Sax Shepherd Jewellery line: Frills

The Blessed Velvet Head, who is otherwise known to people who don't use silly titles as Salome Strangelove, has been encouraging a friend of hers to maketh the jewellery.  This be-eth a good thing, because Salome knows her stuff, and knows the grid could use a good jewellery maker.  Salome also told me she's been telling Sax about former jewellery maker Miriel Enfield and explaining her needs in jewellery.  The new line being from Sax Shepherd Designs and called "Frills"

So, being as I am a former lackey of hers, I was provided with some stuffs to look at.  Chunky beady stuffs  The first set that I caught notice of in my inventory  was the red and black lacquer Poetry set, being intrigued by the name I put it on.

CC loves.  That's basically all I have to say, I'm no jewellery expert, but I know what I love, and I love that.  And if I had seen it while out shopping with L$ in my pocket, it would have ended up in my inventory.  I love it that much.  Comes in other colors too!  And with armbands and anklets.  (I'm not much for ankletts, not even in RL.)  It is also reasonably priced, Salome is training Sax well.

I also tried on the Carbide Pitanga set, nobody does carbide in SL, which is a crying shame.  Which I also liked for it's chunky sort of stripey grayness.

That is also not the only carbide set Sax has done, which is a good thing. 

The sets are scripted with easy to use resize scripts...I had to take them down about 5% for me.  And if this is what Sax has come up with having only started doing jewellery, I can't wait to see what he comes up with once he really gets going.  And thank you, Oh Great Piggie Bunned Salome, for bringing unto me the beady goodness.


SLURL to SSD: Frills at Seven Veils

CC McGrumpyPants: Hamlet Total Fail.

Hamlet is complaining about his technical issues again.

I will say it again, he's wrong to blame LL  The blame should rest on himself, and his inability to recognize that default laptop video drivers often need replacing. 
 LL themselves say that on Windows Vista and 7 you should use the absolute latest drivers.  I've troubleshooted serveral friends SL issues, and I have found that several times, their graphics driver was NOT up to date and sending them to Nvidia/ATI to download the latest driver fixed the problem.

 But let me address those bullet points:

• Buy a better laptop to run SL.  

No, SL is hard on laptops and since most laptops don't have user upgradable graphics cards, you're out of luck if you want to  upgrade.

•  Get a better graphics card to run SL.

Well that 335M should run SL fairly well for what he does. Though turning on Shadows will probably drop his framerate in half.

• Stop using a Dell/Alienware to run SL.

Yes, while Alienware was once a boutique brand the hard-core gamer geeks tend to prefer other brands now.

• Stop using Windows 7 and install Linux OS to run SL.

Yes, he could, I do.  I have minimal issues, I often make jokes about how stable SL is for me compared to others, but SL should run pretty well oh his laptop once he gets his issues fixed.

• Use another third party viewer (made by non-Linden staff) to run SL.

Nope, I always recommend LL viewers, either mainline or Snowstorm if you want to contribute to testing and catching problems before they reach main release

• Stop expecting SL to work like a mainstream product and just learn to run SL.

Yes, SL is not a mainstream product.  Gamer companies PAY nvidia to add profiels for the games to Nvidia's control panel/settings thingy.  They give or supply at reduced cost sofware and games to include WITH video cards.  LL does not do those things.

• Here is a long and detailed technical explanation on how to fix your problem that would be nearly impossible for an average consumer to follow, but you should do so anyway to run SL.

It's no fault but your own, Hamlet, if people tell you how to fix your issues but you refuse to do so and keep on complaining.  I know that if I'm experiencing graphics problems in windows, the first thing I should check is to see if Nvidia released a new driver package version.  Also if I had a hybrid card setup as in some laptops I would check to make certain the crappy Integrated half is disabled and ensure that it ONLY uses the good half with it's own RAM.  Installing a new graphics driver is easy, it's not hardcore nerd work, and everyone should know where to go to get updated video drivers for their computer.  It's kind of like knowing how to check the air in the tires of a car and put air in if needed.

Hamlet, I offer again to fix your problems via remote assistance as I said in a previous post.  I'll even sweeten the offer.  If I can't fix your SL issues in an hour or less, I will pay you L$1000.  I make this offer out of nerd pride and the desire to get you in-world more.  You may not like the fact that I called you on your indirect financial relationhsip with Facebook in regards to your excessive shilling of a Facebook/SL connection, I am truly offering to help

ADDENDUM:  Just had an idea.  Hamlet, since you went all gaga over Philip Rosedales Coffee & Power startup, maybe you could offer up a job there to fix your SL issues remotely....when they're back up running. silly startups, keep your original stuff running until the new stuff is 100% ready, then do the transition.

And Hamlet...neither you or I, are Tom Wolfe.
.

Bloggy Disservice

I must apologize to my very few readers, and to the SL shoppers in general for doing them a disservice in my blogging.

I have ignored certain issues, like quality, or store builds, or pricing and not commented on them.   you see, as a blogger, it's part of my duty to do things like that.  We bloggers should be advocates and ombudspeople for consumers, insisting on good quality, fair prices, etc.  I have not been doing that and I should have been.

In part it's because I'm nice and don't want to make people upset, or cause drama.  I have attempted to discuss certain issues in certain groups but it tends to cause a slight ruckus, so I back down.

But today I'm going to talk about certain issues, without getting too particular, for the most part.

