The Unofficial Second Life® Fashion and Shopping Blog

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)

I realize you’d be doing a lousy job at being a social butterfly without the proper clothing to do it right. Not to worry, there’s plenty out there to feed your fashion frenzy:

Vamp every guy there in Ninja Petion & Zoey Pinkdot’s, Digital Dragon Designs, range of baby doll dresses, Flirtatious. You can go right from work to the party in one of Designing Nicky Ree’s Milly Business Collection outfits. Ravenlynn Templar, Liquid Velvet Studios & Co., has opened a new branch, Enchanted, specializing in fantasy cinema items and clothing. Her Royal Fae gown is gorgeous:

For that upcoming barbecues party, be sure and check out Nephilaine Protagonist’s, Pixeldolls, new top sets. Tuli Asturias has a new dress and a great highwaisted pants outfit for more casual gatherings. Miko Omegamu, Icing, will bring out the devil in you with her Diabolique halter dress. It’s red and stunning.

Jackal Ennui, Lassitude & Ennui, is back with sculpted shoes and jewelry for us. You’ll honest to good ness paint the town red in any of the 9 colors of Fallingwater Cellardoor’s, Shiny Things, new sculpted Supernovas wedgies. I absolutely adore slingbacks, nothing makes me feel more dressed up. And Tesla Miles’ Shiny Felicity Slingback Stilettos are right up my alley. Lucas Lameth, Earthtones Boutique, has just what you need for a garden party: lovely Butterfly Frolic jewelry sets.

Camilla Yosuke, Insolence, known for her lovely lingerie, has come out with a new collection, The Misty Line, all spectacular black latex and leather, what there is of it. It will be a party of a different sort where you wear these. Daequix Scarborough, Daeskins, released her lovely Kharisma skins and shape.

Aleri Darkes, Diversity Hair, has a new top, Quilla, that’s 50% off during her storewide clothing sale. You’ll stand out at any crowded party in Neferia Abel’s, Ivalde, colorful summer jacket, top, skirt outfit.

The party’s over, and,

Signing out for now, I’m…

If you were to take a random sample of the hair worn by women in Second Life, I bet you’d find that one kind of hair is vastly under-represented. No, I’m not talking about the hair on your naughty bits, though that does tend to be under-represented in SL too. I’m talking about curly hair.

The curly hair on your heads, you perverts.

I’m not sure if it’s just a grid-wide conspiracy against curly hair, or if the constraints of traditional prims have just made it easier to make hair that is straight. But whatever the reason, if you’ve decided that your ideal self absolutely must have curly hair, for the most part you’ve been out of luck. And if you specifically wanted curly hair that doesn’t look like you’ve just been the victim of a bad 80’s perm job, then you’ve really been out of luck.

This is the reason why I absolutely lost my mind when I ran into someone at a concert recently who was wearing this wonder of a hairstyle. By which I mean that I immediately began sending her annoying “where? where? pleeeeeeze tell me where” IMs until she gave up her source. (Yes, I know it’s a bad habit. Yes, I do it more often than I should. No, I won’t stop.)

Turns out my IM victim was wearing a ‘do called Page from Zero Style, I’m sporting it in Chestnut in the picture above. I’d been to Zero Style before and have always admired Rei Gully’s work with textured hair and alpha channels, but the Page simply takes everything to a new level. It’s a head full of layer upon layer of tight spiral curls that parts above the left eye and slightly covers the right. The movement on the prims is almost perfect, too - it’s got that slight bounce that curly hair will have, without it flying away on you with every move.

The prims on Page are textured so that you can see individual curled strands, it looks amazing from almost every angle. Yes, I said “almost.” Since this is textured hair, it’s subject to problems with alpha conflict, and at times when rotating the camera around the back of my head, I swear I could see through to my scalp. (I’ll also note that the conflict tends to happen more with lighter shades such as red - which is why I’m making a rare brunette appearance here.) But conflict problems were the rare exception, and you have to be looking very hard to see it - for the most part, this hair looks and moves wonderfully.

While at Zero Style, the Pompadour also caught my eye, I’m staying with the dark shades and wearing it here in Black. I’ve decided that I don’t wear enough messy hairstyles in Second Life, and messy is another thing that textured hair does well. The Pompadour is a beautiful mess with a bun in the back and also a crazy pile of hair up top. No, it’s not curly the way Page is, but there are plenty of curly wisps sprouting off the bun and hanging down around the face and the back of the neck.

If I had to critique anything about the Pompadour, it’s that it isn’t quite flexi enough. Except for a few long strands hanging down from the bun, none of the hanging prims move when you do. It’s a quibble, but it detracts a tiny bit from the realism of what is otherwise a very realistic-looking style.

I’ve reviewed two textured styles here, but Zero Style has a lot more than these, as well as traditional prim constructions too. There’s also a freebie style called You located just to the left of the store’s main entrance, available in eighteen shades which should permit everyone to find something that suits them. So if you’ve never made it by Zero Style, or like me you just haven’t been back in a while, I’d recommend a visit.

(Read More | Where to Buy)

This week was a difficult one, too many great pics! Thank you, readers, for all the incredible submissions and please keep them coming!

It’s spring, so when I saw Sunrise Fairy by Brandy Rasmuson, it immediately went to the short list and was eventually chosen as this weeks pick.

Most don’t know this, but I do have a weakness for pretty wings, even though I don’t often wear them myself. These are just a touch tattered, which if you’re flying around and actually doing stuff, would probably happen. But one thing people do know is that CCC loves Fleur, which Brandy is wearing (though I’d go with a Natural, but only because I don’t own the Blossom set yet). If you’re a pretty fairy, you just have to have flowers in your hair and all around, which Brandy does stunningly. I also like the rich black hair in contrast to all the springy sylvan goodness. I also found it striking that Brandy opted to be a plus-sized fairy, which is unusual to see in SL and adds an old fashioned pastoral/cherubic highlight to the photo. Finally, the Windlight sky effects add that bit of color to the background that gives the scene it’s final kick. A very well done shot by a particularly lovely fairy.

(Read More | Where to Buy)