Rawk Bish

 

Oh look, I’m doing this fashion-y thing again! I’ve been having fun putting together outfits, and I like sharing them, so, yeah, suffer. This one started out with me trying to find a way to rawk more and more of my new Black Maria hair (it’s all Law’s fault, I blame him for dragging me along). I knew I had a perfect win-combination when we were at Emery and I happened to notice this slinky-slutty number on the wall. Yes, that’s my fashion descriptive for it – if you try to tell me it’s couture or chic, I will punch you in the nose – it’s riding yer squatch crack and missing the entire back of it. It’s slut. Deal. I happened to love it that way too.

I don’t get to do slutty very often (Lawless Gertrude McBride, hush yo mouth!) – so this was a fun chance for me to see what I could pull out (and off, heh). I had my dress, I had my hair and after that it was just a simple matter of narrowing the options down to two and forcing Law to pick for me when I couldn’t make up my mind. Fishnets or sheer. Leg warmers or anklets. Belt or no belt. Speaking of belts, anyone know where to find a really slinky/simple chain or coin-styled belt? Something delicate….I really wished I’d had it for this outfit – that or a huge buckled, sequin-blaring belt would have been nice.

Anyway, I’m not down with all this weird fashion-speak – love it or hate it, there it is. Credits down there.

---

Skin: Celestial Studios – Vogue Skin, Cashmere (Classic Glitter – Gold)
Eyes: Celestial Studios – Deep Series, Deep Green
Eyelashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes
Hair: Black Maria – RIUS, Black
Dress: Emery – Heart of Glass, Black Version
Stockings: Blaze* – Pantyhose Black
Gloves: TaP – Leather Gloves Black, Long
Choker: Earthtones – Gaea’s Gorget, Black
Earring: Violet Voltaire – My Violent Heart Earring Black
Shoes: :69: – Succubus Pumps, Black
Legwarmers: BP* – Legwarmers black lace
Bracelet: Atomic Kitty – Black Spiked Leather
Belt: Kru’s Boutique – sin, leather belt

An Ode to BareRose

Okay, so if you’ve known me for even a tiny bit of time, you’ve probably heard me at one point or another ranting about how awesome BareRose is and how shunned by the fashion community it seems to be as a brand, on whole. As I’m writing this, it seems the blogosphere has finally embraced BareRose as a member of the family – or maybe the family has just extended to the far far cousins who don’t mind being seen in BareRose? Regardless, I get a funny little tickle in my belly every time I see BareRose on the feeds (no, unfortunately it’s not an orgasm, nor is it a developing fetus or ulcer)  – MUCH deserved airtime in my opinion!

Why I love BareRose, let me count the ways….

First of all, where else can you get a folder full of every layer you can imagine, every attachment you would ever need and in every style imaginable (fantasy, goth, casual, formal, etc) and all in the price range of 100-200L??? And add on top of all of that, the fact that the shit is actually fucking quality work! Beautiful texture work, amazing prim work (helloooo??? sculpty work on so many attach points for under 200L???) Some of the older stuff, which is still pretty brilliant, even drops under the 100L mark! I can still remember when BareRose was busting out prim work like no one had seen before …using prims to create costume and outfit details that no one else could even cook up in their brain, let alone actually apply – and when sculpties hit the grid, BareRose took it to a whole new level …and somehow managed to keep the prices in that same, wallet-loving range!

It’s one of the few places where I will actually take the outfit and wear it straight out of the box, but it’s also one of my favorite places to mix and match and dissect outfits. Take a look, here’s one of the more recent releases ‘Inferno’ for girls, on the left, straight out of the box, minus shoes and hair – and on the right, my little mixup of the outfit paired with pieces and parts from other designers (credits below). For less than 200L I just obtained an outfit that can create …who knows how many other outfits – and it’s sculpted, and it’s lovely and it’s quality. Not just that, but it’s style and design that you often won’t find anywhere else, and if you do, chances are, they’re imitating BareRose to begin with.

