The Unofficial Second Life® Fashion and Shopping Blog

Hmmm…grid is down…what to write about… Oh! I know! You’ll be shocked — but I have an opinion on something!

Topic for this grid-down day: I think SIM owners should be able to bar people from their property not just according to payment information on file, but number of days in the game.

I know…I know…I know!We were all new once. Fresh off the vine and onto the grid, bumping into people, dashing off before waiting to rez — ahh the days of youth. I am not anti-newbie and I have nothing but respect for those fabulous saints of patience who volunteer in newbie areas to meet, greet, and educate. I had friends to guide me through, and I have been the guide for the many friends I have drug into my virtual addiction. So, please, don’t take this as a “I hate noobs” sentiment.

But, as a SIM owner and continual crankypants — I want three-day-old avies off my damn SIM. Each time I go into Region/Estate I lament the fact that I don’t want to block people based on their payment information, but on their rez day.

Sure, it makes me sound evil, but I have very rational reasons:

* Griefers are generally using alts that are under 30 days old and they are a general pain in my ass. If I’d wanted giant boobies on my lawn, I’d have put them there myself. Being able to ban alts under X number of days means they’d at least have to PLAN to grief me for days ahead of time and if they’re putting that kind of effort into hassling me, well, then, they deserve to have a go.

* This would steer newbies to spend more time in newbie areas to learn basic SL etiquette and concepts before they start trundling around on private SIMs wandering onto people’s private property and invading personal space. When you first join SL it’s all just a game and the concept of “virtual private property” isn’t quite embedded into the little gray cells yet.

I can see a concern with newbies not having the run of the grid and unfair prejudices, etc. Yes, if you’re new you should have every right to the mainland areas and all community areas, but since private SIM owners are paying for private SIMs and… I mentioned I’m a crankypants, right?

But before you think I’m being all elitist, please note that the griefing and trespassing issues are legitimate ones - especially for venue owners and people who rent out residential SIMs. Frankly, I think being able to use payment information and rez date in tandem would be ideal and solve enough of the problem that most would be happy with it. Imagine if you could ban any account from your property with no payment info on file that also was less than 30 days old. Voila! Most annoying griefers gone.

I’m sure there’s a black hole of issues I’m not seeing or some larger picture I’m missing. Actually, I’m not sure of that at all. I just know if I have to delete one more pair of giant boobies off my lawn I’m going to climb a virtual bell tower and take a virtual hostage.

The fashion world in Second Life is like New York - it never sleeps. Store openings, sales, fashion weeks, rumors of new clothing lines around every corner… it’s been wonderful!

Over the weekend, two talented designers, Pukk Abel of First Impressions and Irelyn Christensen of Sugar Punk have combined forces and opened their new store, IndustriElle. It carries both of their very different lines for two great tastes that taste great together.

Callie Cline is impatient to open up her new sim, Calliefornia. She’s eager to introduce “Tomboy” a new clothing line developed in collaboration with Six Kennedy of Gurl Six, Jackal Ennui of Lassitude and Ennui and Lollypop’s Tuli Asturias. She will also present MainLine, her new menswear clothing label.

Until then, however, we’ll have to make do with the iVillage Fashion Show event coinciding with New York fashion Week. There will be new designs from Callie Cline, Simone! and Paper Couture on the catwalks, as well as some purportedly brilliant freebie gift bags for attendees on February 5th.

Second Style was nice enough to tip us off about some critical sales - Rebel Hope is having a 50% off sale on specially marked items at Rebel Hope Designs (look for the sale signs, they are everywhere!) and Nicky Ree is doing deep discounts on new swimwear through February. And in sad but happy fashion news, Torrid Midnight has reduced the price of all her clothing at TorridWear to a mere $50L as she is now semi-retired from fashion.

In other bargain news, Six Kennedy at Gurl6 is offering Sweetie, a cute hairstyle with a heart barrette for 25L in celebration of Valentine’s Day. Stephen Lightworker of RealSKIN has updated his Rachel RealSkin Cleavage Edition and is celebrating with a tempting offer: join his RealSKIN group by February 4th and receive a free Strawberry Makeup skin for women.

For the guys, Calico Ingman has created prim facial hair for men. It comes in an array of colors with all kinds of mix and match pieces over at Calico Creations. And Namssor Daguerre owner of Second Skin Labs has released a new male skin, MGX 2.0 Adam. (He is a skilled skin craftsman now free to create new skins for women.)

