Category: Marketplace

Kimono My House..

Kimono My House..

by Lisa Millar ♥ 1 Comment

Sunday Girl

Kimono-style tops certainly aren’t a new thing to the Second Life grid, I have a couple in my inventory from TRES BLAH and ATOMIC that I’m pretty keen on, and they make a smashing alternative to cardigans, hoodies and jackets. Despite my being a jumper aficionado and loving my winter woolies, I’ve actually had enough of them now, and I’m ready for some styling changes. Winter has been a bit grim for us all this year I think, I’m ready for some sun! These gorgeous Kimono style tops from FOXES at N21 are a great choice for bringing some much-needed springtime sunshine into your wardrobe. They’re really rather special indeed, with flowing sleeves that are perfectly ruffled in all the right places and a great shape to the front and hem of the jacket. The kimono ‘sit’ really well on the avatar and are simple yet very effective.

They’re available at N21 in a selection of on-trend patterns that really look the part. If you mix and match with the skirts and tops from the range you’re sure to find a combination that really suits. I’ve emptied my Jewellery box and thrown on an array of my favourite YUMMY pieces to accessorise with, along with a fabulous denim mini from BUENO to make a stylish yet casual look for going out with friends on a Sunday. This is perfect ‘hanging-out’ wear. Add some shades and you’re really talking! I opted for the black ‘Zen’ Kimono because I think I’ll get the most wear out of it, pairing it with the red top for the same reasons. In my head, I’m already thinking of ways to style these pieces; with leggings, short skirts and boots and even shorts and tights..The list is endless! I don’t think this look could be more ‘Kitty’ if I tried. I love it. What do you think?

KITTY WEARS:
Kitty’s Body Basics including:
SHAPE – KITTY’S OWN
BODY – MAITREYA Mesh Body ‘Lara’ V 2.1
SKIN – GLAM AFFAIR ‘Brandi Sweet’ America NB
HAIRBASE- ESSENCES Ash Black
EYES – IKON Destiny Eyes in ‘Maya’ M/L
LASHES – HUSH ‘Flirt’
EYEBROWS – JUST MAGNETISED ‘Diva’ Brows Brunette 02
EYELINER – MONS
MOUTH – PXL ‘Sweet Lips’ 01 (Worn with GLAM AFFAIR applier)
EARS – AITUI Ear System Gen 4 Heart Plugs
Kitty’s Clothing:
SKIRT – BUENO ‘Hard Luck’ Denim Skirt Indigo
JACKET – FOXES ‘Spiritualist’ Kimono Zen ***N21 EXCLUSIVE***
TOP – FOXES ‘Spiritualist’ Kimono Top Small Red ***N21 EXCLUSIVE***

Kitty’s Accessories:
HAIR – CHEMISTRY ‘Mila’ HUD 1
JEWELLERY – Necklaces by YUMMY, including N21 EXCLUSIVE ‘Small Crystal Choker’  (the rest you’ll find at the mainstore)
SEPTUM PIERCING – MONS Mesh Septum Ring in Style 1, Black.
CHOKER – XYZ Tattoo Choker Black
MANICURE – NYLON OUTFITTERS ‘Celestial’ Nails for Maitreya Body

NEW YEAR, NEW KITTY!? (Not ruddy likely!)

NEW YEAR, NEW KITTY!? (Not ruddy likely!)

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

 January_003

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS!

I hope you’ve all had a fantastic festive season with your family and loved ones.  I know I had an absolutely cracking time, but in between RL work and being with loved ones I found very little time to log-in (which is just as it should be!)   I’m making up for it now though with gusto, and busily compiling some blog posts for you all to enjoy. So let’s start as we mean to go on shall we?

