Category: second life fashion

*MUST VISIT* Sway’s Creations

*MUST VISIT* Sway’s Creations

by Lisa Millar ♥ 3 Comments

Earlier in the week I took a picture featuring a rather gorgeous bed that I told you I’d tell you all about….

First things first, I’d *never* heard of Sway’s Creations before until this week, but now I’ve visited and seen some of the wares on offer..well wild horses couldn’t keep me away! This is a place where dreams are made folks. Seriously, Sway Dench has created some beautiful items to better furnish your Second Life with and once you see them you’ll be utterly converted and may find yourself taking up hobbies that in Real Life you’ve never considered….(note, *nice* hobbies, nothing horrid like scat or owt…) Example: Knitting. I’d rather lick stamps than knit..I just don’t have the tolerance/patience/aptitude to be bothered with it. I like the pretty colours of the wool and I’ve got a rather special scarf that my friend Tracey made me (She knits.Lunatic) but I just can’t be bothered. So why was I knitting with such gusto when I visited Sway’s Store in world? What the heck is that all about? Simple. Sway has created a rocking chair and replete with knitting needles and animations that it would be ruddy *criminal* not to sit on and play with. I often say that in RL SL is the virtual equivalent of playing dolls houses..Sway has really made it feel like that for me this week. One of my favourite things as a little girl was just re-enacting things in my dolls houses-decorating them, arranging furniture and just doing ‘Stuff’. Sway has gifted us via her wonderful imagination the ability to let your avatar do some pretty wonderful things in world. Even better than that, not only are the animations great, but the objects are just beautifully built that even if you don’t use them, just placing them in your virtual residence will bring you *lots* of pleasure. It’s like Pottery- I couldn’t give a shit about pottery. Sure, I tried it at school and made something resembling a squidgy brown blob (that was after the clay was fired and painted as well) so the fact that I’m as eager as Demi Moore was to get the potters wheel between her thighs (alas, no Patrick Swayze avatar to enhance my experience) says a lot about the quality of the animations and the sheer gorgeousness of the objects here. In fact I defy any fashion designer in SL not to fall in love *immediately* with the Tailor Set. Here’s an idea..get yourself one of these, and when you’re in-world and attending to your store use it. It’ll give a really good vibe to the place as punters are strolling around and can see the designer sat in the corner busily creating:) Again, the set is just amazingly imaginative and beautifully created. There’s an antique sewing machine for starters, with rotating wheels and foot pedal. A tailors chair, with two animations for you to use whilst working plus a mannequin, again this has two animations to create the effect of the hard at work designer. You get some bloody lovely extras too- a sewing basket and bales of fabric, scissors, a measuring tape. It’s ruddy stunning..I defy you not to be impressed with it! I cannot possibly cover everything that Sway has created here because she’s made a vast amount of objects and themed sets. If you flunked Woodwork at school you can be a Carpentry genius in SL, courtesy of Sway. So we have knitting, pottery and carpentry covered. Virtual gardening is also catered for with Sway’s beautiful gardening kits, which feature such delights as watering cans, wheelbarrows and animations to suit. The gardening sets are so pretty, with flowers and seed bags and all the little bits a budding Percy Thrower needs to have a fabulous SL garden. I love mine, which is hilarious when you consider that in real life I have the garden from hell. My favourite items though just have to be the make up table and the bedroom set. (I haven’t even told you about the Spinning Wheel, the Laundry Set, the bureau or gorgeous kitchen but you’ll have to go and see them yourself!!) Let’s start with the make up table, which is quite honestly a work of art. Bugger Tracey Emin and her unmade bed, this is a piece of virtual creation to really lust after. You get a classy, kidney shaped table replete with mirror and a chair. The table has opening drawers and a chair that matches containing three smasheroonie animations: brushing hair, applying make-up and looking in the mirror. There’s a hair brush (wear with the anim) and *lots* of bottles of make-up to scatter across the table surface. Perfume canisters, lipstick tubes, cosmetic brushes and powder compacts aplenty..the only thing that could have made this any better would have been dust particles emanating from the powder puff. Seriously it is stunning. You also get a vase with flower, a glittery ball decoration AND a photo frame ready for your fave SL snap. I cannot tell you how much I grinned in real life when I saw this and I just new I had to have it..it’s great. At this point I should tell you that Sway also designs clothes, and these are just as good as her static creations. I’m especially enamoured with the Valerie set, which features hair curlers, slippers, bathrobe and panties. I have one of these already from ‘Total Betty’, the ‘Cozy Plush’ set and both are great fun, but I prefer the curlers you get with the Sway version more than the towel turban from ‘Cozy Plush’.BUT having said that the cucumber slices and the zit strips you get in the ‘Total Betty Cozy Plush’ outfit more than make up for that..I’ll shush now, I’m being contrary) So Sway is evidently a genius and to further substantiate that fact she also makes glorious furniture, and I really do mean glorious. I LOVE the Rattan bed and sofa set called ‘Cathy’. They’re just divine AND menu driven so you can chop and change colours and textures as much as you like. I love the tousled messy duvet on the bed..it looks great. If you’re looking to furnish your place you MUST come to Swayland and check out Sways things as you will kick yourself if you shell out a lot of Lindens and then visit..trust me on that one! So now on to the bedroom set….it’s called ‘Princess’ and has a white frame festooned with drapes. The drapes are colour change, you can have the blankets on or off and you also get two side tables with lamps to compliment. There is so much to see here that you should just visit Swayland and take your time enjoying all the sights and objects. I haven’t even told you about the jewellery, the clothes OR the Cookie Bears, but I figure it’ll be nice for you to find those yourself:) Get yourself off to Swayland for the afternoon..go on, you know it makes sense!

