This is a year I’ll be pleased to see the back of. Even though it’s the first day of my summer holiday, I’m feeling nostalgic and kind of blue.
The people we love sometimes have to leave us, the challenges we face are sometimes bigger than ourselves. I’m thankful for the ones I love, and I’m thankful that they love me back.
Be safe and happy this Christmas, and remind those you care about how important they are to you.
♥ Genevieve
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In Australia, we are subjected to frequent government campaigns encouraging us to buy local and keep the dollars in Australia. It’s a great message, but to my mind has always been undone by these dinky little tags that dangle off every conceivable product that has some (often fleeting) connection to Australia – the graphic design of the logo hasn’t changed since the 80’s, and rightfully deserves to be stapled to the arms of an acre’s worth of Jenny Kee jumpers… in a parallel universe… far far away.
The logo alone has been enough to make my wardrobe proudly Chinese-made.
My xenophilia (no, not the alien type) has had to take a back seat since my SL inception, however, as the quality of Australian designs in SL are wonderful, and worthy of nationalistic pride. For outfits 2 and 3 in the ‘Not Buying Anything 100′, I mashed up two all-Aussie outfits without spending a cent.
Quite well known (to me) Aussies in my inventory are Truth Hawks, Stephanie Misfit, Dakota Buck and Siddean Munro (I keep them in a jar of Vegemite in my objects folder). Even before I knew their origins, I’d loved their work. Stephanie’s skins are some of my favourites, Truth’s hair is dominating my skull (and his clothes are pretty flash too), Dakota’s old venture, Savvy? is still being worn and blogged about (it’s SL-vintage, you know!) and the prolific Siddean is a skin/shoe/clothing making machine who’s shoes look like foot heaven to me.
I also learnt in my research the Aemilia Case from Philotic Energy, Eyva Matova from Bebe and Kaysha Sion from WRONG were from the land down under and so into my mix up they went. Kaysha’s stockings in particular have been a stalwart in my inventory, and I was stocked to be able to include them into the outfits. I’ve also recently had the pleasure of meeting fellow Aussie, Evangeline Miles from Evie’s Closet, on Plurk. I’ve long heard of Evie’s Closet but have somehow managed to never tp over – it will be first cab off the rank once the challenge is over!
Because the dinky seems to have been hard-wired into me by those awful little propaganda tags, I couldn’t help but raid my brush folder and pepper the sky with stars, cos that’s what these kids are.
*awwww…. gag*
But truthfully, with as little cynicism as an Australian can muster, it makes me proud to have bought Australian.
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Continue reading ‘Being proudly Australian (non-Cronulla style)’
My last few SL purchases (before my self imposed shopping embargo) were full of joy – I discovered Kraftica and BLAND, I finally went shopping for Gala Phoenix skins (it’s ♥ baby!), I was really excited by products from Pink Outfitters and KessKreations and I got foxy new Ottico glasses… (please imagine dancing banana here). It’s been so long since I’ve had time to play dress ups and get snapping, but these purchases DEMANDED my attention.
Gala Phoenix continues to offer one of the greatest skin deals in SL – 8 skins for $5000L (which is in effect 16 skins, as she offers a plain and freckled version for each make up). While she was helping me with my order (I are smart but can’t count), I asked Gala which was her favourite make-up. She immediately sent me Sari (above) and as I slipped her on I experienced a most profound narcissism – it was quite unseemly but most satisfying – and haven’t budged from Gala’s skins since.
I told Gala I’d blog an outfit based on this skin, and the outfit I created was cute (and took ages – you don’t want to pay homage to a designer’s skill with any old junk), but when it came time to take pictures, all I could do was focus on the face and those beautiful, shiny, luscious lips (here comes that narcissism again!), and I’m almost annoyed that I left on my great new Ottico glasses, because you can’t make out the sheeny, pinky eyeshadow as well as it deserves. I’ve worn Gala’s skins throughout this post, andn with La Sylphide’s Erin range, I have found a new standard in skins. I am well pleased.
I don’t remember the series of TP’s I took that landed me in BLAND, but I felt like an explorer sighting unchartered land – “I say, chaps, haven’t seen this one on the blogs yet! Could we have tapped a vein of unhyped merchandising?! Pip pip, man, pass me the Pimms! We’ve some reviewing to do!!” (Turns out SCD got there first, but my enthusiasm didn’t wane). Chav Paderborn & Rachel Breaker create bold, bright and exuberant pieces that aren’t 100% refined as yet, but are brimming with originality and fun. I peg them as people of interest, and intend to keep an eye on them from this point onwards (that sounds creepy and ominous, doesn’t it?).
