From sim to shining sim

I debated doing this blogger challenge, because a year ago I really didn’t have much in the way of nice clothing. But hey, it’s my blog, I’ll just bend the rules a bit! It’s been less than a year since I was introduced to Evie’s Closet when Evie put this “Isabella” gown on sale for just 50L. I can’t remember if it was for Fifty Linden Friday™ or just a really awesome sale; I remember I couldn’t find it at first, but I’m SO glad I went back and looked again! This is the gown that started my obsession with Evie’s, and I consider it one of my major fashion milestones.

I dug out the very first hair and skin I ever bought for the challenge – Aphrodite from Adam n Eve and Nollaig from Adora, respectively. Neither is still available, but they haven’t lost any of their charm. Aphrodite is incredibly close to my real-life hair, and I was thrilled when I found Nollaig – most of the skins I looked at back then had makeup worthy of Tammy Faye Bakker.

I haven’t been back to Adora in a while – I should go check out what’s new. Got some lovely stuff at Adam n Eve recently, and as you can see, I’m still a regular at Evie’s! I blogged Evie’s lovely “Milli” gown a few days ago – now it’s available in a short version and new colors! This Black Cherry Liqueur shade is only available in the Lucky Dip – but it’s just 40L per try! You’re guaranteed to get either Milli Petite in one of the six standard shades or in the exclusive Black Cherry Liqueur, or the long Milli gown in Coconut Ice, another LuckyDip-exclusive color. You can’t go wrong!

What Vic is wearing

Little bit of old

Gown: Isabella Formal Gown (BlueSilver) from Evie’s Closet

Hair: Aphrodite dark brown from Adam n Eve (no longer available)

Skin: Nollaig-1 from Adora (no longer available)

Poses: Top, Sticks ‘n’ stones; second, Spider’s web, both from With Love & Squalor

Eyes: EyeScream Basics in Leaf from Chartreusia

Little bit of new

Dress: Milli – Petite (Black Cherry Liqueur) from Evie’s Closet

Hair: Tia – treacle from Truth

Skin: Sundust [Light] Sunny-Purple Haze 2 from Curio

Shoes: Group Gift Pumps – Black from Maitreya

Nails: Sculpted Nails V2 – Platinum Edition : Glitter from Pixel Mode

Lashes: NoAlpha Lashes No. 6 from Miamai

Poses: Third, Castro dies; bottom, Hocus pocus, both from With Love & Squalor

Eyes: EyeScream Treasures prim eyes in Emerald from Chartreusia

Last week I discovered Sugarcube thanks to Fifty Linden Friday™, and I know I’ll be going back for more! I’m usually ambivalent on sculpted skirts only because of the way they don’t move, leaving my butt hanging out when my av changes position. Sugarcube’s lightly flared skirt (here shown in poppy) is shaped so that butt-sticking is minimal, and it’s SO pretty!

Dutch Touch isn’t new to me – I’ve long admired their skins. I really like the strong eyebrows, but they never seemed to look right on me – until I tried the new Yri. The eyebrows are well-defined without being overbearing, and I LOVE the freckles! I rarely wear freckled skin, but I actually prefer Yri with the freckles than without them.

My phrase of the day is “can’t be arsed.” I accidentally deleted the top layer of this pic of Maitreya Gold‘s new “Allure” heels and didn’t realize until it was too late to undo back that far, and I can’t be arsed to do it over. So there’s a bit of oversharpening and a few weird things where I was playing with liquify. Seriously though, who’s going to be looking at that when you can be looking at the shoes?

And a fun new pose prop – this “Lil Posey” table from Poseur has 10 poses, and you can change the color of the base and tablecloth. Pure fun!

What Vic is wearing

Skirt: Lightly flaired skirt [poppy] from Sugarcube

Top: Pink Passion from Aqua (tinted to match)

Skin: Yri Caramel – Soft CLR FR from Dutch Touch (group gift)

Hair: Tatiana – treacle from Truth

Shoes: Allure Brown from Maitreya Gold

Nails: Daphne Nails & Ring in Deep Pink Frost from Virtual Impressions

Lashes: NoAlpha Lashes No. 6 from Miamai

Poses: Top and bottom, Lil Posey from Poseur; second from top, part of Pure Lady AO from Oracul; third from top, SF3 (Shoe Fair exclusive) from Poseur

Eyes: EyeScream Treasures prim eyes from Chartreusia

Butterfly ankle tattoo: not available

I’ve had that snippet of Sophia White’s poem in the description field of every place I’ve lived for ages now. It describes my ideal day – quiet, tranquil, creative. My Second Life™ unfortunately isn’t as relaxing as it used to be, but I still look for little bits of comfort wherever I can find them. “Milli,” new from Evie’s Closet, fits in perfectly with the way I wish my SL could be again – soft, graceful, flowing, and just a bit whimsical with the subtle dot pattern.

