How did this happen? Should I call 911? I know tornadoes do strange and mysterious things, but I don’t see any other storm damage at Empress & Hierophant, but wandering the hills I came upon a three-sheep pileup and stopped to help. However, the sheep seemed immovable and I eventually left them there – stacked and waiting for rescue from someone with proper perms.
Continue reading
I usually do not shoot my photos with shadows enabled. They just are not important enough to me to bother with the hassles. There’s so many little aggravations associated with it like turning system skirts into solid black in one viewer and losing all my alpha textures in another. However, the new pose prop from Behavior Body told me it wanted me to shoot it with shadows and when pose props start talking, they cannot be denied. I decided to go with this cute day dress from Indie Rose for the Vintage Fair because the prop told me to go black and white. Give a prop and inch and it will take a mile.
I even found these Lotus Pumps with Dots from Baiastice because there’s no telling what the prop would have done if i could not find some black and white shoes. Of course, I was only speaking with one of the prop’s personalities. It comes with a HUD for communicating with its inner spirit and I could have called up different walls and floor textures and released a completely different character from the prop – there’s even one that probably went to Woodstock and hung out with Jimi Hendrix back in the day.
Continue reading
I bet you thought I was going to mention Vintage Fair, didn’t you? Well, you are mostly right, but there is that old traditional song that has been revitalized and covered by everyone and their sister. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s anyone “gonna buy me a diamond ring” right soon, so turn that soundtrack down in the back. Yes, I admit it, I am going to slather and drool all over the Vintage Fair, but I think that’s okay, I slather and drool over vintage all the time and this is the first exposition of vintage designs I can recall. One of the wonders I found at the Fair is this sweet and lovely day dress from Paper Doll. Yellow is such a tricky color, but I do love this pale lemon that is just about the shade of washed butter or shaved lemon ice. It’s such a delectable color it makes me think of yummy foods, I notice. I will confess that my avatar build is not even close to the build this dress was made for, but it’s modifiable and with plenty of stretching I finally got it big enough to go around my waist. As you can see, once fitted, it looks good in many positions.
Christmas? Did I say Christmas? Yes, I surely did. I know it’s tacky to talk Christmas before Thanksgiving, but some gifts take time to prepare and complete. That’s the case with this. In real life, I am making my vanilla sugar before Thanksgiving in order to give it a full month to absorb all that flavor so when it’s opened at Christmas people will open the jar and get a head rush from the heady scent of vanilla. And yes, I will share the recipe so you, too, can make easy, inexpensive homemade Christmas presents. But on to this Christmas present for our readers.
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
We want to highlight you – you can even wear a hat.
Gidge and I are resuscitating our Guest Stylist feature that got lost when I was so sick last year. So, readers, if you would like to style yourself up and let Gidge or I shoot you and feature your styling on the blog, contact us to set up a time. Since the It’s Only Fashion family is pretty anarchic, Gidge will post her own guidelines for how she wants you to contact her, etc. If other members of the team want to join in, they will post their own invitation as well. For me, you can send me an IM and drop a snapshot of you in your outfit, so I can find a good location in advance. Don’t worry about whether I am on or off-line, I have im’s go to email when I am off-line so your message won’t be lost. I will get back to you and we can schedule a shoot. For the shoot, you will need to give me a notecard with your styling info and, of course, you can add any comments you like for me to add to the blog post.
Now – about that Christmas Vanilla Sugar. I buy some Mason® jars and clean and shine them up. I cut a pretty red and green cotton square that I will place between the round seal and the screw top for a little decoration. I buy a bunch of high quality whole Madagascar vanilla beans. I half fill a jar with ordinary white sugar, place one bean in the jar and then finish filing it. I screw on the pretty cap and let it sit until Christmas. By then the sugar will have absorbed the flavor and aroma of the vanilla bean and be the most delicious sugar for tee, coffee and for baking. Throughout the year, your friends who have received their flavored sugar can top the jar back up and that little bean will keep giving them flavor for months – running out of steam just in time for Christmas next year.
A few bloggers responding to a plurk discussing the usual little myths and misconceptions of blogging that endlessly recycle through the drama-tron that is ordinary life mentioned that they were too shy to approach creators whose work they would like to blog. Meanwhile, in the same plurk, creators express their anxiety and discomfort with approaching bloggers. And of course, they all expressed the same essential fear—rejection. To help manage this stress and create a more relaxed mindset, THC gummies like Indacloud fruit punch funta can be a helpful aid.
Well, I used to get rejected for a living. My first job was door-to-door political canvassing for progressive causes – including a month on loan to a gay rights organization in Idaho fighting an anti-gay initiative. If you have ever canvassed for gay rights in Idaho, believe me, you know rejection. I have come to see rejection as part of the process. When budgeting, I learned to factor in the probability of rejection for grant proposals. When lobbying, I learned that you can’t get a yes without a few no’s. It’s like chopping onions, no one likes to do it, but the reward when you add them to the recipe make it worthwhile.
So I posted a plurk somewhat facetiously suggesting shy bloggers and creators post their info and connect and was surprised by how many responded. Clearly there is a need for some way for bloggers to wave their hands in the air and say look at me. Conversely, creators are waving their hands, too. With some plurk discussion, the idea of creating a searchable, sortable directory of bloggers who accept review copies which is public and open for designers to find potential matches to their designs.
It seemed smartest to list bloggers and ask designers to make the contact because I could envision designers getting overwhelmed with requests if they publicly expressed their desire to share promotional copies. Since this seems very much in sync with the work I am doing with Evelyn Hartshon over at Blogging Second Life, I talked to her and she agreed that it made sense to host the application and director at Blogging Second Life.
