Category Archives: Fashion Community Activities, Events & Feeds

Penumbra Fashion Week Begins Today

PENUMBRA AW14 FASHION WEEK LOGO Mercedes Benz Fashion Week ended Thursday – with more fabulous Spring and Summer 2015 collections than you can imagine. They are all available for viewing at MBFW online. However, my favorite place to see the collections is New York magazine

Penumbra Fashion Week begins today with many runway shows everyday throughout the week and with forty-three designers, there’s a lot of fashions walking the runways. Second Life® has an immediacy that we do not have in our first lives, so Penumbra Fashion Week features Autumn/Winter 2014 collections.

Now there is a reason I love Second Life Fashion Week.  It always produces something new and exciting. Most of the time designers create a few items at a time for a weekly or monthly release schedule. They might release one to five items for an event. There is nothing wrong with this and it is great fun to see how designers take an event theme and interpret it in myriad ways as happens each month at Collabor88.

However, for Fashion Week, they are asked to produce a collection – several pieces that should reflect various forms but with a cohesive theme. This makes them think about design differently – about how elements work together, how shapes can be transformed from one outfit to the next. This different approach can develop into fantastical avant garde pieces, amazing show stopping gowns and really exciting invocations.

There is something about making a gown that  you know is going to walk down a runway in front of an audience that I think just gets those juices flowing – so I always am eager to see what folks produce and the stories their fashions tell.

Shut the Light, Shut the Shade

My House

Ispachi trunk, bed and dresser, AF Dolly Lamp, Zaara vanity, stool, end table, chandelier and makeup oddments, Letter C I made, AF Pheasant Feathers, ::db:: Picture Frame Set Silver Buddha, Elegant Mirrored Tree from Ravyn Stonesoul, AF Carriage Clock, MadPea Bonsai Ryu, AF Bed Text, floorplan. eiffel tower marquee, AF Mother of Pearl Inlaid Chest,

Close your eyes, close the door
You don’t have to worry anymore
I’ll be your baby tonight

My House

Trompe Loeil – Ines Branch Screen, Dutchie Vintage Bathroom,MadPea Bonsai Tsukikage RARE, Scarlet Creative Meribel Day Sofa, tarte. striped rug

Shut the light, shut the shade
You don’t have to be afraid
I’ll be your baby tonight

Continue reading

A very, very fine house

My House

from left to right: [we’re CLOSED] summer flowers and shrubs, Silver Birch from Studio Skye, Lark – Desert Retreat Deck – Painted, [ba] hollyhocks, Trompe Loeil – Brooklyn Carriage , Sway’s [Door Mat] international, [we’re CLOSED] tree 01D spring

I do not move houses very often in Second Life® or in real life. It is just too much work. However, when the Brooklyn Carriage House came out at Collabor88 last month, I could not resist its bright red doors and fine brickwork. I finally have everything arranged, but will be moving shortly. I thought I would share before I pack it all up. I love the house and how it looks, but I guess my four year old computer really cannot handle such an open floor plan where everything fezzes all the time. I need rooms and walls that limit the textures my computer has to handle, so I will be on my way to a more traditional space. That is totally a reflection of my computer’s age and is no criticism of the house – which is gorgeous, very, very gorgeous.

My outdoor decor is pretty limited, just a few shrubs and bushes from We’re Closed, a couple trees and the gorgeous deck from Lark that was released at The Liaison Collaborative a few month’s back.

Continue reading

I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

Snapshot_018

The Old Astronomer is not a very good poem, but it does end well. Stars were on my mind thanks to the adorable Lootia shirts from Somnia for My Slink Obsession. Sanura Snowpaw of Somnia may have my head for how I am wearing it though. The shirts are actually long-sleeved, but I chose to wear them on my Slink Physique and then opted to not apply the sleeves for a tank top instead. A surprise benefit to wearing appliers – or an unintended consequence if you don’t like it, I suppose.