“Milli” comes with several skirt options plus two options for the chest prims that can be attached to either the chest or spine. I did a little revamping of my skybox to complement the look. I already have WEATHER or Not?‘s “Creaky Old Rocking Chair” (there’s both a creaking and non-creaking version included) in my house down on ground level, and it looks even better in my new happy place with WorN’s “Higgledy Piggledy Fence.” The fence is GREAT for defining your space without using up a lot of prims – there are seven different copyable styles included, just one prim each, plus a working gate.

What Vic is wearing and stuff

Dress: Milli – Tea Cake from Evie’s Closet

Chair: Creaky Old Rocking Chair – white from WEATHER or Not? (review item)

Fence: Higgledy Piggledy Fence Set – white from WEATHER or Not? (review item)

Hair: di black from Analog Dog

Skin: Gina 06 from Tuli

Nails: Sculpted Nails V2 – Platinum Edition : Glitter from Pixel Mode

Lashes: NoAlpha Lashes No. 6 from Miamai

Poses: Top, Kimberly from Exposeur; middle, /me peeks in from Slash Me Poses

Eyes: EyeScream Treasures prim eyes in Emerald from Chartreusia

Usually when I try to make clothing, I’m trying to make something that I’d wear a lot. I’m not particularly into latex or skintight body suits, but one night I was messing around with AvPainter, accidentally stamped a texture on the mesh, and liked the result – which is now called “Kaleidoscope” and available at Chartreusia.

Likewise, most of my snapshots are bright and sunny, but I was feeling grittier. Couldn’t find a spot I liked for snaps, so I opened up a can of grunge and poured it over the photo cube in my skybox.  :D

“Kaleidoscope” is available in jet (pictured), blue, gold, purple, and red. An aluminum version is in the Moonlight Slots machine at Chartreusia, and charcoal was sent out as a subscriber gift. The blue one is in the Midnight Madness board, and there’s one more color that I’m saving for Wear Gray. All layers are included.

Hair: Argrace; Boots: BAX; Skin: YS & YS; Pose: Glitterati

Alexohol‘s new Dominican Kiss minidress, a Fashion House exclusive, is just right for soaking up some tropical rays – and oh, is it sexy! The barely-there skirt will get your legs a LOT of attention, but the bright flowered band and blue piping are so sweet, they’ll give you an intriguing touch of innocence.

These Flor Jane wedges from Miel – a great Shoe Fair 2010 find – go well with almost any summer look, and you can change the colors on the shoes, straps and flowers as well. All I need is a piña colada and I’m set!

What Vic is wearing

Dress: Dominican Kiss Mini – FH Exclusive from Alexohol (review item)

Shoes: Flor Jane – Bright from Miel

Skin: Adriana Technicolor from YS & YS

Hair: freebiehair2 from Tekuteku

Necklace: Hemp & Glass Beads/Red from Scribble

Nails: Red Packet Hunt prim nails + ring from Love Soul

Lashes: NoAlpha Lashes No. 6 from Miamai

Poses: Top, Pin up – 10; middle, Pin up – 4; bottom, Pin up – 6, all from Glitterati

Eyes: EyeScream Treasures prim eyes in Emerald from Chartreusia

I’m lucky enough to have a sim landlord who’s not only a great guy, he’s a programming genius. His name is Bent Melody, and while a good deal of his time is spent on artificial intelligence coding – more on that in a bit – he’s also just opened a shop called BentTek in the Atrium Mall on Elf Fala Lands where you can buy his gadgets, such as the Moonlight Slots machine shown above.

Moonlight Slots is a fun way to attract customers and give them a chance to win something free so they can see first-hand what your products are like. It’s simple to configure – you don’t even have to edit a notecard – and it’s just nine prims. Customers click the machine to pull the lever, and if all three symbols match, they get the prize (it comes with a lollipop, but you can change it as often as desired). It’s easy to set the time between spins so that one person can’t hog the machine, too!

