Look of the Day, 2009-12-08

Today I wanted something a little more... muted. Bright colors are OK but I tend to fall back on more subdued shades. I've also had my fill of black lately and took the opportunity to slip on another pair of SLink's awesome Sydney Stilettos.

The past couple weeks I've been on the lookout for a good prim skirt that would go well with multiple outfits. This high-waisted mini from BabyDoll fits the bill, mostly. It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but that's true of most prim skirts on my wider-than-average shape. It comes in black, white, and shades of gray, and the price is right at L$50 apiece.

Finally, I put some glasses back on! It's been a while and these half-frames from Crie Style worked nicely without distracting too much. I also added an older set of jewelry from Shiny Things that I haven't worn in a long time.

Style Info:

Eyes: Chai - Allure - Purple 1

Glasses: Crie Style - GC-Scherzoso HF(L)

Hair: Truth - Harper - Espresso
Hose: No.9 Nylons - Neon Pantyhose - anthracite50
Jacket: Decoy - Hooded Blazer - Blue
Jewelry: Shiny Things - Glass Chunk Jewelry - Black & White
Lashes: Celestial Studios - Classic 3

Nails: PXL - Manicure - Pink #1
Poses: Reel Expression -  Shoe Fair 07;  StoRin - P10 - attitude05
Shape: custom (not available)
Shoes: SLink - Sydney II Stilettos - Gunmetal
Skin: Free Speerit - Fiona - Purple Gloss
Skirt: BabyDoll - High Waist Mini Skirt - Gray
Top: Paper.Doll - WrappedUp - Black

Look of the Day, 2009-11-24

Look of the Day, 2009-11-24, originally uploaded by Sean Gorham.

I can't claim much inspiration for this look; I just wanted something sexy and a bit wild compared to what I normally wear. It did, however, give me the opportunity to show off SLink's awesome new stilettos and some really fun hair from Little Heaven!

Bracelet: Miriel - Double Metal Bracelet - Gold/Black (no longer available)
Earrings: Night Owl Designs - Gold Hoop Earrings
Eyes: Chai - Allure - Purple 1
Hair: Little Heaven - Simon - Black
Hose: No.9 Nylons - Shiny Pantyhose II - Coffee40
Lashes: Celestial Studios - Classic 3
Nails: Adam n Eve - Desire 2 Manicure - Harvest (included with skin)
Necklace: Chloe - Time Necklace - Gold
Piercing: Haalsa Hallard Fashions - Hanging Ruby Belly Ring - Gold
Poses: Adorkable Poses - Too Sexy; Reel Expression - Fashion S1 06 - Curvy
Purse: House of Heart - Leather Clutch - Black
Shape: custom (not available)
Shoes: SLink - Sydney II Stilettos - White
Skin: Adam n Eve - Desire Autumn - Tone 4, Harvest
Skirt: PixelDolls - 2811 Mini Black Velvet Skirtset - Black
Front Tattoo: Immerschoen - Flower/Butterfly
Rear Tattoo: Aitui - Manta
Top: Boom - Wrong Size Cardi - White

Background Image Source: Self-made with GIMP

Look of the Day, 2009-11-16

Look of the Day, 2009-11-16, originally uploaded by Sean Gorham.

Sorry I've been away so long! I got sucked into playing some new games. Oops. *whistles innocently*

Anyway! After skimming about 4,000 fashion blog posts (I just look at the pictures!) this dress from Pacadi Jasha caught my eye. Yes, that's a system skirt! I've never hated system skirts — well, not exactly. Prim skirts tend to make me twitch because they never look quite right on my shape. System skirts don't look that great, either, but at least I know they'll cover me properly.

I'm really, really liking Free Speerit's Fiona line of skins. Without a doubt they're among my favorites. The eyebrows really wow me — they're just the right shape. The skintone is just a teeny bit red/orange for my taste, but I don't mind. The skin is too good overall to give it a pass on color alone.

To top things off, I added Samantha, one of Truth's latest designs. I don't usually wear hair that covers one eye, so I decided to step out of my comfort zone a bit. Not wearing glasses (another change I've made recently) made this choice a lot easier, since I didn't have to worry about weird collisions between the hair and the glasses.

