Fashion Dilemma: A day at The Tents

       If you read The Feed, you already know that today kicks off Runway's Fashion Week 2009. Ordinarily big fashion to do's make me nervous. A cheaponista like me can hardly compete with some of the designer branded fashionista slebrities out there. This year I decided to give it a whirl, and that's where the panic started. 

          In a world where a fabulous outfit is only a few mouse clicks away, what does one wear to a fashion show?


        As with everything there are a few rules from RL that come into play.

1) It may or may not be passe to wear the designer being show. I would say passe as you are more likely to wear something like of similar to what someone else is wearing.

2) Dress as if pictures will be taken of you, because chances are they will.

3) This is a casual day affair. Some skin is ok, but lets not get crazy. Mini dresses and bare legs not allowed.

And then there are the rules that are SL exclusive:

1)Keep prims to a minimum. A good rule of thumb is wear pants and a top/blouse, no purse, little or no jewelry, no bling, no radar (why would you need it), and carefully selected hair and shoes.

2) If you must wear something from the showing designer's collection, be sure to mix it with other pieces. This will show your style and lower the chance of you showing up wearing the same outfit as another attendee.

3)Have some fun! This is the perfect time to play with designer, style and color combinations. You are among people who will like the creativity.



So what am I wearing? Well...

I adore tweed but a full suit is a bit to over the top for the occasion. And I opted to as a splash of color in the shoes. 

 

     One of my major fashion blunders (in fact the only one I will admit to comitting on a regular basis) is not playing with color. This outfit more than makes up for it I think. And once again I prove that system skirts have a place in SL, if only in my inventory.



See you on the hunt, or...at the show!



Look 1:
Skin: Chai Ginger- Cole
Hair: ETD Laurie II- Auburn
Pants: *Last Call Editorial (no longer available)
Blouse: [Pink] Flair Vest- Smoke gray
Shoes: Tesla High Oxfords- Jade
Necklace: Caroline's Valentine Silver Heart Pendant
Maicure: Tokyo Niji Classic French

Look 2:
OUtfit 2:
Skin-Chai Skin Ginger- cin
Hair: ETD Rachel- Espresso
Skirt: Ingenue Bye Bye Baby- Plum
Blouse: [Pink] Bella Camicetta- Peakcock Blue
Heels: Juicy Classic Pumps- Blackberry

Still Alive darlings

Between school and other SL respsonsibilities, and surgery (emergency but rather routine to remove my gallbladder) I've had a super busy winter. But with spring in the air I'm ready to hit the ground running.

I promise promise promise to make a full post later tonight.

See you on the hunt.

Ethics ahoy?

     The dreaded skewl has kept me away from my beloved blog, but rest assured dears, my eyes and ears are still to the pavement. Recently there has been some question of ethical blogging. Specifically, is it ok for a blogger to accept payment as an incentive to review. First off let me that I don't get paid for my blogs. I suppose technically I am given review copies because the things I do review are usually free, but then again they are usually freebies ^_^.
 
   As a poor college student I usually don't have the money to spend thousands of linden acquiring cutting edge fashion to review. I've long since made my piece with that. That is why I began to blog freebies and my experiences. In fact, in the near year I've roamed the haunted shores of SL, I have become a connoisseur of freebies. I'm incredibly proud of the fact that I can walk into a room and look just as good (if not better) as every other avatar, for pennies on the linden. 

     Now since I'm at the bottom of the proverbial blog barrel, its easy for me to speculate as to how I would behave if I were among the "blogging elite". First off, I wouldn't expect to receive monetary compensation. Capitalism is all well and good, but the idea of having my opinion bought and paid for just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. However, I would eagerly and gladly take review copies within reason. I suppose I look at review copies the same way I look at freebie hunts; they are symbiotic relationships. The blogger gets a shot at being one of the first to review a new item, the designer gets press, both of them get a chance to start the tide of an SL fashion craze. Review copies, freebies, and hunts are all part of the swarm to create publicity. As such there are some simple rules of etiquette that do apply, but are all too often left by the wayside.


Just my two cents. See you on the hunt.

Computer down!

As of this moment my computer is crippled. I'm unsure as to why but for the moment I am unable to log onto SL in any way.

Broken!

Broken!

I think my slashion sense is either broken or has become a bit too discriminating. The blogs and feeds have been afire this past week about a slammin mini dress. Against my better judgement (after all I am an internationally ignored cheaponista and be that besides, am supposed to be saving my linden) to have a peak.

As one might expect from a garment reviewed ad nauseum, its fabulous. To a point. The price tag hovers around the 300L$ mark for each color, with nary a fatpack in sight. As I said, it is fabulous, but its coverage makes me sure of one thing...anyone who fancies themselve a hipster, trendsetter, of fashionista now has at least one color burning in their inventories.

Add to that the fact that the dress is far shorter than anything I would normally wear and its usefulness as a member in good standing of my personal wardrobe hits rock bottom. So even though it was fabulous, popular and generally seemed to be well made, I didn't by the mini dress.

Yup...I'm broken.

Rejuvination

I have been busy busy busy this week. I've been on vacay in RL but somehow have managed to squeeze in meetings of all kinds, a new SL job, loads of Photoshop practice, and of course Hump day with the lovely ladies of Ch'know.

I've said it before but it does bear repeating, they are possibly the nicest ladies I've had the pleasure of meeting in my SL (F list as it is :-P).

This week's theme? Medical/Hospital.

What do you think? Did I look the part.


Of course with all the work I've been doing taking time out to shop and dance has taken its toll on me. I tried to do some rather simple calculation of lindens and ended up looking like this...

V should probably take a rest soon...

No rest for the aspiring dressmaker

Hi friends, hunters, and budding fashionistas! If you've been wondering where your pal V has disappeared to as of late, you need look no further than the following picture:

That's right dolls, I've been learning the fashion trade of SL from the ground up. The battle is being fought on to fronts. Firstly, I've been intensely studying fashion blogs so I can see what's new and what sells.  Secondly, I've been learning the art of design on Photoshop. As one might imagine it is taking up quite a bit of my time.

On the subject of fashion blogs, the group at Premiere Modeling Management has officially launched their publication, dubbed simply: MODEL Magazine.  One might expect to find pages and pages of clothes that the average humble avi could ill afford...and to a point you'd be right. But far more intriguing are the articles on carving an elite model out of your current avatar. Yes you will have to drop some lindens for the honor (after all don't lindens make this Second world go round?), but for every line recommending you to go out and purchase a super prices skin or shape, there is more down-to-earth advice such as "make sure all shapes are modifiable" or "make your own skirt shape". 

My favorite tip concerns Atmospheric Shading. If you've ever noticed that on Windlight your avatar always seems to have oil slicked T-zones, meet the culprit. The magazine recommends turning them off and here is why.

With atmospheric shaders on, even my beloved Gaussian Blur can't hide the lines and shadows.

With atmospheric shaders OFF my avatar doesn't looks as nearly as harsh.

The trade off is that the backgrounds don't look quit as pretty. It occurs to me that this situation could be solved by taking two pictures and combining them.

Even better than the fabulous magazine is the free skin that I'm wearing. It comes free with the first issue of Model Magazine.  Both make the new publication worth looking at.

Skin: QS Skin Cream Mat Additional for Model (free)
Shirt: Nyte'N'Day Camer Cami (free)
Hair: ETD Trinity (not free)

See you on the hunt!