Author: Lisa Millar

COLLABOR88 – ON SAFARI WITH KITTY

COLLABOR88 – ON SAFARI WITH KITTY

by Lisa Millar ♥ 1 Comment

Jacket front

 One of the reasons I’m so addicted to Second Life, as I’ve probably said many, many times before, is that I get to live vicariously ‘through’ my avatar. 

For example, Kitty gets to wear things that I can only ever dream about.

In real life I’m a bit of a chunky monkey, not that I care especially as I’m happy just the way I am (The horror! Someone who is fine about their flab! Have I no shame?!), but in Second Life I tend towards a more slender yet curvaceous figure.

In other words, I actually have a waist instead of a spare tyre..oh the humanity, so boxy jackets have become a thing for me in recent months. You may have read my post from December 2013  where I waxed lyrical about the  EMERY Denim Jacket, which is to my mind still one of the best jackets in-world and brilliant for teaming with other items like long dresses and skirts and the like, but I’m always on the look out for another for my collection.
And I’ve just  found it.

Now, when I heard that C88 was going to be a ‘Safari Chic’ theme I have to confess I was a tad disappointed because to me Safaris automatically conjure up images of Victorian moustached men-types proudly showing off the latest beast that they’ve shot and are shipping home to their parlours to be stuffed. I can’t say I’m keen on hunting, especially big-game which I think is the most pointless and cruel kind. So my initial thoughts were that I’d give C88 a miss this round.

But I haven’t, and boy am I glad I changed my mind because if I hadn’t ventured forth and battled my way through the crowds I’d have missed out on so much. In fact, I’ve brought an absolute shit-ton of amazing fashion at this month’s event already, and I’ll be sharing it with you this week, but by gum I MUST tell you about this jacket. OH MY GODS JUST LOOK AT THIS RUDDY JACKET! Isn’t it PERFECT?!

It’s from THE SECRET STORE and is the kind of jacket that I have been after for an absolute age. It’s more formal than my denim number, but still casual enough to wear anywhere without looking out of place. It’s one of those items that you see and automatically stop in your tracks and squeal “I NEED THIS!!” in a pathetic manner. It’s a banquet on a stick of jacket happy.

For a start the shape is beautiful. There are no sharp angles or zips, just undulating curves and a lovely, slightly raised neckline too. I’m incredibly taken by the fact that there is no random frippery and fanciful decoration to the front either. To be honest I’m sure it would have looked swell with buttons and adornments of all types, but for me it is absolutely stonking just as it is, with pockets to the breast that are neither fussy nor boring, instead they sit flush to the fabric and are just enough to stop the front from looking too plain.

The shoulders do see some militaristic detail; there are buttons, but they don’t scream “Look at me! I’m a military jacket!” at you, they’re quite subtle and unobtrusive really. The sleeves are a delight; a little gathered at the top to create a slightly puffy appearance, but not so much that the jacket tips into the Gothic realm. They are finished nicely too, with the cuffs ending neatly on the wrist.

Jacket back

The back of the jacket is just as excellent as the front. It’s gathered into the middle and is finished with the same button detail that featured on the shoulders, but again it’s not too ostentatious. The detailing on the buttons is rather good and the creasing that is etched into the whole item is very authentic looking. I can’t quite work out what the fabric is; in close up it seems to be some sort of herringbone linen/cotton mix, but I can’t tell. (I do know that if you swap the buttons for some with a touch of bling and change the fabric to velvet you’ll have the perfect going out jacket for Autumn/Winter- there you go THE SECRET STORE, you can have that idea for free! )

But I digress. This is a really smashing item and one that you really should include in your virtual wardrobe. I’ve invested in the black option, BUT there are ten colours available and if you can splash out on the fat pack at L$888 then I’d strongly suggest that you do. This singular item will finish off so many outfits beautifully that it would be almost scandalous to not own the ‘Noah Jacket’ in every tantalising option.

I’ve teamed it with another absolutely cracking find, the Kafue Mini-Skirt by BAIASTICE. It always gives me a lot of pleasure to see Sissy Pessoa’s latest designs because she’s worked so hard to become one of the most successful labels on the grid and really deserves her place among the fashion elite. The Kafue skirt is another example of a simple idea executed beautifully by Sissy, featuring a stylish belt that sits on the waist and a skirt in either pattern or plain fabric. Sissy always makes great fabric choices I think, and this skirt offers some great options and will offer heaps of wear. Of course, I had to have the cat print, but there are ten colours and six prints to choose from in the range at just L$88 a pop.

SHOES
Last but not least, on my feet I’m sporting some rather splendid recycled tyre sandals courtesy of BOOM. This work so well that I think I’ll be wearing them for the entirety of my virtual summer! You all know what a texture whore I am, and these have been textured perfectly to represent their origins; when you zoom in you can ‘see’ the dimples and roughness that suggests they’re recycled items. There’s a tarnished look to the buckles and a suggestion of a cork inner-sole too. They look really comfy actually! They can only be worn with SLink flat feet, but that’s no hardship; throw on your favourite nail lacquer and your feet will look a treat!

