Dress Me Up Strikes Back.

This is (hopefully) the last time I'm letting you lot mess with my pixels... unless you care to do it up close and personal, of course. And I thought I'd also rock each one of these outfits with some of the particles the delightful Rockerfaerie ColeMarie dropped on me over the week. I was unable to crash a sim with them the other day, let's see if I can take down my own blog with sheer glowtard fabulousness.

Ashia Tomsen said...

I'd like to see you in something from the Black Canary, accessories from Le Petite Prince or Sanu or possibly Giselle. And absolutely not a scrap of pink!
<3

To my embarrassment I remembered that the lovely Aussie had tried to get me to go to The Black Canary once before, and I'd placed the LM on the pile with the best of intentions - and promptly forgot about it. You bided your time, didn't you? Remind me to never piss off an elf.





So I sauntered into The Black Canary and was lucky enough to jag the W on the lucky chair. I was hoping I could get away with that, as the place purports to be unisex.. but the "Winter Dream" outfit was WAY too obviously a dress, and one of my New Year's resolutions will be to keep my drag activities down to just once or twice a year. Okay.... week. So I was quite pleased to see this one, the "Porcelain Princeling" as I could definitely see myself wearing that on the days that I pretend to be genteel. Following the junior royalty theme I dragged out my Le Petit Prince "Octopus Headset" with the accompanying spine and arm - some of my fave accessories which I don't get to show off often enough. And the brand new eXcess skin with which I was very disturbed to discover that neither the Man nor Boy options suited me... but the Hermaphrodite looked great. So all photos in this particular skin will be taken purely from the neck up.

Ana Lutetia said....

My suggestion for dress me up is PixelDolls that I am sure you are going to love.

The delicious Ana had also tried to get me to go to Pixeldolls recently. What I hadn't realised is that I had been there in the past and bought several jackets which had been swallowed up in the black hole of my wardrobe, neither to be worn nor seen again. A small digression - if you are wondering what to get me for Christmas, a voucher for a couple of hours worth of inventory sorting would hit the spot, thank you for asking. So I happily shook the dust off this purple velvetacular and wandered back to the store to match it to serendipitously find their storecards at 50% off. Win! So I took these grey pants off the wall and worked it up with this black shirt with tie combo. Then I teamed it with the Pixel Dust "Quinn" hair with this mad colour change streak in the front. Which is usually set to a default pink. I guess in this I could pass for the purple people eater - or drinker, anyways.

Frequency Picnic said...

I can't think of anything I haven't seen you in except maybe some kind of tweedy professor outfit.

Now... Freq has seen me in just about everything, so she's qualified to say that. Luckily I already owned this silk suit from Sartoria. I'd bought it a few months ago, standing in front of the vendor for a good while arguing with myself whether it was chic or geek. I managed to convince myself of what I wanted to hear in the first place, - I'm VERY good at doing that - and after shaking hands and agreeing on the deal I took it home in glee just to put it on and realise with a sinking heart that on me? It was definately geek. So I cast it from the light in disgust just to fish it back out again with a grin for this challenge. And I'd already bought the briefcase a while ago from Bad At Croquet. I have no idea why - maybe it was to blend into Wall Street to see what yuppie blood was like?I have some classy/expensive/elegant watches, but this was best finished off by my Hobo Watch with the radium dial - because Frequency is a Hobo. See what I did there? Eh? Eh? I've shod myself with these Tesla Oxfords - because that way I can claim my feet are all professorish and well edu-ma-kated even if the rest of me isn't.


DONE. Unless Dove and Autumn do what they were threatening to and throw me a massive style curveball. Bring it, little girls.


I'd also like to wish the lot of you weird human types a happy holidays no matter how you choose to celebrate them. Make sure you all stay safe and well. Even if for no other reason than because I like my victims warm and putting up some kind of a fight.


~Winter


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Fire Fox - Dress Me Up Part 1.

Achariya Rezak said...
*grin* I wanna see if you can make furries look cool. Using the free furry avatars, I want you to pick the one that expresses your inner beast, and then make him look like you.

Yeah... thanks for that, Ach.

After I stopped inventing new swear words between gritted teeth, I did as was bid and stopped by Wingless Emoto's free Furry avatars - which are amazing. After being unable to find a bat - and realising that if I was a wolf I'd have to fight myself - it hit me that of course my alternate familiar had to be an Arctic Fox. Being cunning, fluffy, and well... stone cold foxy - it was me to a T. So I was able to quite confidentally answer Achariya's part of the challenge. Find the beast that was me and still make him recognisably Winter.



At first I had a hard time dealing with this. There's nowhere to rez my fangs!



Oh hey. Don't call me CUTE. These claws aren't just for show, you know.



But after a while in my new fursuit, and after adding the items that I feel best represent me - Stringer mohawk, Schadenfreude beater, SN@TCH shorts, Retox Fishnets, Spider, Magika and Action accessories - I realised that I felt pretty good. No diminishment of the essence of Lord Winter, just rocking it Vulpine style. I managed to drop into a few shops and do the Oz Frolic like this and no one tried to give me calcivirus. So I looked at some of my other challenges.