I understand that because of the cheap prices, the brand in general has a sort of “newb” stigma attached to it – but I personally think that anyone who would turn their nose up at BareRose clothing for that reason alone, might as well go ahead and tip it up a little more, and hopefully the next time it rains you’ll just go ahead and drown. I challenge anyone to go to BareRose, even if you are the most picky person on the grid – go there, have a real look around – and then tell me you left empty handed because you couldn’t find anything you liked. Even for the guys there’s an actual abundance of outfits for once – not many shops and designers can say that they put out for the guys like they put out for the girls (I mean in actual content).

I know that another negative factor for some of BareRose’s clothing and designs is that they seem to be created for those tiny, skinny little avatars …so sure, there’s usually quite a bit of adjustment to be done – but yanno, it’s not very often that I take something out of the box and it does fit perfectly, so I can’t really hold that as a true complaint.

I’m also aware that the layout and the design of the store (or whatever it is) itself is also quite a downer. I know….I actually hate going to BareRose because of the way it’s such a lag beast and so terribly hard to navigate. While I was there prepping for this rant, I snapped some shots to show exactly what I mean and what I’m sure plenty of you have griped about as well. But as I was walking around, just amazed at the sheer number of creations, and pondering how on earth a person has that much time in a day …or year…or lifetime, to create so much kickass stuff, I realized something….

….how the fuck else can you lay out a store like that, of such magnitude? How would you display the outfits? How would you have room if not to build directly up into the sky and stretch the walls as far as the eye can see? If you started sticking them in scripted vendors to switch them out with dials and such …the lag would be insane eventually, due to the sheer number of scripts running. So, while I was busy thinking of how annoying it is to actually shop at BareRose HQ, I tried to think of how a person would make it better?? I have no fucking clue, to be honest with you. I came up totally empty handed. I decided maybe I should stop bitching about that and just enjoy what June Dion has to offer from that corner of the grid. (Aside note: To be fair, there is a VIP shopping area, I’m assuming you join the group and you can have access to this ‘lag-free’ shopping area, dunno, I’m too lazy to find out)

Speaking of what else BareRose has to offer, I did a little exploring…I’d never been to the couture side of BareRose before – from what I could see it’s just a slightly more formal branch, the usual quality and prices you’re used to. But what did catch my eye? BareRose makes sculpted flowers! I didn’t even know, perhaps I’m the last person to know this, but I was pretty darn impressed. They’re lovely. I bought some for an end table in our treehouse (omigosh, I am overloading on flowers in our house, someone stop me!). The bouquets for brides are just gorgeous, and the fun rose-petal bath sets are really neat. Another thing I noticed while I was there – sculpted shoes. Now, let me say that what was offered currently was not my style and I did not partake – but if the shoe section becomes anything like the clothing section, I say to all the shoe creators in SL: watch out! Lord, I dream of a whole wing in BareRose devoted to nothing but sculpty shoes…mmmm, now I have that funny tickle in my belly and it’s totally an orgasm on the way.

And that’s why I <3 BareRose and always will. Applause, bravo, tipping of the hat and high-five – please don’t ever leave us and please keep up the good work!

---

Seen In Both Outfits -
Skin: Celestial Studios – Vogue Skin, Cashmere (Brown – Light)
Eyes: Celestial Studios – Deep Series, Deep Green
Eyelashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes
Hair: Black Maria – KIZI, Black

Left Shot -
Outfit: BareRose – Inferno
Shoes: Shiny Things – Flare Oxfords, Black

Right Shot -
Shirt: amerie’s NAUGHTY – Go to the Knuckle (Camo) Dark
Pants: ETD – Camo Pants, Black
Fishnet: ~ broken ~ – torn fishnet, shirts and tops
Shoes: Zero Number – AM Short Bb Boots, Black

Stop Stealin’ My Shit, FOO!