1. Mesh and Pricing:  Personally I don't think creators should charge more for mesh products.  For one, mesh has been in the works for ages, so creators should have been learning the tools a year ago, though I do take that in account.   The real reason is that there's a glut of stuff in SL and shoppers are tapped out!  Shoppers can only spend so much, and there's so much supply and only so much demand...that should mean that prices should DROP, but they haven't.  And of course I've always been a big fan of "everyday low prices" a la Bare Rose.  And also, Mesh is a crapshoot, sure there's demos for some of it, but i's still a crapshoot.

 2. Hair.  Most mesh hair is "meh" and it looks plastiky.  I haven't seen any really worth owning...not even Truth or Elika, though they come closest.  There is also a problem with a "sameness of styles" recently...it's hard to tell hair apart since everyone is doing superlong and full hair that's swept back on one side and poofed out on the other for the frowny girls with hammerpants.  This is especially a problem with Truth hair, which is really having the "sameness" issue with me.  Enough with the headbands and the brushed back bangs.

3. Skills and quality:  Some creators haven't really skilled up over the years and it shows.  Some have also been a bit slack in the quality  I think every creator could use a second pair of eyes, to help keep them honest. I've had two recent purchases that emphasized this.

One was an ensemble that looks fine from a distance but up close it's edges need work..and this was a long time creator that should have caught it.   What's worse is that I picked up a similar item from another long time maker that is 1/3rd the price and is of higher quality.

Another was a mesh dress that is simply sub-par, even if I like the texture/color of it.  Neither have been seen on this blog and they won't ever be seen.

4. Shoes are overpriced, compared to everything else, we all know this and we shouldn't put up with it as consumers...so stop buying L$1000 shoes already!

5. Pricing in general, take what I said about mesh and add this:  Supply is high, demand is static.  There's only so many people willing to spend money in SL.  Part of that is the designers problem for overusing freebies as a marketing tool.  I know several people who simply DO NOT SHOP, and group hop, and do other things to get a ton of freebies/cheapies.  Rather than charging a high price and getting few sales...why not charge low enough that people actually spend MORE than they what they would at the high price level without realizing it.  Would you rather they spend 800 on one item, or 1000 or 1200 without realizing it because your stuff is cheap enough that they buy multiple items.  And do NOT charge more for the complete set than the items bought separately added together....that will REALLY annoy me and make me not want to shop there ever again.   Sure it could be a mistake, but that's why you need the second pair of eyes!  Every vendor should be checked by someone else for typos/misnaming/mispricing!

6. Store builds.  I have seen far too many crappy store builds lately.  Mostly it seems to be an issue of wasted space, don't make me walk a half mile to see all your stuff.  Gown makers seem to be the worst at this.   Azul, I'm looking at you...single sided displays that are spread out too much and are overly large...  And don't get me started on inconsistent naming schemes, or items not given good descriptive names. In other words, don't name the glitch pants, glitch pants...give them a "Dress X - Noir- glitch pants, pants layer" name.

7. Use your groups, for other than just dropping announcements of new releases.  they can supply the second pairs of eyes, and if you can get them to be frank, good honest feedback.

8.  Talk to the bloggers/press, and actually "listen"...we can really help you, when we're not being too whiny.

This does not mean I'm going to blog stuff and then say how I don't like it or that it sucks...I'm too nice for that.  But be aware that I DO notice things and DO talk about them sometimes.

My entry in the Summer Beauty Drag Pageant.

Just a quick post on my entry into the Summer Beauty Drag Pageant I mentioned last post:

On all:

Shape: Male, I modded my own shape

Skin: Nomine Andro Latte clean

Makeup layers by MOCK

Tiara and Jewellery by Native Visions, Wee-Ah & Rhia,

On Left:

Truth Jean Hair in Blood, Miriel
Enfield Eyes in Strong Green,
Lady D suit by Elisea Carter,
Carmen pantyhose by Insolence,
Madison Mesh boots from DECO
MOCK Makeup layers used: Super Neutralogy eye, and and L`Eau lip gloss in Russian Red

On Center and Right:

Truth Tanya Hair in Blood
"Nine" Gown by Purple Moon,
Mock Makeup layers used: Licorice Whips makeover and L`Eau lip gloss in Russian Red

Summer Beauty Drag Pageant

Here's details on the Summer Beauty Drag Pageant  envisioned by Aemeth Lysette.

That's an interesting idea actually. In my very early days I tried to make the male shape I started with as pretty as I could...but just decided to click the gender button. The trick is that they have to use a male shape are are encouraged to use a male skin, though most MTF crossdressers/drag folks and transitioners tend to use full coverage makeup...at least until they've done permanent beard removal.

Though personally those femboys with their waif-like bishonen meets kawaii shapes are going to have an edge. Put a female skin on them and bingo, pretty!  I took one of my acquaintanceto my favorite skin crack dealer, and ETD...I mean Elikatira some months ago. Made her...I mean him, look even more adorable and squee-worthy.

I don't plan on participating, for one I think I deleted my male shape. and I'd probably be too quick to cheat a little even if it was just subconsciously, since I know which male faces and bodies are "easier" to transform.  "how about I make him slender, and short, and give  him some nice andrej pejic cheekbones, and make  his eyes slightly larger, and give him a slender nose and lets plump up those lips a touch so that when I put a minimal makeup skin and MOCK makeup on him, he'll look faboo"

Though this quote in a post by my Nemesis Hamlet Au over at NWN (okay he's not REALLY my nemesis), over at NWN, made me go WTF!:

Your actual real life gender is irrelevant, though I have a feeling that all else being equal, female SLers will probably have an edge, even over all the many men who like to roleplay as hot avatar girls.

