Gypsy Soul <3

This outfit was actually inspired by the free puerty hair from Eat Rice! and the christmas gift from Gypsy Soul. The first picture was taken at one of my favourite builds - Jabberwocky - sort of a dark Alice in Wonderland on Brown Acid type sim. SO fun.. I'm chillin in Alice's room.. she's um.. a bit unhinged... The rest were taken @ Starlust. Schadenfreude's and ~silentsparrow~'s stores specifcally. This is such a crazy, fun, and crazy collection of sims! ALSO, the Starlust's group is one of the most fun to belong to, as there are always secret sales, free gifts and spontaneous group humpies.. Okay maybe I exaggerate over the last bit. *ponders* perhaps not..

The hair is a bit different for me, as I tend to go with hairstyle that I would wear irl - and I have long hair. I just couldn't resist the fluffiness of it, or the tiny details like a pretty clip and a tiny braid on the left side.. I'm a sucker for detail lol and.. I must admit to considering getting this as my next haircut. Yes. Really. Maybe not the bangs though. ^-~ I just love Eat Rice! for their cutting edge hair and clothing. (psst they have a subscribooooo)

NEXT I have on ~Gypsy Soul~ - this is a designer whose outfits I almost always wear together and just accessorise. She designs beautiful handdrawn details, and the look is so ME, it's nearly frightening. She also has a subscribo, and gives so many options in every reasonably priced outfit, that I know my little ~Gypsy Soul~ file will grow exponentially. I *think* this stocking gift is available until the 31st at both of her locations, so snap it up with a quickness. It has leggings, sweater, halter and glitch pants on just about every layer!
Now let us take a moment to squeeee over the gorgy muffler included (I thought the fluffy poms were another nod to my hair *grin*)

I added these wicked gloves from Sprawl (formerly Pushbutton Industries). Look at the detail! All of Pushbutton's items are fun, edgy and so well made, it's hard not to gorge myself on her store. She also has a subscribo group - seems to be the theme today. lol

I've got my UBU kicks on still, but this time I changed the outer fabric colour to olive, and all the stitching to brown to mix it up, as well as socks I wore previously. Leggings with socks over is kinda my thing lately I guess!

Now for a few pics I took just cos they were too fun to resist!!!!

(yes that reads "I don't want to be among mad people" but in SL those are the most fun!! *ahem* within reason)

(Just hanging out @ the elephant)


(being a twittery bird @ ~silentsparrow~'s new birdhouse! <3 <3)

Comfinessssss

This'll be a relatively short one, methinkst. I hope at any rate. *sigh* I talk too much.

Today's look was inspired by two things - 1) i wanted to be COMFY. I wanted to feel all warm and cuddly and cute, but also to feel just like I am irl - schlepping around in a hoodie and leggings, And 2) I was missing me some Rhode Island sumfin FIERCE. Weird to miss such a little place, yes, but there are times when Vancouver just seems so very very big, and very very foreign.

Right now I'm in a lucky chair mood, so while hanging out @ Sn@tch, I thought I'd blog my pics from earlier. (except for the first one - which is moodily lit to match my mellow mood at Sn@tch lol) I took them at one of my favourite places - HappyMood. It's so lovely and comforting here, with many incredible things I slaver over (ooh unintentional SL pun!). They have a wonderful lucky chair gift of these sooo adorable bubble chairs. Each one had a different sit pose, and I love them all to bits.

I am wearing a Brown U hoodie made by Roark Nitely of Clubhouse. He is very precise, and makes authentic collegiate and sports themed clothing of all types. If you don't see your particular favourite on his walls, then drop him a notecard, and he'll be happy to consult with you to create the one you're looking for. I absolutely love his attention to detail, including the perfect shading on the sleeves, the perfect hoodie front pocket, and the eyelets on the hood itself (it attaches to the spine, which I find useful so I can wear my necklace with no rearranging of prims!! Happy day!!)Here's a lil more detail:

With it, I am wearing my favourite shorts by Little Fish, given out as a freeb at her old shop. I slipped some brown leggings under them from Sh*t Happens - which was my first SL label ever to obsess over, and I have never been happier now that Ana's reopened it. They were part of a fat pack freeb provided at her new location. Please join her group and patronize her store. She is more than worthy of a precious spot in your 25 group limit, though I believe she also has a subscribo group if you just can't bear to part with a group.

I also have on these awesomely wonderful "Goodgirl Argyle" socks by Sn@tch. Ivey is another one of my favourite designers of all time, and she makes clothing at such a reasonable price, along with giving so many amazing creations for free to her subscribo group and to her customers in the way of lucky chairs, hunts, and just in the sheer amount of product you get with every purchase. She is a must visit for any and all, as her clothing runs the gamut from gothic to casual, to punky etc.

On my feets you'll notice I've got kicks of supreme coolness. these are an incredibly big splurge - but not really when you consider that they are touch scripted to change SO many options! They are by Urban Bomb Unit - and have scripted colour change EVERYTHING, as well as touch change to fold them down or tie them high. The fabrics come in so many colours, you are guaranteed to find a look that matches virtually any outfit. I adore these.

