Welcome to 2011!

Starting off the year with a nice surprise - a friend of mine messaged me that my picture was one of the ones up backstage at the new Patch Thibaud Auditorium at the Casablanca Hotel.  The final exam for Avenue Models Academy is this weekend, so now that the holidays are over, I should be back blogging more normally once that is complete (and, of course, blogging the exam experience - cross your fingers for me).  In the meantime - health and happiness to you and yours in the new year! :)

Times Change - Rez Day 2010

Wow, I've had a blast - hard to believe it's been three years.  I've seen tons of terrific builds, met great people, taken lots of classes, discovered amazing creations everywhere.  And the changes - the clothes and hair and skin have changed so much, so many new things have been introduced and the techniques and skills of the designers have advanced by leaps and bounds.  Anyway, for my rez day this year, I decided to go back and grab one of my early blog photos and put it together with a similar headshot from today.  I wish I'd have done a headshot every year (but I think I will from here on out).

Now:

Then (early 2008):

Happy Holidays, Everyone!  :)

While Rome Burned...

Yes, 1st Life has kept me busy lately and I'm catching up - on blogging and on shopping. Earlier this week I walked into Glam Affair, saw the avant garde Nero Collection and fell in love.  Beautifully textured blacks with clean lines and fierce details - utterly fabulous.  The only way they could be more perfect is if I could afford them all.  The nipple grazing bodice and bold shoulders of Black Mistress come with a short hip skirt over shorts, but I couldn't resist pairing it with the July pants with their draping waist and ultra wide legs.  Keeping things simple and bold, my new favorite ultra short hair from Kin and the Afrika set from YS&YS finished the look.

Credits:

Outfit: Glam Affair Black Mistress & July Pants

Hair: Kin Cricket (Black)

Jewelry: YS&YS Afrika Set (Silver/Black)

Featured SLURLs:

Glam Affair

YS&YS

Kin

Just Mausin' Around

OK, I love this helmet.  I've loved this helmet since the first time I saw it.  It's whimsical, it's inspired, and it's perfect for eveningwear - right?  Paired with Eshi Otawara's Queen of Hearts, the fabulous Heroes of Fashion McQueen Goth boots and the tiny hearts on lashes from Miamai (careful editing these, the heart borders are separate from the hearts which are separate from... well, you get the idea, just plan to spend some editing time on them).  Oh and hair - that's going to take you a bit of time to edit as well, but the new Costa style from Tukinowaguma lends itself nicely to combat helmets (and is pretty great without them as well).

Credits:
Helmet & Collar:  Hat Mechanic Mini Maus
Hair: Tukinowaguma Costa (Ebony)
Eyelashes: Miamai No Alpha N22
Eyes: Ibanez Horizon Winter
Dress: Eshi Otawara Queen of Hearts & Carved Leather Gloves
Boots: Heroes of Fashion McQueen Goth Boots
Poses by Manifeste

Featured SLURLs:

Hat Mechanic (in the lower shops)

Miamai

Eshi Otawara

Heroes of Fashion

Tukinowaguma

Ibanez Eyes

Avenue in 3D

The Avenue Academy assignment this week was three outfits (formal, casual and swimsuit), 6 poses plus walk and default pose for each.  Choosing, styling and setting up the animations ran about 2 hours for each outfit and I was lucky that I saved a bit of time by having a casual and formal outfit already styled.  The first class was runway work and work it was - a very narrow runway high over water (with no walls) - a challenge just to walk alone then ramped up to a paired walk with a position swap.  Once we had all finished our falls... er... walks and practiced getting back on stage, we spent the rest of the time doing a multi-stop coordinated walk with multiple models in motion at once.  All in all, a terrific experience that took the training wheels off the standard "walk straight, turn and return".

Location URL:  Empyreal Dreams, The Artbox Anthology

Credits:
Outfit: CoCo Highwaisted Bubble Skirt and Sleeveless Sweater (Black)
Jewelry: Mandala Kagetora Necklace & Takara Bangles
Hair: 2MB Beverly (Black)
Pose by DeePosed

The second class this weekend was classroom work on tips and qualities of being a professional model, so when it was over I took my casual and classroom outfits to the Empyreal Dreams sim for this week's pictures.  The sim features 3D interpretations of works such as the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Les Miserables as well as tributes to bodies of work from the likes of Edgar Allen Poe and it is visually stunning - definitely give it a visit.

Credits:
Outfit: Tres Beau Storm (Fire)
Jewelry: EarthStones Eternelle Marcasite Earrings and Pendant Watch (Garnet)
Hair: W&Y Hair 92 (Pack A, Black)
Pose by DeePosed

Avenue With A Twist

There were two Avenue Models Academy classes this weekend - Styling and Pose Management.  Styling was a very thorough and detailed assessment of last week's assignment (three layers, three designers, completely styled) including prim editing, overall effect, styling and shape and Pose Management was a repeat of the assignment adding a walk, default pose and four poses with the same level of feedback and runway walking until my fingers cramped.  Talk about intense - I'm loving this course!  After I finished styling for Pose Management, I asked several friends for feedback and one referred to my outfit as "Artful Dodger Chic", so I headed out to New London for a few Dickensian shots and discovered the offices of Scrooge & Marley (among other landmarks, fictional and real).

Location SLURL: New London Village, The Doctor Who Zone , TARDIS

Credits:
LeeZu - NOIR Efraims Daughter Pants
Glam Affair - Make-up Layer 05
[MANDALA] - Mikoto Belt (Black/Silver)
niciARTLINE - Leggings Muster Design #1
fri. - Comfy.Cardi (Wine)
~GW~ - Steampunk: Chemise
N-Core - Belt Ankle Boot Black
EarthStones - Asian influence Jewelry Set - Luck
W&Y HAIR New 38 (Black)
*Linc* Half Fishnet Stockings Black
Poses by Manifeste

Strolling Down the Avenue

All the updates this round are Avenue - Couture and Academy.  I was selected as one of the semi-finalists for the Couture Avenue Look 2011 contest for November (you can see my entry here) and had the opportunity to join the other four contestants on the runway.  I didn't win, but I had a terrific time and met some great people - I also didn't fall on my face, into the triangular holes on stage or into anyone's lap, so all good there.  For full details:

Couture Avenue Look 2011 - November Semi-Finalists
Couture Avenue Look 2011 - November Finalist

In other news, I started my first class of the Avenue Models Academy yesterday and it was completely fabulous.  There is a very different approach from MVW with a lot of emphasis on runway work and I'm really looking forward to eventually being confident enough on a catwalk that I'm not shaking like a leaf and holding my breath the whole time.  The first night was the info, overview and welcome and, along with a lot of information and links, we also picked up our first assignment:  Create and style a look on any theme using three layers from three different designers with separates not allowed (in other words, gotta rip apart stuff that goes together).  If you can't guess, I styled around a music theme.

Credits:

Top: LeeZu Noir Efraims Daughter 

Leggings: niciARTLINE Muster Queen (Transparent)

Belt: [ATOMIC] Music Belt_Black

Collar: Hat Mechanic Maus Collar
Hat: Wild O Garden Hat Black
Pants: Baiastice Anna Lou (Black)
Boots: Heroes of Fashion - McQueen Goth Boots
Hair: MrS - Languid (Black)
[White~Widow - w/Eyeshadow] Face Tattoo 10