I absolutely disagree.  Who knows more about making a male shape and face look "feminine", female SLers...or male bodied people who actually crossdress/do drag or are transitioning?  Personally, I know quite a few skills related to that, and yes, they're applicable to SL.

This is not the first time that Hamlet's ignored the existence of MTF transfolk in SL.  Have you noticed that Hamlet seems to mention/promote the blogs of female avatars that are open about their RL female identities?  I think this Hamlet quote from a post about the Boudoir design house sisters says it all

 Which is yet another example to counter the cliche that glamorous female avatars in Second Life are really fat naked guys in a basement -- sometimes, they're actually glamorous European women in a high-end fashion salon.

Yeah, lets hide the fact that some female avatars are played by non-transgendered men...and some even played by MTF transfolk like me, under a rug, shall we.

Caledon Minecraft!

Caledon has a Minecraft Server provided by our dear Generous Guvnah Shang, as a sort of bonus to feature to Caledon residents. Here's a short video I made, showing one of the "trains" a bit of the main Village and I eventually walk to my little outpost at the edge of the Jungle.

A Challenge for Hamlet Au

My Nerd pride is acting up today. Ol Hamlet Au, whom I openly think is clueless in regards to SL, has been complaining about problems with SL clients for a long time on his 18 month old high end...snicker...laptop.

A recent post has the gist of his complaints First off, in hardcore gamerland, which I am not a part of, high end becomes dumpster crap very very quickly. I looked up his specs of his Alienware m11x. It is NOT a high end machine...not even for 2010.

 It's got a Dual core CPU running at 1.3 GHz....the slowest I've ever run SL is on a 2.2 GHz Single core, and a 2.0 GHz dual core machne. It uses Hybrid graphics, it uses integrated for basic stuff and a GT335M for things like SL...THAT is what is probably causing the issues.

For one if Hamlet's lifestyle is as mobile as he says it is, he's probably running that thing unconnected from power which might switch to integrated...which will suck.

And secondly, that GT335 is only slightly better and in a couple of ways...worse than my GT220.

Really...compare them GT 335M GT 220

While it does have more cores than my GT220, it's slower and it's OpenGL support (which SL uses) isn't as good: 2.1 intead of the 3.1 my GT220 supports.

 I want to fix Hamlet's issue, because one of the reasons I think Hamlet is clueless about SL these days is that he doesn't spend enough time in world. And the reason he doesn't is his tech issues, which I'd lay odds I could fix in an hour or less. Which would basically be, uninstalling imprudence...removing his settings.xml file from the standard viewer path, installing V3, installing the newest nvidia drivers...turning off Aero...and totally disabling the low end intel-integrated part of his hybrid graphics.

So here's the challenge to Hamlet: Let me Remote in to your box....if I can fix the issue in an hour or less....I get a reward. What sort of reward? Well, more dresses would be nice.....but I'd settle for an Op-Ed gig on NWN or even being unbanned from comments.

 Now you're all thinking: "But CC Hamlet knows you think he's clueless and would never let you remote into his laptop."..that's true, but I have nerd pride and would never take out my disagreement on Hamlet's writing...on his SL experience. I want his experience to be better so he spends more time in-world and becomes LESS clueless.

I also sent an e-mail to Hamlet a few weeks ago with a few similar suggestions.

 By the way, Organic Silk Dress from League, Analog Dog "Gala" hair, G Field shoes.

Harper Beresford makes me buy stuff.

Harper Beresford makes me buy stuff...well she doesn't exactly make, as in holding a melon gun to my head, but her blog makes CC want stuffs NOW! very very often.

Harper did a post where she showed off the Maitreya Nolita dress in Red with a recent Analog Dog release called Sassafrass. I already had the dress, which is faboo and practically every fashionista on the grid has it already, in several colors, which I haven't posted on the blog. but when I saw the post, I needed that hair NAO.



The hair reminds me of Queue Marlowe's earlier style, , that's Harper's namesake, which I also like, being both above the shoulder and curly/wavy. Except Sassafrass is better because it comes in Queue's newer colors. IMHO Queue does some of the best curly/wavy hair on the grid.




Harper recently showed off a dress from SAS, called La Seine, that comes with short poofy tulle skirts and traditional BIG ASS SL "battleship skirts". But she did not mention the Audrey Hepburnesque hat that comes with it.



So that made the ensemble even more squee-worthy for me. I love poofy lil party skirts and I also love Audrey Hepburnesque hats, because I worship the Audrey, as everyone who reads this blog knows by now.

It's a simple hat, but sometimes, simple is good.




Also harper didn't show off the Battleship skirt, but that's okay because I prefer the short skirt too, but if you need a BIG ASS skirt for some social venue that's picky and wants you to wear one, it comes with one.




When Harper showed off this tuty updo with a very low bun, I was all over that like a hat wearing fashionista obsessed with finding a good updo that works my hats would be. The gown she showed it off with was by Azul, but I didn't get that one, but I got this more "Dancing with the Stars one" called: Blossoms Joli




As you can see, I decided to pair it with a spray tan (just the medium tone of one of my standard skins) and lashes with oomph from Beetlebones just like one of those ballroom dancers. Here's the back.



And some close-ups of the hair. Now its not perfect, and this color isn't exactly CC's color (I'll try the Red Velvet color eventually) but it's reasonably good hat suitable updo.








My skin and shoes are my usual 5th & Oxfords and G Field's.

SLURL's

SLURL to Analog Dog

SLURL to Maitreya

SLURL to SAS

SLURL to TuTy

SLURL to Azul

Sometimes I just want to smack the oldbie crank commenters on NWN.

Really. @#$# oldbie cranks with axes to grind! What's funny is that I'm one of them too!