Content theft. I’m sure we’ve all heard those two words a bazillion times in the past couple of weeks and it only seems to be getting worse. WTF LL? I don’t worry too much about it myself, because I just make poses, who the hell would wanna steal those? Besides, in that field of creation we tend to overlap one another so much that we might as well be stealing from each other anyway.

I’m not gonna post another plea to the masses to act on this or that – I think that’s been covered pretty damn well already. I’m not going to showcase another attempt at theft or point the finger at anyone either. I think it’s shitty when people steal, but …I actually wanted to say that I think some designers and creators are starting to get on top of it proactively – not just by filing complaints and signing petitions….but by taking the power back into their own hands and the hands of their customers.

One example would be the recent reaction by Maitreya when they found out one of their styles of shoe had been ripped off – I’m sure they are taking appropriate measures and actions …but they also did something pretty darn smart. They took the offended shoes and put them out for FREE! I think that’s a very loud and clear statement – I think it sorta says something along the lines of “oh yea, well fuck you too!” – it’s really incredibly smart. I’m sure it sucks to have to take your hard work and give it away for nothing thanks to some numbnuts, but it also has to feel a little empowering and it truly involves your customers in a way that petitions never will. It calls to a most basic sense in us – holy freebies! but it also speaks to our sense of loyalty, and maybe even compassion or sympathy.

What did I do when I saw the notice from Maitreya on their blog? I went to their store, got the free shoes …and then I bought another pair just to say “hey, sorry yer gettin’ fucked with, but thanks for being a trooper! <3″ It’s my quiet way of giving the finger to the thieves too. As I pondered this post, it appears LaynieWear has been ripped off too, and she has put out the dress for free in her shop as well – bravo!

I think that on top of signing petitions and protesting, maybe when a creator tries to take back a little power (since LL seems to suck at it) – maybe we could return the favor by not only going to sap up those freebies …but by shopping around a bit and making a purchase to let them know we’re still here, we came to support them, not the thieves.

In short:
Thieves – U R SUX!

Glam Punk

I said I wouldn’t be doing this darn fashion thing much, but I couldn’t help myself with this one…be warned that I am so not a photoshopper, so not a fashion critic or writer and uh …so not fashionable.

There’s some things you should know about Dove if you don’t already (and one of those things is, yes, I speak about her in third-person sometimes). 70% of the time she resembles a boy, short, black butchy hairs, grungy dirty boy-styled clothing and so on. The other 20% if she isn’t a boy then she’s a really creepy dolly version of herself, decked out in poofy dresses, stacked heels, and stitches. What about that missing 10%? Well, that’s what happens when I start randomly trying on pieces of clothing in my inventory that I forgot I even had and you end up with something kinda cool (in my world anyway), but I’m sure no one else on the grid would probably dare to be seen in.

I had bought the whacky-fun hair from Digit Darkes a week or so ago and since then had kept it in the back of my mind as to how to rawk it, because I knew it was special. But it wasn’t the hair that actually started this mashup, it was the hair that finished it off perfectly in my opinion. I actually started it with the pants – they’re the most wonderful pants ever! That’s what they’re called anyway – I have to agree, they’re too cute – from Double Paradox and so much fun. The texture work on the pants-base itself isn’t amazing, but I kinda like that it’s sorta non-descript and blurry…I prefer that often because sometimes clear lines and photo-real textures make clothing look too hard and crisp …when I wanna accomplish a smooth and flowy kinda look. Now, the texture on the prim attached legs is perfect…patchy-lace and so purty. I opted for the larger, poofier leg prims that almost look like a skirt if you stand with your legs too close together – but there are the options of smaller leg poofs and an actual skirt included too!

I doubt I have to say much on the top, it’s tried-and-true Last Call all the way baby! I own quite a bit of LC’s stuff, especially after the sale that’s been going on for awhile now. I love LC but at the same time I tend to shy away from ‘out of the box’ ensembles …so I’ll usually take a piece from one of the outfits and pair it up with something else – like this instance. I snagged the sleek and equally poofy scoopneck top from the Kirsten outfit. I’m honestly not so fond of the sculpted sleeves, but they helped to balance the heaviness of the hair and the poofiness of the pant legs. What I do like is that the shirt has a semi-sheer lacy panel just below the breasts that almost makes it feel like it was made to be paired up this way! (God bless multiple layers and tuckable layers…no midriff exposure here! yay!)

