Tag Archives: Baiastice

The Perils of Ponchos

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I don’t know about you, but for me, ponchos have always been problematic. I bought my first poncho in Spain – knit with thick, luxurious wool and closing at the neckline with gorgeous unvarnished wood buttons. It was so warm and cozy and it felt like wearing a blanket, which meant it really needed to be worn on cold days. So here’s the thing. In Minnesota, if it’s cold enough to wear that poncho, it’s too cold to wear that poncho. The wind would blow up underneath and chill me to the bone. An engineering flaw for cold weather. So every time I see ponchos, I think of my few attempts wearing my gorgeous poncho and remember those bone-chilling gusts of wind sneaking in underneath and think – nope, not for me.

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What I needed was one more like this poncho from Zenith – to wear indoors kind of like a high fashion snuggle. But it’s Second Life and so even though there’s snow falling and the pond is frozen over, the winds that ruffle my hair are soft zephyrs carrying billowing warmth – not bone-chilling blasts from Polar Vortex.
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Mmmmmmmm, Jackets

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I dreamed I was there in Jacket Heaven and oh what a beautiful dream. But then, it was not a dream! Tres Blah really did release a perfect jacket in five metallics just in time for Christmas. I love jackets and need them desperately because so many tops and dresses are strapless. I don’t mind strapless in a formal, but for everyday – nope, not for me. I want some sleeves! These jackets are sold along with some cute rompers at N°21, the event that just opened yesterday. Yes, I hit teleport several times to get in, but once I was there, everything razzed easily and quickly and I cam-shopped happily.

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Speaking of formals, Baiastice has released the annual Winter Collection of formals just in time for the holidays and they are gorgeous. This classic comes with a regular skirt or one with a tulle overskirt. I elected to wear the tulle. I snapped a picture when I was over at The Liaison Collaborative picking up the necklace and earrings I am wearing. It’s beautifully decorated for the holidays.
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Freak Shows of Emotion

I am, in general, an overly emotional person. I can assign meaning to things that have none to the one rendering the action. Hurts hit me and don’t fade with time. I hold grudges. Except that over the past few months I’ve had a realization, I stopped caring about them.

I realized it when I was talking to blogger Sam Laszlo on plurk, and I said something like, “I think you don’t like me, or I don’t like you – I can’t remember which.”  We ran into each other at the blogger preview for Arcade and he asked me if we were still at war, at which point we added each other to our friends list and laughed.

I came to SL for a place to relax and get away from the hectic RL and somehow it took on a life of it’s own and has had so much drama it should be a show.  I somehow ended up with actual enemies, something I can’t fathom having in real life. Who the hell has enemies? Is this Sherwood Forest? Should I be afraid of the Sheriff too?  Continue reading

Sleighing Under the Influence

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While doing some practice runs for the big day, the reindeer had a little accident. You can see Donner up in the tree and Blitzen is obviously blitzed, just look at the vacant expression on his face. I am not sure he even knows what happened yet. I stopped by to survey the damage, but no one was seriously hurt. I am sure there is time to repair the sleigh by Christmas. I only hope those packages were empty samples and didn’t have anything fragile in them.

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What does one wear to a sleigh accident? Why a nice warm wool dress and a beautiful wool scarf, of course. The dress if from Thalia Heckroth and the scarf is part of a hair plus scarf combo from Rowne for Collabor88. It comes with a HUD to change the scarf textures so there is plenty of choices available.
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Bright Lights, Big Trees — With a Mini-Tutorial on Lights

Raw - direct to Flickr

I love the form of this sweater dress from NYU. It subtle shift from regular knit to rib knit to hug the waist and forearms is gorgeous. I love the slight blousing out on the sleeves and the top. It comes in two versions, with and without a collar. I chose the collarless option because I decided to add the gorgeous oversized shawl from Baiastice. Both items come in many colors to allow you to find your own favorite. (All photos are raw shots loaded directly to Flickr from Second Life®. They are not even cropped because the viewer crashes when I try to save to disk.)

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I really love how the scarf drapes in the back as well. I included to picture to show off the wonderful Christmas Lighting Pine Trees from 3D Trees and explain how I edited them to make them even better.
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Snowbunny

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It is snowing in Second Life® and warm weather clothing is not only de rigueur, it is downright a necessity. The December collection at Collabor88 is your winter outfitters headquarters with all kinds of outwear options. I decided to mix up a few pieces, taking these gorgeous wool trousers from Baiastice and the lovely wool sweater, jacket and scarf from The Secret Store. There are multiple color options so you can mix and match enough outfits for the entire month – they all look great together. I went for a monochromatic white, grey and black look.
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Designer Download — Sissy Pessoa

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Baiastice is the first store that I discovered solely from reading Second Life® fashion blogs. I remember the post and found it for you. It was all about Baiastice and was written by Melanie Kidd whose Grid Expectations blog was my favorite. I never missed a post.