NWN Deathwatch post on Firefly RP sim

RP sim's aren't viable long term, no, not even with cheaper tier some of the oldbie cranks go on about, because when they lose their "funding angel" they go down it's that simple. They simply DO NOT PAY FOR THEMSELVES RP groups really ought to start charging fees to enter their land and fees to support their groups, donations aren't going to cut it if the "funding angel" has a bad year and needs to cut back or gets bored with SL, or annoyed with the Drama of RP groups. The tools do support access fees you know.

Let me quote Iggy here:

It's one sim. But that is how it starts. If LL loses its RPers, its over. They've already lost the business world. The educators and nonprofits are seeping away.

Oh Iggy, the hardcore RP community in SL is miniscule. the clubgoing howlzers outnumber them 10 to 1 at least, even in the old days hardcore RP was a niche.

For all the fashionista angst over mesh doo-dads and the right eyeshadow, I'd wager that there's not enough XXX and play-Barbie customer base out there to keep the Lab open.

Oh Iggy, you're like those Slashdotters that think everyone thinks like them and wants to spend lots of time tweaking/building and messing with computers rather than just buying something that works without fiddling. You know the ones, who t hink that because their nerd games like Eve Online are 90% male, that SL is as well. They're the ones who keep that "there are no women on the internet" meme going.

But, Iggy, The Barbie girls...they outnumber you and the people like you by a HUGE margin. Haven't you SEEN the HUGE number of SL fashion blogs? Do you not realize that avatar appearance enhancements, drive the SL economy? In other words, the Fashionistas basically run SL behind the scenes. They have for quite a while now. They're the ones spending the money. Skin Fair? Hair Fair? Sin Fair? Fashion for Life? Vintage Fair? Fantasy Fair?

There's tons of old fashionista centric regions STILL going strong. Because unlike college students popping into SL for a class project, or Open source obsessed nerds who buy their furry avatar to make a statement against the "Barbies" (and also say how they didn't have to pay for their furry form on opensim because it was "free") and then spend the rest of the time building Battlemechs or starfighters in sandboxes, fashionfolk spend money. A LOT of money. Look, Iggy, read these posts by Salome Strangelove, that'll help you understand I think:

Post about being a girloholic

about misogyny and denigration of fashion play

The real reason some of the cranks exist is...the hardcore builder/scripter nerds aren't the center of SL anymore, LL doesn't need to cater to them like it used to. I'm lucky, while I'm a nerd, being a fashionista means that I don't feel as alienated from modern SL culture as folks like Orca Flotta or Shockwave Yareach or foneco Zuzu seem to be. Once there were quick build contests, and everyone driving around in vehicles, and hanging out in the nerdy places the "builder/scripter" crowd enjoyed. But not anymore. Now there's voice, not just text and there's a horde of 25-45 year old women going around SL, and they tend to not go to Aerodromes or space museums.

I think that folks like Orca, Shockwave, etc, kind of feel betrayed, like SL turned it's back on them...they helped build it, they were the pioneers and now it's "fine fine, you helped kickstart SL, but we don't need you so much anymore, now shut up about sim crossings, only the cult of the vehicle and a few steamlanders really care about that, everyone else TP's everywhere so it's not our #1 priority so just be quiet and go back to fiddling with your vehicles in your vanity sims that you basically use as sandboxes." You can see it in how Orca and the others talk about "The masses" and how they feel ignored. They don't want new users...they want to go back the way it was, when people like them were a larger portion of the SL userbase.

But deep down they know SL needs new users and they resent it, and it makes them oldbie cranks...grid love em. Now they spend a lot of time bragging up opensim...which is nerd centric like the old SL...not very many Barbies at all there. But what they don't understand is that the most important part of SL isn't the prims or the scripting or all the things the builder/scripter crowd holds up as the greatest things in the universe....it's the people. And opensim is going nowhere without people. Sure the nerds love it, but it's not going to grow beyond them, and the educators who want a cheap region to bring a few students in, without the Barbies those people dislike. No currency, no shoes, no people, it's that simple. And while there are some opensim based worlds that DO have currency, why would I go to one of those Tiny little markets when SL is so HUGE. Those places are just SL...without the community. They're going nowhere, because ultimately, they depend so much on SL that they ARE SL, under different names. They're SL for people who want to say "Fuck You" to LL for various reasons (too many barbies, region pricing, ignoring sim crossings), without actually giving up SL.

So there you have it, a rant from an oldbie crank...ME, about OTHER oldbie cranks. I understand "why" they write what they do, and I feel for them, even if I don't agree with them.

By the way, Pussycat Catnap is easily the most commonsensical voice of reason commenter on NWN these days. Well worth reading.

Ordinary Girl

I'm not one that's really majorly a follower of the SL live music scene, though I have attended events now and then. A semi-Random SL group chat lead to talking with a singer in SL, this is one of her songs, which appeals to me, quite a bit. I think it's a sweet song, and I have permission to link to it.



She's open about linking to her outside of SL web presence at:

saratiemogo.com

Quick Casual Friday, for Mrs. Upshaw-Bouscario

Another quick post while I have the pictures ready.

While I'm known for not dressing casually and usually, but not always, being the most dressed up avatar at my usual hangouts, even I wear jeans sometimes. It depends on my mood, mostly and who is around me.



The cardigan is the Comfy Cardigan from Fri.Day.The camisole is from the late lamented L`Abel brand from Neferia Abel....that was her branding on her modern stuff, it isn't available anymore. How I miss L`Abel, but I did manage to pick up most of her L`Abel inventory in the closing sale.

