Pieces of My Closet VIII

I have to say that I am extremely proud of myself for consistently working on cleaning out my inventory for an entire month now!  I have only dropped a few thousand in item numbers, but I think I may have finally convinced myself that I will get there.  Eventually.

The dress I'm wearing tonight is by Baiastice and was featured at Fairy Tales this past summer.  I really love events in Second Life because more often than not I find new to me designers; I also love walking around the venues and looking at the creative architecture the builders have come up with.  The aspect of participating in said events that can be a bit overwhelming, however, is the volume of items available.  Many times I want to feature so many of the items available, but I simply do not have the time.  Perhaps that is part of the reason I started blogging for SeraphimSL... You do technically get to show all of the pieces, but in a summarized fashion.  What can I say... I really love sharing what I find!  The dress is available at the Baiastice main store location and is offered in eight colors which include five mesh sizes and an alpha layer; a free demo is available.

I'm not sure when or where I picked up this hair by Raspberry Aristocrat, but it is quite gorgeous, and I'm very glad that I rediscovered it.  It could very well have also been a piece I picked up at an event (Hair Fair perhaps?) and forgot/lost/misplaced in my unruly inventory.  The hair is available at Raspberry Aristocrat's main store and is available in nine color packs, a mixed pack and a fatpack.


Credits
Clothing: *Lily Mesh Dress in Gold by Baiastice
Jewelry: VernaRose by Alienbear's Designs
Hair: Beth in Brown Bittersweet by Raspberry Aristocrat
Nails: *Metal Stripe Nails by Izzie's
Skin: *Geanna Skin Pale DB by Izzie's
Makeup: [Eyes] *Geanna Eyeshadow Moss and [Lips] *Lipstick Brown by Izzie's (Included with purchase of Geanna Skin)
Poses: [1 and 2] *Pencil II 2 by aDORKable Poses
Location: The Pixel Bean Coffeehouse

* Denotes promotional copy.

Taste of Second Life: Once Upon a Time

I had hoped to get my Taste of Second Life post out a little earlier today, but I completely crashed after I got home from church today and slept for three hours! I guess I needed to catch up on some sleep. I really loved the theme this week; “Once Upon a Time” leaves the door open for a lot of fun designs and ideas!

I absolutely fell in love with the pose prop from Tranquility Way Station Designs as soon as I saw it! It is completely adorable and very well made. Although my pictures do not capture the complete idea, the prop base is opened up like a story book with this fairy tale popping up out of it. The backdrop is absolutely gorgeous, and if you look right in the corner, you can see that there is actually a wolf there! I set this prop up before I got dressed, and while I was getting ready I heard a wolf howl. It sort of startled me at first, and then I remembered the prop! The stump that you see in the corner of my picture is fully animated for your posing needs, or of course you can just stand in the middle of it and use your other poses like I did! There really is so much you can do with this, and at only L$75, it is a total win!

Don’t you just absolutely love the Princess Cocktail Dress from Alexohol Fashions? The design is fabulous and the textures are gorgeous. I really love how light and shiny the colors are; it is very feminine and super girly! The detailing on the straps of the dress is really pretty and delicate. This dress could probably also be worn as a ballet dress. The dress comes in three colors which are named after Disney Princeses: Aurora (pink), Belle (yellow) and Cinderella (blue). Each color is available for L$75, or if you would like to have all three, there is a fatpack for L$160!

I completely love the cute little Berry Gretel Dress that ISON has out for you this weekend. There is actually a modesty tee shirt that comes with the outfit as well, but it is perfectly cute without it! The texture on this outfit is fabulous! Not only are the colors adorable, but the care the designer has given in shading and highlighting really gives a depth to the outfit. The skirt is very well sculpted and comes with a resize script which I love since I completely suck at manually resizing something. This dress is available for L$99.

Although you don’t get to see a whole lot of it in this picture, the house that I am using is another TOSL item from L&K Prefabs. The Once Upon a Time cabin is really cute and reminds me of my grandfather’s cabin in real life. The design is rather small at only 10x10 in size (64 prims), but I think that the size gives it more of a cozy feeling. Also, if you only have a small piece of land, this would be perfect for you! You can pick this up until midnight SLT for only L$74.

