I love it when someone does a great piece of writing. Harper Beresford’s fashion taste is great here, too. Go forth, and enjoy!
=====
via A Passion for Virtual Fashion
=====
Archive for the ‘Couture’ Tag
Leather Cinderella (via A Passion for Virtual Fashion)
Sashay to Sascha’s, Babooshka!
It isn’t often I write about something that’s just been released. But, after getting the notice from Sascha’s Designs and stopping in to look at it — and also spending some very nice time chatting with Sascha Frangilli and a pair of Dutch visitors — I decided that this was so good that it was definitely worth talking about. The only trick was what hair to wear with the magnificent jacket.
Doesn’t look like much here, does it, if you focus on just the blue undershirt and the white pants? (In this color choice, there’s also a pink top; but I favor red hair, as you know.) It’s the dressy jacket that makes this iteration of the outfit so nice — one of the nicest dress jackets I’ve seen yet in my fashion history in world.
Quick Look: A Royal Wedding Day
Here we are, and William and Kate are now Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge! Throngs have cheered, the kids have kissed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, and I’ve retired to a side chapel for a little quiet time and some quick photos before going home.
When you’re attending a wedding, the idea is to look stylish, but not to outshine the bride. This tulip print dress by Reale (available on the Marketplace) is a nice spring/summer choice for a wedding day; not too much prim load, so that the bride can have all the good cycles to herself, and yet graceful, flowing and with the promise of tulips in the breeze. The halter neckline has a bow in back for the final touch.
.
Your accessories should also be understated yet elegant. EarthStones tennis suite of bracelet and necklace in champagne-toned diamonds and gold are excellent here.
(Incidentally, if you’re wondering at the different appearance for myself here, I’m in a Japanese mood lately; I’m doing my “Keiko” character. I’ve lost the maker for both the skin and the hair, but I’ll insert them when I get a better chance.)
=====
The details:
- Skin: Ayumi v3.2
- Eyes: Silverr Andel, Jeweltone Tourmaline
- Nails: Candy #P000 basic prim nails
- Dress: Reale Floratta (Mallu Mayo)
- Shoes: Lemania Indigo black pumps
- Earrings: Dahlinks Stage & Screen diamond/gold studs
- Necklace, bracelet: EarthStones Tennis suite
Photos taken at the Anglican Cathedral in Second Life, Epiphany region
The Swordlady
Anika went over the lacings of her light lorica vest and trews again, making sure all the knots were tight and the tag ends were tucked in. She wished she could remove the skirt she had worn in town as a deference to people’s more narrow-minded sensibilities, but the judges had insisted she fight this stupid duel as she was. Trying to keep from tripping over the hem of her skirt was liable to be a distraction, and when you were in a fight, the fewer things distracting you or falling off you, the better.
Her father, a mercenary turned weaponsmaster, had drilled that into her when she begged him to teach her the ways of the sword. It had taken her long months to convince him; he had told her straight out of the gate that the life of a mercenary sell-sword was a hard one, and a dangerous and often short one as well. But Anika had begged and wheedled, and proved her determination by doing every smelly, discipline-requiring job Petron had thrown at her to dissuade her and wear her down. When she stood in front of him, smelling of five days of stable leavings without complaining once, holding herself at attention despite a bone-deep desire to drop and fall asleep, Petron had sighed — but with a light of pride in his eyes that his daughter could see clearly — and told her to get bathed and eat. Her first lesson would be the next morning.
That had been seventeen years ago. Petron had taught her everything he knew about fighting and weapons in eight of those years. The rest had been spent traveling as a freelance mercenary, slowly earning a reputation with clients and the Mercenaries’ Guild as one of the youngest, ablest sell-swords in the country of Lyritea. She kept enough banked with the Mercs that she could choose the jobs she accepted now instead of having to take anything offered her. And in all her working time, she had managed to keep her nose clean, never get in trouble with city guards, clients or clients’ husbands — or lovers — and never, never with nobles….
Until today, when she had walked by the shrine of Nelagha, a god or saint or something she had never even heard of before in a city near the borders, and had apparently failed to salute the statue resting beneath the stone archway. Now here she was, gearing up for a judicial duel in the ring behind the courthouse. And, judging by the swirling field of energy that made up the “floor” of the ring, it probably wouldn’t be an easy one. Anika had heard about some towns in Lyritea’s southern border regions that were more influenced by the magic-bound traditions of the neighboring country than by the ways of Crown City, and this appeared to be one of them. Swallowing her nervousness, she stepped down through the gate of the arena, which clanged shut behind her with finality, and started scouting around for her opponent’s entry….
