Alexander McQueen said “Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of punishment.” I agree, we should wear what makes us happy and only follow those trends that appeal to us. After all, style is more important than fashion and style is about our choices. There are always wonderful choices in Second Life®.
I have also finally figured out how to make Marketplace work again and uploaded the projector I used to shoot these pictures.
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I love the music of Leonard Cohen. I have a playlist I love of Leonard Cohen covers and know nearly all his songs by heart. One of them, Anthem, is one of my favorites because although on one level it despairs of the world; it also calls us to act with hope. “Ah the wars they will be fought again. The holy dove, she will be caught again, bought and sold and bought again. The dove is never free.” It is true, endless wars are a constant stream throughout history, started by governmental leaders, the “killers in high places who say their prayer out loud.”
But then there is the chorus.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
Ring the bells that still can ring acknowledges that as bad as it is, there are still some things that you can do. Don’t let excuses stop you from doing what you can. “Forget your perfect offering” reminds me of Voltaire’s aphorism “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Do not wait for the perfect answer, the perfect solution, go with what you’ve got because good enough is better than nothing, and nothing is what you get if you wait for perfect. Everything we can do is going to be slightly imperfect, “there is a crack in everything” but it is those imperfections that reveal our humanity and “that’s how the light gets in.” I love how he asserts that it is in our imperfections that we will save ourselves.
So, this is not one outfit, but pieces from two, or three if you count my shoes, outfits that I put together. The Nisha blouse is paired with a solid black flirty flip skirt and the Kenia pencil skirt is paired with an elegant halter top. I was immediately drawn to the pencil skirt. I always am, it is one of my favorite forms in fashion. However, as much as I liked the halter, I struggled to get it to work with the alpha cuts on my mesh bodies. I noticed the blouse and thought that the two prints would work well together and produce a more exciting, bolder look than each print alone with a solid item. Luckily for all of us, DE.Boutique releases their items as separate pieces, even though they are in one outfit. This gives us the freedom to do our own thing.
I will confess I am a little in love with Deborah Vos and DE. Boutique even though I have never met her or even sent or received an IM from her. It is just that I liked this outfit (there’s a bit of a story there) so well, I checked out her Marketplace and found so many things I want, with that combination of sophisticated and classic style and bold, modern sensibility that is completely in tune with my aesthetic. DE.Boutique is completely new to me, a discovery at this month’s showcase event The Instruments that runs through October 6th. They have a new sim, so delete your old landmarks and Teleport to The Instruments‘ brand new home.
JUMO just released Arthuriana – a skirt and top combo in chocolate, oil, marsala, navy and violet The dress comes with a luxe wreath of gold and pearls, earrings, bracelets and a headpiece. However, I was inspired by the print to take the outfit in a different direction.
As you can see, Arthuriana has Wow! factor aplenty with its design details such as the dramatic sweep of the skirt and drama of the cutout back.
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When Sarah McLachlan wrote Angel, she was not thinking of the sort you might see in a Sunday school lesson, but one more like this perhaps. The song is about seeking comfort and escape from life’s pain through a needle, through heroin addiction to be precise. Inspired in specific by Jonathan Melvoin of Smashing Pumpkins who died of an overdose about 20 years ago, the more general inspiration came from McLachlan’s own experience of seeking comfort and reassurance from other drugs. McLachlan, when speaking about the song, seems to think the feelings of inadequacy, of insecurity, of alienation are part of the music industry. Personally, I think they are part of life.
there’s always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it’s hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh beautiful release
memories seep from my veins
let me be empty
and weightless and maybe
I’ll find some peace tonight
in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
I thoughy this blood-tipped “angelic” gown paired with the needle-sharp Say wings from Glam Affair would be a great representation of McLachlan’s “angel” whose comfort is only temporary unless, of course, it is the final comfort of death. Incidentally, Maylee Oh of The Secret Store who made this gown also made a video of her weight painting and texturing it and while I have no idea what she is doing it is strangely hypnotic to watch.
The gown is a gorgeous brocade with a delicate blood tip. You see more red in this picture than the other because of the red projector I was using to light the scene. The wings are white and plum and the projector lights them as well. I actually selected the plum textures in the wings and tinted them bright red to go with the dress and the jacket.
My shoes are from Hucci and are incredibly elegant. I love how the leather comes to a point and echoes the feathers and the wings.
I always wear lingerie under my clothes. After all, sometimes when you TP in, your clothes seem to arrive a few seconds after you do. Luxuria is my go to brand.
A chose Truth’s Anouk hair style with the color-change bands and Donna Flora’s Julia set with rubies.
My makeup comes from Glam Affair’s newest release Mavi, a Lelutka mesh head applicator. I opted for the brightest, reddest lipstick.