The Jeans are a new acquisition from Tres Blah, the Juju's, that my friend Clarice gifted me with. That's the black but they come in other washes, and I'll probably be picking up the dark rinse at least. You have choise of three different prim style leg attachments, straight, Flare, and rolled up. (Didn't take the time to do all 3.)

The flats are the Basic.Flats from fri.day.

The hair is a cute modern shaggy style called Gala from Queue Marlowe's Analog Dog, under her "just .b" brand. That's the Fox color, and as I have said, I like Queue's reds.

The skin is the same as the last post I think, yes, yes it is. 5th & Oxford, Fair Subtle 6.

The whole outfit reminded me of the outfits you see the actresses in Swiffer/cleaning supplies/Glade candle commercials wearing, you know, the whole "I'm a cute young mom in a cami and cardi, hip jeans and ballet flats" look. So I pulled out my retro-vac from RC (Redd Columbia):



SLURL to Analog Dog Hair

SLURL to 5th & Oxford

SLURL to Fri.day

SLURL to Tres Blah

SLURL to RC

Insolence Lauren Lingerie set, with Friend Clarice

Clarice is yet another member of what my friends and I call our "family", kind of like sisters of fashion. One of the things we do is make each other buy stuff. Well, not exactly make, it goes something like this, only with more words and not as succinctly and without LOLCAT speech:

"zOMG, that's adorable, I NEED it NAO, where did you get it? There? I am so there, NAO. You make me spend so many L$."

Some time ago, Clarice showed up at one of my favorite hangouts wearing a lingerie set I didn't recognize underneath a flannel shirt and jeans. Now even though I didn't recognize the set, and thusly didn't have it already, I did recognize the work, I know Camilla Yosuke's of Insolence's work on sight. Since Clarice was the one that "made" me buy it, she and I modeled it together. She also made me buy the flannel shirt.

It is named Lauren, it has the usual Insolence options, with corset, without corset, on various layers, garters no garters, 4 different pairs of stockings. Etc etc. But the important thing is that it was pretty, and CC NEEDED it.



Clarice is in the Red, and I am in the silver.





And a standing shot of the Red, it comes in more colors, and I don't have them all....yet. I know I will eventually. Included stocking colors are white, tan, off-black and black.





Clarice also made me buy that hair...it's Truth: Jean. How I adore Clarice...who makes me buy stuff. And yes, I asked her for permission to post these.

SLURL to Truth Hair

I forgot to ask about Clarice's skin and hair, I know, bad CC. But my skin is of course a 5th & Oxford, Fair Subtle 6. No prim lashes today, but I've been favoring the Beetlebones mesh ones lately.

SLURL to 5th & Oxford

Lauren Lingerie by Insolence:

SLURL to Insolence Lingerie

The shoooooooes, are oldies but goodies on both Clarice and myself, Shiny Thing's Kelsey T-Straps. She only has them in that color...I haven't "made" her get the Willow Pack (what other people might call a fatpack) yet. It's all part of CC Rule #1, of which one states (there are multiple rules #1): Which colors do you need? All of them.

SLURL to Shiny Things

Beer Barrel Goth

I was in one of those moods, trying to figure out what I wanted to wear next....I was actually wearing trousers, a simple shirt and short hair at the time, believe it or not. Donna Upshaw-Bouscario of FE made a suggestof jeans or goth...said I had to get past the "Ice Princess" That made me laugh, because Grace Kelly is one of my style icons.

So I headed into inventory, and remembered I had a recent dress from Silentsparrow, Selador, I first saw it on retro-fashionista Ceejay Writer in Seraph City. It comes with 3 skirt options.
:
The more gothy victoriany steampunky Woofy version. (Thats what it's actually called in inventory, Woofy!) Nice layering effect on the skirt and underskirt.



Circle, your basic circle skirt:



And pencil, which is what Miss Ceejay was wearing when I first saw it and NEEDED it. I so love a good pencil skirt:



You probably noticed there's a pastie option, which is on the undershirt layer, along with the regular low cut pretty bodice. Boobie shot!



I had these antique embossed tall laced boots from Arwen's Creations. Sort of Victoriany sort of steampunky, with a high, but sturdy heel. They are VERY nice and I want them in RL. I have 3 pairs of these and keep intending to go back and the other colors.



With Truth Andrea Hair, which I think of as Counselor Troi hair, and a 5th and Oxford "Fair NightFall 1" skin heavy on the dark eyshadow with fuchsia lips.



When Mrs. Upshaw-Bouscario saw my pictures, she described them as "Beer Barrel Goth", explaining the post title.

SLURL to SilentSparrow

SLURL to Arwen's Creations

SLURL to Truth Hair

SLURL to 5th & Oxford

Friend Clare!

Clare Sorbet is one of my best friends in SL...redhead, fashionista, and quite honestly nice. Herself and a few other retro-fashionistas (and redheads) of my acquaintance are a sort of a family. We share shopping finds, hang out with each other, etc.


Today Clare was wearing an adorable floral print dress from Toki Doki, very cute and sort of housedress-y looking.



Her hair today is Truth Evelyn, which I also have, in the Cherry color (I wear Truth hair in Blood). She says her skin is from Pink Fuel, "Ember" The Pink Fuel skins that I've seen tend towards the girly cute youtfulness side of the spectrum, and this one is quite adorable on Clare.




The shoes are Mary Jane Courts from GOS. A simple mary jane pump with a moderately high, but sturdy heel, and rounded point toe, that resembles a "Character shoe" that dancers use but with a higher heel.

Gender juxtaposition, and what it says about us.

