The Unofficial Second Life® Fashion and Shopping Blog

When I suggested that a few of us do up final posts with some of our favorite things, I didn’t quite realize how difficult it would be to choose. My top 10 ran into extreme danger of being a top 1000. So I cheated a little and managed a sly sort of dirty dozen (with a few extra dozen shout-outs).

1. Patootie Hair From ETD in Chestnut Brown - my preference since June, 2006. If I’m not wearing Patootie, I’m almost always wearing either the Sleek Bob or Pigtail Braids from Rita Groshomme’s Empyrean Emporium.
2. Courtney Glasses from Persenickety! - seated happily upon my virtual nose since January, 2007.
3. The custom choker made for me by Jackal Ennui (of Lassitude & Ennui) sometime in May of 2006. I have no memory of what she charged me, but I’m sure it wasn’t nearly enough. I love it every bit as much today as I did the day she dropped it on me.
4. Babydoll eyes by E’s - Handpainted Fantasy Eyes - first brown and now gray but my first choice since July, 2006.

5. Squee-tastic virtual dress-up decadence from Simone! and Style Starts Here.

6. Lingerie from Insolence…because I love being a girl in frilly, feminine, delicate things.

7. My Alice in Wonderland themed garden home (yes, that is a hooka smoking caterpillar). About 2000 prims of Heart Garden Centre plants, Kriss Lehmann’s Botanicals, Shade’s fantasy items, and Animania critters.

The rest are too overwhelming to photograph.

8. Prim shoes. I love them. I need them. I’m addicted to them. Especially Shiny Things Spring Stilettos, Lassitude & Ennui Eva Pumps, Prim Seduction’s Beloveds and Uptowns, Thigh High Boots from Abyss, and Strike bowling shoes from Jeepers Creepers. Trust me, this is a *very* abbreviated list.

9. Prim Jewelry (see: Prim Shoes). Mine, mine all mine favorites include the Heirloom sets, my Millefiori pendants, and the Alternating Chanel and Square Diamond necklace by EMJ, the Tapa Set by Kiki Miranda of soon-to-launch Faux Posh, Pirate Beads by Accessories By Eolande, the Elena sets from Lassitude & Ennui (my above mentioned choker (#3) goes without saying. ), the Scheherezade sets from Shiny Things, and the Drop Circle sets from EarthStones.

10. Well textured virtual wrappers for our digital paper doll playground, created with glorious detail. My favorite labels (of present and past) include Blaze, Casa Del Shai, Ceres, Comme il Faut (which absorbed Bossa Nova) Details By Nonna Hedges, Icing, Ingenue, Insolence, Mischief, Muism, Nicky Ree, Nicola Escher, Nyte ‘n’ Day, PixelDolls, Simone!, Solange, and Style Starts Here. This list could easily go on forever, but those are my biggies.

11. My must-have accessories: Huddles from Keiki Lemieux, and MystiTool from Mystical Cookie. If you are navigating the grid without them, you’re playing at a disadvantage.

12. Last, but never least, has to send out a nod to slow dances from Bits and Bobs, Dance 18 from Animazoo, and fashion poses by Reel Expression.

And, yes, trust me, there could have been lots more

This year for my birthday, Gracie girl got me some toucans for the Freudian Slip to go along with the herons, pelicans, squids, and music monkeys that hold watch over the decks while no one’s dancing.

These toucans, like everything from Duggy Bing’s Cartoonimals, are drop-dead adorable. Their style is more exaggerated than realistic, which is an aesthetic I find I’m drawn to more and more within our virtual habitat.

The flying toucan model allows you to set a number of locations after rez so that you can program in a flight path for those who might want to give chase in hopes of fruit loops. The seated version remains perkily in place, opening its beak from time to time and giving a slight tilt of head.

There is a happy zoo at the Cartoonimals store, from door-scratching kitties to big ear-flapping elephants to small skittering turtles and even flying aliens in mini spaceships. I can’t speak for the entire inventory, but the selections I brought home were well adjusted to havok4 living and operated from low-lag scripts. This was a delightful change over some of the more lag-heavy wildlife I’d encountered in the past.

Unable to be contented by just toucans, I hurried over and begged another friend for some flamingos and treated myself to a hug-tastic monkey for the Slip. Then I discovered a few wearables lingering amid the funky critters, and it was all over but the shopping.

Yes, that’s right. Jammies. Could you die? These pjs come in kitty cat, skunk, elephant and monkey style sets that all include boy and girl friendly pjs in different color options. The tops and bottoms are nice, but pretty basic and uninspired. They’ll do the job for any pajama party you’ve got to crash, however, and no one’s really going to care once they catch sight of your slippers - which are just about the most squee-tastic novelty slippers in all SL. I am ALL about these tail-wagging, sweet-faced kitty slippers. The bottom prim is white and tintable so you have a little bit of leeway when it comes to matching ‘em up and THE EYES BLINK. Seriously. Can you live without a pair? No, I didn’t think so.

