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.