The Unofficial Second Life® Fashion and Shopping Blog

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…)
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If you have a weakness for Gothic Lolita (like moi) then you should probably stay away from Draconic Lioncourt’s store because you’re going to drop a mint (also like moi). I don’t wear this flavor of highly detailed yummy black goodness very often, but sometimes a selection just screams my name and refuses to let me leave the store. In this case, the dress just…cawed to me.

This is “The Raven” — part of a suite of four Edgar Allen Poe inspired stand-out sets available amid all the other luxuriant goth joy that is Draconic Kiss. There is delightfully detailed prim work on the costume, and I was impressed with all of it — the decadent multi-layered flex skirts and puffy shoulder prims, the raven-feather choker and especially the deep purple patchwork raven that sits on your shoulder.

The set also includes a goth skin with purple raven-feather tattoo beneath the eye and electric purple lips. The rest of the skin really doesn’t matter as the face and hands are the only sections of the fashion canvass of you that are visible beneath the dark delish layers of this costume, and I am not an expert on goth skins by any means. However the pale tone is smooth and milk-white without being pasty, the necessary bits and details (navel, nips, etc) are well rendered and there is a faboo black and purple raven tattoo on the back between the shoulder blades.

Did I mention the raven that sits on your shoulder? Although I didn’t buy them all, each of the four costumes seems to come with some little attachment like this. In my case, the patchwork purple raven with his one button eye and one stitch eye was just too cute. I know the Black Cat version comes with a kitty carry around. But, honestly, how could it be more adorable than a little purple raven?

I chose the Bloom boots from Maitreya to compliment the wicked witch ring-striped stockings (which, I must confess, have a wee bit of an alignment problem) and the SuperPony hairstyle from Armidi. I know there are gothier selections out there, but I was already a poser and figured I might as well keep a little of myself amid the pale.

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Having a hard time making ends meet? I’m afraid I’m not going to make it any easier for you this week. I guess you may as well resign yourself to poverty. But you’ll look soooo gooood.

More great Halloween stuff is still coming off the designer’s desktops. Stephen Lightworker, RealSKIN, has new Drow and Dryad skins to show. Antonia Marat, Artilleri, did costumes with a vintage flair, army, sailor and hula. Sachi Vixen and Damen Gorilla, AdamnEve, did no less than 7 adorable, sexy costumes this week, plus are giving away 4 great sets of Halloween eyes. Skin and hair freebies, along with choice of shoes for newbies are another free gift. Also check out their new hair.

Nephilaine Protagonist, PixelDolls, made the grade with her new tops and skirts. They’ve a southwestern flair, with tassels and flounces, and bright autumn colors. Rebel Hope shows us what she’s made of with Victoria, a stunning medieval gown . Marlene Vaughan, Marly’s released the ultimate Star Trek dress for you fans.

You’ll want to make off with Shai Delacroix’s, Casa del Shai, Queen of Hearts Gown, Limited Edition. Shai added another goodie to the package a crown. Neferia Abel, Ivalde, tailor made a smashing fall ensemble, Mira. A layered sweater, jacket, couture shorts, legwarmers, scarf total package will warm your Fall. Nyte Caligari, Nyte’n'Day, added a new dress, cocktail length, to her stock.

I’ll make no bones about how much I like Camilla Yosuke’s, Insolence, Laure lingerie set. In great Autumn colors, it’s perfect for lounging by the fire with someone close.

Siyu Suen, Illusions, makes sculpties while the sun shines, and just finished fabulous angel wings. Dakota Buck’s, Savvy?, all ready for the Melbourne Cup Races in her Cup Day outfit, complete with riding glove, also sold separately! She’d made 2 other nice ensembles, too.

Roslin Petion’s, Tete a Pied, skin, Marie ,is a match made in heaven for those who like the Marie Antoinette gowns popping up so lovely around sl. Tuli Asturias made a believer of me with the release of her Series 3 Skins . She’s also got a fantastic gown and great sweater/skirt/capri outfit.

Kory Jewell, Bewitched Hair Reporter, blogged Shel had 7 new releases this week. Make sail to Diversity Hair. Aleri Darkes has some nice ladies’ styles and redid Cobain for men. Also a 50% off sale until Halloween. I need to make much of Hairstyles by Tami McCoy’s new Cupcake hairstyle . It’s soo cutesy and adorable!

Men, make a beeline for Shiny Things to buy the best pair of shoes I have ever seen. Fallingwater Cellardoor did good with Spencer, just take a look.