It’s Just..a little CRUSH..

It’s Just..a little CRUSH..

by Lisa Millar ♥ 2 Comments

Friday night means let’s go out and partake of a ‘partay’, or two…or three..heck, it’s the grid, it’ll be *full*of parties:) So you need a party frock, and for a more than reasonable L$200 you can get yourself a lovely ruched 80’s style mini-dress called ‘Crush’ and let me tell you, it looks ruddy marvellous with the J’s shoes that I blogged further down the page. It’s the kind of frock that yearns for accessories, and you can dress it up or make it look as trashy as you like…utterly perfect. Just like me:) ( Modest or what! Oh hang on..what’s that..a virtual zit? GAHHHHHH!)
Foot Fetishists Get Ready…..

Foot Fetishists Get Ready…..

by Lisa Millar ♥ 1 Comment

Oooh you can almost smell the cheese! YUM! I really owe a huge debt to Linden Lifestyles for this post, because it’s inspired by one that has appeared on their blog. It’s their final week this week and Salome is in a blogging frenzy. I hadn’t even contemplated the concept of prim toes + shoes UNTIL I saw her blog post, and then went to J’s Shoes, and instantly fell in love. Toes haven’t really been an issue for me in Second Life because I tend to wear my Tesla heels with EVERYTHING, but when I’ve tried to do barefoot photo shoots I’ve been pretty disappointed. On the majority of skins feet don’t look good, and of course when you have to squash the poor beggars into all manner of unwieldy shapes just to wear fabulous shoes in the first place you can kind of understand why they haven’t really been paid their dues. It seems that just like in real life some people consider their feet unworthy of attention. Well, J’s Shoes seek to redress that balance, and they do so in superb style. The shoes I’m wearing here are called ‘J’s Real Toe Ankle Belt Sandals’ and they cost L$350 which is more than a little pricey, BUT when you consider the detailing on these beauties you’ll soon forgive the price, and probably invest in a few more pairs to boot! (Geddit? Bad pun time again!) What’s more, they’re scripted with different nail colour and toering options. As Salome pointed out on her blog, this is probably going to prove to be a massively important trend for footwear in the very near future, and rightly so. These heeled sandals really do make all the difference to your appearance. It’s always the little extras that people spot when checking out your avatar, and imagine how impressed they’ll be when they look down at your feet and see these cuties? Incidentally, this shot is just a really quick one that I took to show you..if you want a fuller run-down on J’s Shoes read the review on Linden Lifestyles HERE. I could only scrape the lindens together to get this one pair, but wow-these babies are an investment and a real treat for your feet. Go on then..go and buy some NOW!!!