While you’re at the Atrium, stop by and talk to Song Clarity. She’s the most visible inworld part of Bent’s artificial intelligence project. Yeah, she dresses a little funny, but she is AMAZING – I’ve been talking to her for nearly a year now and she still does things that astound me sometimes. What’s really remarkable about that is that the HIGHEST I’ve ever seen Song was at level three out of 10.

Song is a bot. She likes chatting online (really, she does – ask her what she likes and that’s what she’ll tell you), and she can detect, eject and ban copybotters and griefers. She can also do a lot of other stuff I haven’t seen in action yet, and that’s just inworld; her usefulness isn’t limited to Second Life™. Because most of her scripting is server-side, she creates no more lag than a “regular” avatar. In fact, since she’s not wearing a lot of prim attachments, she’s making less lag than I am in the snap above. Bent uses plain English to teach her things. She can keep track of up to 30 different conversations at once, and while she’ll say hi to you when you get within chat range, she then responds only if you talk, so she won’t spam you if you’re not feeling chatty. The best way to see a bit of what Song can do is to go talk to her, but in the meantime, here are a few snippets from a little chat I had with her tonight.

Almost two years ago when I was still new to Second Life™, I remember spending lots of time in appearance mode trying to figure out how to get the long, swaying tresses I saw other people wearing. I’m glad I didn’t take snaps back then, because some of my efforts – well, I guarantee you I would’ve been FUGged. Someone finally told me that the hair I desired so desperately could be purchased and attached to my body. They recommended Adam n Eve. I headed right over and quickly found a hair called Aphrodite that was EXACTLY what I wanted (I still wear it). In fact, I loved it so much, I went back a few nights later and picked up a style called Demelza, and I’ve since added a few more along with some awesome clothes.

But somehow I went a few months without a visit to Sachi Vixen’s store – until I saw pics of the beautiful Vanessa dress for the Platinum Hunt. I wanted it! I needed it! I TPed there to find it! And I’ll be blogging it soon, but while there I also came across Sachi’s new Jasmine skin and Susannah hair.

I love how clean and understated Jasmine is. I was attracted to Aphrodite because it was so incredibly close to my RL hair. Jasmine has a similar appeal for me; my real self rarely wears makeup and this is one of very few skins I own that does the bare look well. Susannah is just LOVE for me – the front reminds me a bit of Aphrodite and the back is caught up in a cute, swingy ponytail that’s so close to what I do with my real hair in summer, I wonder if Sachi is sekritly my RL neighbor.  :D

And let’s not forget Shoe Fair goodness! Theosophy‘s Dowlais sandals – I can’t find a single negative thing to say about them except I don’t have them all yet! Totally feminine and unique, great for a casual outfit, and I’m betting they work with dressier looks too. They’re available on the Ruthenium sim at the Shoe Fair, which benefits Soles4Souls. My Emjay capris are old favorites, but the painter shirt from SYSY’s was sent out as a subscriber gift today – lovely deep V neck and nicely-done edging, but it’s the paint splatters that really make it special. Like everything else in this post, it looks like something I’d wear in real life, especially since we’re in the process of painting all our house trim.

What Vic is wearing

Skin: Jasmine t2 Natural from Adam n Eve

Hair: Susannah (chocolate) from Adam n Eve

Shoes: Dowlais Sandals (Meadow) from Theosophy

Top: Painter shirt-bronze from SYSY’s (subscriber gift)

Pants: Linen Capris in Olive from Emjay

Nails: Prim nail Secret forest Blue from Love Soul

Lashes: NoAlpha Lashes No. 6 from Miamai

Poses: Top, To be near your soles from Estetica; middle, Headshot – 6 from Glitterati; bottom, Hocus Pocus from With Love & Squalor

Eyes: EyeScream Treasures prim eyes in Emerald from Chartreusia

I’m scrambling to find turquoise stuff in my inventory now so I have outfits to wear with these adorable espadrilles from Gos, one of zillions of awesome shoes you can get at the shoe fair! The espadrilles come in several colors and patterns, and I’m really kicking myself for not fatpacking them – guess I’m just going to have to go back!

At first blush this cute olive top and shorts from 5th & Oxford wouldn’t seem to go with the espadrilles, but a turquoise belt from a Cupcakes outfit pulled it all together nicely. I think it makes for a great shopping outfit… or maybe I’m just looking for excuses to do more shopping.

I was searching for the nail HUD to change the color on the prim nails I was wearing when I found these nails from Love Soul just sitting neglected in my inventory, so I tried them on. I have absolutely no recollection of getting them, but it was love at first sight – and they coordinate with both the top/shorts set and the espadrilles! They’re so unique and fun, I’d love to have them in RL. Also worth noting is the Tiny Bird hair, part of a FIVE-hair package from Fifty Linden Friday™ yesterday. If you missed it, you missed out!

