Thursday, April 16, 2009

It's In The Blood

As amazingly realistic as skin, clothing and hair are becoming in SL, there are some days when I'd rather look as if I'd just escaped from a Tim Burton film. The grid is awash with photoreal clothing but you can also lose yourself in whimsy if you dare. Which is one of the things I love about it. And one of my best cartoon enablers is the label ++Blue Blood++ by Ghanima Uriza.


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These are her two most recent releases, the men's version of Immortal and Beckoning. As you can see she finds the most interesting uses for prims as embellishment for an outfit, from the suit tails to wrist cuffs to collars. Her blocky uses of bright colours against a plain black are a trademark of her style, and one that is very easy to work with if you want to piece an outfit up. And whilst a ++Blue Blood++ outfit is easy to spot, every one is very different.


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The thing that impresses me the most about Ghanima's work though, is that it's come so far in such a short time. I'll be honest - when I was first taken by Voshie Paine to her store in August I bought a couple of outfits that I put on - looked at - and never wore again. (Atreides and Ava Adore - sorry Ghani!) But as you can see by the texturing and primwork in the above outfits Dedalo and Crimson - especially that mad tattered jacket skirt - she's improved beyond all measure. I was so happy to rediscover this label recently, and I was thrilled to see how it had evolved. It's definately back on my stalk list.


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Another thing that I love is that she releases all her items in both a women's and a men's version simultaneously, and for that she gets my pledges of love forever. Her lady's dresses range from gothic lolli dresses to full ballgowns, and her recent contribution to the Twisted Hunt was this Bloody Gras outfit that I borrowed Achariya's Caledonian escort friend Ersatz Charisma to show off - she has a better rack than I do, and was the only bored female friend I had online at the time. I'm grinning behind her and plotting vampire type things in Rain. But you can also see a better and more thorough review of the recent ++Blue Blood++ dresses at Ana Lutetia's blog.


So I definately recommend having a look at what Ghanima makes, and she's going to be a label that will be a force in SL. If you aren't sure if this style is for you, then take time out to stalk her lucky chair. You have nothing to lose, and you just may find that you want to step through that Burtonesque Looking Glass like me. Her mainstore is located at Kali Isle.



My hairs are from Black Maria, LaLa Moon and Exile, and my skin is Corvine from eXceSs. I forgot to ask Ersatz what hers was, but it currently has two puncture marks in the neck if that helps.

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