Finally, I found some cracking poses at COLLABOR88 that I really do need to mention. They’re from PURPLE POSES (a guest at this month’s event) and I confess I hadn’t heard of the brand before. As soon as I’d purchased these I knew I wanted more, so I popped over to Audrey Guter’s studio where I was pretty dazzled by the range on offer all at really decent prices too! The set available at C88 is called ‘Rachel‘ and they’re really nice modelling poses that I can see myself using lots in the future, not just in this post. Sometimes you just want a pose that isn’t too Avant-garde, but still suggests movement and will look great in photos without too much hassle; these poses fit the bill and are just what I was after.

I would say go and buy all of these items right now, but seeing as it’s day one of C88 you don’t need me to tell you that your chances of getting in first try are slim to none!

Instead, why not check out the Flickr feed or the official blog for a while before you try your luck. And trust me when I say it’s definitely worth it!

KITTY WEARS:

I’m ALL ABOUT ANTHONY…

I’m ALL ABOUT ANTHONY…

by Lisa Millar ♥ 3 Comments

mesh body_cut I make no bones about my love for TMD- The Mens Dept. It’s entirely possible that I look forward to it more than FAMESHED or even COLLABOR88 ( and that’s saying something!) especially when you consider I’m not a male avatar! But the fact is that each month it sells some bloody glorious stuff, it really does.

I’ll be honest, the fact that it’s expanding in size fills me with both hope and dread; hope because I think this means that male avatars are finally being seen as just as important as female, especially when it comes to fashion, but dread because I’m worried that the standard of the showcase will slip. I’ve got to be honest here and say a couple of the brands included this month were a little bit, hmm how can I put this? ‘Not up to the usual standard’, shall we say, BUT hopefully they’ll use the opportunity of being part of such an auspicious event to improve their products and prove that they’re worthy of inclusion. The one thing you have to say about TMD is each month it’s an absolute roaring success. It’s always jammed to the rafters and filled with some utterly gorgeous avatars too..not that I go looking or anything, ahem! Now that little intro  is out of the way let me tell you about what Jez and I fell in love with when we visited today. A MESH BODY FOR MEN. GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!

Now, when you consider we’ve just had the release of the SLink Physique and there’s a number of other female mesh bodies on the market it had to be that the fully-fledged male equivalent was just around the corner, and it seems that it’s been launched at TMD.And you know what? I really, REALLY like him. Take a look. That shot at the top of the page isn’t touched up in any way, shape or form, I’ve merely trimmed the picture for the blog. Is your jaw still on the floor? Are your pants ever-so-slightly damp? I know mine ruddy well are!  LOOK!!

mesh body_005

Isn’t he an absolute dish? His name is ‘Anthony’. He’s a SIGNATURE MESH AVATAR creation, and comes complete with body, shape, four skin tones and Alpha Hud.  

The product itself is straightforward to fit- there are alphas for full body and one for the head, meaning you can use your own chops should you want to. However, this will prove tricky due to skin tone matching; there are just four shades to select from and unless you plan on wearing polo necks you’re going to see seams UNTIL we start getting appliers for this product. (Skin creators are going to be an incredibly busy bunch in the next few months aren’t they? APPLIER ALL THE THINGS!!)

Fortunately ‘Anthony’ has a very lovely face. In fact, he is incredibly handsome. There’s something a little, hmm, Nordic or even Baltic about his face, and I’m not complaining about that in any way, shape or form. In profile he is a sensation, with his nommable lips and thick, shapely brows making him an extremely attractive guy. I love his nose. He looks good bald, but he’s a real treat when worn with some rather surprising hair choices; for some reason I decided to try some Dura hair on him, not for a moment thinking it would work…and just LOOK AT HIM! He’s a sensation isn’t he?! OOF!!! The skin tones, whichever one you opt for, are each pretty darn lovely featuring great shading, blemish details and tone. He’s a very realistic guy. I always thought that Jez looked great in his REDGRAVE skin before, but now there’s just no comparison and I don’t think there’s any going back, he looks way too good in this!   Of course, this being a mesh body means he has decent feet and hands. I’ve always held a special loathing for the bog-standard male avatars hands and even though SLink produced some amazing male add-ons Jez ain’t my avatar so I didn’t fork out for them, and subsequently whenever I’ve photographed him I’ve tried to do it in such a way as to hide his shovel-like claws.

For some reason, and I’m sure I’ve not been the only one to notice it, whenever Jez posed his hands would occasionally look really ‘off’. It wasn’t something I ever really noticed replicated by the female avatars, but I often saw it with Jez and ruddy hated it.