I did a little scrounging around through the recent Fantasy Faire, and discovered this warrior outfit that was both fetching and potentially practical. Just remove a few extra prims -- which Anika has not been allowed to do here -- and you are all set to go into battle.
She didn’t have long to wait. No more than a minute later, the gate on the opposite side of the catha opened to reveal a bearded man in the blue and silver livery of the city courts. His hands glowed faintly as he bowed in ceremonial greeting. She returned the bow, having little choice but to go through with the fight, and yanked her long sword from the scabbard on her hip. Petron’s parting gift to her on her leaving home, he had sworn that this blade would cut down on problems with wizards and sorceresses. It was time to see just how much those words would hold up….
The sword is a prop katana that can be worn or held in your hand in "warrior ready" pose. A simple HUD controls the pose.
She had time to pull the sword up into a ready position; and then the mage was throwing a ball of lightning-fire at her. Reflexively, she swung at the stuff — and was mildly shocked to see the ball split in two and crackle into nothingness. Anika smiled slightly then; this was going to be a more equal battle than she had feared. As for the mage, she saw him goggling at her, then moving his hands as he readied another spell. Taking no chances, she dodged behind the tall monument in the center of the ring, considering how to lure him around to where she could close the battle to where a blade would count more than slung spells….
The leather is textured with a Celtic-knot pattern, which extends even to the palms of my gloves. A nice effect!
=====
The details:
- Skin: PXL Candy SK SE, light eyebrows
- Eyes: Poetic sapphire eyes, gold flakes
- Lashes: LeLutka Photoshoot II
- Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations Temira (Burnt Copper, scripted)
- Clothes: MysticHope Anfaela Brown
- Boots: *RD* unisex tall leather boots
- Jewelry: EarthStones Crystal Elements suite (earth/gold — necklace 2 in the necklace pack)
- Other: Hanzo Blades Imperial Fury katana – hip sheathed
Photographed in Avilion Nexus combat sim — teleport to sim (in costume, as this is an RP sim) and go to magician’s dueling arena
Get the Party Started
I’m comin’ up so you better get this party started
I’m comin’ up so you better get this party started
Morning breaks over the Cafe du Monde in One Quarter French, but I'm still ready to party in this cocktail frock from Osakki, called Chained.
Get this party started on a Saturday night
Everybody’s waiting for me to arrive
Sendin’ out the message to all of my friends
We’ll be looking flashy in my Mercedes Benz
I got lot of style, check my gold diamond rings
I can go for miles if you know what I mean
I’m comin’ up so you better get this party started
I’m comin’ up so you better get this party started
I discovered this clothing store in the same region as the main store for Rozoregalia. The short, poufy skirt is decorated with gold chains, and flaps of gold lamé on the side, throwing flash and shine about you as you move.
Pumping up the volume, breaking down to the beat
Cruisin’ through the west side
We’ll be checkin’ the scene
Boulevard is freakin’ as I’m comin’ up fast
I’ll be burnin’ rubber, you’ll be kissin’ my ass
Pull up to the bumper, get out of the car
License plate says Stunner #1 Superstar
I’m comin’ up so you better get this party started
I’m comin’ up so you better get this party started
If you're going to wear the hat that comes along with the dress, make sure you have on a bob hairdo. I found this old classic from W & Y (their Model 25, scripted for all colors).
Making my connection as I enter the room
Everybody’s chilling as I set up the groove
Pumpin’ up the volume with this brand new beat
Everybody’s dancing and they’re dancing for me
I’m your operator, you can call anytime
I’ll be your connection to the party line
I’m comin’ up so you better get this party started
I’m comin’ up so you better get this party started
Lyrics: “Get the Party Started” by Pink
=====
The details:
- Skin: PXL Candy SK SE light eyebrows
- Eyes: Glam Affair Stella Eyes 03
- Hair: W&Y Model 25 “AllColor”
- Nails: Candy #P000 Basic prim nails (Red08)
- Dress: Osakki Chained party dress
- Shoes: Baiastice Bow-back Ankle Boots
- Left bracelet: Finesmith Moroccan Bracelet
- Right bracelet: Shade Throne The Black Rider bracelet
- Earrings: Dahlinks Stage & Screen diamond/gold studs
Sky settings: Torley’s Sunset Oriental Delight 2
Photographed at One Quarter French region
The Checklist (via It’s Only Fashion)
I agree with Cajsa in her article here; anyone who doesn’t admit to mistakes in their photography in world, especially fashion photography, is either impossibly perfect, or they aren’t going over their work very well. It’s all a learning curve, one that all of us, including myself, are still traveling. But Cajsa suggests ways here that you can shorten the curve’s slope, at least in part.