May 2008 – the prim flowers and angels from the Ninfa dei Boschi Group Gift for May from Baiastice

I fell in love with Baiastice and haunted the several different stores scattered across the grid for fear i would miss a masterpiece since they did not all have the same inventory. I was thrilled when she consolidated everything in a new main store and Gidge and I worked tirelessly during her opening weekend to find all 20 free gifts she hid and waited with bated breath for her monthly group gifts.

Sissy Pessoa was the first designer to offer us promotional samples to blog. We had been blogging about six months and did not even know there was such a thing. We felt we had made the big time. Through the years, Baiastice remains a favorite store and Sissy Pessoa has become not only a favorite designer but a friend.

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Vogue at Uber – December Baiastice is known for fabulous Christmas gowns. Every December brings a release of stunning and sexy gowns for the season. 

It’s Only Fashion: What was your first day in Second Life like? What made you stick it out through the learning curve?

Sissy Pessoa: I remember my first day with a lot of emotion. It was the first time I experienced a virtual simulator and I was very excited. I fell in love with the possibility to do so many different and funny things.

IOF: What’s the craziest thing you ever did in Second Life? Most exciting? Silliest?

SP: You surely remember the hen “killer” that went far in 2008. A small hen in prims that launched against an avatar would not stop chasing you, catch you and make you bleed. Once during the backstage of a show I threw a dozen… people started to run screaming for the whole sim, we died with laughter for days!

IOF: When did you begin creating? What was the first thing you made. Did you save it? Did it work?

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The Arcade Gacha – December 2014 Baiastice is also the go-to store for high-fashion boots and shoes. 

SP: I started very early to create clothes and the first one was a tee shirt. Of course I have it and plenty other things but no one will wear them for sure!

IOF: How did you choose your store name? Does it have a special meaning for you? If your stores is named after yourself, how did you go about choosing your avatar name?

SP: I created an original word with an italian sound but it does not mean anything.

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Baiastice at FaMeshed November


IOF: 
What is the most challenging part of being a creator in Second Life? What is most rewarding?

SP: I am happy to say that I like all parts of the creative process, from developing the idea to the finished product,

IOF: Where do you get inspiration for your designs? What is your process like?

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Baiastice @ Collabor88 November A mix of casual, formal and whimsy-wear is what you get at Baiastice. 

SP: I love fashion so my inspiration is what I like. Usually I start from something that I have seen and I try to make it very personal.

IOF: How do your first and second life design aesthetics resemble and contrast with each other? How would you describe your design aesthetic? Who is your customer – the person you are thinking of when you design?

SP: My aesthetic in SL and real life are basically the same. Usually I make clothes that I like a lot in real life too, clothes that I wear or that I would like to wear. My design is really eclectic, my style is versatile like the items I choose to do, consequently my customer is a person with my tastes. One day I feel like wearing very fancy clothes but the day after I can like a totally casual look.

Baiastice at The Arcade

Baiastice at The Arcade – a collection of ball-jointed dolls. 

IOF: How has your second life changed your first life?

SP:  Second Life is my job and my fun at the same time so it totally changed my life. I can say that the one is interconnected to the other up to the point where “SL” becomes “RL.”

 

A Vision In White

Baiastice was one of my first FANCY stores in SL. The store where you walk in and look around, going oooooo man……how am I ever going to afford any of these? But of course eventually you realize you can, and that it’s better to have one of something good than 20 of something shitty.  Continue reading

The Alchemy of Color

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Alchemy is more a philosophy than a study. A belief that somehow base metals can be transmuted into fine metals, as water is into wine in Christian communions. In the abstract, though, we can think of alchemy as the process of changing elements by bringing them together. This modern kimono from Atomic has some alchemical magic of its own coming in 3 colors and 6 tank colors that can be transmuted with a HUD. The other alchemy at play is adding an overlay of a light leak to add some color to my blue sky. You can download that video and screenshot individual light leaks from it. I used this particular capture.

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In this shot, you can see the gorgeous amethyst crystal necklace from BOOM at Collabor88. There is a lot of interest in crystals for use in healing and balancing our lives – a belief that they focus energy. I think they are pretty and that is all they need to do. The gorgeous manicure is from FLAIR.

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Innovation

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One of the most satisfying pleasures in Second Life® is witnessing moment of true innovation – the imaginative brainstorms of creative people that change our ideas of what is possible. We did not have prim hair or flexi hair until someone thought of it. And then everyone thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Once someone thinks of it – it seems so obvious, doesn’t it?

Someone had to come up with the idea of a sculpted foot in a shoe. The Slink hands and feet were an innovation that sparked an explosion of mani/pedis and Slink-compatible shoes. I have seen capes and jackets before that come with poses so your arms go in the pockets, so when I first saw this cape from ISON, I did not realize how innovative it is. But those arms in my pockets are part of the cape. It comes with a collar and gloves that can be set to a range of colors using a HUD or turned off altogether. It’s magnificent and innovative and I wage we will see more outfits with built in gloves.

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The hat hair from Little Bones is a perfect match, controlled by a HUD as well, from which I selected a red hat and teal band and silver metal findings.  Continue reading