When I wandered into Kraftica for the first time, I was baffled that I’d never heard of the brand before – the shop design is great, the metallic textures are amazing and the line is designed with real skill and prim-manship. My jewelry folder is positively bulging with all of the purchases I absolutely had to have, and this is the first time (in either world) where gold jewelry has appealed to me. I take my hat off to Anuitka Barthelmess, and this is one of the rare occasions where I counsel absolute and unfettered fangirlieness – GO! BUY!
Speaking of jewelers with flair, Kesseret Steeplechase’s very refined selection of jewelry is expanding (very rapidly) to include a full clothing range that’s hand-drawn, with dramatic shading and featuring a really pretty colour palate. I’m wearing her pearl necklace and bracelet above, and the lustre of the pearls is just perfect, with a lovely creamy colour that offsets the skin tone I’ve chosen from Gala’s range.
My favourite dress maker, Evelyn Edelman from Big Booty Big Money, has a new main store at Floyd and handful of new releases that continue in her whimsical and distinctive style. The Twilit Grotto dress, above, features a contrasting petticoat (which you can’t see) that perfectly colour matches with my Savvy? bustier (I’m yet to discover an outfit that isn’t improved with those bustiers). I think if I were ever to use any SL clothes as templates for RL designs, BBBM would be my starting off point.
Pink Outfitters creator, London Dailey, is building an empire. Her recent sim purchase, OnRez store and her very sleek and well organised website suggests a mastermind with a with a strategy to win SL (if not SL, then the hearts and wallets of the fashionable) and she’s doing so with a good range of casual wear, accessories and skins. I’m wearing the Pink Outfitters signature colour tank and hoodie (that I’ve been wearing off and on since Halloween) with a (modified) Tres Blah shirt and Canimal pants. This pink punk style is just WIN to me – edgy but sweet, strong but not aggressive, and it’s capped off by a slightly edgier than normal Truth hair and Turnstyle earrings.
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I don’t usually sleep on the job, but I’m getting my rest in now because I’ve set myself a challenge – I want to blog 100 outfits without spending a cent.
I was inspired by Ketsy’s post to make the most of the inventory I already have and to save some $ along the way. I would suggest this as a blogger challenge, but I don’t want designers to go broke, and only a lunatic would attempt 100 outfits when their post count is a measly 48… I’ll probably still be blogging this when we’re happily entrenched in our third lives.
And so…
I’ve been busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger of late. Running two businesses, spending time with my family, Plurking (bad Plurk’s stealing all your good blog posts – you know that right?) and actually hanging wallpaper (with two arms not one, thankfully) has drained me outright.
Witness:
Trust me to wander the grid looking for spooky haunted houses (the one over at Grim Babies was great fun) only to nap through all the fun. Well, at least I think it was fun – my host there in the background left some wicked bite marks on me while I snoozed, so I’m assuming it was fun for her. Hope she took pictures!
Though I haven’t been participating much in the ol’SL™, I have been thinking about a few things, and I wanted your opinion…
A quick run down on my thoughts:
* I love the Halloween costume collaborations that Torrid, Starley, Kari and Haver have recently put out, and I’d love to see more joint efforts from other designers that aren’t necessarily holiday-theme based. It seems to refresh their work and I think their offerings are stronger (if that’s possible) for their common theme and goal.
* Creative store designs = love. I think this stemmed from the Grim Babies haunted house, where everything was for sale and the shopping experience was entirely immersive, providing a great contrast to the Armidi-cloned shop layout that everyone now seems to favour. I feel like I want MORE from my designers than just good clothes. How much fun is shopping at Kurotsubaki, for instance?
* I included CSRs but to be honest I’ve never needed one. How do you use them? Do we need more?
* I have mixed feelings about designer superstores, a la Muism, Armidi, The Abyss … on one hand, if the designers are really so good at designing, why not try a hand at everything? On the other hand, people specialise for a reason, right? But on the other hand, convenient one-stop-shops are cool. On the other hand, dressing head to toe in a designer and MAJOR LAG = boo.
* Limited edition releases turn me on in the biggest way, especially when they aren’t priced exclusively for shipping magnates and oil barons. My budget’s been a little pinched of late, but I got so excited when Charlotte Morellet blogged about the orphaned skins that had no home after being ordered from SodaSkins.com - $399 for a unique skin, whenever she chose to put one out. Rare, unique and great value? Hubba hubba!