Freebie wise, Ravenlynn Templar, Liquid Velvet Studios, is offering Football Sunday, a cute cheerleader’s outfit, but only available on Sundays during football season. Caliah Lyon, Muse, offers free a lovely set of freshwater pearls, and watches for both sexes.

Signing out for now, I’m…

It all started so innocently, paraphrasing: “Hey Crono, Sabrina used to go to fashion shows, but isn’t around just now and I don’t like them. How about you go visit some and write em up?”

“Sure thing, Oh great Patootie haired boss.”

Now usually. I don’t do fashion shows, I’m often not in SL when they’re happening, or else they’re showing clothing that’s not my usual thing, or else I’m busy dancing on a cow or something. But I was in SL and free for the MODA October show.

Here’s a bit from the MODA press release on the show:

Annie’s Costumes - This RL costume designer has brought all of their creative experience to give you the full Hallowe’en treatment. From sexy to scary, Annie’s has the full line to make your avatar the hit of the party. Every day is Hallowe’en at Annie’s. http://extremehalloween.blogspot.com

Pretty Magic – Just in time for Hallowe’en, Mona Howitt brings you the finest in Hogwarts fashion. She is a Second Life fashion designer and Hogwarts student. Her products extend from medieval clothes, gowns, cloaks over accessories like hats and glasses (”Pretty MAGIC”) to modern pyjamas and sleepwear (”Finally”) and are sold at Winterfell, Wizard’s Alley and Pando. http://prettymagic.blogspot.com/

Crucial Creations - Crucial Armitage has designed detailed jeans, leather pants, metal and mesh outfits, chaps and boots for everyone. Men will love standing out in Crucial’s Casual Male line that includes finely textured shirts and striking outfits. Women will feel confident and alluring in Crucial’s sexy leather and lace outfits, various skirts, bikinis, and blouses for all occasions. Crucial also has a wide variety of shoes and boots in all styles and colors. http://www.crucialcreationsinsl.com/fashion/

Pizazz! – Lynuor Richelieu has just burst on the Second Life scene. After spending years as a real life costume designer, she has unleashed her new fashion line for men and women at LeftBank Studios (116,95,40). Filled with youthful elegance, these clothes are sure to please.

Check the MODA blog for up to date information and pictures from our last show (http://www.MODAFashionSL.blogspot.com ).

I knew how getting into shows themselves could be a problem so I arrived early and wearing the traditional Linden Lifestyles fashion show attending gear: a nun’s outfit. Say hello to “Sister Crono”.

So I sat and waited, and noted one thing I absolutely dislike about certain locations: no-script.

For my sake, having scripting on is a good thing, since I use my Slurlblogger from Ordinal Malaprop of Caledon to take notes from within SL without having to have a notepad window up and getting in my way, and/or using up valuable RAM/CPU cycles that could be used by SL. Having scripting enabled is also handy for communication with non-english speakers with my Babbler. I did chat with a couple of the Models, who were quite pleasant, and did a fine job themselves. I should have headed backstage to chat and hang with them.

Here’s what the MODA venue looks like:

Looks nice doesn’t it? Yes it does, but it doesn’t work so well for taking fashion shots. See those faux spotlights, they got in the way. The spotlights were essentially a good aesthetic touch but didn’t work on a practical level. Personally I think the catwalk could also be a little more compact, but otherwise the venue loaded well and I could see it just fine.

The models were a different story. Each model had to change several times and they seemed to rush them out on the catwalk which did not give their clothes enough time to properly rez for me. Throughout the show I was lucky if the outfit totally rezzed by the time the model left the catwalk. And I still kept seeing the first outfit the model wore on some of them. The script seemed to be out of sync a few times too. I would like to have had a copy, because it wasn’t repeated in the text chat! A big no no for the press, because if it’s in the chat I can go back to the log and find all the info I need. There might have been a handout of some kind, but I either didn’t see it, or didn’t get one somehow.

Here’s some shots from the show, I took them in standard res rather than my usual high res because I didn’t trust my SL machine enough to handle high res snapshots during a fashion show very well.

This dress is from “Pretty Magic” and I rather liked it. It comes in lots of colors, which is a good thing, indeed.

There were men’s fashions at the show too, including these cute men’s pj’s from “Pretty Magic”

Crucial Creations had these fine looking leather pants, that didn’t fully rez for me until the model was backstage and changing again. The texture on them is faboo. I’d have snuck back for more photos, but they were changing pretty fast.

I wanted to see more of what I did see, and my curiosity was piqued enough that I’m going to visit the designers presented in the show, but here’s hoping for a fashion show that keeps in mind the limitations of the platform for the average SL user.