Mah last shopping bag

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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As always, eyes from Celestial Studios and lashes from Cake.
All skins from Gala Phoenix.
All poses are from Long Awkward Pose. 

One
Hair | Detour
Glasses | Ottico
Grey Cardigan | Kurotsubaki
Purple Turtle | G.L.A.M.

Two
Hair | Novocaine
Singlet | Celestial Studios
Shirt | Artilleri
Skirt | BLAND
Ring | Kraftica
Bracelet | Earthtones 
Brooch | Paper Couture

Three
Hair | Creamshop
Dress | Big Booty Big Money
Bustier | Savvy?
Pearls | KessKreations

Four
Hair | Truth
Shirt w/ tie | Tres Blah
Hoodie and Tank | Pink Outfitters
Pants | Canimal
Nails | Sin Skins
Earrings | Turnstyle 

 

~ by Genevieve Lutetia on December 12, 2008.