*MUST VISIT* Henredon Homes

*MUST VISIT* Henredon Homes

by Lisa Millar ♥ 3 Comments

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As you can probably gauge from previous entries I love quality builds. It’s the effort that people have obviously put in to their subject matter that thrills me..some buildings are just sheer labours of love. Forget houses with unimaginative textures and bog-standard attributes, four walls is so passe dahling, I’m talking about creations that have been crafted with love by their originator. Shall I elaborate? Well, for example with textures you can really tell when someone has gone the extra mile to seek out and use something a bit different. They’ve possibly created their own source material, using a photograph they took themselves. They bake shadows in the right places, cracks where you’d expect to find them.,they include  windows and doors that have a certain depth to them and aren’t just mere surface decoration. Floor textures and decorative options are selected with care, ensuring that they are exactly right for the period and style of the building. It’s a lot of work, but the very best designers will go that extra mile to make an object that is utterly breathtaking. I’ve talked about some of my favourite designers on the blog before, and now I’m adding another one to my personal faves list: Holly Klaxon. If I ever get to meet Holly I will plant a big smacker on her chops and tell her that she is a Goddess. Now, I know many of you doubt my sanity, and with good reason- BUT-sometimes in life, real or second, you come across someone who is just so good at what they do you cannot help but want to fall at their feet and worship them for the Gods that they are. I do not worship false idols..but Prad Pravithi, Peter Stindberg, Botha architects and Holly Klaxon are my pantheon of choice. Incidentally, I’m not including the clothing Goddesses here, otherwise I’ll be typing into next fortnight and I’m going to see Hellboy 2 tonight.  Anyway, Holly Klaxon. She’s the creative force behind a company called Henredon Homes. She recently performed the revamp at Calla,and if you’ve been there recently you’ll have had first hand experience of Holly’s creativity. (For the moment, until she has her own sim, Holly’s work is located to the rear of the store.)Classical architecture is the order of the day here. For a start, when I saw ‘The Victorian Stable’ I was absolutely astonished. It is just so pretty-there’s no other word for it. It’s a beautiful blue and white building with sublime detail work. The building has doors and windows aplenty, and when you enter you’re faced with tack hooks, period saddle holders and two stalls. Above the left-hand stable is a hayloft, replete with romantic poseballs so you can have a roll around in the straw. The little touches that Holly has put into this are quite something, and 209 prims is a cinch for the goodies on offer. ALL the doors and windows open and close, there’s a feed bucket with a little scoop and detailed shelving so that you could put trophies or riding hats on display. There’s a lantern with a 3 way switch so that you control the brightness, and one of the neatest little touches is the bulletin board on the wall in the stable. When you click it you’re directed to a blog that has loads of useful help files in case you run into difficulties with the build. One of the nicest things about the stable though is the overall feel to the place, it’s nice and bright and feels pretty authentic..you can just tell that a lot of care has gone into making everything just so. I’ve seen really small properties with less detail than the Victorian Stable costing upwards of L$7500, so when I saw that the stable was just L$1250 I was gobsmacked. The other neat thing about this is that you can copy the build, so you can have enough stables to accommodate all your horses…it’s practically a gift!Now, I could witter on about the other beauties on offer, such as the quaint gazebo and the rather superb self-returning boats, but I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t make you go and get off your virtual backsides and go and see for yourself…so here’s some more encouragement.
If you thought the stable was good, you ain’t seen nothing yet! ‘The Untamed Jungle Adventure Treehouse’ may sound pretentious, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is simply fabulous.. Holly has said that she was inspired by the adventures of Dr. Livingston and his peers and this build certainly encapsulates that era perfectly. I’m convinced that when you see this you’ll be speechless with awe, for this is excellence in treehouse form. Before you even make your ascent you have a beautiful waterfall and volcanic pool replete with a romantic secret cave underneath the main treehouse build to explore. Like the stable, there are poseballs included in this build, and you’ll find some in the cave area. (Personally, I think it’s an ideal, private place to add a few more adventurous poseballs should you so require…) The teleportation device, which takes you up into the branches to the main living area. The trees and the building itself are beautifully textured ( Holly makes fabulous texture choices) and your privacy is accommodated without compromising the jungle feel by using canvas blinds. The property is divided by sheer drapes inside and there is a ceiling fan and light combination to add ambiance. The furnishings are supplied and are more than adequate, comprising of a bathroom with shower and luxurious couples bath (animated of course) and a delightful comfy-looking bed. Again this has poses built in, but not of the saucy kind. Fear not though, you can remove the furnishings and install your own should you so desire..but why you’d want to spoil the mood I have no idea! There are lanterns in each interior room (and exterior too) and a dining table with chairs and jungle-themed munchies for you to indulge in. Walking around this place you find yourself exclaiming ‘Ooh!’ and ‘Aah!’ at very regular intervals. For example, there are towels on the towel rail ready to used after your bath, and they gently move in the breeze. A fantastic little touch that just enhances the authenticity. The canopy bed is covered in cascading vines, just how you’d imagine a jungle bed to look ( no snakes though- you could get one from Zooby’s for that!) There’s even soap in the soap dish (I think it’s ‘Imperial Leather’) and in the cave underneath there’s a pick axe and gemstones scattered around:) Like any good tree house there’s a rope swing (please, no Shia Lebouf impressions…)and you also get a trunk full of goodies to decorate your house with. These are really special- a period styled compass (that really works!! It’s magic I tells ya!) binoculars, treasure map and crate for storing all your explorer-like implements, so you now have no excuse for not making like Indiana Jones and plotting your next adventure. Oh, and like the stables, at L$4500 this is exceptionally reasonably priced when you consider what is on offer… Click HERE to go see NOW!