=====
=====
Harper Does Fashion for Life in One Night
And that was hard work, friend. Nine sims worth of stores! I was pooped by the time I got back to the penthouse, and I almost immediately changed and went to bed. But I managed to get a look before everything closes, and bought enough to make my inventory start groaning again. (I really need to throw out all the older dresses, I guess; it’s ridiculous to hang on to stuff ad infinitum when you keep buying.)
Any road, I’ll be writing in a day or two (by the plan at least) on two purchases I made today: one at the fair, and another elsewhere as I was exploring. Both are fabulous; one has the added attraction of getting money in the hands of the American Cancer Society.
Good night to all for now — or good morning, if you read this in a few hours. I’ll be hard at work by then in RL. (grin)
Carmen Was a Hussy (via It’s Only Fashion)
Many of us already know these basic editing techniques; but there are many newbies coming along looking for advice, and so the more publicity such information gets, the better. Besides, it’s a great dress!
=====
=====
2011 Oscar Fashion Photo Contest: And the Winners Are….
At last, it’s done! After tacking on two extra weeks to the 2011 Oscar Fashion Photo Contest, it took almost another week of running through the entries and comparing, scoring and recomparing before I came up with the winners. Now, I’m happy and proud to announce them to you all.
There were nearly 40 entries this year, down from last year as I’ve noted elsewhere. A few Second Life entries were made from Koinup, but none came from other worlds, and so there is no set of non-SL winners to announce. I need to get this contest better publicized next year; we may be able to do something about that. Having said this, the time taken to judge these 40 photos was needed. We have a very talented group of photographers, models and designers in Second Life, and the order of these winners could have been different by only a few points of subjective judgment. I’ve tried to be as fair and objective as possible with the choices I’ve made here — a difficult job, though an enjoyable one at the same time.
For this year’s winners, click on and behold excellence….
Saint Patrick’s Day 2011
I always like to do a casual and formal shoot for Saint Patrick’s Day, one of the lovely holidays in world. This year, besides the computer needing replacing, RL work and home has kept me hopping, and I haven’t been able to do many things I wanted to do. But I did manage to squeeze in a few fast photos of this beautiful gown very early yesterday….
The dress is from PurpleMoon, and is called Serafina. It also has a large production-show skirt that I didn’t take the time to fiddle with, but is still beautiful. For me, this skirt is enough, along with the lovely high collar behind my head. (I have a thing for dragon-wing collars, I guess….) The collar is removable, of course, as is the excellent orchid-bloom detail on the breast; but who would want to do away with such niceties? I used for hair an old ‘do from Sinsation — yes, Sinnocent Mirabeau did do some sane hairstyles during her time in world, and this is one of my nicest short bobs. Along with this is a new eyeshadow from Miamai, one of their usual package of five at a time.
The jewelry suite of necklace and earrings came, I believe, from last year’s Jewelry Fair; it is by RH Engel, and this is the first time I’ve worn them. (Gotta clean out that inventory sometime…!) I matched this with….
…a beautiful emerald bracelet from EarthStones, and a big, splashy, Art Deco-like cocktail ring. Erin go bragh!!
=====
The details:
- Eyes: Poetic Colors sapphire, gold flakes
- Makeup: Miamai XGen Makeup Lash ‘n Liner (teal, no hair base)
- Hair: Sinsation Emma (no longer available)
- Nails: Candy #P000 Basic (green)
- Gown: PurpleMoon Serafina (emerald, flexi skirt)
- Shoes: Armidi Gisaci Barcelona slingback pumps (seagrass)
- Jewelry: Earthstones Envision bracelet (gold/emeralds); Chop Zuey Couture Jewellery
Voices of Earth ring (gold/emeralds/pave diamonds); RH Engel Lumiere necklace and earrings (gold/emeralds)
Photos taken at my Secret (Public) Photo Studio at Harper’s Fine Art and Photography
Around the Grid 