Then & Now... Again.

Every now and then I like to look back and see how things have changed, so the other night when I pulled out one of my staples, the Tedious outfit by Apple May Designs, I remembered that it had been the subject of one of my earliest posts. I decided that it could be fun to pull out the original blog pictures and take another set with my more recent hair, skin, accessories. The whole look is utterly schoolgirl, so perfect for fall with a soft, warm, barely legal sweater top over a short tartan skirt.
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The outfit just screams for body art and, not surprisingly, both sets of photos are "inky" - the earlier with iNFLiCT's [name] and the later with Nambya's Sunburst. It's a very leggy outfit and while it looks great with just Dark Eden's Thetis ankle boots, the white stockings from Insolence's Melanie set paired with AW Design's CourtX Patent Leather Stiletto Mary Janes pull the "back to school" look together. Of course, for the serious, studious finish, Air's Rosetta Glasses in Crystal White are perfect for perching on the end of one's academic nose.
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Obviously the look lends itself to short hair, with Novocaine's Edwina in the more recent shot and Armidi's Poynter in the older. Tuli's S5 skin rounds out the earlier picture, Glanz Transparency Shine eyes are worn in both and today I was wearing KA's Sunkissed skin in Smokey 02. Jewelry in both is by EarthStones, with the Wire Wrapped earrings, Yin Yang earrings and the newly released Yin Yang belly piercings as well as the virtually never removed Bali lip ring.
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Almost all items listed here have had posts of their own, so I'll leave you to the tags for more information, you can pick up Tedious in several colors at Apple May Designs Main Store.

Things Change - Six Months in SL

As I was pondering the pending 6 month resident milestone, I ran into someone I'd not seen in a while who commented on how much my avatar had changed. I was kind of surprised as all the elements are still there - I'm still a brunette, I still don't have max hooter sliders and my basic taste in clothes and colors are the same. But it started me thinking about how much difference little incremental changes could make to the "everyday look" - Second Life Evolution as it were.
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I dug through my old pictures and, while I'm soooo not going to post my rez look (mainly because I can't find the pics anywhere), I do have my first "newbie outfit" after my initial visit to The Shelter. I'd almost forgotten I had red hair and was apparently built like a 12 year old boy. All in all, I've seen worse, but still oozing of clueless noobit - the shoes just make me want to cry. I'm sorry to say that I have no idea what the skin or clothes are in the first shot, but I can say they came from either The Shelter or The Free Dove - both fabulous places for new residents.
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The second shot, I'd moved to brunette (I'm thinking this was still the first few weeks), hair was still long, but I remember shopping forever to get a skin I loved - Vivant Bronze Feline 3 by Tete a Pied (now Fleur). I'd also discovered Glanz eyes (which are still the only thing other than my shape that hasn't changed at all) and I'm pretty sure I'm wearing my 30 day free hair from Gurl 6. Not a bad look, actually, and I still have everything in the picture in my wardrobe.
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I'd say the biggest change occurred when I started finding short hairstyles that I liked. They seem to be everywhere these days, but I swear I don't remember there being nearly as many 6 months ago as now. My first short style was the Aveda Short Crop 2 which I still wear when an outfit needs a clean edgy look. About the time I started blogging, I discovered The Poynter by Armidi, which seemed to work a bit better with my facial features and which isn't featured here because it's the style you can see in my blog profile pic. Skin remained TaP Feline which I still wear for the fabulous dramatic eyes and the picture was taken at Toby's Juke Joint - one of the best places for casual blues in SL.
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So, where am I today? Well, I have a lot of skins, but Tuli (Tanned) dominates the inventory with Fleur close behind. I've fallen so utterly in love with the Writer hair from Detour that I've actually bought multiple colors (and regret not investing in the Fat Pack, but that's the story of my Linden Life, much to my financial chagrin). I'm pretty much still in jeans when I'm not shopping, photographing or blogging, but my collection of boots is utterly fabulous, my t-shirts have actual texture and I'm completely enamoured of SL's incredibly talented tattoo artists.
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If you ask me I'd probably tell you that this is close to the final evolution - I feel utterly "at home" in my current skin and hair, though I expect those may evolve with new generations and techniques. My shape and eyes have not changed since my first "store bought" set, so I expect they are there for the duration. All in all, my friend was correct - I certainly don't look the same. But, hey - never doubt, never look back (much), right?

LBD - LaCasa Flexi Dress

I admit it, I'm a junkie for LBD Ready to Wear. I almost tripped over myself getting over to the store after receiving the group announcement about the LeCasa Flexi Dress new release. Translucent but interesting is so hard to accomplish and LeeZu Baxter simply makes it look easy. The dress is a rich blend of hues from cream to deep chocolate with a light airy sheer prim skirt topped with a form fitting honeycomb patterned top accented with circular cutouts.