Kenzie said...
Hmmm either channel Humphrey Bogart in something from 1800Betties or a grungy/punk look with an outfit from Gearshift and some chucks.

I already owned a few items from Gearshift. But could I work them with this new form? Now THAT was a little more of a challenge.



I think one of the problems our Furry community faces clothing wise is long pants. I could have detached the shaped legs but that would have been cheating. And unfaithful to what I was trying to do.



So I found their Predator shorts worked well, and added the Faster Harder t-shirt also from Gearshift. I couldn't oblige Kenzie with the chucks today, they don't seem to come in this shape. Get on that will you please, SakuraDawn? Adding Black Maria hair, the SN@TCH coffin backpack, Kari audio wire bracelet and Prozak Biomech tattoo- and a VERY stretched out pair of Armidi aviator glasses - I think this is nicely grungy and yet still something I'd be happy to wear with either shape.

Noirran said...
Nylon Outfitters...



This is the Striped Shirt, the Brown Capri pants - again, short length is sadly necessary - and the Lolita glasses all from Nylon Outfitters. With Bare Rose hair, and Genesis necklace. A store that I'd walked into in the past yet never stopped and really looked at. Thanks for waking me up, Noirran.

Attitude and self shine through no matter what kind of pixels you are wearing - that's one of the best things about Second Life. I'm not ready to go Furry just yet, as I like my fangs as they are. And I have marginally better breath in my Vampire form. But this Dress Me Up definately gave me pause for thought, and yet another outlook on SL. I still have a few more to go but seeing at least one of them involves jeans I'll be regaining my Undead mojo to do them justice. Now pardon me whilst I go see what this yiffing caper is all about.


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Drifting Through Rose Scented Dreams

My last ROSEBUD! post.

I think.

I've spent the last week expounding upon Bare Rose, showing ways to mix and match, extolling the virtues of their everyday wear, and featuring other people's enthusiasm. All the while circling the heart of B@R, the part that really makes me a fanboi of June Dion until the end.

The fantasy outfits, of course.

I know that if maturity were one of the tests for being allowed in Second Life then I'd barely be allowed onto the teen grid. But one of the main things I love about this waking dream we share is that I can be anything I want to be. And I spent my childhood in the library. Bare Rose allows me to be all the things that I read about and yearned to be. A valiant knight, a savage demon, an avenging archangel, even a majestic dragon and yes. A Vampire.

My far-less-than-elite photo skills don't begin to do the justice to these few favourite outfits that I'd like to. But here is just a few of the more than 1000 of June's imaginings bought to life. Second Life. All taken at Templum Ex Obscurum, the perfect setting for this.


War Chariot


Mastema


Arachnid Knight


Bloody Jolly


Dark Dragon Knight


Ethereal Heaven


Salamander


Dread

I'd also like to share with you the last round of wonderful SL Bloggers who joined in the ROSEBUD! Challenge.

Francesca Balogh Ganymedes Costagravas Stacie Pryor Tiffer GossipGirl Grazia Horwitz Willow Zander Grady Echegaray Vyktor Maertens and Cayce Newell Jhuzen Ketsugo Joonie Jatho Casja Lillehook Gabby Panacek Helix Rehula Frequency Picnic Rylan Carling Efemera Bisiani Shelby Rasmuson SakuraDawn Lei Candy Lemmon Sai Pennell Elusyve Jewell Meara Deschanel MacKenzie Irling and the amazing Ana Lutetia, who not only completed 9 versions of the challenge but also offered me advice and support this last week. <3

Along with rounds one and two

Stacie Pryor Kairo Lange Bubbles Komachi Phire Zuhra Cajsa Lilliehook Dove Swanson Yabusaka Ana Lutetia Fricka Morgath Grazia Horwitz Aisuru Candy Lemmon Rylan Carling Tesa Jewell Gabby Panacek Achariya Maktoum Makenzie Irling Brandy Rasmuson Whimsy Winx
Luna Jubilee Raul Crimson Ana Lutetia Kristi Maurer Casja Lilliehook Vixie Rayna
Dakota Lubitsch Grazia Horwitz Ivey Deschanel Mouse Mimistrobell TearSong Vaughan Kalia Meiklejohn Amyla WakowskiSasy Scarborough

There are a few names that appear several times but they've all submitted several versions of their take on this project. Over 50 bloggers took part! And we had hundreds of submissions to the Flickr pool as well. You should all be damned proud of yourselves.

Don't forget that we are wrapping up Bare Rose Appreciation Week with an epic party at the White Wolf stage on Tursday the 11th at 6:30 - 9:30. There's prizes for the best male and female using a Bare Rose costume, and we have DJ Summerkatz taking requests all evening.

And I also want to thank everyone who read, participated, shot, shopped, or introuduced a friend to Bare Rose because of this week. It's the ongoing enthusiasm of all the residents that keeps Second Life alive and thriving. Even for us dead boys. And now I'm going back to being a slacker for at least a couple of weeks. If anyone wants me, I'll be in my trailer.


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ROSEBUD! A Challenge.