Although this isn’t a Taste of Second Life item, I would like to mention really quick that the couch and table used in the pic is a new release from Clutter which is available for this weekend at only L$60. The set also comes with three pictures, and a sort of dining set with bookshelf is also available for L$60 this weekend only!

This picture was completely fun to put together! The dress I am wearing is the Ellette Coral Dress from Sweeter Than Candy. I really love the colors featured in this little dress; pink and green have always been two of my favorites to put together. The fairy wings are absolutely adorable and move beautifully; this dress is so worth the L$85 it is being sold for and then some. The design on the bodice of the dress is really beautiful; the detailing is intricate, and I love how the top ends point up. It really is a great design!

The trees are part of the ‘In the Ancient Grove’ set being offered for TOSL by Clutter this weekend. There are four trees total with a designed rock in the center. Up to six people can be seated by this ‘prop’ with six different animations. There are only seven prims total which is pretty impressive. If you are looking to add a little nature to your property, go pick this up for only L$60 until midnight. You cannot beat large pieces like this with low prims at such a low price!

Isn’t the frog absolutely cute?! It is part of the Le Prince Charmant set being offered by Lauria this weekend. Two poses are out for TOSL and two more are out for Lazy Sunday at only L$55 each. With each pose, you do get the frog prop. The pose I am using is not one of the included poses since I didn’t see there is one very similar to it before I took my photo, but it really just goes to show you how versatile the prop can be. The frog is extremely well textured and could just be used as a cute little ‘knick knack’ in your house. This is a definitely must have for any photographer!


Credits
Clothing: [1] *Princess Cocktail Dress in Aurora by Alexohol Fashions, [2] *Berry Gretel Dress by ISON and [3] *Ellette Coral Dress by Sweeter Than Candy
Jewelry: AlienbearXAgnes by Alienbear Designs
Shoes: [3] Rosario Ballet Flats in Pearl by Cherry
Hair: Novel in Brown 08 by [elikatira]
Skin: Bitu (Bronze) – Paradise Bird by Al Vulo at The Fashion Garret
Poses: [1] Top Model Spring 2011 Makeover – Molly by Exposeur, [2] Brittani by Exposeur and [3] Magical 1 by DeePosed

* Denotes item provided by designer for review. All Taste of Second Life props were also provided by the designers.

I've Got a Secret

There are very few shops in Second Life that I adore as much as The Secret Store. Since stumbling upon it via the fashion feeds quite a few months ago, I have kept my ears perked for news of releases and events. What do I find so attractive about The Secret Store? Simply put… conservatism and class.

I know that you saw this hair yesterday, but honestly, I just could not help myself when I saw the polka dot Cherie’s Flared Skirt and Ribbon Tank. Doesn’t it just look absolutely adorable together? Yeah… I thought so, too! The skirt has to be one of my favorite pieces in my inventory; it is very exceptionally made. The sculpt is beautifully shaped and the patterns available are equally beautiful. The skirt features a high waist band and a very cute flare. The skirt does contain a script for resizing which I appreciate very much since I tend to have to resize all of my clothing. Of course, if you want to help reduce SL lag, simply drop the scripts once you have it sized to fit your ava. Six textures are available for the Cherie’s Flared Skirt at L$195 each or L$900 for the fatpack.

To go with the adorable skirt, The Secret Store also released a new set of tanks that I absolutely love! The Ribbon Tank features extremely well made textures to match the newly released skirts as well as a couple extra patterns which go well with the newly released Flared Pants. I don’t have anything against a little cleavage, but I personally like to keep most of the goods covered (most of the time… bahaha!), and the Ribbon Tank definitely provides that! I love the little bow that is featured at the center of the top of the blouse; it adds a little touch of extra femininity. An optional sculpt is included with the tanks which gives the shirt more of a tucked look when worn with high wasted pants (pictured below). I love this! It makes the shirt very versatile in that it can be worn casually or as a dressy look. Eight textures are available for the Ribbon Tank at L$149 each or L$1,000 for the fatpack.

