Category: Marketplace

We wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time..

We wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time..

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Loaded

As a brand APHORISM genuinely never disappoints.  It constantly  features diverse product lines, especially over the past few months. Great shape and attention to detail is for me where the label excels, and they’ve proved that again at this month’s edition of  THE MENS DEPT.

You will definitely want to check their latest release out, because it’s a bit of a dazzler. It’s called ‘Loaded‘, and features slim jeans and tees, with a twist…The jeans have a handgun down the front of them. Yikes!
(Cue zillions of “Is that a gun in your pants or are you just pleased to see me?” jokes…)

Smart jeans and tees ALWAYS work, in real life or Second. APHORISM always produces great denim, their ‘Men’s Regular Jeans’ being a firm favourite of Jez’s due to their texturing and colour. These ‘Loaded’  jeans are slimmer but no less detailed, with tonnes of creasing and fading in all the right places across the range. The tees look aged and slightly worn and wear well on your frame. Worn together it’s a classic, ever-so-slightly vintage combination straight out of Hollywood. Think heist movies, think fast cars and dark heroes; this is what ‘Loaded’ is all about, and it’s incredibly evocative as outfits go. I’m not a fan of guns in any way so wearing this felt a little out of my comfort zone, but I have to say I think he looks ruddy swell and swoonsome, don’t you think?

To finish Jez’s look I treated him to some snazzy footwear courtesy of  2REAL. These ‘Max Crystal’ trainers really are the dog’s cogs; when you wear them and zoom in the level of detail is gasp worthy. I know for a fact laddo would wear these in real life so it was very satisfying to see him wear them in Second. There’s a nifty HUD which enables you to wear your shoes with laces or without; he doesn’t have a preference apparently, but like me he really digs the pattern that embellishes these and the window in the sole giving them a retro look suggestive of Nike Air Trainers.  I do love it when you zoom in on something and it looks absolutely amazing, don’t you? Pro-tip: Buy these in a really bright colour as a contrast to your outfit to get heads turning!

Loaded 2

Last but not least, another shout-out to the ever-amazing SIGNATURE Mesh Avatar ‘Anthony’  that Jez is sporting, which I discussed in this previous post. I think he is the epitome of sexual chocolate wearing it,  and it was really easy to get his APHORISM clothes to fit perfectly courtesy of the HUD.  I really can’t wax lyrical about it enough, suffice to say if you have L$300 in your pocket that is burning a hole go and treat yourself to some mesh body happiness.

The Mens Dept. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it really does serve the males of Second Life (and their partners) incredibly well indeed.

Get yourself over there!

*Note: It’s pretty obvious BUT The tees are made specifically to work with the jeans; they have a special tuck and shadow on them so that they’ll work perfectly when worn together so don’t buy a tee on its own unless you want to look a bit odd.. And both the APHORISM ‘Loaded’ ensemble and the 2REAL trainers are available for both male and female avatars.  Winning! 

Oh and yes, I DID listen to this while I was writing this post, how could I not?!

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?

WITCHY WEDNESDAY- ‘The Maiden’ By Ellabella

WITCHY WEDNESDAY- ‘The Maiden’ By Ellabella

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

witchy wednesday_001I haven’t written a ‘Witchy Wednesday’ post in an age, which is a poor show when you consider that the blog is called ‘Kittywitchin’..ahem!

Anyway, fortunately this week I do have something rather lovely to share with you all, and it costs next to nothing!  This gorgeous ‘Maiden’ pentacle necklace is from ELLABELLA and costs a mere L$100.

It’s available at this month’s THE MENS DEPT (as you walk in, on the wall to your right) and is perfect if you want a pentacle that’s a little more fancy than usual. On closer inspection you’ll find that the pentagram is surrounded by five Rubies, separated by purple squiggles (evocative of Theban Script) against a black base. There are crescent moons for the Goddess to either side, and the piece is finished with three violet pendants.

witchy wednesday_002

 

I think it’s a great piece of jewellery and it’s very eye-catching too.  Here’s your taxi to THE MENS DEPT where you’ll find this piece, and other fabulous items too!