Lag. Incessant amounts of lag. Mile high vendors that take an hour to rez, a store so gigantic you can wander in it for hours and never find what you need. And the nagging conviction at the back of your skull that no WAY can all this be made by the one person, that there must be a sweatshop of chimpanzees highly trained in sculptywork toiling away in an barely ventilated building somewhere.
 
Right, we got all that out the way?
 
I love Bare Rose.
 
And I'm calling for a Bare Rose Appreciation Week.


 
For a designer that brings out items almost every day, its so rare to see anyone actually featuring them. I've seen the lovely Mist series a lot on the feeds, but that's about it. Even the Bare Rose Haute Couture line gets a fairly quiet reception, and the textures and primwork on that is superb. So here's an inspiration to occupy all of you Bloggers. We all have at least one B@R outfit in our inventories, surely? Even if just bought for a fancy dress party.  Dust them out, show us your favourites. Make a mash up of what you have, or feature Bare Rose pieces with other designer's items and show us what you can do with them as a base. And if you don't have any, then here is your excuse to go and discover, drift amongst the aisles in wonder.


 I'm sure this is a story that has been repeated again and again. But I remember wandering into Bare Rose Tokyo as a fresh off Orientation Island noobie with a whole 1kl under my belt to find "me." And I remember my delight in discovering that it was true, all the fantastical looking avatars I'd seen on television that drew me to Second Life in the first place existed, and that they were within my reach. That someone knew how I wanted to look before even I did - and had made it up in all my favourite colours and beckoned me to come, join in. I'm now at a point where I don't care to try count just how many B@R outfits I have, and I KNOW that I've bought a lot of them and never been able to find a place to wear, for example...  a giant golden set of scales - but it just doesn't matter.  My personal style is always evolving but I still go back there every few weeks to see what's new. Bare Rose Tokyo, I love thee. Let me count the ways.
 

 
For the amazing "bang-for-your-buck." So many options in a myriad of colours. All for 180l or less. No one else on the grid offers as half as much value as June Dion. She understands that we have 3 clothing layers for a reason. So she offers versatility at a rate everyone can afford. You can wear ensembles out of the box or mash them up with other items, and do so at a price that even campers won't begrudge. There is also a mountain of freebies with essentials for every avatar just finding their feet - AO's, facelights, skins and clothes. So we get prettier noobs to look at - she performs an important public service.
 
For the transfer option. You crave the Wastelands Cowboy but you only want the pink chaps? (Okay, okay, yes - the pink ones were in the Cowgirl not the Cowboy - I bought it. I'll admit it!) Then buy it, and split up the brown, the black, the blue and the grey and farm it out to your friendslist. Or stop by when you are bored and pick out impromptu gifts to delight your friends upon log in. No filling out giftcard requests and waiting a week for the store owner to deign to pass on the goods. See. Want. Buy. Transfer. Reap love.  No wait.  Or buy a French maid's uniform to wear just once as a dare and then pass it on to someone with better legs. *cough* There is a lack of stores that offer transfer, and I cherish B@R for that alone. 


 
For the endless variety.  You all know that Bare Rose has fantasy and gothic outfits, and geisha robes, right? But there is also urban streetwear. Evening wear. Lingerie. Shoes. Handbags. Flowers. Hair. Jewellery. Castles. Tattoos. Skyboxes. Cages. And marvels hiding in the aisles that defy classification, as I discovered for myself yet again when Newdoll and Sasy sent over this "Pioneer" Mecha Avatar a few days ago. Stomping around making the Transformers noise as I ran Noodle into the wall several times reminded us afresh of just how much fun Second Life can be, and this was what prompted this - my open love letter to June.


 
For the audacity.  Who else would release 4 sculpty dragons, gargoyles, an entire set of costumes for men and women based on the Zodiac, highwaymen capes, knight's armour, mermaid tails, demon wings and kimonos in 17 different styles? It's obvious that some things aren't going to sell. It must be fuelled at least in some small part by the joy of creation, and a sense of "just because we CAN." I'm not under any delusions, I'm fully aware this is a business. But it seems to me as an observer that maybe, just maybe it isn't always just about the bottom line at Bare Rose. They put on concerts, competitions, hunts, and maintain a sandbox for their customers. And June is seen rarely, and never seems to do any interviews. Feel free to fling tomatos and howls of derision at me for this line... but I think it's kinda nice that Second Life has a Willy Wonka too.
 
 
This was my paean to B@R. And I'm going to spend my next few blogs on this subject - all this week - making some mashups and highlighting a few of the interesting items I've found there. If anyone wants to join in on this, please post the links to your blogs here in the comments so we can all admire your elite blogging skillz. We have such a diverse array of styles in the SL fashion blogging community, I'm sure that everyone is going to bring something different and inspiring to this challenge. Bring it on Tokyo style!

P.S. - I've been asked to establish a Flickr group for those of you who dont have blogs, or want their pics posted here. Never let it be said that I don't give people want they want. It's getting me to stop that's the problem.

P.P.S. - I've since taken out my email addy, because in the last 24 hours I've won 4 lotteries and had 11 rich relatives die. (Note to self - stop holding family reunions in Nigeria.) So if you post to the Flickr site, mention on your blurb whether it's okay for me to re-post your pictures here.


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