Store info at Blogging Second Life
****SHOPPING LIST******
Poses: Di’s Opera
HUDS: AnyPose Expression HUD v1.0 – Wear Me
Slink Ankle Lock
Skin: Glam Affair Mavi Asia
Mesh Attachments: .LeLutka.Mesh Head-STELLA v1.1
Slink Avatar Enhancement Feet High & Handas
Slink Physique Mesh Body V2.4 (ADD ME)
Appliers: Flair Mani-Pedi 13
Glam Affair Mavi Asia
Luxuria Serpentine Red
Eyes: pc eyes by LL – shallow water – medium
Hair: TRUTH HAIR Anouk
Clothing: [Slink]The Secret Store – Avianna Dress – Blood Dip @ Collabor88
[Slink]The Secret Store – Harpy Mantle – Blood Dip @ Collabor88
Glam Affair – Sya Wings Plum @ Collabor88
Shoes: ::HH:: Hucci Minerva Sandal – Collection (Slink) @ Collabor88
Jewelry: Donna Flora Julia
(Yummy) True Fate Ring – Gold – Rainbow @ Collabor88
Location: Kalopsia Broken Floor, anc Bubbles
First things first, Strawberry Singh wrote an important post about an ongoing fraud happening in SL right now. You should read it to best protect your own account. Of course, a good rule of thumb is not to execute or agree to anything from objects given to you by strangers. While it’s not true that you can never cheat an honest person, it is true that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
So autumn is here. Here in Oregon, it’s raining, bringing sweet relief from the heat and let us hope, from the fires that are destroying so much habitat in the Pacific Northwest and California. Here in SL, though, there are no fires and the rain is holding off for another day. However, the state fairs are all over and all the 4Hers have their ribbons and are back in school. Fruits are being harvested and canneries are running around the clock. For me, though, lounging by the barn is a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Schadenfreude’s black squirrel is much more industrious, picking up a small pumpkin to store away.
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There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields –
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come! …Emily Dickinson
I love the sweater and skirt from ur favorite one (u.f.o.) for Collabor88. They come in a wide range of colors and have a hint of fall, but are still lightweight and open for summer. Perfect transition clothing for September. That big knit bow is perfection.
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NYU has released fabulous button front shirts that tuck in and by tuck in, I mean there really is a tail that tucks in, they don’t just seem to tuck. The top also has a gorgeous yoked back with a single center pleat adding volume to the body of the shirt. There are coordinating skies in several plaids. The color palette is subdued and autumnal, appropriate now that the northern hemisphere heads back to school and the freshness of fall is in the air. If you look, you can see the skirt has a couple design details to elevate it from the ordinary, including a thoroughly modern peplum that is very different from the usual in that is drapes close to the body and is longer than usual. Unlike most peplums, it is not adding a lot of volume at the hips.
I stopped off at Cape Juniper which is an interesting sim. It has a wedding venue along the shore and a small town with a retro vibe. There is also this derelict and crumbling old church (I am assuming a church) that caught my eye and drew me in.
It didn’t really seem like part of the town, but it was still a lovely spot to visit and take pictures.
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“I am the shore and the ocean,
awaiting myself on both sides.
I travel
always arriving in the same place.” ― Dejan Stojanovic, The Shape
Yesterday was a hard day for me. My mind was occupied with thoughts of friends in extremis, whose difficulties and hardships I cannot lighten. It was also the second anniversary of Squinternet’s death and I still miss her open-hearted friendship and humor. I guess in Second Life, as in my my first, when feeling sad and ineffective, I head for the water for new energy. Whether I find myself lakeside or on the shore of the sea or an ocean, there is something about the inexorable sound of the waves that comforts me. No matter what, the waves will continue, an infinite sound loop that I find comforting.
I may have felt sad on the inside, but I looked anything but on the outside. I was wearing this indecently sexy new swimsuit from Liziaah. It comes in five colors. I chose the Aqua, as you can see. The folder comes with all the standard sizes plus one made to fit Slink Physique, which I am wearing. I love the marine inspired embellishments that make me think this is the sort of swimsuit that Diane de Poitiers might have worn if Henry II had been the king of Atlantis instead of France.
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W.H. Auden wrote in his collection of prose essays, The Dyer’s Hand, ““Every man carries within him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow.” Then he went on to suggest a good parlor game would be to look at different people and imagine the kinds of mirrors they might be carrying. One might be carrying a gilt baroque hand mirror, another a small compact mirror in a leather case, each of them, carrying mirrors that by design and dimension reveal their character.
I don’t know want my unique mirror would look like. I have one mirror that I purchased that goes over my dresser. It’s huge and heavy and requires two people to shift, framed in a beautiful dark cherry but free of ornamentation or embellishments. That is the kind of mirror I chose to buy, but does it reveal anything about me other than I dislike dusting? I don’t know.
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