Anklet: Dex's Jewelry - Silver Rod Circle Anklet with Side Heart
Bracelet: Lassitude & Ennui - Chasm - silver/black
Dress: Pacadi Jasha - Zahra Puff Dress - Cherry
Eyes: Chai - Allure - Purple 1
Hair: Truth - Samantha - Espresso
Hose: No.9 Nylons - Cuban Heel Pantyhose II - Black30 Redseam
Lashes: Celestial Studios - Classic 3
Nails: PXL - Manicure - Red #1
Necklace: Lassitude & Ennui - Chasm - silver/black
Poses: StoRin - P10 attitude 05; Reel Expression - Classy V2 04
Shape: custom (not available)
Shoes: Tesla - Vixen Desire - Ruby
Skin: Free Speerit - Fiona - Purple Gloss

Background Image Source: Self-made with GIMP

Look of the Day, 2009-10-25

Look of the Day, 2009-10-25, originally uploaded by Sean Gorham.

This is the only post I can say was (partially) inspired by Jeff Dunham! One of the skits on his new comedy show featured Brooke Hogan in a very hot pink dress. (You can see the skit here.) For fun I decided to see how well I could match Brooke's look. I think I got fairly close! It was also fun being blonde again for a while. :)

Bracelet: Miriel - Double Metal Bracelet - Gold/Copper
Dress: Urbanista - Crush Dress - Pink
Earrings: Night Owl Designs - Gold Hoop Earrings
Eyes: Chai - Allure - Blue 1
Glasses: primOptic - xtrim
Hair: Truth - Sophia - Dune
Lashes: Celestial Studios - Classic 3
Nails: PXL - Manicure - Pink #3 WhiteFrench
Necklace: Miriel - Starburst Necklace - Gold
Poses: Izumiya - Model Pose NOF06; Reel Expression - Fashion S6 07
Shape: custom (not available)
Shoes: Style Starts Here - Dangerous
Skin: Chai Skins - Nova - Tone 04, Midnight E

Background Image Source: Self-made with GIMP

Look of the Day, 2009-10-07

Look of the Day, 2009-10-07, originally uploaded by Sean Gorham.

I've had my eye on the new Fiona skin from Free Speerit ever since I first noticed it in the blogs. When I read there was a freebie of it available as a group gift, I jumped at the opportunity. I'm far from disappointed! While the skintone is a little more red/orange than I normally wear, it still looks really good. Few dark skins work well with my shape — this is definitely one of those skins. I know I'll be checking out demos of the other makeups available in this skin line and maybe spending a little money soon!

Anklet: Caroline's Jewelry - Dangling White Pearls Charm Anklet
Eyes: Chai - Allure - Purple 1
Hair: Jolie Femme - Stephanie - Black
Hose: No.9 Nylons - Cuban Heel Pantyhose II - skin10
Lashes: Celestial Studios - Classic 3
Nails: PXL - Manicure - Pink #1
Necklace: Miriel - Starburst Necklace - Silver (no longer available)
Pants: Decoy - Stevens Shorts - Black
Pose: Reel Expression - Vintage 12
Shape: custom (not available)
Shoes: Tesla - Vixen Desire - Snow
Skin: Free Speerit - Fiona - Free Spirit makeup w/hair base (group gift)
Tattoo: dEVOL - Hibiscus
Top: Luck Inc. - Chemise Top - White w/Black Lace
Watch: Muse - Classic Tank Watch - Black/Silver, dark face

Tesla Vixen Desire!

Tesla Miles came out with her latest stilettos today, called Vixen Desire. Being the shoe ho that I am, I had to have these as soon as I saw the pic in the fashion feeds. These are easily Tesla's best shoes yet and not only reflect the amount of work she's put into them, but what she's learned since making her first shoes.

Visually, Vixen Desire shares a lot with Tesla's Natasha line of shoes. Vixen Desire's differences are subtle but significant. Most noticable when zoomed-in is the stitching along the topline of the shoe. It adds much-needed detail to the shoe's overall look. Like Natasha, Vixen Desire is only five prims per foot, which means they rez quickly.

The most important change is how Tesla achieved extra heel height without the use of prim feet. A script in the shoes plays a small animation that bends the avatar's feet downward slightly. Again, a subtle but significant difference. This means no need for sculpted prim feet, no need for color-matching, and no problems wearing hosiery with the shoes — all big advantages. It also means you can easily wear prim pant cuffs or ankle jewelry with the shoes.