I was talking on FE about mesh hair, which is a whole 'nother topic I'm not going to get into at this time, and it was suggested I check out a hair store I'd never been to. Now I'd seen prim hair from this place on other people and it looked fine to me, I had been meaning to go there anyway sometime.

I did the usual thing, checking out demos and whatnot, hobnobbing with fashionfolk, but as I was looking around I realized the hair display vendors bothered me for a reason.

This is the guy hair. This place has some VERY nice guy hair and if you're a guy avatar, GO now! You won't be disappointed.



Those are attractive guy avatars in my opinion. They look like adults, old enough to buy alcohol and even old enough to have graduated college and have jobs.

These are some of the female hair displays:





Putting it bluntly, those avatars look a LOT younger than the male displays. The bodies may have boobs, but the faces look to my eyes chubby cheeked young girls wearing a lot of makeup, not even old enough for high school. And most certainly not as mature looking as the males.

That bothered me...to me it was a sort of "Toddlers and Tiaras" effect. Now I know that in certain SL communities there's a trend of dressing and looking like a part Japanese cutesy anime inspired girl, and there's nothing wrong of that. It was the juxtaposition of the two, manly adult and cutesy girl face with knockers that bothered me and what it said about the fashion community of SL. I think that if the guys has been your standard slender Bishonen anime-inspired guy/young Bieber type, essentially the male version of the female displays, it wouldn't have bothered me so much.

But it did. But it's not like I didn't think the hair wasn't nice hair, it was...sigh.

Alaskametro Basix lingerie

I've known Alaska Metropolitan for aaaages. She was probably my first designer friend. She recently dropped me some lingerie sets and lace dress sets. Now the dresses aren't really me...but the lingerie...is well...well lets just say I REALLY like the lingerie, even though it is as the name says:

Basix. Every femmy person out there has some basic "nice" lingerie. We're all searching for our perfect combination of fit and style.






Yes, I went a touch artistic with the pics, but Alaska always does good display ads (she pretty much wrote the book on designing a good display) so it's not a big deal.

Nice isn't it...only comes in basic muted nudey colors even the black is a sort of soft grey. You get sheer, opaque and sheer lace version with choice between straps or strapless in each set. Anyway when I first put them on I was like HOLY CRAP, that has got to be inspired by the old style Body by Victoria or the old iPex. (Though in RL I wear the Cacique stuff. made by the same company, same stuff, only sold at Lane Bryant rather than Victoria's Secret) The biofit 7-way is probably closest to it these days.

Anyway it's a very nice everyday bra that I want in a LOT more colors and patterns. If you look at the clasp in back which I don't show, you'll see that it's a 3 hook bra, which it would be in RL. It's also inexpensive.

As far as I know Alaska doesn't have a in-world store these days, only her alaskametro Store on the Marketplace

She also does makeups, nail tattoos, brows and whatnot, she's a makeupista in RL.

Ruminations on a dress.

This post is not really about this dress, but more about what came to my mind as I was wearing this dress today:



A simple black sweaterdress from Salt. I have accessorized it with a Truth Hair called "Jean", one of my go-to 5th & Oxford skins, Shiny Things Kelseys, and the Carmen hosiery from Insolence.

I was wearing this dress while socializing. For my sake I usually don't wear cocktail or evening dresses in the daytime (unless the event or venue is formal), so I have a bunch of go-to daytime wear. Simple dresses, suits, blouses, sweaters and skirts that I wear during the day. I want to look "nice" and most of my daytime wear would be considered appropriate in a dressy office. The thing is, I am often the dressiest dressed person at social places...and often the most covered up. I like my style, I mean after all, I have Audrey Hepburn as a Fashion Icon, but I don't want to be perceived as a "haughty fashionista", and I'm worried my look does that. And I must admit...I was wearing that dress at a lesbian venue, I know what you're thinking now and THAT is another story. Yes I suppose I could wear jeans and t-shirts when socializing, but that is not "me". It's hard to explain.

Is there anyone else out there who feels similarly?

SLURL to Salt

Her name is Amaris (Adam n Eve's new Amaris skin)

She was sitting in the University Library, she looked as if she was waiting for someone, she was a little bit dressed up for a coed, she told me she preferred dressing nicely. She was the girl next door, sweet, in the full bloom of young womanhood...her name was Amaris."

CC wears 5th & Oxford skins, everyone knows this. I am VERY skin picky, and while I freely acknowledge that there's a lot of great skin out there....I don't often wear it because it's not "CC". I have some very specific needs in a skin and it's hard to find my perfect skin. There are many who don't know this...but if all of my Roslin-made 5th & Oxford skin disappeared from my inventory and the entire grid, I would scream and tear my hair out in agony...and then I would head to Adam n Eve. Because even though I wear my Roslin-made skins almost all of the time, I DO wear other skins..and if you do see me in another skin these days, it's probably an Adam n Eve. Which is kind of funny, because I jumped from Adam n Eve to the TaP Deux's back in 2006. I have always considered Sachi-skin as I call it, to be among the nicest in SL. Well worth a trip to check them out.

Amaris is not my perfect skin...its a little young for me, but it is a VERY nice sweet and youthful skin and well worth blogging. (I almost blogged her previous Harper release, it made me look like Harper Beresford who did a nice job of blogging it, since it was inspired by her.)



Okay look at this squeezable tush. Isn't it adorable.



Goes back to ogling the tush again.



Nice face isn't it. Smudged eyeliner, soft neutral eyeshadow, simple makeup suitable for a college coed. Very pretty and youtful as I said.

