Calloo Callay! It’s ‘Demo Day’ at Kittys! What better way to spend a very blustery Saturday afternoon (we’re supposed to be getting a storm later, it’s called ‘Storm Ciara’ and frankly she can just ruddy well bugger off) than trying on all the things currently on sale at Collabor88?! I bloody LOVE C88, it’s one of my favourite regular in-world events and I’m always excited each month to see what treats lie in store…

I had a look at the catalogue on Seraphim, and then zoomed on over to the cam-shopping platform and had a quick cam around, noting a few items that I really liked the look of and thought that might be worth a try-on session at home. Laden with virtual bags I TP’d home (in the first few days of an event it’s always better to try on at home or at a sandbox because loitering keeps other people from the event, and frankly that’s just not on) and threw them all over the floor as I set about my demo session. I ALWAYS demo before I purchase; it’s just not worth the disappointment of investing in a purchase only to get home to find that it doesn’t work well on your body at all. I’ve learned my lesson on this the hard way. If something’s been rigged badly and you’ve just bought a fat-pack of something divine, you’re going to be in for one helluva unpleasant shock when you realise it’s borked.

All of the pictures I’m sharing with you here have been taken with my graphic settings ramped up high, using bright lighting to enable me to see details properly. The windlight setting that I tend to use for such purposes is ‘Bree’s Apple blossom’, should you wish to give it a try. I haven’t post-processed or enhanced them in any way, they’re just as they appeared on screen. Click on a picture to see a larger version.

First of all I’m trying on this beautiful ‘Marie’ hairstyle from DOUX.  I own a lot of this particular brand’s hairstyles and it’s a nightmare because I ALWAYS say to myself that I’ll get the  basic pack, and end up getting the ruddy deluxe one, but no matter. I definitely think DOUX hair is worth your attention and investment; I’ve always found their styles to be consistently high-quality featuring beautiful textures, colours and styles along with well designed hair-bases, which makes the styles infinitely wearable. Plus how did we ever manage before stylist HUDS, huh?

‘Marie’ is a side-swept, layered and waved style that evokes a classic feel. It’s more or a medium length and sits just past your shoulders at the back. It’s also a bit nice, I fell for it as soon as I put it on! I mean, just LOOK:

• 

• 

• 

I generally don’t go for brighter colours like the ones above but I felt really drawn to them while I was trying the style. Of course, they’re colours that are in the Deluxe pack because of course they are, and they’re each individually worthy of high praise. This is just three photographs mind you, be aware that there are ….. in the HUD for the Deluxe pack. Which is nice. Ugh, I have no self-control where virtual hairstyles are concerned and this one is just so pretty that it would DEFINITELY make ‘fetch’ happen…(Think about it.. you’ll get the reference!) I love it. Damn you, DOUX!

Moving swiftly on then and next is the latest skin from INSOL. I couldn’t try the LELUTKA one as I don’t have the latest head but no matter, I’m more than happy with my GENUS ‘Baby face’, and even more so after I tested ‘Lena’ upon it. I don’t wear many INSOL skins, and more fool me because this one is very pleasant indeed. What attracted me to this particular skin was the brow shape built into it; I’m a total virtual brow whore. I love them, and I’m a huge fan of wearing a no-brow skin and adding brows from other content creators to create a totally unique look. However, this is a skin that I would be more than happy to wear with the built-in brow, which has a lovely strong arch and frames the face perfectly. The detail on the face itself is great too, especially the central highlighting and shading, which renders a subtle look to the face making for a great base to layer virtual make-up on. (With a trowel, obviously!) The big thing for me when I’m buying a new skin tends to be will I have to buy the facial skin AND a new body applier HUD? This generally then leads me to scrabbling around in my absolute nightmare of an inventory and either feeling defeated or elated.  I’m delighted to say that today was the latter; I did indeed have an applier for my body colour of choice, ‘Peach’, and when I added this to my Maitreya 5.1 Lara Body it just made me fall completely in love with the skin. The INSOL skins are L$888 each (L$2588 for the fat-pack), but VERY worthy of your time and investment. ‘Lena’ is available in 7 skin tones at the event.

Next up we have the first clothing item that I tried. This is the TETRA ‘Velvet Mini Dress’, and I was attracted, but slightly wary of the shape of the mesh. It’s been a recent trend in Second Life fashion to have dresses that fall off the shoulders BUT occasionally the mesh shapes just don’t work with your AO (Animation Over-rider) or dancing animations. This is a really important point to make so listen closely gang; when you’re trying on frocks, tops and what-nots that are off shoulder or super baggy switch your AO on and go for a walk around.  Then stick your favourite dancing animations on and try again.  If the mesh seems to fit and flow with your body well, then you know you’re onto a winner.  You may find that for super safety you have to alpha-out areas on your body (quite often I have difficulties with the fit around my armpits/boobs where I have to deploy the alpha layers) Also, if it’s a dress, does it come with pants? Some do, dome don’t. Can you wear mesh pants underneath (should you want to?) or apply layer lingerie to hide your virtual lady garden from up-skirters? (Yes, there are people like that in Second Life, you literally cannot be free of the chuffers in either life. HEX THE LOT OF THEM I SAY!) Ahem.  Anyway, I stuck my arms up in the air and swung them around like I just didn’t care, which I didn’t. I zoomed in, I zoomed out and I had a proper look. Unfortunately, there is a wee glitch under the right armpit that I cannot resolve with alpha-layers alone, so I need to have a think about whether or not I invest. That’s a shame, because it’s certainly a pretty frock and I really like the overall shape. It’s textured well and the HUD features excellent details such as changing the metal upon the belt eyelets and the fabric on the belt buckle and buttons. I really like that, it means you have styling options to play about with to make your perfect dress. I think it will work well with heels (can I just say I literally CANNOT WAIT until someone starts releasing kitten heel styles for the new foot shape that’s been added to MAITREYA. I’m desperate to get my kitten heels on, I’ve always loved them. Come on shoe-makers of Second Life, crack on! Cough *Gospel Voom are you there?* Splutter…

JUST BECAUSE is a brand that has been on fire with quality releases recently, and this month is no exception. The ‘Alicia’ gown is old Hollywood styling with voluminous sleeves leading to tight cuffs at the wrist, a cinched in waist and beautiful draped skirt.  You can use the included HUD to change the colours of your dress and the flower adornment, changing the colour of the petals, the pearls in the centre and the leaves. I love having fun with elements like this; you can create a myriad of looks and this dress would be great for virtual occasions of any kind but honestly, to me it screams “WEDDING DRESS!!!” especially when worn in the ivory or white colour choices. To be fair though it’s lovely in any colour and works beautifully with the DOUX hairstyle. It’s as if they were made for each other; simple earrings and a pearl necklace would be perfect for a wedding look, with perhaps a flower decoration in the hair (or an up-do with tiara, veil, the whole works) but this isn’t a dress that you need to overpower with embellishment.  It’s stunning as is. Problem is, it’s not the kind of dress I would invest in because, well, I’m not a classy bird that goes to lots of grand occasions where I could wear such a show-stopper. I’ve not even got wed in Second Life, but if I did want to I’d give this dress serious consideration, and with Valentine’s Day fast approaching it would be a sensational choice for a romantic dinner date with your beloved. That said, I might treat myself to one so I can swoosh around at home and pretend to be all glam…

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my trying-on session, and there are still lots more lovely things at this month’s round of C88 that I haven’t had the chance to test out yet, but I’m thinking I might do a video featuring a few things..what do you think?

Is there anything you think I should demo and share here?

Let me know in the comments!