I was going to blog this lovely gown I picked up at Culture Shock, but I ran out of time. Culture Shock closed yesterday and I am eager to hear how much was raised in total. Anyway, although this was a donation gown at Culture Shock, it will be available after the event at Vanguard, a store that features wonderfully bold and provocative clothing.
Today is the last day of Culture Shock. I popped by last night to do some last minute shopping and there were only about 6 to 10 other people, making it a delightfully lag-free shopping experience. If you have been deterred by lagophobia lo these many days, now is your chance to find delightful dresses like this one from Spright and fun fashions and shop until you drop knowing that your lindens are saving lives for people whose time literally is running out without the fabulous work of Médecins Sans Frontières MSF (Doctors Without Borders).
Tomorrow is the last day of Culture Shock and time is running out for you to save lives by spending your lindens on fabulous fashions. I know buying a dress at Culture Shock rather than somewhere else seems a pittance, but your lindens make a difference. Your purchase of this dress buys the antibiotics to treat 3 children with pneumonia. The skin or the jewelry will buy vaccination against meningitis for 10 years! You see, many of the things that can save lives are relatively inexpensive, but it’s getting them to where they are needed that makes all the difference. That is what makes Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders so very important. Unlike many other aid organizations, they have no affiliation with any government, ideology or religion and have no agenda beyond providing the health care that saves lives where it’s most needed. This means they are uniquely trusted and able to operate in places where others are not welcome.
With projects in over 60 countries, MSF is saving lives not only around the world but here at home, wherever home may be. We like to think we are secure and isolated from the ravages of famine, disease and hunger but illness is infectious. No man is an island, particularly when it comes to viruses. People who are not motivated to support good health care for everyone out of a belief in access to health care as a human right, should be motivated by self-interest and the need to combat diseases before they become international epidemics.
I suppose since Gidge and I both were at the Nzuri grand opening party, it makes sense that we both ended up blogging our lingerie today. Totally not a coordinated plan. It was a fun party and the lovely ladies who attended mostly wore lingerie since that is her store’s specialty niche. I DJ’ed for the party a fun set of burlesque and cocktail jazz music with some new remixes and modern electro-jazz. When Tracy Rubble, Nzuri’s owner/creator mentioned that Cell House Tango was one of her favorites, I had to add it to the set.
That was when we got raided.
Nyu is a brand new store in Second Life featuring classic ready to wear separates from NyuNyu Kimono in beautifully textured mesh. I love the elegant minimalism of her clothing that focuses on quality and clean aesthetics. You can hide lots of mistakes with embellishments, but not with these simple classics. The Vintage Blouse is from her shop while the skirt is one you have seen a few times before – the Westbury mini from Mon Tissu. I fatpacked the Westbury mini because it’s one that will stand the test of time.
NyuNyu also made a stunning coat that I am in love with. It comes in 4 colors and it was so hard to choose just one, though I settled for this one because I loved how its color worked with the blouse and I thought they would work beautifully together – which comes to one of my quibbles, not with the store, but with the properties of mesh overall.
I love prints and colors. I am a veritable magpie in my love of bright colors and prints. So when the new release of fun little jumpsuits from Baiastice came out in five luscious wild and colorful prints, I was all over it.
No, I am not feeling blue, just wearing blue – and sitting on blue. The blue cardigan is from Leverocci. I picked it up when I was thinking my outfit from The Sea Hole looked a bit chilly for the weather we were having. The chair is from RnB and is a Wear Gray event item. It has 9 sit animations in it with a good mix of realistic male and female options. I love the retro styling. It reminds me of this fabulous couch I bought at a rummage sale that was that same electric blue and also a 60s vintage in pristine condition. I bet they kept it in plastic covers. It was 75 inches long and I loved it. Unfortunately, my dog would chew on the legs a bit, so I bought some bitter apple and sprayed the entire couch so she would leave it alone. Big mistake! I came home after work to a house with floors 6 inches deep in couch batting and fabric and the only fabric and stuffing still on the counch the little bits near the staples and upholstery nails that she could not chew off. It went from fully upholstered to wood and springs with one spray of bitter apple. When I saw this chair, I felt a pang of nostalgia for that magnificent couch and for that damned dog.
I love this mesh top from Elmont - with the subtle musical score printed on the fabric. It's available in three options at Wear Gray Market.
My childhood winters seem from another world now that I am grown and living in a city. We frequently were without power. There were just two families on our long, narrow and winding road through the woods, so when storms knocked out the electricity it might take 5 to 10 days for them to get around to repairing our lines. We had plenty of kerosene lamps and were always prepared, so it was not a hardship, though I thought I should get extra credit on my history papers for writing them by lamplight. One of the bonuses of those nights without power was that we pulled out the board games and played cards and games for hours.
Prelude is a new release from WTG and includes not only these highly detailed bangles and nail sets, but also earrings and a necklace.
My favorite game was Masterpiece, the art auction game. I think that is where I learned my love of art. In most games, I am a very good strategic player, but in Masterpiece, I was not. I bid on the art I wanted, not the art I thought had the highest hidden value. One that I was sure to outbid everyone on was Jackson Pollack’s Grayed Rainbow. Mom was always puzzled by my love for Grayed Rainbow while delighting in sticking me with its forgery. I could not really explain why that painting had such a pull on me, but it did. Looking at it as an adult, I am still drawn to it, but now I can explain why. You see, at first glance it looks a bunch of white paint dribbled and splashed on a black background, but it’s not. There really is an entire rainbow there, but you have to pause and let it reveal itself. It always seemed to me to be a painting about hope – the rainbow hidden by storms and despair, but there all the time if you have the patience to wait for it to reveal itself.
Squinternet Larnia has released a new dress, the first since her long struggle with illness began in December. Her struggle is not over, but I find so much hope in her return to designing and in the forward-looking name of her new outfit. April is the month of new beginnings, of rejuvenation, when the flora and the fauna return with full life force after the long winter of retreat and hibernation. I hope that the name for her new dress is a harbinger of hope, just as April is the harbinger of renewed vigor and vitality in nature.
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It’s been just over a year since the tremendous earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan and the work of recovery is still in progress. To that end, Mami Jewell has released this beautiful, ethereal gown called Esperance, or Hope. 100% of the proceeds will go to Japan’s Red Cross to support the continued recovery effort. It reminded me of one of my favorite songs – Mercy Now by Mary Gauthier. This is a powerful song that brought me to tears the first time I heart its opening lines, “My father could use a little mercy now” as it made me think of how hard my own father worked and the setbacks and disappointments in his life.
My father could use a little mercy now.
The fruits of his labor
Fall and rot slowly on the ground.
His work is almost over,
It won’t be long and he won’t be around.
I love my father; he could use some mercy now.