Seeing as it’s a new year I thought I’d share my first semi-nude shot of the year with you all, LOL!  This is me sporting the latest mesh body to hit the grid, ‘Lara’ by MAITREYA. Now, I decided after the BELLEZA malarkey that I wasn’t going to buy any more mesh bodies because with all the DMCA nonsense I didn’t ‘t know if they would prove to be a sound investment. Spendin thousands of Lindens upon something for which you’d expect regular updates, only for the item to be DMCA’d and taken off-grid isn’t a good return on the money spent. Not that I’m tight but I’m not made of Lindens, and I like to be careful what I buy. (Of course you do Kitty, that’s why you have 56k of items in your inventory…PFFFT)

Fortunately BELLEZA returned back to the grid with their wonderful mesh body and a happy Kitty this did make, so when MAITREYA released Lara my initial thoughts were “Nah, I’ll give it a miss.” I already had two mesh bodies, SLINK and BELLEZA, so I didn’t need another one, right? WRONG.

I made the FATAL mistake of demoing Lara. (I blame Magenta De Vinna AKA Skittles for this, because I asked on Plurk if I should give it a go because clearly I can’t think for myself, and Skittles told me that it was definitely worth a demo.) The rest is history. Readers, this body is bloody divine. I zoomed over to a sandbox, opened the box and fell in love.

So what are my thoughts on this bod? It’s very different to SLINK and BELLEZA in that, well to my eyes at least, it’s more ‘lifted’ around the bewbs and bum areas, but not in an exaggerated Nicki Minaj-on-acid manner. It feels youthful and zesty and vibrant and is VERY easy to wear. To me, SLINK feels like the classic mesh body that anyone can wear, BELLEZA feels more modern in some ways,  but this one feels, well, fizzy and vibrant, if you get my drift? Indeed, this is the first mesh body I’ve tried where I’ve managed to get a really good skin match out of the box without wearing one of the designated skins. Seaming issues to the neck in this body have been minimal for me, and after a few minor corrections I can’t see a join at all. I have had problems with my BELLEZA body and my SLINK body with the neck area, but the MAITREYA body has pretty much worked straight out of the box, which has made it a real blessing in my opinion. The whole package feels less ‘fussy’ in a lot of ways; although the HUD doesn’t have the panache of say the Belleza HUD, it’s effective and easy to use. I think the alphas are the most

The whole package feels less ‘fussy’ in a lot of ways; although the HUD doesn’t have the panache of say the Belleza HUD, it’s easy to use. I think the alphas are the most effective thus far too; I’ve found fitting my clothing around this to be the easiest of all the bodies that I wear.  I’ve had issues in the past where I’ve had to change my shape to get the best fit, I haven’t with this and my outfits look grand.

As far as changes go I’d like to see more hand positions included and more nail polish colours too in the basic HUD, but apart from that I really don’t see what other improvements will need to be made, other than enhancements over time.  The HUD needs work I think, even when resized it’s quite intrusive on the screen so if that could be reduced to a tiny icon by the click of a button that would prove useful. It also lacks ‘Oomph’ as far as HUDS go, it could do with prettying up a bit, but that is a cosmetic change that has absolutely no impact on the quality of this body at all.  Of course I ended up buying it, and guys I haven’t taken it off since I got it! 

If you’re into mesh bodies then you definitely need this one in your collection, and if you’ve never tried them before why not give the DEMO a try? The results are really

The results are really fantastic, as I hope my photographs demonstrate..

Boxed

I mean just LOOK at my bum, look at the hands…GAH!!! Amazeballs aren’t they? I absolutely LOVE it! There’s plenty of blogger buzz about this release too. I particularly liked Berry’s blog post about this body, which compares it with others on the market (except Belleza), and you can read it here.

Check out the MAITREYA ‘Lara’ body by clicking HERE to visit the Mainstore  The body costs L$2750 (That’s about £5.25), and for the product I think that’s an incredibly fair price.

Have you tried the Maitreya ‘Lara’ body yet?

What do you think?

Let us know in the comments below!

Kitty and The Drax Files

Kitty and The Drax Files

by Lisa Millar ♥ 1 Comment

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(Sounds like a band doesn’t it?) I’m a huge fan of Draxtor Despres’s Work, as regular readers will well be aware, so imagine what a treat it was for me when he asked me to appear on the 50th episode of the Drax Files with Drax, Jo Yardley and Tracy Redangel. It’s well worth a listen!