* I fear I’m going to be a little on my own with wanting more hand-drawn and less photosourced. Yes, I know it looks real, but does that make it better?
* It’s a been a gripe for a long time - insipid posts praising and fawning over less than good designs and articulations of designs. Though many blog only what they like, the singular lack of critique (not bitchiness, mind – others cover that department well enough) is a poor state of affairs – healthy and constructive criticism can surely improve everyone’s lot, no?
* Tuli’s launch of the Journey sim struck me as the best and most creative way yet to harness SL™’s capabilities to showcase new releases: “Instead of the typical runway show, the models of Second Look Studio will be displaying clothing from the participating shops for the duration of the event. See the models on display, pick up a style card, and visit the shops. The sim is beautiful, bring your camera!”… GENIUS! Actually, not really genius, more common sense than trying to recreate a pseudo runway where you hope less then 20 people show for the sake of photos.
A bit of a ramble from me, but I’d really like to hear your comments.
Also… I have a great selection of stuff to blog soon, from KessKreations, Pink Outfitters, SLink and YumYum. Pray the wallpaper stays up, and I should be back soon. Stay tuned!
♥ Genevieve
I occasionally (read: daily) check my blog stats to see if I’ve won the internet yet. I especially like to look at the search engine terms, as they’re a good indicator of what you, the reader/unintentional blog stumbler, are interested in. They can also be a source of hilarity - Y Me had a monthly post to commemorate the bizarre terms that landed people on the Y Me site, and those posts almost overshadowed the journalism with their sound bites of absurdity.
Today, my blog was clicked on (in fact, I’d say more likely touched) by a fellow who had a simple, yet important question: do girls like boys with nose rings? Yes, anonymous cyber-guest, the answer is yes. At least if you’re talking to me.
Good luck with the ladies!
♥ Genevieve
I’ve been paying scant attention to the feed of late – I think the summer/winter hiatus is to blame, and I’ve found I’ll only slow my manic scrolling if the pictures are pretty or if something looks scandalous… cos I’m deep like that. One design that did get my attention was the Sweetest Goodbye Schoolgirl (and boy) ensemble, that did the rounds a few months ago. I thought the quality of the sculpties and the sharpness of the ensemble’s styling earned them a visit.
Much like my visit to Aoharu sometime ago, I was thrilled to find a well-stocked and thriving store with a bevy of items that covered men and women’s clothes, hair, accessories and skins. There are a range of styles offered, from semi-traditional Korean National dress to booty shorts, metallic jackets to his-’n-hers matching t-shirts. Sweetest Goodbye’s prices are reasonable and lots of layers are offered, which is a boon for us obsessive mix and matchers.
I thought, for a change, I’d venture outside of my photographic comfort zone (otherwise known as the Photosphere), I’d lose the facelight and I’d go on location. I chose The Wastelands for a few reasons – there was a huge variety of objects with built in poses (some of which required lightning reflexes to capture a specific pose – both a challenge and a bit of fun), playing with the environment settings made a desolate landscape look positively frightening, and the location seemed to suit my eclectic styling of Sweetest Goodbye’s offerings.
Great quality, some interesting cuts and design styles and lots of layers make me one happy shopper – make sure you say hello to the Sweetest Goodbye.
Where to buy? Follow on…
So, the final installment in ‘HATS – Great headwear and dreadful puns’….
‘Hat’s what I’m talking about! A hat-stravaganza!!!!
Sorry. ‘Hat was embarrassing.
Megg Demina, of Chapeau Tres Mignon, was a very productive little bunny for a long time there, but has sadly dropped off the SLradar of content creation. Her wonderfully designed store still stands, and features some wonderfully crafted and whimsical millinery and headwear.
I’ve paired the meshy hat with a melange of new (to me) items – a dress from Aoharu, Draconic Kiss gloves and a VG Republic tank (though I was an enourmous G.L.A.M.-whore back in the day – they are the same thing, aren’t they?) – and a selection of tried and true numbers. I have to say, this is one of my favourite outfits ever – I must have spent a week in it, which we know is long enough to gestate an elephant in SL terms.
