in this closeup.)

When I talked with Salome about joining Linden Lifestyles, I told her that I don’t do nudity. Well, that’s out the window now, isn’t it? It’s for a good reason, though - I’ve stripped down to show off my shape, which no, you can’t actually buy for yourself. But if you are looking for a little help with your sliders because you can’t get your shape exactly how you want it, I’d recommend doing what I did and contacting Zada Zenovka of Shapes by Zada. In addition to selling various pre-made shapes, for a price Zada will work with you to create a custom shape. Zada has a near-encyclopedic knowledge of SL skins and how they interact with body shape, so you can be sure that your new shape will work with your skin of choice.

Finally, I wanted to highlight my eyes, which are the Light Blue eyes from Miriel and are the only eyes I ever wear. All of the eyes Miriel Enfield sells are superbly drawn, they range from natural colors to exotic, and they come in two sizes, but I really don’t need such options. I haven’t been able to get over these captivating blue ones from the day I first saw them. Plus, as we’ve noted before, Miriel’s vendors are set up to let you choose whether you want copy permissions or transfer permissions on your items, which is a big step toward greater consumer choice and something I hope finds wider adoption around the grid.

Okay, I guess that brings me sadly to the end. In the short time I’ve been on the staff here, I’ve come to realize just how amazing the readership of Linden Lifestyles is, and I will miss you all. If you feel like dropping by my personal blog, Second Life, First Person, I would love to have you all over for a visit. Until then… it’s been great fun, and an honor to squee along with you!

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These days, when it seems like everyone in SL fashion is taking themselves way too seriously, it is delightful to be reminded of just why I play virtual paper dolls. Recently, while scouting for a costume for a party, I discovered something I’ve been looking for since I was thirteen years old.

It’s quite possible you may not recognize this dress. You are not necessarily a child of the 80s with a crush on all things fantasy. But ever since I first saw this sequence from the movie Legend which features Mia Sara dancing with (and being seduced by) a gothtastic gown, my id has been muttering a low, guttural Gollum-like cry of “mine.” And now, thanks to the SL dress-up goddesses and Natalia Zelmanov of Sirena, it is now my precious!

Like many costumes, it’s not a 100% success. Those nummy gossamer arm drapes are not represented, and there are some elements that could use a little tweaking. I should mention: I could care less. The wicked-witch delish high collar, the cleavage that dips all the way down to Paris, the black and gold decadence of the original intent is well represented in goth girly scrumptiousness. The skirting is also a triumph. It doesn’t suffer from the wretched pangs of transparency bug ruination (is LL ever going to address that crap?) because it is actually two different attachments - effectively layering the skirt and creating smooth movement without the woes of most formal-length offerings today. The texturing might be that “lather, rise, repeat” style that is unfortunate in SL dressmaking, but in this instance, where we’re dealing with folds and ripples of black satin, it just works.

Also at Sirena, you’ll find some fabulously innovative scripted hairstyles. The one I paired with my Dark Lily is called Seduction and it has been my favorite fashion toy over the last several days. When you purchase Seduction, or a similar style, you’re effectively getting two styles in one shot. The base wig comes in colorpacks of four shades, with each shade presented in three different sizes. Each size has corresponding hair sticks (sister styles might come with barrettes, etc). When the hair sticks are worn, the style changes to an updo. To revert to original long hair, simply remove the sticks. You can set it so that only you (the owner) can remove the hair sticks or allow anyone to do so - making your hair a target for friends and mischievous strangers to play with. The hair shows as no-mod in your inventory due to the scripting, but I was able to resize and re-texture it with no problem. It must be said, it was really a treat to get the wigs in three different “start off” sizes.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the faboo skin I’m wearing is from Fleur and the necklace that compliments the ensemble so delightfully is a previously reviewed gem from Miriel.

Now if anyone can tell me where I can find the ball gown from Labyrinth…

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“Oooh those young whippersnappers! Too smart for their own good.” I’ve caught myself muttering this under my breath far too often recently. Why? No, it’s not because I’m trying out to be a villain in a Scooby Doo cartoon.  It’s because I recently had the pleasure of shopping at Dernier Cri, a new store that really isn’t a new store, by a new Resident who really isn’t new either.

Confused yet? I was at first. Owner Asuka Martin just opened Dernier Cri on the grid, but the store is far too polished for something so new. Turns out Asuka has been on the Teen Grid since 2005, and operated Dernier Cri there until she recently “graduated” to the Main Grid, bringing her store with her. Dernier Cri is chock full of all sorts of items, ranging from skins to clothes to shoes to hair. Oh, and what hair!

This is a style by Dernier Cri called Sarah. I don’t know why, but I’ve been wearing a lot of shorter hair recently in Second Life, and this one has gone into the heavy rotation. Can you blame me? There are just enough prims out of place to give the style a tousled look, and the jagged cut is very chic and playful.

But there’s one thing that sets Dernier Cri’s hair apart from anything else I’ve found on the grid, and that’s the color. Well, not the shades themselves - though those are really great too. It’s the way the color happens. When you buy a hair from the vendor, it arrives in your inventory… completely colorless. You actually add the color to the style yourself, using an ingenious color menu that attaches to your HUD.