Once you have a top and bottom to any outfit, you just have to accessorize properly and you are win! I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to tint the lycra tights from GLAM properly, they kept coming out looking retarded and ugly – you guys are masters, teach me! Anyway…I happened to find a pre-tinted black pair with another outfit from GLAM and voila! Score! The gloves are the mid-length (not that that matters since the top has a 3/4 sleeve) black leather gloves from TaP (didn’t they change their name though?), an old favorite to fall back on time and time again – ever notice how they look like crap up close but from a good distance they’re just awesome? Weird texture.

So yeah …accessories….um, oh! Shoes! I recently hit up the Shiny Thing’s group sale and omigosh is my inventory ever full of yummy black shoe goodness now! I wanted to rawk some clunky, chunky heels with this but they made the outfit take a really scary “old lady” turn…so then I tried on the ballet flats, but they made Dove look even shorter than she is (67 on the scale)…but when I switched to the next folder of shoes to try on, I forgot to remove the lacing attachment the ballet flats left on, and the heels that came up next were a total win ….and I kinda liked the “girly-cute” effect pairing them with the ballet-lacing had. So I left that happy little accident alone (see Dahlia! I did it! ).

I rarely get to wear jewelry, most of the time Dove has some kind of gritty scarf or neck bandage on, or hair so wild and shaggy that you can’t see her ears anyway. But this time was not so! Woo! And I wanted to go all out with it. Black and white seemed to be a theme and I knew I owned some beautiful pearls from both Caroline’s and Muse, I ended up going with the Muse pearls simply because I figured out I could wear two different sets of pearls at the same time (Margaux & Celine – happy day for multiple attach points!) and end up with a neck that looks like it’s holding up a ton of stones. The earrings go with the Celine set and were just a complete given – is it just me or do pearls make every other girl feel so …fancy-schmancy and purty?

And finally, I leave you with the wig that started (or ended) it all. The Glitter Punk. Perfect name really. I’m not sure if I’ll ever find another reason or way to rawk this hair so hard…which is probably why I decided to do a fashion post even though I tend to shy away from those sorts of things. Not much to be said about it, it’s freakin fabulous, it’s huge and dramatic ….it kinda reminds me of a beautiful fan-tailed fish floating about underwater. Plus, everyone knows I love glitter. There you go, eat it up.

---

Skin: Celestial Studios- DN Vogue Skin, Cashmere (Vamp – Enchant)
Eyes: Celestial Studios – Deep Series, Brown
Eyelashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes
Hair: Digit Darkes- NATURALe-Defiance -Glitter Punk
Shoes: Shiny Things- Classic Blacks, Pumps + Criss-Cross Ballet Flats, Calf Lace with Flower
Top: LAST CALL- Kirsten, Scoopneck Top
Pants: Double Paradox – Wonderful Pants
Jewelry: ~Muse~ – Margaux Draped Pearl Necklace + Celine Pearl Necklace & Celine Pearl Drop Earrings
Tights: GLAM- Black Lycra Tights (Satin Fleur Babydoll, Black)
Gloves: Tete a Pied – Gloves Medium Black

Cock Hair

Okay, I’mma say first that I swear this isn’t meant as a slam against anyone. I think that RaC creates beautiful, unique (and expensive) things! I don’t think that anyone who decides to buy this hair is wrong, foolish or whatever. Blahblahblah disclaimer blahblahblah.

That said – every time I see this hair in-world or on the feeds, I see a cocker spaniel. I can’t help it! I’ve tried to block the image out ..I’ve tried to admire it for what it is …but I just keep seeing the silky ear-mane of those cute pups.

See what I mean??? I also happen to find it rather funny that Dove has the puppy’s eyes too. heh.