I think that I have officially found a new favorite pair of pants in Second Life. The Flared Pants are extremely well made (see the trend of excellence with The Secret Store?). Unlike a lot of pants on the grid, you cannot even tell with the sculpt pieces for the flared legs begin. This is a definite sign of a great designer. I promise that I did not do any blending with colors on my pictures to give this effect; they really are that well made! The pants come in two variations: basic and embroidered. I am wearing one of the basic pair in my picture, but the embroidered pants are lovely as well. Eight textures total are available for the Flared Pants at L$189 each or L$1,300 for the fatpack, and they are worth every Linden! Not so sure? TP in to The Secret Store and find out for yourself! If nothing else, teleport in to listen to the music; I love the theme!

In celebration of their one year anniversary, je suis is having a 50% off sale. At prices which were already reasonable, half off prices are more than reasonable! Even better, the jewelry I am wearing features color changing scripts which makes buying one set like buying a whole lot for one very low price. I’m really glad that I was paying attention to my notices when the notecard announcing the sale came flying by. But, don’t put off visiting this store; the sale isn’t lasting long! The original notecard said that the sale would last for four days and was dated June 19. The set that I am wearing is titled Sophistique Dark and is available at L$125 (necklace), L$75 (earrings) and L$75 (bracelet). Ten colors are included for the pearls and six colors are included for the metal pieces. Resizing scripts are also included in the pieces which simply makes life easier!

Talking about making life easier, a friend of mine passed along a new HUD by Glorious Insanity she had came across yesterday, and to be quite honest, if you are a photographer in Second Life, this product is a must have! I couldn’t tell you the number of times I have been so frustrated while snapping pictures because my ava was looking the wrong way or blinked as soon as I hit the button. This HUD completely eliminates that problem! I was a bit skeptical that it would actually work, but I am so happy that I bought it. It is well worth the L$350 it is selling for and then some. Nine preset eye positions are included in the HUD as well as some facial expressions. Even better, the HUD works on you as well as other people; simply click on the people you are photographing, and once accepted, you can direct their eye position!


Credits
Clothing: [Shirts] *Ribbon Tank in White Polka, Batic and Old Roses, [Skirts] *Cherie’s Flared Skirt in Polka and Batic and [Pants] *Flared Pants in Cream by The Secret Store
Jewelry: [1] Queen Posesiva Earrings II in White Gold by Alienbear Designs, [2] *Simplicity in Obsidian by Mariposa (No Longer Available) and [3 and 4] Sophistique Dark by je suis
Shoes: [3] Serenity Heels in Paisley by Purrfect 10 (VIP Gift)
Hair: [1] *Mystery in Black by Lyrique, [2] Leah in Brown 08 by [elikatira] and [3 and 4] Later in Brown 08 by [elikatira]
Skin: [1] Elf 2 [Dark] Enchant 2 (Sundust), [2] Elf 2 [Dark] Blue Bird 1 (Sundust) and [3 and 4] Elf 2 [Dark] Lore 1 (Sundust) by Curio
Poses: [1] Model 03, [2] Model 30, [3] Model 85 and [4] Long Hair 3-4 by Glitterati

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Queen Victoria

There isn’t much more that needs to be said about the designs of My Precious by Agnes Finney than simply amazing! I have admired the creations released by this designer since I was very young in Second Life. I am completely honored, to say the least, to now be able to blog these designs for my readers.

Queen Victoria is one of the newest designs from My Precious, and it most definitely captures the elegance you expect when something… or someone… is given the title of queen. I fell in love with this dress as soon as I laid eyes on it. As many of you know, I absolutely cannot pass up a poofy dress to save my life. If I could, I would wear them every day, and I am referring to my real life self here! Queen Victoria features a beautifully designed texture on the shirt layer; it’s completely elegant and completely sexy at the same time. An undershirt is included in several common skin colors with your purchase so that your breast is covered. If you and your significant other love going to ballrooms, I highly suggest that you pick up this dress! You will be simply awestruck by the movement of the skirt. The butterfly attachment at the hip is gorgeous as well, but if butterflies aren’t your thing, the dress looks beautiful without it as well.

Of course no gorgeous gown is complete without a gorgeous set of jewelry to go along with it. What better place to go for elegant jewelry than Alienbear Designs? Queen Posesiva is a beautiful diamond heart collection that will completely capture the attention of anyone you are with. The slight sparkles that radiate from the diamonds draw eyes into you. If you are looking to stand out, this is definitely the set for you!