This little bit of SL scripting wizardry comes with a couple of caveats, however. The foot animations have the potential to interfere with other animations. Depending on the other animations played on your avatar at the time, you may notice your feet tilted at an odd angle while wearing these shoes. In my testing, this happened very rarely. The foot animation never interfered with my animation overrider. If it interfered with my dances or furniture, I couldn't tell without looking closely or doing an A/B comparison.

The only time I saw mispositioned feet as a problem was when using a pose stand with high-priority static poses. (Fellow fashion bloggers, take note!) This problem was easily solved, though, by taking a copy of the foot animation from the shoes and playing it on top of the static pose in use. Doing so once again placed my feet in the correct position.

Overall, I really like these shoes! The quality is excellent and the scripting is (given SL's many technical limitations) well done. Pricing for Vixen Desire is L$500 per pair or L$3,500 for an 11-color fatpack. Permissions are copy/no-modify/no-transfer. Go get 'em!

UPDATE, October 13: Tesla has corrected the animation problem I described above! The foot animation now plays correctly with pose stands, furniture and dances. Tesla now also includes a separate copy of the animation with the shoes in case you need it. If you purchased the previous version of the shoes, just contact Tesla for a replacement.

Look of the Day, 2009-09-27

Look of the Day, 2009-09-27, originally uploaded by Sean Gorham.

I've had this corset from SF Designs in my inventory for over a year now, but never wore it. After digging out my purple corset from the other day, I decided to see what other corsets I had hidden away but never used.

Bangle: Cailyn's - Callia Bangle - Gold/Tiger-Eye
Corset: SF Design - Floral Corset
Eyes: Chai - Allure - Purple 1
Hair: Analog Dog - Astrid
Hose: No.9 Nylons - Cuban Heel Pantyhose II - chocolate20
Lashes: Celestial Studios - Classic 3
Nails: PXL - Manicure - Pink #1
Necklace: Miriel - Starburst Necklace - Gold (no longer available)
Poses: Reel Expression - Party Dress 08 and Classy 2
Purse: House of Heart - Leather Clutch - Black
Shape: custom (not available)
Shoes: N-Core - XtremeHeel Stylus - Black
Skin: Chai - Sable - Tone 08, Nightlife D, plus Pushup Cleavage
Skirt: *Jill* - AG - Black (part of a dress)

Background Image Source: Self-made with GIMP

Look of the Day, 2009-09-23

Look of the Day, 2009-09-23, originally uploaded by Sean Gorham.

Today's outfit is a confluence of several things I've wanted to use lately.

It's no secret I like purple. I haven't worn this corset from SF Design in quite a while (pic NSFW!), and I've been itching to use it as outerwear. On top of that, I got the opportunity to dig out my Natasha heels from Tesla Miles. They're an old favorite of mine, and I'd never worn the purple ones — ack!

I've wanted new jewelry for a long time now. I always have trouble finding jewelry I like, so I jumped at the chance to check out the Jewelry Fair. I think it's official: Mouse Mimistrobell is my new crack dealer. Her Abalone Dreams necklace is simple, goes with just about anything, and nicely draws attention to my cleavage. ;)

Then there's the backdrop. I received this prefab hallway as a gift through the Distributors' Showcase Network. The walls, doors and floor are customizable via a menu and include several different textures. A visit to Voshie Paine's shop, La Petite Morte, is definitely in my future!

Corset: SF Design - Petite Coquine Corset
Eyes: Chai - Allure - Purple 1
Glasses: Crie Style - GC-Scherzoso HF(L)
Hair: Truth - Gabby - Espresso
Hose: Battered Boudoir - Delicate - Black
Lashes: Celestial Studios - Classic 3
Nails: PXL - Manicure - Pink #1 WhiteFrench
Necklace: Dark Mouse - Abalone Dreams Necklace - Silver
Pants: LF Fashions - Isabeaux Leather Pants - Black
Pose: Alexx Markova - *BR*model against wall (no longer available)
Shape: custom (not available)
Shoes: Tesla - Natasha Heels - Blooming Purple
Skin: Chai - Sable - Tone 07, Nightlife B, with Pushup Cleavage
Top: Ayumi Clothing - Button Top - Black