So today has been an emotional one. A year ago today my sister died after a long battle with cancer. Today, her granddaughter brought her first great-grandchild – an entirely new generation – into the world. Isn’t that magical? She was due last week, but she waited several days to arrive on the most perfect day she could. So forgive me for not describing much, it’s hard to see the screen through tears, though they are more happy ones than sad ones.
Lelutka’s Bandanda Day contributions to Hair Fair are always a work of art. Bandana Day is always the last day of Hair Fair to remind us, after celebrating our crowning glory for two glorious weeks, that sometimes people lose their hair for a host of reasons. The purpose of Hair Fair, despite how we may feel, is not just about making us look good, it’s about prompting us to do good with our shopping dollars, to raise money for Wigs For Kids. So Bandana Day is a reminder, there’s a more serious underlying purpose than just making us look good.
Thora Charron, April 2015
If you have ever wanted to discover what it feels like to be trampled by a herd of bison, just teleport to Lelutka after the group received a notice of a new hair release by Thora Charron. It is not for the faint of heart.
Why such excitement? I think there are a few reasons. For a redhead like me who wants to avoid the fiery and brassy reds, her hair textures are a wonder. I am surely not alone. Her releases often reflect a theme, an organizing inspiration so there is always some curiosity about what new thing she has done. She innovates. While fades and ombres have spread like wildfire, I remember that they did not exist “back in the day” and the frenzy when she released her first hair with roots. There is thoughtfulness behind her releases that inspires curiosity, anticipation, excitement and stampedes.
Lelutka Dakota hair with Coco Sheer Panel top and skirt and Essenz shoes.
It’s Only Fashion: What’s the craziest thing you ever did in Second Life? Most exciting? Silliest? Is there a story you can share that captures your Second Life experience?
Thora Charron: Honestly, I really can’t remember anything that crazy. I remember helping tweak Minnu’s shape back in 2007 in some strange online game having no idea what Second Life was.
Once I was in-world, there were some very bad IM pickup lines, from back in my SL clubbing days. Some really unfortunate nude teleports to public places which tend to happen more often then one would think. OH… one really unfortunate typo during a photo shoot which I really am not going to reveal because it is super embarrassing.
This is the first in a series of profiles of some of the designers at Hair Fair 2015. Albakruna designs fantasy and role play hair, with a strong emphasis on historically accurate hair designs. Her store is named Oblivion.
Hair Designer Albakruna – photo by Albakruna, used with permission.
It’s Only Fashion: What’s the craziest thing you ever did in Second Life? Most exciting? Silliest? Is there a story you can share that captures your Second Life experience?
Albakruna: Actually I consider every day of my days in Second Life the craziest, silliest, funniest ever because let’s face it, even just hovering over a cloud in the sky while building is not that usual. What chained me to this world and still keep me thrilled about is the fact you virtually can do whatever as the imagination is the only limit and, we know, imagination has no limits 🙂
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Even though there were few people awake when i visited the Hair Fair sims during the blogger preview, I dressed for a crowd. I wore just a hairbase, my default avatar, no shoes and this lovely little romper from Tee*fy. Of course, once I went back home, I jumped back into my mesh body and added some shoes, hair and accessories, because, well, I felt naked without my mesh body. What struck me as incredibly funny, though, is that I ran into four other bloggers who were wearing this romper, obviously having the same idea as me. The nice thing was that everyone was wearing a different print, thanks to the amazing quantity of prints and colors that Azure Electricteeth produced for Collabor88 this month.
I wondered what possible new thing Sasy, Mel and Whimsy could come up with for this year’s Hair Fair. What could top those boxes of hair dye from last year? Well, this time the stores are giant shopping bags. There are also a few spills of shopping bags scattered around, you can even walk inside them. There are huge lipstick displays, too. Of course, I had to check out the ones on the Redhead sim. Continue reading
Baiastice released a gorgeous dress for this underwater-themed Collabor88. I will confess I was nervous about this month’s theme, but as usual, the collaborators of Collabor88 were not too literal and came through with flying colors – mostly blues. Continue reading
Lexi Morgan of STELLAR has released a flawless set of latex dresses in fitted mesh for your SLINK PHYSIQUE body and coordinating nail polishes that are so shiny you can see your future in them. No really, I swear you can. Continue reading
I picked up this gorgeous jacket at Vintage and Cool – a vintage clothing fair held last year. I loved the beautiful lace and leather jacket and the lovely details, but had not found the opportunity to wear it – but when I put together this outfit focusing on some of the wonderful finds at My Slink Obsession, I remembered it and pulled it out of the closet. The lovely nail polish is from Stellar at My Slink Obsession.
The outfit really begins with the Somnia Cranial Trim top which was released today at My Slink Obsession. As with everything made by Sanura Snowplow, the quality is exquisite. The hand drawn textures in the bodice are beautiful and, by the way, are the reason I chose the jacket. The last picture in this post has a close up that lets you see how well the straps on the shoulders are done. That is where you can see the difference between the good and the excellent. Somnia is excellent. The only reason I do not wear it more often is she works with a much softer color palette than what I gravitate towards – for me, I generally go for prints and strong, bright, saturated colors. But coral? Well, coral is one of my favorite colors and is one of the universal colors that look good with every skin type.
I shot the pictures outside ISON. I love this sim so much.
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I’m not obsessed
So don’t forget it
It’s just a silly phase I’m going through
I must confess that clothing appliers amuse me. After all, when I began back in 2007, most clothing was made of textures applied on the avatar’s system layer. Details like buttons and collars and cuffs were usually drawn on and even photo sourced clothing had an air of unreality to it. Flexis and sculpts added depth and form, but they did not add verisimilitude. And then came mesh and there was a revolution in fashion where most of the design effort was focused on the forms, the shape, the buttons, collars and other details and the fabrics were added later. Because the barriers to entry for mesh creation are higher in terms of skills and software, several designers retreated and retired. Now that mesh bodies have replaced the system body for thousands of us, we are back to applying textures, this time on the mesh body. It does seem like we have come full circle – though with a distinct revolution in quality.
For example, this swimsuit from MiaMai is put on with an applier. It’s from the quarterly My Slink Obsession event that opens tomorrow. Certainly there are lots of mesh swimsuits and even several that don’t flash unsuspecting bystanders, though I think they are in the minority. However an applied swimsuit has its advantages, especially for those bystanders when one is sitting down and shifting positions in a chair. Another reason to love appliers is how much easier it makes layering. All of us have struggled with trying on a dozen blouses trying to fine one that will fit under a jacket and longed for the days of system clothing when layering was as easier as one, two, three. This brings back that ease coupled with the higher quality of the mesh body.
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