I'd love to give a good tip today, but my brain is fried frijoles. I think a may have given one somehwere amongst all those words but *holds forehead* I can't be faffed to suss it out...

Guest Poster : Wrenling Windlow

(From time to time I'll drag in friends to talk about their looks, and any advice they might have to offer. I wasn't sure I would be posting a guest so quickly, but my faeling friend Wren's look was just so perfectly wintry, I couldn't resist - JW)

When JW snagged me to write for her, I had to giggle, as it was just a further extension of her intervention-worthy addiction to SL fashion. I'm not one to talk, as we both carry around a list of good places for new people, as well as a folder of goodies to get them started off right.

I took these shots at the Magic of Oz sim - appropriate not just for the gorgeous wintery sim, but also because I'm showing ~silentsparrow~'s submission to the Candy Cane Frolic. I know that ~silentsparrow~ is one of JW's favourites as well as my own. Hya is know for her extreme generosity to her group members, and her attention to the breathtakingly detailed headspinningly multi-layered confections you just can't even call something as ordinary as "clothes". Not to mention she throws a wicked impromtu sim-crasher! Here's some detail to the outfit she provided (eeek bellybutton!)

I just adore her work - it inspired me to go for a wintry, icy fae look. I am also wearing something that is a musthave purchase for me - my cloven boots by Lazy Places. This particular colour was released only at the ~silentsparrow~ 3000 member bash that Hya threw, and I can't imagine any colour looking better. They come with cute hoof footprints that rezz when you walk, and can be shut off if you don't want to litter, even though they fade quickly. I know they have a few different options in their hoof boots - neko, round hoof etc, as well as multiple colours and designs.



Finally my jewelry is a mishmash of christmas gifts from UnTone (the longer floral silver chain), Violet Voltaire (the shorter jingle bell chain), a pretty bird earring I bought from the Gnubie Store and now can't remember the designer *facepalm* but wear often and tint to match my clothes, and bangles from Eolande's POE hunt (the snowflake bracelet) and bangles by Sn@tch (another supreme favourite of ours that I'm sure you'll see mentioned soon enough). My hair is Magika's POE gift - and comes in many colours. Amazing hair comes from this label! And my cute lil horns? Well, those are from Uncle WIggly - a label that offers artistic, very cheaply priced/free goodies. Something new, and magical is always there every time I visit, and her group is a good one to be in.



My skin is the lucky chair item at {Frick} Skins, and she is a particular favourite of mine. She has such wonderful creations perfect for a little faeling like me, and has so many generous freebs and cheapies that you'll always leave there with a new bulging folder - don't forget to join her subscribo group - which is MY tip.

Join the subscribo groups whenever possible. There's no effect on your group limits and you'll get advance notice of sales, new releases, and very often free stuffs from the designer.

This was fun! Hopefully this blog thing takes off and you'll see my face in here again!

Christmas Eve Girliness

This is my second post, but easily could have been my first. I am seriously in love with this dress. I've never been one for much over girliness, but I think this is a look that whispers Christmas with a lush indigo velvet dress whose details make me drool *wipes mouth* I created this specifically for Christmas Eve, but honestly? You may just see me wearing this until the pixels rot off my body, or the spring forces me to put away the heavy velvets, whichever comes first *grin* All of these shots came from the intensely lovely and intricate Wintergarden Of Dreams sim. SO well planned with many private nooks and gorgeous corners perfect for photo shoots or cuddling with your special someone.

The dress came from **DP**Yumyum's submission to the Black Swan's Winter Festival. I'm not sure if it is still there, but this was part of a 2pk set, with a deep deep rose number that may have me reconsider my views on pink. I love how it has multiple layers of red and green plaid for a full, yet not poofy dress, and the cap sleeves are just.. *sigh* Not to mention the cute peek-a-boo button detailing in the back for a little bit of interest as you walk away.

I believe it was one of my minor splurges at 300L or thereabouts, but this is where the whole idea of "investment buying" in SL comes in. Ladies, this is such an incredible bargain to get exclusive, thoroughly detailed designs that I know I will adore for some time. This is not like purchasing that hooker pair of blingtastic knee boots. Yes, I know a lot of you love those, but a vast majority of those boots out there are clumsy, over-primmed and under-worked, and often way more than you should be paying for. Research them before you purchase. You may find a designer who takes pride in their work, and as a public service announcement? Bling is bad, for the most part. I've seen a very few instances where bling was done tastefully, and it was nice. Maybe a rule of thumb for those of us who enjoy the sparkle should be this:

One item of bling per outfit and for sweetbabyjeebus' sake NO - i repeat - NO blinging body parts. (and try to keep the bling subtle btw)

Back to my purtiness -

I spoke in my previous blog about how I love items that can be altered for other outfits, thus raising their values greatly in my eyes. This is an example - I'm still wearing the ETD Laine hair - only this time I changed the headwrap to blue, which ended up being such a perfectly matched blue that I must confess I squeed to myself. I also brought over the {Junk} earrings over, but as you'll notice in this next pic - I changed the center stone to subtly bring in the deep crimson from the plaid bits of the dress. I believe in pulling a look together!

