Hervé Léger released the first bandage dress in 1989 and it took the fashion world by storm. Using elastane and other fabrics associated with foundation garments, he molded his dress to the body, pioneering body conscious clothing. A decade later, BCBG Maz Azria and Seagrams acquired Hervé Léger, the first time in history that a French couturier was bought by an American designer. Léger lost control of the company and his name and the line was shut down. It was relaunched in 2007 as Hervé Léger by Max Azria and all designs were by Azria, though their clear aesthetic source is the historical Hervé Léger designs. While totally legal, it always strikes me as wrong that he lost the right to his own name. However, he didn’t give up and is now designing under the name Hervé L. Leroux.
Of course, there are more designers doing bandage dress designs today. After all, these are dresses that push in what you want in and push up what you want up. Giz Seom of Gizza has just released a fabulous bandage dress that exemplifies the body-con facility of the traditional bandage dress. It makes fabulous party and club wear, full of sex appeal, with a modern edge and a comfortable ease that makes it great for long, active nights of dancing. Continue reading →
Well, now that the tutorial is out of the way, I can actually work on today’s post. I am wearing the Edye hat and coat from Baiastice for Cinema! With its name and its mod style, I am assuming it’s inspired by Edie Sedgwick, the inimitable muse of Andy Warhol and Sixties style icon. It’s also very yellow. With my head already thinking Sixties, my very next thought was of the song Big Yellow Taxi.
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you want ’til it’s gone?
The fabulous mesh costume from JRC makes me think so much of Maleficent, the Mistress of All Evil, who casts the spell on Sleeping Beauty. The dress is actually named Nosferata to conjure the image of a vampire, but I think a vampire queen could be Mistress of All Evil, too. And of course, that makes me think of the wonderful Eartha Kitt performance of “I Want to Be Evil.”
I’ve posed for pictures with Iv’ry Soap, I’ve petted stray dogs, and shied clear of dope My smile is brilliant, my glance is tender But I’m noted most for my unspoiled gender I’ve been made Miss Rheingold, though I never touch beer, And I’m the person to whom they say, “Your sweet, My Dear.” The only etchings I’ve seen have been behind glass, And the closest I’ve been to a bar, is at ballet class.
I love how the draping and highlighting of the mesh texture give this gown the feeling that even though its made of latex, it’s fluid in its movements.
Prim and proper, the girl who’s never been kissed, I’m tired of being pure and not chased. Like something that seeks it’s level I wanna go to the devil.
The dress is cut dangerously high, so unless you are a bit of exhibitionist, you will need to find a thong that covers the essentials. The fetish thong from Ezura worked well. Although this is a standard shape, I did have to make a minor adjustment. I wore it to some DJ sets and danced and found that my knee would poke through. By changing my shape to make my knees just ever so slightly knock-kneed, that stopped happening and I was able to dance just fine. The shoes are N-Core’s Pinup pumps in red, echoing the rich red lining of the skirt.
I wanna be evil, I wanna spit tacks
I wanna be evil, and cheat at jacks
I wanna be wicked, I wanna tell lies
I wanna be mean, and throw mud pies
This can be worn with or without the crown. It also comes with skin and a makeup mask tattoo, but I left them off in favor of the freakishly frightening Demon makeup for PXL Creations Halloween Gacha.
I want to wake up in the morning
with that dark brown taste
I want to see some dissipation in my face
I wanna be evil, I wanna be mad
But more that that I wanna be bad
I wanna be evil, and trump an ace,
Just to see my partner’s face.
I wanna be nasty, I wanna be cruel
I wanna be daring, I wanna shoot pool
I confess that when I first saw this skin, I didn’t like it. It was just too out there for me. But when I put it on with this costume, I thought it was perfect – capturing the idea of evil hiding next to the facade of beauty – must more frightening.
And in the theatre
I want to change my seat
Just so I can step on
Everybody’s feet
I wanna be evil, I wanna hurt flies
I wanna sing songs like the guy who cries
I wanna be horrid, I wanna drink booze
And whatever I’ve got I’m eager to lose
I wanna be evil, little evil me
Just as mean and evil as I can be
Store info at Blogging Second Life
****SHOPPING LIST******
Poses: oOo Studio
Skin: PXL Creations Kate Demon – Gacha
Eyes: Insufferable Dastard
Lashes:Lelutka
Mani/Pedi: Leverocci
Clothing: JRC Nosferata Mesh Goth Vampire Dress
Ezura thong
Shoes: N-Core Pinup
I guess the title is misleading since there’s nothing FooFoo about this bunny. A better title might be Little Bunny Ooh-La-La. I picked this bunny cocktail costume up at Collabor88 a few months ago and wore it for the Halloween Party last night.
