Second Life has been a bit of a bellyache for me recently, and that’s putting it mildly.

Rezzing has been problematic with even simple surface textures taking near impossible lengths of time to load. I can’t bear it when it doesn’t play nice; is anyone else experiencing issues at the moment or is it just me? Quite frankly it’s put me into a funk of gargantuan proportions, hence my lack of updates recently. I can’t blog without pictures, so I need Second Life to be good to me.

I was also struggling to get into events too, especially Collabor88, and I *needed* to get into that one because rumour had it that it was exceptionally good.  Fortunately Second Life decided to be much more responsive earlier and allowed me to go in-world, and I managed to TP into the event.

I’m happy to confirm that it is indeed an incredibly good round (with just a few exceptions that I thought looked out of place) and with the theme being ‘Razzle Dazzle’ we were pretty much guaranteed something very special indeed. There’s a great range of clothing, but also exceptional hair, furniture and buildings too. I was especially impressed by how many designers had included ornate, decorative touches into their work and really gone the extra mile when it came to colour and finish. It’s incredibly satisfying to see and to shop at!

I have a number of fabulous items from the event to share with you.  It’s impossible to pick just one item so I won’t include them all in one post, but feature a few different looks over the next few blog entries.  I’ll be mixing C88 items with other bits and bobs found in my inventory.

First of all, IZZIE BUTTON continues to go from strength to strength where her skin-work is concerned, because her entries for this round are just utterly sublime. 2013 really has been a year of discovery in Second Life for me, and she is definitely one of the designers that I have fallen in love with this year. Her offering for Collabor88 is the ‘Kaelyn 20’s skin, which is available in 4 different make-up options. It’s the whole package, courteously including appliers for slink hands and feet, as well as a choice of light or dark brow options and even eyeliner too. I tend to wear a light tan/medium skin tone but was more than happy to swap for this divinely pale number, and I soon snapped up the entire range. (At L$188 per skin, it would be rude not to!)

My second choice from C88 is the glorious drop-waist frock from TRES BLAH.  It’s in almost my absolute favourite colour; which is a sort of plum/burgundy shade.  (I adore it, and I’d say that about 75% of my real life wardrobe features variations on this colour, the rest is of course black!) so I was thrilled to see so many items at the event sporting this hue. Anyway, back to the dress, which is of course mesh (to be brutally honest reader I would struggle to purchase anything that wasn’t these days) and features a drop waist, a short double-tier lace skirt as well as a delicate pattern to the main body. It’s a modern take on the quintessential flapper style and is available in six colours at L$188 a pop.  I did wonder if it would be a little too girly for me, but nope, it worked perfectly for me with a pair of much-loved patterned lace cut-out leggings  from LARK and my ever-present ILO boots.  I don’t think I’ve stopped wearing ILO boots since the last round of The Arcade finished. I didn’t even win them all, but by gum the ones I did win I am wearing to bloody death!)

To finish my look, and what really makes it for me, has to be this style fromMONSO. It’s called ‘Yong’ and is a unisex style.   I’ve never worn MONSO hair before, but I now consider myself a convert, having snapped up both of the styles that were available from this brand at C88. I made sure I purchased both styles in the custom packs so that I could have lots of wear out of the shades that were included.  I didn’t mind forking out L$288 for each pack either because they contain a great selection of shades and come with a great hud that makes colour and size change an absolute doddle. I did note that the style is materials ready, but alas I fear that makes little difference on my screen due to a graphics card that has sadly seen better days. No matter, materials or not the hair looks stunning and really helped to bring this look together.

To finish I dusted down my trusty Tegryn Scarf in Olive from THEOSOPHY that was gathering dust in  corner and there you have it, a casual, yet very tidy take on the Razzle Dazzle theme courtesy of this fantastic Collabor88 round!

What have you enjoyed about this round of C88? Care to share? Feel free to divulge all in the comments below!

Kitty wears:

Shape – Kitty’s Own.

Skin – Kaelyn 20’s Skin by Izzies (C88)

Hair – Yong by Monso (C88)

Eyes –         by Ikon

Lashes –      by Hush

Dress – Drop Waist Dress by Tres Blah (C88)

Leggings –    by Lark

Boots –        By Ilo

Scarf – Tegryn Scarf in Olive by Theosophy