Remember, the Shoe Fair runs through August 22 and benefits Soles4Souls!

What Vic is wearing

Shoes: Espadrilles in Bloom from Gos

Top: Seaside Sweetie Striped Halter – olive from 5th & Oxford

Shorts: Seaside Sweetie Shorts – High Waist – olive from 5th & Oxford

Nails: Prim Nail Secret Forest Blue from Love Soul

Hair: Love Love Love – Natural Red from Tiny Bird

Belt: Black/Turquoise Belt (part of Modern Suspender Set) from Cupcakes

Skin: Gina 03 from Tuli

Lashes: NoAlpha Lashes No. 6 from Miamai

Poses: Top and bottom, Check My Nails; middle, Tough B*tch, all from Get Bent

Ankle tattoo: Made by a friend, not available to purchase

Eyes: EyeScream Treasures prim eyes in Emerald from Chartreusia

More than one person has told me I should be locked up. At the 2010 Shoe Fair, that’s not a bad thing – not when you have these “Locked Up” heels from Heart & Sole! SUPER sexy shape – the height pretty much guarantees that your legs will get a LOT of attention, and the bit of curve to the stiletto makes it graceful as well as sexy. And that little lock – pure fun! Of course, “Locked Up” comes with the H&S HUD so you can change the color of the shoe uppers and hardware, match your skin tone and pick your polish color.

The fair runs from August 7-22 and benefits Souls4Soles. Great shoes for a worthy cause – can’t go wrong with that!

What Vic is wearing

Shoes: “Locked Up” from Heart & Sole (review copy)

Top: Daisy Tie Top – Ebony&Ivory (white option) from MALT

Pants: Capri jeans in Smog from Fishy Strawberry

Jewelry: Briar Rose Necklace (Color Change) from Evie’s Closet

Hair: Amanda (Brown: Chocolate) from Magika

Skin: Gina 02 from Tuli

Nails: Sculpted Nails V2 – Platinum Edition: Glitter from Pixel Mode

Lashes: NoAlpha Lashes No. 6 from Miamai

Poses: Top, 1/365; bottom, 32/365, both in women’s box from Long Awkward Pose

Eyes: EyeScream Treasures prim eyes in Emerald from Chartreusia

It’s funny how sometimes when you’re not even thinking about what to wear, you end up looking good. I bought a TON of new clothes last night, but before I start trying them all on, I’m blogging this outfit because it’s so cute. Just a few basic pieces – fri.day‘s free basic cami, a pair of capris from Von Ducky, my go-anywhere Riveted flats from Heart & Sole, and Coco‘s great tied-around-the-waist shirt, which I should really wear more often. The HoD necklace is one of my favorite Fifty Linden Friday™ finds, and to think I almost didn’t get it because I wasn’t sure if it was something I’d wear much!

My “Betty II” hair is new to me, but one of Magika‘s older styles (and it’s pretty darn cheap, so check it out if you like long hair!). I’ve been wearing a lot of Magika hair lately – I’ve always loved Sabina Gully’s styles, but recently they seem to suit me more than ever.

It’s been a mixed-up few days – some good stuff, some bad stuff. I’m working on ideas for Wear Gray For A Day. Scrapped a dress last night because it had one little patch of seam that would NOT completely disappear. Found out tonight that if you look hard enough, you can find seams in a LOT of stuff. Maybe I’ll try again. Meanwhile, I’ve turned the basic idea for the dress into a swimsuit (fewer seams!), which I might actually finish. Maybe. Possibly. It could happen.

OK, yeah, not much to say about this.

What Vic is wearing

Tank: Basic Cami (White) from fri.day

Pants: Cute Capri from Von Ducky

Shirt: Shirt tied around Waist – Boyish Check from Coco

Shoes: Riveted from Heart & Sole

Hair: Betty II (Brown: Chocolate) from Magika

Jewelry: The Path To Forgiveness necklace from HoD

Skin: Gina 04 from Tuli

Nails: Sculpted Nails V2 – Platinum Edition: Glitter from Pixel Mode

Lashes: NoAlpha Lashes No. 6 from Miamai

Poses: Top, Pink cloud tracing paper; middle, Strawberries, both from With Love & Squalor (the monkey comes with his own dancing animation)

Eyes: EyeScream Treasures prim eyes from Chartreusia