Recording was great fun and we had LOTS to talk about. We were mainly discussing the DMCA process, in particular the situation with Belleza. It certainly stirred our passions as you will hear; with us all condemning the individuals who maliciously brought about the action. Incidentally, I’m delighted to say that Belleza have placed the Venus Mesh Body back on sale again, and rightly so! HUZZAH!

Click here to be impressed by the banter and to laugh at Kitty’s accent..

Kitty’s Arcade Raves & Faves!

Kitty’s Arcade Raves & Faves!

by Lisa Millar ♥ 1 Comment

arcade_014

Odd for me that I haven’t blogged THE ARCADE so far, but it’s been publicised to death across the blogging landscape so please forgive my transgression thus far.  But of course, just like all previous rounds it is an absolute corker. Perhaps even more so this time; there’s a massive, gorgeous Christmas Tree in the centre of the build and underneath it you’ll find gifts from many of the designers taking part, and they’re all FREE. Which is bloody wonderful!

THE ARCADE is all about the gacha, and I’ve been hitting a number of machines especially hard. Naturally I couldn’t get in for the first few days, but I’m not having any bother at all now that the initial furore has eased.

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It’s very hard to pick a favourite vendor this time around. My criteria is simple; does it have a cat on it? If the answer is yes then you may proceed! ATOMIC have pushed all my buttons in an abstract sort of way with their ‘Critter Comfort’ collection. Granted, it does look like you’re wearing animal pelts and naturally the idea of wearing a cat draped around my neck fills me with dread, BUT it’s very clear in both lives that these are merely novelty accessories and thank goodness for that, because they look ruddy fabulous:)

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The CASA DEL SHAI Crazy Christmas Sweaters are all kinds of fun. Naturally, I’ve been after the jumpers that feature a very grumpy looking cat on them, but no luck yet.  As I’ve said before, Gacha festivals of this kind are fabulous for picking up wee items and paraphernalia that really turn your virtual house into a home; and I’ve been collecting items from the SORGO Insomniak Geek Collection to scatter around my skybox work area.

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I’m incredibly partial to PIXICAT’s collection of animal onesies, because I collect these in real life…

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They’re called ‘Kigurumis‘ and I own a Lion, Lemur and a Kitsune (Japanese Fox) along with a couple of cats too (these are the only snaps I dared share with you of me wearing them though!)  I love them, oftentimes I get home from RL work and just throw one of these on and that’s me sorted until bedtime. They’re ruddy roasting as well so you don’t need your RL heating on so high when you’re wearing one.  I can’t recommend them enough so was delighted to see them in-world…

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But I think perhaps my ultimate must-have items this round, apart from the PIXICAT onesies, are the bags from NYLON PINKNEY.  The reason I love these is because I am a super-huge NYLON OUTFITTERS fan.  I love Nylon’s quirky and original artworks and designs and when I saw these bags I almost died from excitement. They feature fabulous artworks by the great Nylon herself and include hand-holding animations too. I don’t usually bother with bags in Second Life, but I’m so in love with these that I think bags will be a part of my wardrobe for a long time to come! Naturally I’ve spent a small fortune trying to get the rare, which of course just HAD to be a cat didn’t it? No luck yet sadly, but there’s still time…

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THE ARCADE runs until the end of December so you’ve loads of time to visit and gacha yourself into a coma. Kitty-tip, if you’re looking for a particular item from THE ARCADE try yardsales first. My Yardsale of choice is at THE PEA, where everything is nicely alphabetized and easy to navigate, but SERAPHIM has a comprehensive list.

Kitty Wears: 

Eyes by IKON

Ears by AITUI

Skin by BELLEZA (Eva Med Matte 8) (UBERSL)

Hair by LITTLE BONES (FROST)

Dress By FOXES (C88)