I finished off my look with once again, the J's Engineer boots I featured previously, and added these darling argyle socks from Juju's Closet - part of a beautiful, generous christmas gift she has up at her store. Really her clothes are so awesome that I plan to save up and rip my way through there at some point! Finally, I slid on these warm cashmere gloves from Argyle to keep my arms warm, included with the brocade bangle in a giftbox at her mainstore. Also, georgiabeanlately's POE hunt submission of the Peace Cuff.

Just as a note -pretty much all of the skins you will see me wearing here will be either from lessthan3 (as in my first two posts) or from Another Skins. They suit my bone structure so perfectly, and are either free, or at such an incredible markdown. That leads me to:

JW's Tips For SL Beauty No. 1: Find a skin that not only suits the look you have, but the body and facial structure you want (once you've tweaked yours to a point you want to keep). And while it is possible for you to have a beautiful well made skin for little or no money, you might find yourself wanting to splurge on a skin that comes with a giant pricetag. This is okay, and ties into my "wise investments" clause, as long as you look at each makeup. And DEMO it before you purchase. There is nothing worse than spending a heapload of money on a skin, only to realise that you would like a darker or lighter skin tone, or that the eyebrows just look "off" with your facial features.

Firstly Firstness!!!

Okay so this is my *cough* virgin blogpost - please be kind.

I've long been one to mix and match and pull apart outfits I've found all around SL - I call them fashion mashups. I believe it's how someone shows individuality in a ginormous SLuniverse, where, let's face it girls, we all end up going to certain designers all the time. I also happen to think that it is possible to look pretty great with a discerning mix of freebies, bargains and a few thought out deep investments. I've often found myself taking people on whirlwind shopping trips to help them pick out outfits that suit the person they are, or want to be that particular day. After being approached by different people about outfits I'd created, I thought it would be fun to try my hand at blogging about my closet regurge and offer some tips on how to organize your inventory, the fastest way to de-noob, and other assorted fashion swoons I currently am entertaining. Plus, I'm HORRIBLY addicted to taking pictures, and have gotten better at snapping shots, so I feel comfortable to share them with you all (that's saying there will be a you all to look at them!)

Phew! Holy wordiness Batman! Onto the first fashion post

Okay this outfit was inspired by the Christmas free gift from Little Fish - it was still available when I posted this, but who knows for how long. I loved the look of the sweater/short set. but as Vancouver is coated in a thick layer of snow, the thought of wearing shorts and a halter horrified me. Plus, I'm just not hooch (not that there's anything wrong with that *grin*)

I decided I needed another layer, and monochromatic warmth just seemed to fit with the colours outside my window. I grabbed up the Rebel X Winterproof Sweater that was given out as a candy cane hunt gift @ the Magic of Oz sim. (If you haven't gone yet, please do check it out - one of the most incredible builds that I truly love - a treasure of SL) I didn't add the bottom piece of the sweater because I wanted it to have a sleek, snowbunny profile.

Then my legs looked terribly nakey - so i remembered the metallic leggings so generously given out in the League subscribo (and also @ the Crush Row Stocking giveaway) so i slipped those on under the socks that came with the Little Fish outfit.

Next are, of course the BOOTS!! I have been wearing these since they were given out at the beginning of December. They were a generous gift from J's, and the gorgeous texture, detailing and expert fit have me camming myself at random moments. Ah slvanity!

Finally I have the gorgeous hair from ETD's 30L sale - which at the time of this posting was still going strong. It's called Laine, and with a colour change scripted headwrap, this hair is so incredibly versatile that the 30L feels almost too generous a markdown. Note I said almost! Momma didn't raise no fools *grin* I accented it with these gorgy earring from {JUNK} that were part of the POE hunt. I change the colour of the center stone often to match my outfits, and added a bit of patina to the overall earring because I'm just not a shiny gold girl.

And that, Dear Readers, is the whole enchilada. I named this outfit "Lil Fish Snowbunny".

As the first tip I have to give you on how to keep your bulging inventory organised, I offer the following advice:

JW's Organisational Tip No.1 - Make folders of your favourite outfits and file them under "Clothing", subfolder "Full Outfits" (or some such). Go into edit appearance then click "Make Outfit". Check any pieces of the outfits you want to keep all together (ie. skin, shape, hair, eyes, etc etc) then name it something memorable and click save. This will allow you to easily wear outfits you love with a simple dragging of that outfit file from your inventory and dropping it onto your person.

Hopefully you all enjoyed this! And no I've not included the Slurls for the places, cos frankly, I've not figured that bit out yet. Please drop me a notecard or say hi if I'm online if you need help finding anything I ever talk about, or help with colour change or editing prims etc. I'll do my best to help where I can.