The outfit itself is from Adam n Eve, mostly. The Sweater is the CC Sweater...and yes it's named for me. Look, it's no real big thing unless you have hair, a skin or a gown after you, those are the real prizes for fashionista bragging rights. :-) Ha ha ha. It's a nice simple little cropped cardigan..it comes in other colors as well.

The shirt is the Billie Linen shirt...which has my favorite white shirt collar in SL, while cleavagey it is classic.

The skirt is the shorter skirt from the Cora set (which comes with a very nice ruffly cleavagey poet shirt itself.

Tights are from Mon Tissu

Boots are the Madison Alpha Boots from Deco.

Glasses from Insolence

You simply can't get the jewelry and eyes anymore...I miss you Miriel Enfield.

Adam n Eve is in Genesis, of course. Go...NOW! Maybe you'll be "having Sachi's baby!" (an old reference to her old group title for her fans)

Undercover Tableau Girl

You've seen them, we all have. At Mon Tissu and Tres Blah in Lula, FD, and Clawtooth in Tableau. I've always called them "Tableau Girls"







Where did they come from?

The shapes of the original "Tableau Girl" designers, that's what. Google search for Nylon Pinckney and Elka Lahane for example. The shoppers saw the shapes in the displays and pretty much adopted them themselves. Originally it was somewhat honest smart-alecky reaction to the more traditional barbie-ish glamour girl avatars and styles, a la Dazzle and other cocktail/party/formal designers, since the Tableau crowd did mostly hand drawn casuals at that time.

But now.....lets admit it, it's become something of a parody of itself and has somewhat taken over. I was there at Tres Blah last week during a sale....and I overdosed on Oracul Maidenly, sourpuss faces, and thighs so far apart you can drive a truck through. Avatars that don't look "pretty" but like nicotine addicted 12 year olds wearing their 22 year old sisters clothes and makeup.

Yes, I know I shouldn't judge, but I like seeing pretty, and seeing some Tableau girls overly photoshopped, gaussian blurred and shadowed pics makes it hard to see the actual quality of the stuff! And the exaggerated bodies means the stuff will look somewhat different. But they have great stuff, sure they tend to over accesorize, but damn do they have some nice stuff...I think...but I can't tell. Yes I know there are not many review blogs anymore that's part of the problem.

I'm not saying that avatars shouldn't be curvy or have junk in the trunk...but there's good variety and bad variety. To much exaggeration in anything, height, boobehs, or hips makes for a bad shape for showing off fashion in a pleasing way.

I also can't tell Tableau Girl hair apart,has a sort of sameness to it, at least to my eyes.

Former Boss Salome also makes a slight of a reference to this issue in this post but she's not really commenting on the girls themselves.

I'm not going to SLURL The stuff, though that bag and skirt are Mon Tissu and nice. Shoes are G Field "Alex" First picture was taken using standard Caliah style Windlight settings, 2 and 3 were taken with shadows and whatnot on.

Donna Flora Bon Bon

Donna Flora just released "Bon Bon" A cute cocktail dress with a lovely bubble skirt meets 18th century sort of look to it. L$350, four colors, this black that I have, a sort of cream, a pale lavender and a sort of fuchsia pink.



Yes, the skirt is a rigid sculpty, which means it's not the prettiest skirt to sit in or do the more athletic dances in, but it really can't be helped with a bubble skirt.

SLURL to Donna Flora in Bonin

The hair is an Amacci, Jessica, a nice sweet lil updo with a sort of side swept short bang thing
going on.



SLURL to Amacci

Shoes are G Field "Eve"

SLURL to G Field

Jewellery is a "Princess Christina set, from a merchant I found via marketplace Rhiannon Nitely:

Link to her store on Marketplace

Skin is, of course, a 5th & Oxford:

SLURL to 5th & Oxford in Nouveau

And yes, I have my GT220 back in my box, I have a new power supply, Yay!

Going to be RL busy

So you won't see me so much in SL....an upcoming RL move so packing and stuff.

Tier costs, the sim deathwatch: Why I don't think it's a big problem.

ADDENDUM added at bottom.

Every so often on New World Notes or other SL related forums, you get some oldbie crank complaining about Tier. I usually want to be an oldbie crank myself and tell them off. Why?

1. The majority of the people complaining about tier prices are mostly members of what I call the "furry builder and scripter gang". (Yes, I know they're not all furries, it just seems like furrydom seems to go with being a hardcore builder/scripter) All they want is a cheap vanity sim to basically be their own personal sandbox. If they get one, all they'll do is spend time there building and puttering around and not really doing anything with it with other people (other than projects with other furry builder and scripters} involved.

2. The other group that complains about tier are the RPers. Almost all RP sims are vanity projects that survive on donations or a well heeled Angel or groups of Angels, which really isn't practical, long term. These folks, I understand.

But I doubt tier prices will go down soon, and in fact, think it might be a bad idea if they did so at the current time. Now you're thinking: "But CC, don't you want the furry scripters to have their sims, and the RPers to be able to keep their RP sims going" Yes, but:


1. There's a content glut on the grid. one of the reasons some regions aren't making it financialy is that there's too much stuff out there so the money is spread around. More stuff, with the same amount of people spending means the money gets spread thinner like too little butter over too much bread. Cheap sims would lead to a land glut and encourage even more newbie designers to flood the grid with 2006-era quality level stuffs. That would be a bad thing and LL knows it. LL wants to reduce content glut so every store sim that's selling low quality crappe that gets shut down is a good thing.