I don’t need to worry about it now, because he has nice hands and they work beautifully with the rest of the mesh. In fact, his body is rather ruddy delightful. (I predict this torso will be one of the most photographed in SL over the next few weeks!)

You know, upon reflection It’s just ever so slightly possible that I’m a wee bit more impressed by this than I am the SLink physique  mesh body, even though it’s not something I’ll ever wear, and I’ll tell you why that is. I wasn’t convinced that a male mesh body would be as successful as a female. For some reason my kitty-fried brain just didn’t think it could be achieved; I knew Siddean Munro would nail her mesh body creation, but when it came to the boys I had no expectations really, so it’s great to be so pleasantly surprised. I guess I was a little narrow-minded in my expectations, but I’m so chuffed that they’ve been surpassed!  It’s not perfect though, of course it’s not. There’s room for improvement. I’d like to be able to change my eyes for a start, and I’d also like to see eyelashes. I’d like the ear shape/detail to be slightly improved, picky puss that I am. But these are relatively minor quibbles on my part (and perhaps something I can change anyway, I just don’t know it yet) but as I keep saying to myself, it’s ‘early days’. I mean, look how bad mesh clothes were in the beginning against where we are now. Who’d have thought it eh?

Incidentally Jez is wearing ‘Anthony’ against his usual shape, and that’s something that I really like about this mesh, it fit onto his frame without any alterations needing to be made and looked good from the get go. The HUD is also exceptionally easy to use and works a treat, no problems there at all.  In fact, the only problem that I did encounter with fitting was a serious case of bug-eye, but that was swiftly addressed by using the sliders.

I can’t wait to see how my peers are going to style ‘Anthony’ on their blogs, and I have a really good feeling about him. In fact, this Kitty is about to go and test him out in the bath..you know..for science or something. Oh, and a final point. This mesh avatar is just L$300 at THE MENS DEPT. Which is so cheap as to be scandalous, so what are you waiting for? I’m guessing the price reflects that he is a ‘Lite’ version, whatever that means, but even so it’s an absolute gift at that price. Go and try him out!! (Also check out the SIGNATURE MESH AVATARS Flickr and Facebook pages, where you can leave comments to help with product development, something I always love to see!)

Congratulations to Brox and all the team behind this epic creation, now you must excuse me as I’m being called from the bathroom..apparently the water is warm, the champagne has been poured and I’m being missed….LUCKY KITTY!!

mesh body Jez

Jez wears: 

SLINKING WONDERFUL!!

SLINKING WONDERFUL!!

by Lisa Millar ♥ 2 Comments

Kitty Del Ray

(I meant to post this last week straight after the SLink reveal, and then I had an accident of utterly stupid proportions that involved wrecking my fingertips with acetone. I’ve been using the stuff for years, then out of the blue last week when changing my manicure I reacted in an almost A&E style! Cue blisters and a mad allergic reaction later and I’m only just starting to be able to type properly, I kid you not! My fingertips are wrecked, and my nails are gone. Oh vanity, thou art a cruel mistress…)

Anyway, to big up the virtues of the SLINK PHYSIQUE you have to be, well, nekkid.  No point being embarrassed about it either, because this is a body that you will be more than happy to show off, because it’s just stunning.

If this is the shape of things to come, then I am very, very excited indeed. Siddean has totally delivered on all fronts when it comes to this outstanding product.

The reviews that I’ve seen have generally been positive, and I can completely understand why. This is an easy product to wear, and takes seconds to fit. It’s not earth-shattering by any standards, you won’t find ready made overly-stylised breasts nor will you be faced with a butt the likes of which isn’t normally seen south of Grimsby, but the joy of this fitted mesh body is that you COULD sport such a booty if you wanted. The mesh allows for adjustment to be made, but that’s not really why I wanted to try it….

What I was interested in was curves. I wanted to see if the body made a difference, but in a subtle way, and I can confirm that it does. It adds a layer of finish; an element of polish that you would normally only get when tidying up a picture with photoshop, and yes, nasty, angles and obtuse shapes are a thing of the past. This is an essential product for any aspiring blogger and photo-hobbyist. It just makes your snaps that much better, naked or not. (But especially when naked!)

Of course the fact that you can add this mesh body to SLink hands and feet adds an extra element of win, but it’s the amazing HUD facility to apply an alpha mask to various areas that enables mesh clothes to be worn perfectly that really elevates this product into the stratosphere. There is also a physics option too, to add some bounce, and by gum it works incredibly well!

Despite the advances that this creation has brought to the grid it’s still early days for the mesh body. However, Siddean has laid the foundations for something wonderful with the Physique. Pretenders to the throne will have to work hard and fast to innovate now that the gauntlet has been so firmly thrown down into the sand, but consider how exciting that prospect is for us fashionistas and mesh aficionados. It’s a fantastic time to be an avatar, as the SLink Physique proves. I think it’s perfectly priced for the product too, and worth every penny. All we need now are appliers, thousands of them!