Last, but certainly never least in my book, is the fantastic hair that I am wearing. Don’t you just love it?! Lyrique has a nice collection of hairstyles which were created to make a statement! And a bold one at that. Mystery is an updo which features the hair in a rounded shape placed toward the front of the head. It is designed so well that it could actually be mistaken for a hat (my fiancé did this … bahaha!). I love the little pearls placed in the hair; they add a touch of elegance to the style.


Credits
Clothing: *Queen Victoria in Black by My Precious
Jewelry: [Necklace] Queen Posesiva Necklace II, [Earrings] Queen Posesiva Earrings II and [Scepter] Queen Posesiva Sceptre all in White Gold by Alienbear Designs
Hair: *Mystery in Black by Lyrique
Skin: Elf 2 [Dark] Enchant 2 (Sundust) by Curio
Poses by Glitterati

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

The Designer's Showcase

I love all the little shops that are popping up all over Second Life to introduce and promote various designers. The Designer’s Showcase is one of the latest of these special stores which offers clothing, shoes, accessories and even home items. Designers include the following: Butt-Err, DreamScape, Embody, Eshi Otawara, GLAM, Gypsys, Hanaya, Hatter is Mad, H.I.M. Fashions, HOC Industries, Hurrem, Instinct Inc., JoJo, La Petite Morte, Lemania Indigo Designs, Marret, MeKa, Mocha, Oddity, Riddle, Sasira, Smushyface, The Secret Store, Urf!Urf!, WorN, and Zibska.

Of course, Lemania Indigo Designs is not new to me, but when I stopped by the showroom today and saw her item, it excited me. The regular price for a Lemania design is L$400 and up; however, Ruby Tuesday is being offered at the Designer’s Showcase for the very low price of L$99. This dress is absolutely too adorable. It features beautiful purple and silver colors with a short sculpted skirt and a long flexi skirt. Shoes are also included with your purchase although they are not pictured below.

Thanks to my dear friend Tapika Tomsen, I was able to find the perfect piece of jewelry to go with my beautiful outfit from Lemania. Tapika introduced me to Alienbear’s Designs not too long ago, and I absolutely fell in love with the pieces offered. If you have never tried Alienbear’s, now is the perfect time to do so. Through the end of the month you can purchase jewelry at 50% off regular prices. I chose to wear the VernaRosa necklace and earrings; the necklace was just the right length for the very low cut top. The textures in the jewelry are absolutely beautiful, and the sizing was perfect as well (no adjustments needed for me). This is most definitely a designer I will be featuring more of in the future.

Credits:
Clothing: *Ruby Tuesday by Lemania Indigo Designs @ Designer’s Showcase
Jewelry: [Necklace] VernaRosa Necklace and [Earrings] VernaRosa Earrings by Alienbear’s Designs
Shoes: Move Pumps in Burgundy by [elikatira]
Hair: Tiramisu in Ash Black by LoQ Hairs @ Fashion House
Skin: Ania 02 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: [1] *Poofy 3 Mirror and [2] Poofy 8 Mirror by aDORKable Poses
Background by RubyBlossom

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

X and O

After a weekend of splurging, it’s nice to be able to find quality items at such low prices. One of the first stores I fell in love with in Second Life was Lemania Indigo Designs. I can remember saving any Lindens I won (Ha! Those were the days…) to purchase Lemania’s L$100 specials. I looked forward to getting home from work to see what new, genius pieces of art she had placed out for the day.

The outfit I am wearing today is one of my favorite Lemania pant outfits. Most of the time, you will find poofy skirts and other elegant designs at Lemania, but every now and then she treats us with a great pair of pants! X and O features an adorable coat with undershirt, beautifully shaded pants and shoes to match! This color combination and design is perfect and right in time for Valentine’s Day!! I believe my favorite part of the jacket is the bottom; in most cases, when you wear a jacket in Second Life, the bottom portion will be a prim piece. A lot of the time, those prim pieces don’t fit me, and I am forced to resize. The bottom of the X and O jacket is actually a system skirt layer. Genius!! No resizing to fit me at all. I also love the little hearts tucked away in the pockets of the jacket. Aren’t they adorable? This outfit (with shoes included) will be out at Lemania for only L$100 until sometime tomorrow. Don’t miss it before it goes back up to normal price (L$400).

