Tag Archives: Secret Store

Lurking Horror and Halloween Fun

I spent way too much time last night going through things named pumpkin, Halloween, skeleton etc in preparation for the Halloween Home Tour!  I have so much to do and I’m SO excited! This is my FAVORITE time of year in SL! Continue reading

Jazz Nights

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The little town of May’s Landing alongside The Chamber Society is a beautiful 1920s social club, one on the risqué side of town. 

Collabor88 is celebrating its second anniversary with a huge showcase – two stories featuring all the regulars and all the guests from the past year. It is the biggest Collabor88 showcase yet and best of all, it features the clothing from one of my favorite fashion eras, the 1920s. I first fell in love with the 1920s during my summer visits to my great aunt who was kindly called “a character.” She had been good friends with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and she and her husband partied with them at their apartment on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. However, time moved on and they and she did not.

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This lovely dress from The Secret Store is materials ready – and so lustrous in the moonlight.

How could a child not adore her, this 70-something woman dressed in rich, beaded and embroidered flapper gowns and gold and silver encrusted pumps with her hennaed hair in a bob with a flower on the side. She told wonderful stories of that era. Stories of speakeasies, parties and jazz. She taught me songs, dances and filled my head with stories of their parties, of meeting Charles Lindbergh before he disgraced himself, of Louis Tiffany and of course, Scott and Zelda. She loved that era and never left it. Yes, she was a few bubbles off plumb and probably looked ridiculous dressing in fashions sixty years out of time, but for a child – she was incomparable. Besides, she was family and families love their odd ducks.  Continue reading

Sunday Brunch Quiche

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So, I am not going to write about quiche. But this post will be a quicky and my college roommate pronounced quiche as quickie, so it has come to have an entirely new context for me, especially as she used it in the sentence, “There’s nothing I like better than a good quiche (quicky).” And of course, she said it front of a big bunch of people. Anyway, I am super busy getting ready for Love Donna Flora, so this post will be a quiche.

In my last post I mentioned that I loved this top from The Secret Store for Collabor88. To reiterate that point, I am wearing it again. It comes in several prints and they are each and every one luscious – as luscious as a good quiche.

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Days of Wine and Roses

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I know all of you have seen this top many times over. When it came out, it was so new and distinctive that fashionistas rushed to buy it, including this one. It was blogged over and over again. That happens when items are exciting and fresh. The thing is, though, that this top has qualities that make it good investment dressing, too. It’s something to hang onto for the long haul, to be pulled out next year and the year after that because it is not only well-made, but it is made to play well with others. The relatively short waist keeps it from conflicting with skirts and pants. The lack of a collar lets it fit with lots of jewelry and even several jackets. It’s a keeper.

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Today I paired it with this fabulous new pencil skirt from Baiastice. I love that she put in this soft version of a kick pleat in the back, adding an extra bit of stretch when you walk so the fabric does not get so streched. This skirt was released in five solids, six bi-colors and six leathers.
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Make Mine a Sarsaparilla with Phosphate

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I headed out to an old-fashioned diner thinking I would like an old-fashioned soda. When I was a child, it was an 85 mile drive to go to the eye doctor, so mom always gave me a special treat taking me to this old-fashioned diner that served phosphates. I always ordered a sarsaparilla phosphate and just the thought of one makes me thirsty and homesick and of course, makes me miss my mom. I stopped off at the Roadside Diner and I would have ordered a sarsaparilla phosphate, but the jerk was obviously taking a long, long break.

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The Secret Store Top at FaMESHed Is a Great Mix and Match Piece

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I love the new Sweet Sheer top from The Secret Store for faMESHed. It’s perfect for mixing and matching with pants and skirts with its beautifully tucked-in waist. It comes in a nice range of colors for all sorts of different looks. I chose this mustard top for a more fall ensemble with the madras plaid skirt from coldLogic.

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Queer For a Day With The Lavender Song

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When I first moved to Portland, a gay co-worker asked me to participate in “Queer For A Day” an event organized by Queer Nation. I happily agreed, not realizing that meant all day. I blithely pasted on my florescent green and safety orange stickers that boldly proclaimed “Dyke” and “Queer” in huge black lettering and enjoyed my latte at Pioneer Square with all sorts of other temporary queers. Then I went to work.

Like many people in political activism, I began as a canvasser, one of those people who go door-to-door talking to folks about the issues and raising money to fund organizing campaigns. I had no fear of reprisals from my employer over my bold signage, but when I learned we were going to canvass in East County in a particular neighborhood we canvassers called “mean dog turf” my stomach began to churn. This was no liberal bastion of tolerance. I was terrified. My friend who had invited me to join the Queer For a Day action assured me that no one would blame me for taking off the stickers given the circumstances. However, I decided that gay folks don’t get to take off their gender orientation and truly, part of the purpose of Queer For a Day was to expose gay rights supporters to the un-fabulous reality of gay life – bullying, violence and homophobia.

So, I wore my sticker and approached every door with trepidation and anxiety. I did not suffer any physical violence other than some spit at my feet and only got a smattering of verbal abuse during the night. On the contrary, most people were very nice and friendly, supportive of the national health care campaign I was working on and curious and intrigued by my stickers and my explanation of the Queer For a Day concept. I did get warned away from particular houses – neighbors telling me that so and so was an OCA member (the virulent anti-gay organization responsible for several anti-gay ballot measures). I happily took their advice since I was not looking for any excitement. However, even though the night was successful and mostly uneventful, I have never forgotten that feeling of fear as I knocked on each door, anxious over every single encounter, afraid of verbal abuse, hatred, and violence.

Queer for a Day began as a lark to please a friend, but in many ways, it changed my life. I took the stickers off at the end of the day and returned to my relatively safe straight life, but I learned that night that tolerance is not equality. Human rights and human dignity are meaningless if even one person is denied them. If they are not innate and immutable, they are nothing more than privileges subject to the whims of those in power. I had been one of those Saul Alinsky style activists who believed that if we only sorted out the economic justice issues, oppression would lose its power, but I learned then, that oppression is not just an economic wedge, it is the foundation of political division and disempowerment. The oppression of gender minorities, women and people of color are the foundation of economic oppression, not the other way around. So long as we can be divided and disempowered by social wedges, the future is bleak.

It’s been about 17 years since I was Queer For a Day and a lot has changed. Not enough. There’s so much more to be done, but I am hopeful and optimistic and I am wearing purple for Spirit Day –. It’s much more fashionable than neon stickers and not nearly as frightening. As to why purple – I think I will just play the Lavender Song from 1920 for you.

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The First Time I Ran Away

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I am mixing mesh pants with a system sweater and sculpts, assured that the system top with be firmly tucked in to my pants waist band. This sweater is from The Sea Hole and has a gorgeous teal and brown crocheted lace insert down the front. It comes with a rounded neckline. With all embellishment on the front, I did not want to add a necklace and decided to add this lovely brown collar scarf from The Secret Store.

The first time I ran away I saw
Faces in the dreams I heard
Voices in the storm they say
Uh, uh,… water falls
Uh, uh
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The World in a Bottle

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One of the reasons I love the jewelry at Balderdash so much is that when you zoom in on it, you can find whole new worlds. Take this Bit of Earth Necklace which is lovely and attractive from a distance, but when seen in detail, reveals so much more than you would suppose. Whether you’re zooming in on a pair of earrings and finding some words from a book or tiny shamrocks, the true revelation of Balderdash jewelry is in the fine details. I showed this to a real life friend who was in awe and perhaps, for the first time, really understood the appeal of Second Life fashions. I wore the jewelry with what seems a relatively casual, everyday outfit. Which is what I thought myself, until…
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