I wasn’t aware that Lapin et Anato no longer had a retail presence in SL when putting this post together – it was a sweet flash in the pan, and if you find one of these animal-and-fruit inspired numbers in your inventory, I encourage you to pop one on. Hopefully, like benign viral marketing, Anato will feel the groundswell of goodwill and desire for her merchandise and will start selling and creating again. Or, perhaps, her SL time came to an end and this (as translated from her website) is an eloquent goodbye: And thank you once again to cap a turnip nice to beat our guest 
.
Toast Bard quietly released a new range of skins awhile back that I’ve rarely seen out or blogged. They aren’t as recognisable are her earlier skins (owing I think to their softness) but over the past few months I’ve become a big fan. The sweetly penciled freckles are wonderful, as are the nose, cheek and chin highlights – they glow so gently, it’s like a spring morning dew.
Tesla is renowned for her shoes, though I believe hats constituted her beginning a year or so ago. I’m rarely a fan of hats designed to sit over the head (caps and fedoras and the like) as the head mesh forces hat sizes to comic proportions. So though I wasn’t a massive fan of her early work, I felt Tesla Miles was due a nod in the hat bonanza as her humble beginnings have, over time, allowed her to flourish into a most accomplished prim-manipulator (primipulator?), whose shoes I absolutely covet (and would do so in RL as well). It was so long since I took this photo I can’t remember what I did to modify the rosette, but I do remember a few tweaks in colour (at least) to echo the bolero.
I’ve paired this hat with some items that I’d entirely forgotten about – the dress, from Tree of Second Life, is called ‘Liquid Sunshine’ by creator Quinlan Quimby, and it’s almost electric with its golden highlights. I can’t think of another texture I find as lustrous in SL. After the closure of Cherry Buttons, I was excited to find the TOSL main store, and intend to head back there soon to snap up some bargains. The little bolero is from Nylon, and, if I remember correctly, was a freebie. There’s a little pagan nose-thumbing at the gods happening at Tableau at the moment, so if your inventory is missing bone necklaces, ceremonial headdresses and alien masks, I’d suggest popping over.
Where to buy? Follow on…
Girls, who are boys, who like
boys to be girls, who do
Boys like they’re girls, who do
girls, like they’re boys
Always should be someone you really love
I am always alive to new retail possibilities, and the creation of my new shape (seen above in the male persuasion) opened up a new realm of shopping options. Firstly, most people would create a purpose built alt for this kind of activity, with a suitably androgynous or masculine name. I, however, was too lazy to log out of Genevieve and into Eli (my suitably named androgynous alt), so all of the (non-transferable) items I purchased belong to Genevieve. The incredibly femininely named Genevieve. Who has been walking about the grid with a stubbly face and a square jaw. He he he!
Said laziness meant that once I’d dressed ‘Gene’ all boy like, I couldn’t be bothered changing once I wanted to return to ‘Genevieve’… hence today’s post.
Being a boy meant a new skin, for starters. As soon as I TP’d to The Abyss, though, I realised my fatal error – my AO was still very much swapping between Innocent and Coy from ANA_mations. A great AO, but bloody funny looking on a 6″2 dude. I asked the fonts of all wisdom (the Fashion Emergency group) where to find a good boy animation overrider, and I was pointed in the direction of Vista. I was thrilled (and it also looks pretty good on Genevieve, when I’m feeling a bit butch and ass-kicky).
Androgynous shoes and short hair I had enough of already to get the ball rolling, so I got busy with the clothes purchasing. I hit up Truth (sale!), Nylon Outfitters, Heart Attack and Vine, Sweetest Goodbye, Laqroki, Shai and Aitui – and I loved the results. Perhaps because such a small percentage of the male population shops (in any world!), those SL content creators with dedicated male clothing sections do it for the love of it, and have a committed following of customers. Granted, it was a small sample, but, after witnessing the male portion of the grid’s penchant for either armor or Linden T-Shirts, I was pleasantly surprised by my first foray into male-retail.
I think my fashion sense has been influenced by the great ‘are they or aren’t they’ story of our time (tongues cheek) – Lindsay and Samantha… I’ve found there is something really liberating about NOT dressing to the hilt. Normally, I’m so accessorised, coordinated and OTT, it’s novel to see myself (with or without penoir) just schlepping about. Though I made some feminine concessions to accessories (can’t break some habits), it’s a very pared down look, and I’ve been loving it.
Where to buy? Follow on…
I owe you a final hat post, and it’s mentally fermenting, but (lucky for you and me!) Nylon released new skins and once I’d finished tripping over my own excitement, I absolutely had to write about them first.