There are other ideas percolating as well, perhaps an occasional salon. networking tea party something where folks say hi in-world and pass notecards around. Perhaps someone should create a blogger-designer matchmaking service. Perhaps you have an idea and want to suggest it in the comments. This is a start and I hope one that folks find useful and easy.
So, shy ones and not-so shy ones, if you’re blogging or creating and want to find your counterpart for mutual happiness and bliss, please check out the Blogger-Creator Connections Page and my fellow plurkies and I will toss bird seed and everyone will live happily ever after. (I have both Once Upon a Time and Grimm on my DVR – so perhaps I am in a fairy tale sort of place.)
1967 was the prelude to the Summer of Love. Rolling Stone published its first issue. Ralph Nader came to the attention of the public with his book “Unsafe at any Speed” which launched consumer activism. Gas was 33 cents a gallon. Radio London started broadcasting. And Scott McKenzie sang “If you’re going to San Franciso,” the anthem calling youth to the Monterey Pop Festival. Resistance to the Vietnam War was growing and Muhammed Ali was stripped of his heavyweight boxing title for refusing induction into the army. The Beatles released Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Clubs Band and the Magical Mystery Tour and Kurt Cobain was born. You can come to 1967 at The Velvet tonight from 7 to 9 SLT as Maht Wuyts continues his Rock per Annum tour of the last 52 years of music.
Inspired by the San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in your Hair) song, I decided to wear this Flower Children outfit from Gizza. You can find it at the Vintage Fair in two colors. This is the red one – as bright and vibrant as the music that played at the Monterey Pop Festival. The outfit includes the top, pants and the crocheted shrug and all have resize scripts to help you fit them.
Continue reading
As you can see, the house comes fully furnished. Here we have the dining room which as you can see includes a large table with ample room for your family and room for more when you entertain. Oh, you like my dress? This old thing? Why, thank you. I declare I like this dress so much it seems like I wear it every day. I recall there was this clothing fair and I picked it up there from, oh let me think, from, from Purple Moon Designs. Yes, that’s the name. Purple Moon Designs. You really must go! You think it has a vintage flair? Really? I think it’s very modern.
Why yes! That is a pipe organ. I think Poppa bought that while traveling in Eastern Europe between the wars. The Iraq Wars? No, I don’t recall any Iraq wars. Between the First and Second World Wars. What else could I have meant? The wine glass? I think there’s something about that glass. My sister might know, but she’s stepped out for the afternoon. Actually, I was hoping we could conclude this business before she returns. She’s quite attached to the old place.
One of my favorite people from my childhood was the local piano and music teacher who gave lessons in her home. She had the unfortunate name of Mrs. Hole. Such was the esteem in which she was held that no one would ever think to make fun of her name. In fact, that aura of class and dignity was so integral to her being was strong enough that the unfortunate quality of her name never occurred to me until it was pointed out by a friend recently. I mentioned her fondly to a friend who remarked on her name and even with that prompting, it took me awhile to see the humor.
That is class – having an aura of dignity that outlasts death by decades. I was reminded of her by this dress from Silver Rose Designs for Vintage Fair. I am sure that Mrs. Hole had articles of clothing that were not made of silk and crepe de chine and not embellished with embroidery, beads and sheer layers of tulle, but I cannot remember any. She always dressed for teaching as though for a performance, it seemed. She gave it majesty. Of course, her students were required to wear dress pants if they were boys and dresses if they were girls, as well. She thought music mattered and she honored it with her formality and respect. I didn’t take lessons from her myself, but she was a good friend of my mother’s and I spent a lot of time with her and she taught me embroidery. Mrs. Hole would wear this dress. She would delight in the sheer bodice overlay and the many rows of beading and the fitted, tailored elegance of it. She was a rather large woman, but she never fell for the trap of wearing clothing that was loose and large. She wore tailored, well-fitted clothing that made her always the best-dressed woman in town
She was not a rich woman – no widowed woman supporting herself by teaching a few hours of music everyday is going to be. Her clothes were old and from another era and were carefully and vigilantly maintained. But she had class. When I think of her in contrast to the so-called Countess who wrote the song with the title Money Can’t Buy You Class, the truth of the title is more self-evident than the Countess could ever imagine. Despite her wealth, the Countess is as déclassé as they come. I kind of wrote her off when she was all atwitter that another housewife asked someone about plastic surgery, insisting that gossiping behind each other’s backs is so much more polite. Anyway, with all her money and privilege, more than one person has joked about her name and title, at her expense. She does not project that aura of majesty and dignity that my small-town music teacher did. If anything, she projects an odd mix of contempt mixed with anxiety – as though she knows she is a fraud, but thinks a veneer of condescension will obscure her failings.
This is the 4th and last of the Bit of.. necklaces at Balderdash that pay homage to the elements, earth, fire, water and air. This last one reminds me of a song that always makes my sister get quite weepy.
If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day ’til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you
If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I’d save every day like a treasure and then
Again, I would spend them with you
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do once you find them
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go through time with.
It is a wistful song and there is a wistful thread to these bits of elements – a sense of collection for remembrance as well as for any mystical properties of protection or power.
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And around about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott
When I saw the Shallot pose boat at Balderdash I had to jump in and take it for a test spin. Thankfully, I got out safe and sound. I was running around the water at Oubliette looking for a good place to shoot this great mesh dress from DCNY. The boat is nice and will suffice.
I am wearing the third of the Elements necklaces from Balderdash. This one is called Bit of Water – but really, we know it the seven seas and the five oceans captured in a little bottle of magic.
Continue reading