Snapshot_020

I wore the top with a grey denim skirt from Mai Bilavio who is also a creator for Vive9. While I was a My Slink Obsession, I also found some great nails from Licked & Painted and Adore & Abhor. I tag all my pictures on Flickr with the store names. If it’s more than one word, I have to put quotes around the store name. That makes me wish for more one word store names.

Continue reading

Is an Aardvark an Anteater?

I don’t know. I used to think they were. Now I think I’m wrong. But I don’t know I’m wrong. What I do know is that Mutresse has anteaters at THE ARCADE. Mine likes to do fashion shoots with me. What a versatile creature.  She’s only a few accessories away from fashion blogger, I swear. Continue reading

Remembrance

140905_007

 

Versus Magazine did a lovely tribute to Squinternet Larnia that was released on the 4th, the one-year anniversary of her death. Tania Tebaldi who wrote and managed Squinternet’s blog for her wrote an essay that showed a different perspective on Squinternet than the one I knew. That’s one of the reasons people come together to mourn their loved ones – because we all know people through different lenses and in sharing our grief, we all get a fuller, rounder perception of the person. Continue reading

Old School, New School

083014_005

There’s only a few designers with the confidence in their design aesthetic and creative skills to resist the tides of change while simultaneously surfing the waves. Monica Outlander is one of those artists. Her new MiaMai Black Label collection is the perfect exemplar of that duality of leading and trailing edge design.

What do I mean by that? Well, she is using appliers for Slink Mesh attachments to enhance her clothing. Meanwhile, she provides system layers for people who use the default avatar. She is using mesh in many creative ways. Meanwhile, she will use flexi-prims when they suit the design better. It is that flexibility that leads her to use whatever method best suits the design – not just the newest method, that shows confidence and commitment to her own vision.

Continue reading

Unpacked

140827

 

The move is complete, the bags and boxes unpacked and I have settled into a chair to take a last look before crawling into bed.

140827

 

The nice thing about moving in Second Life is that one does not have to look the part.  I am wearing a mini-dress from 1992 that is the ne plus ultra of hot, sexy modernity. It’s revealing, edgy and definitely “designed” but not at all over-designed. It comes in a solid beige, a solid black or this print – and all can be found at The Dressing Room.

Continue reading

Moving In

0826_004

Well, I decided to go for it and move into the Brooklyn Carriage House from Trompe L’oeil. It’s smaller than the big brownstone I was living in and requires a lot less furniture, but I ended up buying some furniture anyway, because that’s what happens when you move. You need new things. Among the new things are this lovely vanity that’s also from Trompe L’oeil and a big blue velvet bed from there as well.

0826_002

I added this glorious lounge/daybed from Mudhoney that can be found at this month’s Collabor88. The golden key embellishment at the bottom and the gorgeous tassels place it firmly within the Odyssey inspiration and that blue is a rich as the Aegean Sea.

Continue reading

House Hunting

0821_005

I have been thinking about moving, downsizing from my lovely, but large, 5th Avenue townhouse and have been on the lookout for something marvelous. I think I found it at Collabor88 this month. I mean look at that red door! We need more red doors in our lives.

This month’s Collabor88 is inspired by the Odyssey and I am loving the many interpretations that designers are coming up with. I am fondest of those that are less literal – like this mini-dress from Tres Blah. It was a bit short for my taste so I added some leggings from Maitreya to avoid flashing my hoo-hah around.

0821_001

So this carriage house from Trompe Loeil appeals to me as a new home. The only problem is that I will have to move. I hate moving – not as much in SL as in RL – but I still like to stay in one spot. However, I am pretty sure I will sign a lease on this place and move in shortly. I love carriage house apartments. When I was in college, I had a friend who rented a carriage house. It was gorgeous inside and the rent was reasonable, best of all, though, it was on an estate – so there were these magnificent grounds that he was able to use – so long as he scheduled with the owners. Lucky guy!

Continue reading