2. LL doesn't want to deal with the "Waaaaah...whining". I personally believe that sims are priced the way they are with the setup fees to help keep the "riff raff" out of sim ownership. LL doesn't want people who can barely afford it to get a region, then have them cancel two months later when their car needs fixed, and then beg LL to restore their sim as it was when they have a bit more money again. They want people with stable incomes who can keep paying even if their cat needs to go to the vet, or they have doctor bills or need to replace their furnace. In other words they want the upper class to own sims, but the rest of us to rent what space we can afford. Think about it, in RL, not everyone owns a big mansion with thousands of acres of property. You got a few people who do, and then more people who own a 1200sq ft home, and some who live in a cramped 500sq ft apartment. I know, everyone wants a mansion and a sim of their own, but LL is encouraging people to live within their SL means. Personally, I really wouldn't need anything bigger than a double prim 1024, really. Even if I had a sim...I wouldn't be doing much with it, it would lead to empty space which leads to:

3. One of the big things the masses and newbies complain about is how empty SL feels. LL knows it's an issue and probably likes that there's less of a sim glut so that SL feels less empty. If LL dropped tier, a bunch of people would buy their own sim and sit idle in it while they IM. Thus increasing the problem.

You want tier prices to drop? Probably not going to happen, but if you REALLY want it to happen. Get the masses spending money...including the second worlders. SL is a trickle up economy, more people shopping means more people with money for regions.

ADDENDUM:

Hey! I just had an idea...what might work is if LL priced tier based on purpose of the region, Commercial one-owner sims one rate, residential single owned vanity puttering sim another, RP group sims another. sims for commercial rentals another. They could then enable and disable various features and capabilities, like say..transactions...based on that. Might not work or be feasible but it is an idea to throw out there.

#define Fashionista

To me, I define it thusly (I'm going to use female pronouns but there are male avatar fashionistas in SL):

A fashionista doesn't need to spend a lot of money...she doesn't even have to have the latest and greatest...but what she does have...she pulls together. She gets the little details right and everything just "works". She has her style defined...but can play around with it. She has stuff for practically any occasion, from casual to ball gowns. In other words, she always looks "nice", like she made an effort. She may even be a fashionista in RL, with an interest in makeup and fashion, or she just may read a LOT of magazines....but she knows her stuff.

But there's one other thing I want to say, In my view the term should be INclusive, not EXclusive.

How do YOU define fashionista?

Twins, ICING Shimmy and a hair Lament...also starring LaDonna Upshaw!

Fashionistas are insane...I've said that before...or maybe it's just me...anyway it goes with the territory.

It all started with someone looking for a veiled hat...and then mentioning Icing Joan which has a VERY nice hat..and Icing Shimmy which is also nice and matches the Joan colors. So I ended up at Icing hoping to run into other fashionistas and hang out and ran into LaDonna Upshaw. She wore Joan, I wore Joan. Which has been seen on this blog before...I love it so. LaDonna makes VERY nice furniture...her dining room sets are to die for so check out her store Sweet Romance Furniture on South Sea Isle! (and yes, she knows I'm blogging pictures with her)



Twins we were...after I decided to go tan and put on ETD Tyra...which leads to our hair lament.

Neither LaDonna or I have found a good replacement for ETD Tyra in the "low sophisticated updo you can wear with a hat" niche. Not Truth, not Damselfly, not Analog Dog, not even Elikatira has one and I expected her to redo it!

That opinion was shared by both of us, but the following opinion is mine alone. It gets worse....I was wearing Tyra in Mahogany....which Elikatira does not have a replacement color for. None of the Elikatira reds are that dark, and they're all dusty and muddy like her browns as well. and not...shiny. I like shiny clean hair! The only reason I haven't returned to Elika as my hair crack dealer of choice is that her reds are sub par. There, I said it, and I've been wanting to say it for ages. I cannot buy several Elikatira styles that I LOVE the styles of, because of that. I want Elikatira Rhythm soooooo bad. If you like blondes or black's or blues or pinks or a few other colors you're good...and I do recommend ETD (I mean Elikatira) to people. But for me..I can't buy her hair.




This is the new Icing Shimmy, square neck, puff sleeves (which might need adjusting depending on shoulders, slim skirt. You can take it cocktail, or you can wear it as vampy office wear with a pen necklace and updo. It nicely shows off teh boobehs without being slutty. The Joan hats work well with it. LaDonna and I look sooooo goood in it. And Yes, I have the fatpack. Miko owns me and my L$ balance.

Shimmy dress is available at ICING

My skin was a A 5th & Oxford Tan Kitty skin

Shoes were G Field Eve Pumps,

1-800-Betties, Shimmer Sequins

I think I first mentioned "Betties" back in 2006. they're still around and recently had a VERY large sale...everything in the store was 10L$. So you know what I did..... One of the dresses I found was the one called Shimmer Sequins which is a very nice strapless dress with included choker and earrings. I saw a friend, Kelsi Ember, wearing it at one of my favorite hangouts and put on a contrasting color of it and we danced together...and I took pictures with her permission.





I'm in the Red, Kelsi is in the green. It's a lovely dress ans swirls quite prettily. it comes in several other colors as well. Kelsi is a curvy what some might call "plus size" avatar and it flatters her VERY well. The gloves are included and it really is very pretty and shimmery and lacey...Just a simply pretty cocktail dress.

Shimmer Sequins Cocktail dress from 1-800-Bettie's

Hair on Both of us is from Truth, Seraphina on Kelsi and Amelie on me.

The skin on myself is a 5th & Oxford

Kelsi's skin is a lovely Alyson from Belleza

My shoes are "Eve's" from G Field

Kelsi's shoes are the Tribute pumps from N-Core.