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

The Fantasy of Nature

"I consider lace to be one of the prettiest imitations ever made of the fantasy of nature; lace always evokes for me those incomparable designs which the branches and leaves of trees embroider across the sky, and I do not think that any invention of the human spirit could have a more graceful or precise origin." - Coco Chanel

So much fabulous newness in the last week, it was simply irresistable.  Agnes Finney released the essence of the cocktail dress in Serene Romance at nearly the same time as EarthStones released the perfect complement for it in the Gothique choker and earrings sets.  Talk about perfection!

Credits:
Dress: Agnes Finney Serene Romance (Black)
Jewelry: EarthStones Gothique (Silver/Onyx)
Hair: W&Y 148 (Pack A - Black)
Eyes: Ibanez Horizon (Eire)
Poses by Manifeste

Featured SLURLs:
Agnes Finney My Precious Mainstore
EarthStones Mainstore
W&Y Mainstore
Ibanez Mainstore

Inventory Check - Hair Designers

I know that in my head I have an imaginary and purely subjective list of "favorites", but I got to wondering if that was actually where my Lindens were invested.  So, I figured it might be fun to total up the actual numbers and see how they stacked up to my mental list and, more importantly, what I was actually wearing the most.  Why hair first?  Cause I just spent time sorting through my "demos to buy" folder and my "stuffage from Hair Fair" folder as well as moving all those unfiled recent purchases to their proper categories.  For the curious, I have hair under body parts instead of clothing and my categories are - Exotic, Long, Short, Mid, Ponytails, Updo, and Hats (which includes any hair that comes with a hat, scarf, goggles, etc).  The "Top Ten" were:

1. Truth (15) mostly updos
2. Damselfly (11) mostly long
3. Tukinowaguma (9)
4. Detour (9)
5. Mirai Style (7) mostly scarves
6. Bishwear (6)
7. Cake (6)
8. EMO-tions (5)
9. W&Y (5) mostly short
10. BooN (4) mostly short

 

My "Go To" list of "hair I grab first on a regular basis in SL" in no particular order other than that of the photos in this article does come from this list of designers, but is mostly different from my "blogging go-to list" which pulls from more categories and designers:

Bishwear TossMeAround (Raven)
W&Y New 92 (Pack A - Black)
Mirai Style Ofif (Black)
Truth Grace (Crow)

 

One of the really interesting things I discovered was the huge number of onesies and twosies I have where I don't have a lot of different styles from an individual designer but I have a couple of really unique or interesting ones - I think I might own every short style on the grid.  I had hairstyles from a huge number of designers and a whole folder of LMs (which I think I may turn into a nice inventory preserving notecard).  I also noticed that I have an affinity for "slightly messy" even with more formal updos - must be some kind of commentary on my having come to terms with my more than slightly unruly RL hair. :)

 

SLURLs are within the article this time; I would like to additionally credit Cubic Effect's fabulous Knit Jacket (Black) and YS&YS Afrika Set (Silver/Onyx) seen in each shot.  I think that my next few inventory checks will be jewelry, poses and tattoos (once I catch up a little bit on my backlog of locations, pictures and outfits).

Why Contests? (And An Update)

Someone asked me today (after I finished up another set of contest pictures) why I entered contests.  It's obviously not for the fame (since I don't win) or for the money (since most prizes don't cover the entry outfit).  Then again, I don't blog for the freebies (since I don't actually get any) either.  I simply enjoy really great SL fashion, great SL locations and taking pictures of both.  I've also recently started playing with a photoLIFE studio and that's been great fun as well.  It's a challenge to put together an outfit, find the right accessories, get a location or background that sets it off, find the perfect poses and get the ideal angle for the photos.  And, after that, the real work begins.  For October, I've entered three contests - the My Precious Queen contest blogged earlier this week, the Angel of Angel Dessous contest and the Couture Avenue Look 2011 contest.

Angel of Angel Dessous Couture Entry
Dress - Angel Dessous Iberia Rosso
Hair - Tukinowaguma Jelena SH (Ebony)
Fan - Urid Dal Black Lace Fan
Collar - Ezura Lolita Crown Black Neckdress
Earrings - EarthStones Eternelle Marcasite (Garnet)
Pose by Manifeste



Angel of Angel Dessous Lingerie Entry

Lingerie - Angel Dessous Glamour (Forest)

Hair - W&Y New 92 (Pack A - Black)

Jewelry - Zaara Vanisri Wrapped Necklace (Onyx/Silver)

Pose by DeePosed

Couture Avenue LOOK 2011 Entry

Top - Baiastice Cage Top

Pants - LeLutka Rockin' Pants (Black & White)

Hair - W&Y New 148 (Pack A - Black)

Necklace & Earrings - YS&YS Afrika Set (Silver/Black)

Bracelets - Mandala Reiki Bracelet (Black Diamond)

Garter - LouLou Garter Pistolero

Belt - EarthStones Leather & Laced Belt (Coal)

Pose by DeePosed

And the promised update - I didn't place in the Click photography contest, nor did I make the finals for Styling Forward, though I'll post my semi-final outfit in the next couple of weeks.  The theme was Black & White (Anything Goes).  The closing dates for this month's contests are October 5th for Couture Avenue (October), October 12th for My Precious Queen (October), October 25th for Angel of Angel Dessous (November).  I promise I won't enter any more this month, since I have a final Steam Hunt wrap post to do and an absolutely amazing Halloween outfit to blog.  And no, my fingers aren't crossed.  Much.