The set includes both a micro-mini and above the knee length skirt as well as an upper skirt attachment that raises the waistline to an empire. An obvious winner with a chocolate pump, I was thrilled to find that it works with both ankle and knee length boots beautifully. It's a hard match to anything at the neck, but definitely an outfit that calls for a pair of edgy earrings or an armful of bangles. I didn't hesitate to pick this up at L$350 and neither should you.

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Pick up the set at LeeZu Baxter Designs Main Store at To the Nines.

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On the left:

Outfit - LaCasa Flexi Dress by LBD

Boots - Bloom (Brown) by Maitreya

Skin - Vivant Feline (Bronze) by Fleur

Hair - Pompadour (Black) by Zero Style

On the right:

Outfit - LaCasa Flexi Dress by LBD

Shoes - Mishima Dawn (Ruff Leather Brown) by Maitreya

Skin - Vivant Feline (Bronze) by Fleur

Hair - The Poynter (True Black) by Armidi

Intimizzio - Aufiori Chambre Sheer Set

Just falling out of bed on a lazy Sunday afternoon? Staying in bed on a Sunday morning? Maybe heading out for a bit of light shopping? Well, it's the weekly lingerie post to help you build the perfect day from the skin up. I noticed when I did my last post that, while I have a good sized lingerie collection, it was very heavy on corsets and low on bras - a situation that was fixed at Intimizzio - Armidi's lingerie and intimates store. I have to admit, however, that I just can't give up my garters, which limited my choices. For those of you with less persnickity tastes, you will find a great selection of intimates for both men and women.

The Aufiori Chambre Sheer Set consists of a lacy sheer bra, garter, and panties in two layers each (tattoo friendly) and two different stockings in an opaque and complementary sheer. There are 11 colors to choose from - black, chocolate, gold, eggplant, dove, persian rose, sangria, teal, seagrass, prussian purple and white. I picked out the black (big surprise) and the gold to feature here, but there are shades for every taste and skin tone. Each color is L$295 and sports exquisite detailing on both the lace and the accents.

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I'm technically cheating here by showing the set peeking out from underneath a light sweater and jeans over a pair of skyscraping platforms, but when I got dressed after shooting the lingerie pics, I liked the look so much I decided to include it. One of the really nice things about this set is that all pieces can be worn (or removed) independently, including the stockings, and that the accents on the various colors will allow you to mix and match pieces from various color sets. One of my reasons for choosing the black and gold was the gold lacing across the garter belt on the black set and the black lace detailing on the gold made for a myriad of possible combinations. These go nicely with stilettos, platforms or ankle boots but are a bit too delicate looking to work well with higher boots and they are understated enough to be worn visible under many different outfits, both casual and formal, so that you are always "dressed from the skin up".

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As with my earlier Gisaci post, this is a direct teleport to Intimizzio, but be sure to look around at the other Armidi shops in the sim.

Left Top:

Lingerie - Aufiori Chambre Sheer Set (Black) by Intimizzio

Shoes - Bitch Booties (Deerskin/Black) by Stiletto Moody

Right Center:

Lingerie - Aufiori Chambre Sheer Set - (Black) by Intimizzio

Top - Full Sculpted Knit Jacket (Black) by Cubic Effect

Jeans - Hell and Back (Light) by The Abyss

Shoes - O Wedge (Black) by Stiletto Moody

Left Bottom:

Lingerie - Aufiori Chambre Sheer Set (Gold) by Intimizzio

Shoes - Bitch Booties (Deerskin/Black) by Stiletto Moody

The Basics - Hair, Eyes, Tats & Skin

I rarely change my hair or skin and never change my shape, so you won't see those detailed unless an outfit just demands a different style (like the Aoife outfit just screamed for the Fleur Vivant Feline Skin). If you pass me in Second Life, I'll probably be wearing The Poynter by Armidi hair, though my SL profile shows me in Short Crop 2 by Aveda which I pull out when I want a more dramatic look. I'm always seeking great short cuts and these are two of the best I've found.

I have a variety of skins, but am most often seen in one of the Minnu Model or Fleur Skins (formerly Tete A Pied). I most commonly wear light or lightly tanned skins with strong colors to complement my outfits. My eyes are from Glanz and they are, IMHO, exquisite. For the ladies that love the ink, consider looking at addiXion and iNFLiCT - my tattoo tip is to look for designs you adore that come in all layers and several levels of intensity. Very dark tattoos on light skins tend to look painted on rather than inked - a lighter shade will enhance rather than overwhelm an outfit or skin.

The Clothes:

Top - Open Button White (20% sheer) by !X2

Pants - Fatima Leather by Last Call

Belt - Lilith (Bloodrage) by Dark Eden

Earrings - Small Silver Triskelion by BastChild Designs

My Current Look:
Eyes - Fresh Blue by Glanz
Eyelashes - MM Catwalk Eyelashes by MM Skins
Hair - The Poynter by Armidi
Skin - Minnu Model Skin Light (Fall) by MM Skins
Tattoo - What is the Matrix by iNFLiCT