My ♥ of Nylon Pinkney and Nylon Outfitters is well documented; she was the first content creator to open my little newbie mind to the artistic possibilities of this grid we call home and my view of the metaverse has been entirely coloured by that initial exposure to Nylon’s (and the Tableau crew’s) work. I also found Nylon’s art blog after purchasing an inworld book of her art, and it’s been quite a pleasure to watch both her 2D and 3D art grow and develop and generally increase the capacity to blow my mind.
I am, in short, a rather large fan.
Below you’ll find 4 ‘plain’ skins from Nylon – the first would be from early 2007, the latest released August 2008. I love the progression of detail through the skins – it really puts into sharp relief the SL skin photosourcers, who, whist employing a certain Photoshop skill-level, really don’t use a whole lot of artistic nuance. It’s the bravery I salute more than anything – sure, Minnu’s and Redgrave’s skins are beautiful, but that’s a hodge-podge of people’s faces (and if you’re using a supermodel’s face as a base, you’re going to be hard pressed to ugly that up). Nylon’s (and Toast’s and Annyka Bekker’s and surely a host of others that my addled brain can’t remember) skins are her art, and she’s are putting it out there for everyone to judge in real, mercenary terms. I call artistic bravery, and I admire it incredibly.
The Pearl range (01 above) is my heart’s first true love. There may be monumental shifts in fashion trends, SL client releases and general standard raising and setting inworld (see: Lovey), but it remains the true face of Genevieve. What I love about the new 04 (Raw) range are those foxy, uneven-in-tone lips and the lighter face and neck highlights. I love the strength of the nose, though little changed from the 03 (Cheesecake) line, and I also adore the under-the-left-eye freckle. My hubby has one too, and it’s an instant heart-melter.
I really like the trend of recent months towards lips with uneven highlights. I don’t know if it’s because I’m absolutely, categorically unable to apply lipstick/gloss in real life, but to me it looks both natural and slightly inexpertly applied, and I like the way the light is supposed to have caught the varied density of the lipstuff and reflected it back in all it’s not-perfect glory.
The new range of makeups are as broad ranging as normal from Nylon Outfitters (where normal = far out and from a Tableau kid, and broad = it ain’t always gonna go with what you’re wearing). I am particularly fond of Hey Sailor, Light Touch, Flower Scent and Mermaid Glitter Party (or ‘Memaid’ as the previous GIF suggests… attention to detail: C-).
The fatpack, for 13 skins, was a bottom-squeezing L$10,000. I did actually pause at the cost (that’s almost $40AUD) – I think previous fatpack releases have had only 9 skins in total, and the cost per skin (L$800) hasn’t changed, so it was just a psychological barrier to break through… and I never doubted my ability to jump where shopping was concerned! I do, though, congratulate myself on the very self-restrained pause to consider my finances. Most unlike me.
However…
(and how it burns me to say this)
There are two things that really bothered me once I’d spent a little time in the skin. The first (noticed in Photoshop first, so I was really looking) appears to be a layer of stubble over the hair region, which no bald LL hair could cover. At first I thought, since Nylon had made the skins tintable, it was an errant transparency, but on further inspection, I’ve found is actually a stubbly skull that, while on its own I rather like, messes with my hair line on almost all fringe-less hair. It’s really not that noticeable inworld, but it really annoyed me in Photoshop, and I’d be inclined not to wear the skin for blog photoshoots, knowing I’d always have to touch up the forehead (ya, anal and OCD – hott).
The second I noticed instantly with the demo, and that’s the shading on the upper lip. The palest-hued skin (Raw) looks rather like it’s sporting a minor depilatory cream burn. It’s not that noticeable on the darkest skin hue (btw, the skins are Raw, Cooked Rare, Rare and Well Done <- great name range) but the lighter ones suffer from varying degrees of burnage/pash rash. I can deal with it, but if anyone asks me why I’m waxing my mustache, I’m going to have to bust out some ninja moves.
I don’t go nuddy in SL (clothes are way more fun than bumping uglies/pixels to me) so I’ve not even looked below the neck. Things look pretty from Nylon’s demo images, so I’d suggest whacking on a demo to see for yourself.
I ♥ the makeups and 99% of the shading, so the small flaws I see (flaws to me at least) aren’t too big an issue. I’m curious to hear what others feel.
Where to buy? Follow on… Continue reading ‘Meat market – New Nylon Skins’
Genevieve Lutetia
