I love the new Sweet Sheer top from The Secret Store for faMESHed. It’s perfect for mixing and matching with pants and skirts with its beautifully tucked-in waist. It comes in a nice range of colors for all sorts of different looks. I chose this mustard top for a more fall ensemble with the madras plaid skirt from coldLogic.
Browsing through my contacts on Flickr the other day, I saw a batch of vendor ads from Countdown. They were so stunning, I didn’t just make a note to go check it out, but instead logged in right and snapped up a few of the dresses. Countdown is not new, but it is new to me and that makes me ask, “Countdown, where have you been all my SLife?”
Could there be designs more suited to draw me in? Look at the classic lines combined with the modern details like the sheer chevrons that embrace the belt and highlight the waist. The sheer elements at the neckline and waist flirt with sensuality, but never stray close to the line.
(Note to Designers: This is why you put vendor ads on Flickr.)
The ombre top from Emery for faMESHed is so gorgeous I didn’t even mind showing a bit of tummy.
A friend of mine had a crisis in confidence this weekend. It surprised me because she is one of the most amazing people in the world. She’s the woman who can “bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan and never let you forget you’re a man” of old songs that celebrate female power and confidence. Yet, careless words negated all her accomplishments, her skills, her successes, her loving friends and filled her with a feeling of inadequacy. How is it that someone so good could ever feel insecure?
But insecurity strikes us all. Myself, whenever someone writes a criticism of “bloggers” without naming names, I am certain that it is about me. Boring, just like everyone else, dull, they are all words I have internalized. I know very well that I am not nearly so imaginative and creative as some of the SL photographers that inspire me. I envy their abilities and most of all their creativity.
I am feeling celebratory today and what better color for a happy mood that purple – or more specifically mulberry. Gizza recently released this military coat. The military inspiration is shown not only in the rows of shining buttons on the wide lapel and the trim fit in the waist. I paired it with gorgeous winter weight dress pants from Baiastice and a top from Sakide.
I am wearing green on Election Day – with the fabulous new skirt from Baiastice. The Flokey skirt has a high waist and a shine that you can see your face in. Does this have much to do with the election? I guess I have the privilege of wearing luscious clothing to vote because women who came before me have won the right for me to vote.
Today is Election Day in the United States. Election Day, for me, is a day to honor one of my heroes, Fannie Lou Hamer. She was the granddaughter of a slave, born to a sharecropping family in Mississippi. She worked the fields starting when she was six, dropped out of school when she twelve to work more hours and married a sharecropper. She was one of many black women sterilized without her knowledge or consent as part of Mississippi’s plan to reduce the black population. Although she did not have much formal education, she was concerned about her rights and attended civil rights meetings in the 50s.
In 1962, when she was 45 years old, she took the bus with 17 others into the county courthouse in Indianola, Mississippi, to register to vote. This was an action of singular courage because nowhere was segregation more steeped in violence and terrorism than Mississippi. On her way home, her bus was stopped and she and the others were arrested. The land owner came to her home and said they would be evicted if she tried to vote. She left the next day, seeking refuge with friends. Ten days later, the Klan visited the home where she was staying and fired on it.
She began volunteering for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1963, she was again arrested and beaten so badly that it took over a month for her to recover. Explaining how she could face such dangers, she said, “I guess if I’d had any sense, I’d have been a little scared – but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they could do was kill me, and it kinda seemed like they’d been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember.”
I love the sleek, structural design of the Leather & Lace dress from Fanatik for faMESHed this month. It’ beautifully body-conscious, the waist curving in with long darts and the bodice highlighted with horizontal stitching. Every thing about it is sleek. The lace cap sleeves are added to soften it’s minimalist severity. They also provide a reference to the Leather & Lace trope that used to be a surprising combination in fashion. It has now become a fairly common theme ever since the Stevie Nicks song. Give to me your leather, take from me my lace.
I would be happy with a touch script to hide the sleeves because I would love to wear this dress with jackets or sweaters and the shape of the sleeve complicates that. It’s not that I dislike the sleeves, I don’t. I would like more flexibility because this dress could be one of those wardrobe foundation pieces that can adopt all sorts of personalities depending on its accessories. The dress comes in eight colors, though four are exclusive to faMESHed.
FaMESHed opened yesterday, showcasing another collection of excellent original mesh creations including this gorgeous top from Zaara. Designer Zaara Kohime draws from her country’s traditions in this draped top with its rich brocade embellished with gold embroidery. She released this in both gold and silver options and in a rainbow of bright and muted color.
I pulled out some old cigarette pants from One Bad Pixel. I love the sheen in these pants and how that picks up the metallic threads in the top. The shoes are from Deco – with bold black glitter giving me some head to toe sparkle.
Speaking of sparkle, this updo from Exile for FaMESHed is stunning. I love the stray wisps and the suggestion of movement they convey. It’s a bold, wild style with just the perfect amount of disarray. To finish off, I added some simple, bold jewelry from Baiastice and the always classic Faith from PXL Creations.
Store info at Blogging Second Life
****SHOPPING LIST******
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.
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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