Now, stick with me here, I promise you this is worth it. After you buy, you wear the blank hair and attach the color picker HUD. You then select from the 90 shades available (90!!) which one you want, and then sit back and watch as your hair changes to that color, prim by prim. I’ve tried to capture the process below.

Once you color the hair, that’s it. You can’t change the color again, it’s just like any other hairstyle. (There is a demo of each style available that allows unlimited color changes, so you can pick your favorite.)

The reason I’m in awe of this system, other than the fact that I’m completely clueless how it works (my current theory is elves), is that it eliminates something I generally hate about buying hair. I cannot stand it when I have to buy a pack of four or five haircolors to get one that I really want, because the designer has decided not to sell individual colors. With Dernier Cri, I can buy one blank, or a pack of three or five, and color them however I want.

Okay, I’ll get back to the hairstyles themselves. This is Jenna, a cute chin-length flip. Asuka asked me to note that this was designed by a friend of hers on the Teen Grid, Anna Normandy, who agreed to let Dernier Cri bring it over to the Main Grid. I wish I could tell you what shade I’m wearing like I normally do in my reviews, but because of the coloring system the shades don’t have specific names, so I can’t. I think it’s one of the darker shades under the “Salmon” column.

I’ll leave you with Susanna, a high ponytail with sideswept bangs that just screams to be worn in blonde. So, that’s what color I dyed it - just because I could! If you’re a blondie in SL, you’ve probably been frustrated by stores where your hair color choices are limited to either platinum or honey blonde.  Well, you’re going to love the choices Dernier Cri’s color HUD gives you; there are several blonde tones ranging from warm to cool, and within each tone, there are several shades ranging from dark to light. I believe I dyed the Susanna with a color from the “Warm” column, one of the lighter shades.

Overall, I really want to commend Asuka for her innovative work; the hairstyles themselves are great, but what really puts this into squee-worthy territory is the dyeing system. It’s an interesting, customer-friendly feature that I wouldn’t be surprised to see more hair designers begin to adopt.

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I sometimes forget just how mood-altering a drug Second Life can be. Take this past week for instance - in RL, it appears that my home town has decided to start importing our weather directly from Ireland. Though I’d like to say that it doesn’t affect me, I can’t deny that my mood quickly started to get gray, dreary, and soggy like the weather. But that was before Aden Breyer of Aden dropped a folder of hair on me to try out. The minute I did, I was snapped out of my funk.

Can you see why? There’s something just so darn fun about Aden’s hairstyles, my dour mood never stood a chance. This style is called Sarah, which I’m wearing in Hazel. It’s a basic pony with some long bangs falling forward, parted above your right eye. The ponytail itself has a great fullness to it, and there are some flexi strands woven in to add to the realism. Yes, it seems like every hair designer on the grid sells a ponytail hairstyle, but this one from Aden just works for me. The overall look is just so flirty and young, it’s quickly become my favorite ponytail style.

I think I’m also becoming addicted to this style, named Annyka. I typically shy away from really long hairstyles like this in SL, because the prims always seem to fall into your shoulders or trunk unless you’re standing just right and don’t turn your head. Well, Aden solves this problem by dividing the style into two attachments - there’s one shoulder-length traditional hairstyle that attaches to your skull, just like normal prim hair. But there’s also an extension attachment that goes on your spine attachment point, that makes up the strands that fall over your shoulders and down your back.

The upshot of this two-attachment construction, which I’m seeing more and more hair designers starting to adopt, is that no matter how you turn your head the longer strands stay put and don’t do weird things with your body. Because nothing kills a look like the end of a strand of prim hair sticking out through your stomach like something out of Alien, does it?

One word of caution - it may have just been my avatar (I’m a little on the short side), but I had to adjust the individual prims of the spine attachment a little. As sold, there were a few prims that poked out of weird places on my avie, like my cheek. It’s not difficult to fix in any event, but if you’re averse to moving prims around, you might want to check out a demo first before you buy.

Finally, if you’ve ever wanted to take your Girl Power fandom to new and scary heights, Aden has a line of hairstyles that are modeled after the five Spice Girls, as well as famous hairstyles worn by other celebrities. I am not a Spice Girl, nor do I ever aspire to be, so instead I went with the style I’m wearing above, called Rhianna. Presumably it’s named after the beautiful singer, and it does in fact resemble a style I remember her wearing at one point. And, since I haven’t gone anywhere recently without my umbrella (…ella, …ella, …ella), well it just seemed to fit.

My only real issue with the Aden stores is the lack of color demos. I typically like to see a texture rezzed on a prim before buying, because no matter what it always ends up looking different than on a vendor. You can work around this problem by picking up one of each of the style demos Aden has out, that should give you a fairly good sampling of the colors that are available. But it would make things a lot easier if there was a way to get a pack of a single demo style in all available colors, as is done at most hair designers on the grid.

You’ll notice that below, I have listed links to more than one SLurl location within Second Life. Aden’s distribution of hairstyles among its several locations is somewhat idiosyncratic, and some locations seem to have slightly different selections than others. For example, most of the celebrity hairstyles seem to be concentrated at the store on the DollyRock sim. If you go to a particular location and you don’t find what you’re looking for, I’d recommend trying at least one other. Chances are, you’ll eventually find something you like, and maybe even something that will get you out of a funk.

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