In another installment for the Raid My Closet challenge, I dug way back to Halloween’s past (2008) for this Katatonik Day of the Dead dress. It’s survived dozens of inventory purges simply because I love it – even though there’s not much chance to wear it. Continue reading →
It’s 11:00 and what are you doing? Well, if you go to the FAIR event, you are drinking tea in this rich brocade tea dress from 22769. The dress is a rich scarlet with a chic, modern folded bodice of silk moire. Its modern styling and traditional fabrics make a great mix of old and new.
When I unpacked the gorgeous vintage-styled Vale dress from Donna Flora, I knew I wanted to style myself completely in black and white. A noir avatar in a pixel world. The effect was a fun combination of chic and shriek that had me heading to Silent’s haunted house for some pictures. The dress is a classic fitted bodice with a tulip skirt. Its most vintage elements come from the bolero jacket with the wide rounded lapels and the puffed shoulders. The floral corsage pin adds a bit more retro styling.
When I first moved to Portland, a gay co-worker asked me to participate in “Queer For A Day” an event organized by Queer Nation. I happily agreed, not realizing that meant all day. I blithely pasted on my florescent green and safety orange stickers that boldly proclaimed “Dyke” and “Queer” in huge black lettering and enjoyed my latte at Pioneer Square with all sorts of other temporary queers. Then I went to work.
Like many people in political activism, I began as a canvasser, one of those people who go door-to-door talking to folks about the issues and raising money to fund organizing campaigns. I had no fear of reprisals from my employer over my bold signage, but when I learned we were going to canvass in East County in a particular neighborhood we canvassers called “mean dog turf” my stomach began to churn. This was no liberal bastion of tolerance. I was terrified. My friend who had invited me to join the Queer For a Day action assured me that no one would blame me for taking off the stickers given the circumstances. However, I decided that gay folks don’t get to take off their gender orientation and truly, part of the purpose of Queer For a Day was to expose gay rights supporters to the un-fabulous reality of gay life – bullying, violence and homophobia.
So, I wore my sticker and approached every door with trepidation and anxiety. I did not suffer any physical violence other than some spit at my feet and only got a smattering of verbal abuse during the night. On the contrary, most people were very nice and friendly, supportive of the national health care campaign I was working on and curious and intrigued by my stickers and my explanation of the Queer For a Day concept. I did get warned away from particular houses – neighbors telling me that so and so was an OCA member (the virulent anti-gay organization responsible for several anti-gay ballot measures). I happily took their advice since I was not looking for any excitement. However, even though the night was successful and mostly uneventful, I have never forgotten that feeling of fear as I knocked on each door, anxious over every single encounter, afraid of verbal abuse, hatred, and violence.
Queer for a Day began as a lark to please a friend, but in many ways, it changed my life. I took the stickers off at the end of the day and returned to my relatively safe straight life, but I learned that night that tolerance is not equality. Human rights and human dignity are meaningless if even one person is denied them. If they are not innate and immutable, they are nothing more than privileges subject to the whims of those in power. I had been one of those Saul Alinsky style activists who believed that if we only sorted out the economic justice issues, oppression would lose its power, but I learned then, that oppression is not just an economic wedge, it is the foundation of political division and disempowerment. The oppression of gender minorities, women and people of color are the foundation of economic oppression, not the other way around. So long as we can be divided and disempowered by social wedges, the future is bleak.
It’s been about 17 years since I was Queer For a Day and a lot has changed. Not enough. There’s so much more to be done, but I am hopeful and optimistic and I am wearing purple for Spirit Day –. It’s much more fashionable than neon stickers and not nearly as frightening. As to why purple – I think I will just play the Lavender Song from 1920 for you.
Monica Outlander has been in a design frenzy lately – releasing a huge collection of formals just as the month of fashion draws to a close. While Spring fashions have been strutting the runways of New York, London, Paris and Milan, Second Life designers keep their designs closer to real time and the real seasons, but there’s an element of spring in this one dress from MiaMai with its glorious floral abundance. While her collection includes some fabulous mesh gloves that are full or quarter length, for this dress she provided gloves with the dress in the same fabric for a bold floral push.
Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like hunting for things. Not in RL or SL. I have labeled folders in both lives, labeled drawers and a place for everything and everything in its place. Even my clothes are hung in the closet in ROYGBIV order so I NEVER HAVE TO HUNT for things. So, when I think something is worth hunting for, you can count on it being worthy. And believe me, the skirt from Bilo for the Harvest Hunt is worth hunting for.
It was so worthy it motivated me to get out of my box and go look for a setting as pretty as it is. I found Water Horse. I think it’s worthy. Continue reading →