Among Antonia Marat’s new releases at artilleri! are a sailor outfit called Dakota, reminiscent of Betty Grable; June, a country rock floral; and underwear called Sweetheart. They share a vibe with Canimal’s new Rockabilly Trash ensembles and new dress named Pollether. Nephilaine Protagonist of PixelDolls fame has also posted a really sexy line of jackets, jeans and shirts named Trouble.

Accessories pull all our outfits together. Astry Mirabeau of Digital Knickers styled some chain belts and belly rings in awesome tribal designs. Canimal Zephyr recently reviewed the fun pumps designed by Autumn Heyse of Autumn Elements over at Style Disorder. But among the new accessory releases this week, Stephania Marx of Synthetic Dreams wins the award for totally one of a kind with her Lots-A-Bots and Leather Darling belts:

Avatars wearing robots… it’s virtual fashion gone mad!

Somehow I was not surprised to read over on Appearance Mode that pleas for women’s professional attire is one of the most frequent call-outs in the Fashion Emergency group. The pickings are pretty slim, which is why I was delighted to find the brand new Business Suit from Adam N Eve:

Sachi Vixen insists that when you add the skirt prim, this makes the outfit into the “dress” version, but I insist that this is instead the most fabulous skirt suit ever. I absolutely adore the charming belt and the shape of the perfect, classy, stylish knee-length skirt. It is business perfection and someone better hurry up and invite me to a meeting.

While you can wear it without the prims as a mini skirt, I would encourage you not to, as the skirt is really way too short to be worn on its own as business attire unless your business encompasses strolling past street corners. Having said that, it also comes with a white blouse which I refuse to wear because I am all about the plunging necklines. Apparently my inner harlot is conflicted about her career decisions, because I’m just wearing the jacket with a bra.

As if the skirt is not glory enough, it also comes with trousers:

That makes this one gorgeously versetile outfit with a number of looks all in one package. I did have to mod the trousers as I prefer a wider leg, but they come with a fairly straight fit. (Pants Fit: 65 is your friend, however.)

If you are not a fan of the buttoned up business blue, you’ll be thrilled to know that the suit comes in six colours. While I’m down with the theory that by golly, yes, women should be able to buy suits in brown, I’m not planning to, you know, wear one or anything. But your other options are grey, moss green, red and purple, so you’re sure to find the perfect compliment to your buisness wardrobe.

Speaking of complimentary items, the shoes are the classic Lady Slingbacks from Shiny Things, my shoe crack dealer of choice. They also come in a medly of colours, all of which happen to coordinate with the suit. While the total expenditure for the suit and the shoes may not be cheap, it is perfectly coordinated and oh-so-flexible, so for the business women of SL, I’m calling this a sound fiscal decision.

(Read More | Where to Buy)

It’s somewhat ironic that the cure for fashion blahs in SL is, for me anyway, a shopping spree focused on hand-drawn clothes, and that I’m currently getting my hand-drawn fix at Julliette Westerburg’s Tres Blah. I absolutely love the hand-drawn look, so whenever anyone new and totally talented hits this niche of the the fashion scene, I get very, very excited.

My absolute favourite item in the line is the rose coloured belted top with the excellent woven belt. This top has a tremendously good drape, and seen from the back, you actually want to reach out and pluck the fabric. Its worth noting that this shirt is very, very scoop necked indeed, so you will need to find a bra or a cami of some kind to wear with it or else you will be sharing your left nipple with all of Second Life. Your call, really.

The sign for Tres Blah’s signature Juju jeans says “They’re the bee’s knees!” and oh honey, they so are:

(No, I didn’t change poses or find shoes. After a late night at the Slip and five hours of broken sleep with a snoring Boxer and a cranky husband, there are mornings when you just take what you can get.)

These brilliant denims come in your choice of two shades of blue or two shades of black, and they are just so nicely textured and well seamed. Because Tres Blah is nice to its customers, not only are all four jeans mod, but there are free cuffs available, too. So, you can pop into appearance mode and shorten your pants to make adorable cropped jeans:

The free cuffs are also fully mod, and I have no doubt that anyone with more coffee in the house then I have could do a better job with them. But despite my cackhandedness, they are the cute.

The collection at Tres Blah is, as they say, small but perfectly formed. And I would like to lodge an official complaint and whine: this is simply not good enough. We must have more, and we must have it now!

(Read More | Where to Buy)