I love it.

And I can’t wait to see what Siddean releases next; hopefully a male version of the Physique. Can you imagine?! Now that really WILL be something special won’t it?

Gearing up for SLink Physique..

Gearing up for SLink Physique..

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Get ready for an uber grid meltdown of gargantuan proportions on Wednesday peeps. In fact,  I think Plurk and the entire blogosphere will explode too, and there’s a very exciting reason behind it.

On Wednesday we finally get to see the long-awaited SLINK mesh body, and quite frankly I’m REALLY buzzing about the prospect!

 My Second Life, and I’m sure this applies to many others, has become infinitely better as a result of the amazing mesh hands and feet created by Siddean Munro. If you’ve been reading this blog for a long time you’ll know I’ve always had issues with my wrists in Second Life; I’ve always hated them and they’ve been a particular bug-bear of mine.  They look so unpleasant in photographs, but the introduction of the Slink hands has made all the difference. No more do I despair at ugly, angry wrist bones jutting out at unfortunate angles when I’m posing for shots for the blog.  The hands in fact are  really beautiful wee things and have created a cottage industry for enthusiastic manicure and pedicure creators across the grid. Not only that, but the detailing on them, and the positioning of the fingers upon the  hands has always really struck me as incredibly well thought out; whatever pose you choose they add a realism to your look that you just don’t get from the regular avatar.

 Of course, the fact that skin makers could release appliers for the hands and feet made them even more essential purchases, and  consequently I think I have appliers now for the majority of the skins in my inventory.  Depending on where you shop appliers can cost a small fortune, but they are so worth it. Wearing your exact skin tone across your entire frame courtesy of those magical appliers is such a simple, yet essential pleasure.  In recent months we’ve seen tattoo layers become available for hands and feet too, again enhancing our individual looks even further.  In fact, when you stand back and think about it the revenue generated by these add-ons must be outrageous!  It’s made of win for everyone concerned;  for SLink for providing the technology, in the first place, and for the  and the skin makers, manicurists and pedicurists  who have been canny enough to include appliers in their range.  And don’t forget the shoe-makers and the jewellery creators and..and…GAH! The whole industry that has sprung up around these virtual appendages is absolutely immense,  I don’t begrudge any of them single Linden either.  The work that must have gone on behind the scenes to make all this achievable must have been terrific. And  let’s not forget that there are now  dedicated shopping areas where you can purchase every kind of add-on that your heart desires too.

 Seems to me so far it’s all been a roaring success, and when Wednesday comes I can see no reason at all for Siddean not to have applied her same high standards of creativity to the mesh body, or should that be bodies (ooh, the very thought!)  that she’ll be releasing.  Let’s face it her work has always been bob-on, and this is why I am so eager to see what she has been busily engaged upon for the past few months.  I’m sure if you’re reading this then you are too.  So what benefit will a mesh body bring?

 Truth be told, and don’t laugh, I don’t really know! As it stands I love the shape that I wear,  so why will I want to change to anything else? I guess it’s curiosity that’s got the better of this Kitty.  I want to see the way that the body blends in to the existing Slink Add-ons. I’m interested in the bewbs too, isn’t everyone? One of the reasons that I haven’t worn my Lola’s so much recently is because I just can’t size them to the scale that I want. I don’t necessarily want a huge, heaving bosom in Second Life, but I do want definition and shape beyond that which is already built in to the shape of the avatar.  I’m hopeful that we’ll see some of that.

 Speaking of shape, I’m keen to see if curves will be catered for.  I’m hopeful that they will, in fact they have to be a selling point.  I  want to see beautiful, shapely bums and hearty, wholesome thighs.  I want to see clothes fit even better too and I admit I have no clue at all how the existing mesh marvels that I have in my wardrobe will fit, but I’m confident that this will be something that has been addressed.  Also, how will they be sold? Will we get torsos to which you add whichever feet and hand style that you like, or will there be all-in-one versions too? There are huge benefits to both. 

 Most importantly though we need the skin makers to get behind this release and create appliers that will work across the entire body.  Think of the possibilities for tattoos and decoration and relish the prospect of seeing some truly innovative and stylish avatars on the grid in the coming months.

 Wednesday can’t come soon enough for me, and I’m sure that Siddean won’t let us down.  As soon as I get my hands on anything resembling one of her releases, I’ll let you know what I think! GAH, I can’t wait!

Image

Picture above from Siddean’s blog, SLinkstyle. OMFG HOW AWESOME IS THIS?!

 Are you excited about the new mesh bodies that are starting to appear on the grid? What are your thoughts on this new mesh venture; do you think you’ll invest in one, or more? Let us know in the comments below!