The next “oh my god, I have to have that!” is the Carmen Miranda hat. Over 350 prims in 2 pieces, this work of art is prim decadence. The minute you put it on, you get this flamboyant need for bright red tango dresses and feel the irresistible urge to wiggle a la Copacabana with Groucho Marx. I cannot defend how often you’ll have use for it or why it’s so damn necessary. It’s just…so damn necessary. From the pineapple crown to the dangling grapes and peeking monkey, I cannot imagine anything that has tickled my little-girl dress-up monster more than this hat. He gives you three sizes to choose from for the base and they all flawlessly work with the upper attachment.

I may have to beg for matching fruit themed jewelry, but I haven’t stopped squeeing yet.

Last, but so far from least, are these little pet carrier backpacks, complete with baby animals you can wear and adore. When I first got to tinkering with these, I was disappointed because the backpacks only came in a really large size that took me the better part of half an hour to fit - and even then, it wasn’t a good fit. After I explained to Duggy that most of us girls weren’t amazon women from the moon, however, he quickly obliged and made small and medium carrier straps that provide a much nicer fit with a lot less tinkering.

You know you gotta have one, and let’s face it - don’t we all sometimes crave a reason to shout “keep your damn hands off my monkey!”

Run over to Cartoonimals and you’re bound to find something that is your cuppa. If I’m wrong - I’ll eat my hat. *grin*

(Read More | Where to Buy)

If you could only have seen me in rl all those years trying to ice skate and hold myself up on my delicate ankles. I could have just saved it for sl, where problems like that do not exist. And, oh, my, our skates are soooo much better here.

Chapeau tres Mignon’s Megg Demina knows the way to a girl’s heart. Her store in Dreamworld East is gorgeous and elegant, a pleasure to shop in. At first glance, it doesn’t look like a lot of inventory, but most items are in vendors, lending an uncluttered look to the store. True to it’s name, most are hats, but you’ll also find other accessories, such as clever belts, and footwear.

I started with her Bunny Ear Muffs, in blue. They are simply darling, and so detailed in their primwork. I love the one flopped ear, too.

They come in 4 colors, and the only drawback is they only come in 4 colors. I also really need a furry scarf to match! They attach to the left ear, but earrings are unnecessary anyway, as the bunny cuteness is quite enough. The soft fur is fuzzy and warm, just perfect for an afternoon of ice skating.

That leads to my next find: I have been dancing around all day on my toe picks in Megg’s elegant little Fur Ice Skates, and high heeled ones at that!

These come in the same 4 colors to coordinate with the earmuffs. The primwork is very good, and with a nice suede texture. But I’ve got a real love affair with that fur. I’m no Hans Brinker, but I’d prefer the blades and hardware be silver, as are traditional skates. And, I think, it just looks better. I love the laces and grommet work on them though. Oh, yeah, wouldn’t matching bunny gloves be nice, or even better, a furry muff?

A hatbox carrying case is included with the skates. You know it dulls the blades if you walk around on them off the ice. They are also scripted with a skating ao, so you’re all ready to skate off…

(Read More | Where to Buy)

I finally was forced by my chattering teeth to turn on my furnace this morning. After logging in to my beachfront home, I simply could not bear to look at myself in some skimpy outfit. So, I set out to find something warmer to wear.

I wandered around in Osaka and came across Bettiepage Voyager’s shop, BP. And, oh my, gosh, golly, gee and holy sheee-it! (That’s as close to a squee as I come, folks.) I found a TWINSET. Yes, a real, honest-to-goodness twinset. That’s two coordinated sweaters, one worn over the other. If you opened my rl closet, there you would find lined up, hanger after hanger of, yes, twinsets. They’re right next to the 2 dozen black skirts and one dozen pairs of black slacks I own. (Hey, you can never have too many of those.)

This is the full whammy here, her Twin Knit Set in gray/blue. It also comes in navy/red, and brown/pink. I am in heaven, and toasty warm now. I also look pretty good. Just call me the Twinset Queen. I just love the loose, ruffly look of the collar, it adds femininity, too. Nothing bugs me more than a tight neck on a sweater. The knit prim cuffs both look good and keep the wind from getting in. And all the prim attachments fit without adjustment.

The textures in the cardigan are wonderful, and with nice, obvious buttonholes. If I have one complaint, it’s the buttons aren’t color-matched to the sweater. Charcoal gray and a bit smaller would have been a nicer touch. These are whimsical, though, and definitely flowers.

(More Twinsanity! after the cut…)
(Read More | Where to Buy)