The beautiful double pearl necklace and earrings I am wearing is from Alienbear’s Designs, who just so happens to be having a 50% off sale through January 31st. Believe it or not, the jewelry set I am wearing is available for only L$20! Even better, if you are a member of the Alienbear Design and Le’ Cameo Lovers group, you can get this set absolutely free! I know group space is very limited (Please hurry with the 40 group slots!!); even if you can’t give up a group spot to grab the necklace, the good news is that the regular price is only L$20! Not too shabby!

Credits:
Clothing: *X and O by Lemania Indigo Designs @ L$100
Jewelry: Double Pearl Set in Black by Alienbear’s Designs (Member Discount Shop) FREE to Group
Shoes: *Included with clothing.
Hair: Away in Black 04 by [elikatira]
Skin: Enchant 2 [Dark] in Sundust by Curio
Pose: Model Pose 050 by Glitterati
Background by RubyBlossom

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

And It Was Love

It’s hard to believe that a couple months ago I only owned one brand of skin and had no intention of ever changing that. I just didn’t look ‘me’ in another skin. One of the great things about Second Life, however, is that you can change ‘me’ on a daily (or hourly lol) basis! You don’t have to be stuck with one look or one style. When I first started modeling for Lemania Indigo Designs and Wondrous Strange (now Siss Boom) in Second Life at the ripe old age of three months, I was always fascinated and awe struck at the beautiful skin in the vendor pictures. When I finally figured out about two months later… I’m not really sure why I never asked… who the extremely talented creator was, I quickly teleported to Curio. Still being relatively young in Second Life, I was not about ready to pay ‘that’ price for skin! Haha… No way! Not me! I went on about my merry way and didn’t really think much more about it.

Last week, a friend IMed me and told me that Curio had a free skin in the Gala & Rita Design Announcements group. My curiosity perked back up, and I joined the group to try the skin. Let’s just say that I instantly fell in love all over again. The skin looked absolutely beautiful on my ava; the lips were so colorful and luscious and the eye shadow had just the right amount of color. Needless to say, I once again teleported back to Curio to drool over all the amazing skins. Although L$3000 is still quite an investment to me, it’s not an absolute out of the question purchase decision to me anymore. I took a few demos and tried them on periodically over the next couple days. As I said, L$3000 is an investment for me as I am sure it is for most people in Second Life, and I wanted to make sure without a shadow of a doubt that I really LOVED the skin I would buy. Of course, I could have purchased a single makeup pack, but then I would just end up wanting the rest. In the end, I decided to purchase the Elf 2 Sundust makeup pack, and I couldn’t be happier with my purchase.

I think the vendor pictures at Curio may be a bit misleading; you actually get an extreme amount of skin options in the pack that I didn’t realize way back when by just looking at the pictures. Each makeup comes in two versions, two skin tones (light and dark), and an option for freckles in both makeups and both skin tones which gives you a total of eight options for each ‘makeup’. If you purchase the fatpack, that is a total of fourty-eight skins! When you look at it like that, L$3000 doesn’t seem quite as bad; that is only L$62.5 for each skin.

The skin from Curio looks amazingly realistic. Apart from the face, my favorite part is the collar bones. It almost looks as if Gala has taken a picture of someone with beautiful collar bones and uploaded it on her skin. I’m sure, however, that they are hand painted, and that, my dear readers, is pure and amazing talent! The colors on each of the eyes blends so perfectly together, just the right amount of blush is added, and even in the very light lips, they are all still so luscious. If you have never tried Curio, I urge you to at least join the Gala & Rita Design Announcements group (free to join) to try the free skin. If you are anything like me, you will soon be falling in love, and it probably won’t be long until you are wanting more!

Credits:
Clothing: [Dress] Wisk by Phoenix Rising (No Longer Available) and [Tank] Billie Lace Tank in Black by Pink Outfitters
Jewelry: White Pearl Set by Alienbear's Designs
Hair: End of Summer in Brown 3 by Head Mistress
Skin: Elf 2 (Sundust) by Curio
Pose: Model Pose 026 by Glitterati
Background by RubyBlossom