No, I don’t own this hair, and never will – I actually went to buy it so that it wouldn’t be entirely tacky of me “poking fun” at it …at least then I could say I put my money where my mouth is ..but when I got there and saw the price tag on it and knew I’d never wear it except for this one instance…I opted for tacky and got the demo instead.

I’mma cheap bitch, what can I say. Plus my graphic’s card hates the flat-layers of transparent alpha textures, it keeps trying to decide which one belongs in front and which one belongs in back and it turns into a horrible choppy mess.

Rant #1 – FashCon

Looks like my first dabble in self-pleasure blogging is going to be a rant! Woo!

Probably not about what you might think – no, I’m not going to rip and tear at FashCon because I happen to love the group muchly, I think the idea and concept of it is brilliant – even on the days it gets really annoying with the high notice intake. I’m actually going to rant at all the stupid vendors who can’t seem to follow or understand some really really fucking simple rules. I’ve been bitching about this one for a couple of weeks now, poor Law gets to hear it daily – now you guys get to also!

I understand that the FashCon group has exploded recently because the designer applications have finally been reopened – I myself was recently readded, so I get that the amount of notices will increase now simply because there are that many more people wanting to let everyone know about their new releases. But ….some of you bastards are just fucking breaking the rules! Punks.

I was curious if my feelings and ranting were unfounded so I just did a quickie in the notice-history tab of the FashCon group, sorted them by ‘Name’ and in the top ten notices listed there is already a violation. Not going to name names because that would take all freakin’ day…lord people, what’s so hard to understand about sending ONE notice a week? And in my world, a week = seven days! I don’t care if you are busting out products five, ten a day and you think they’re amazing and everyone should know about them – guess what, if they are that amazing, people will still care to know about them seven days later.

If you are one of the guilty persons I’m talking to, please promptly punch yourself in the eye, and continue doing so every time you even think of posting a notice to FashCon before that seven days is up!

Oh and what about the fact that notices are for new releases! Not sales – if I see one more sales notice from FashCon I’m going to kill a kitten, I swear – please don’t make me do it. Dude, if you’re having a sale, why not tell your personal group about it instead?? The word will spread. And you know what, I don’t think that a sale is an excuse to break the seven day rule either. It’s ONE notice per week, regardless! One one one one one one one one one one one! Grr.

And those “oops I forgot to include XYZ” …oh.my.god. I seriously think some people do it on purpose. Do yourself a favor, write everything in a notecard, keep a checklist if you have to – have I said what needed to be said, have I included photos, have I stuck a landmark in there, okay good, now attach and send! Besides, those LM- only notices are really annoying anyway…chances are, unless I know your brand prior, if you don’t include photos of the products, I’m not coming to your shop.

 While I’m on the topic – people who dog FashCon because of the notices and how annoying they can get. I agree, totally annoying some days…especially on the weekends. Oy! But yanno, you do have the option to turn off group notices and browse at your leisure. Just an FYI. But yeah, feel free to continue bitching – I do. I’ll tell you one thing – no other method of advertising drops 20-30 people on my shop-steps in under 15 seconds. So stick that somewhere and smoke it.

This really isn’t rocket science – I actually suck at this, and I manage to freakin’ follow the rules and get it right the first time, most of the time – so I won’t accept any lame excuses on this one. Honey, if you ever read this and need some help modding that group – just drop me an IM, I will SO be the unmerciful hand of God on this one. Dooo eeeet, give me the powah!

 So…yeah, if yer a designer and looking for a great way to get your products out there – try the Fashion Consolidated group and follow the fucking rules or else!

I wanna do it too!

Everyone else has a blog, why can’t I? :p Okay, so I have one for [LAP] but I can’t post bullshit on it, so I wanted a blog where I could write about whatever I want. Maybe fashion (doubtful), maybe locations I stumble across (highly likely), and silly stuff I get up to with my friends and lubber (probably). Mostly just my own opinion on this or that, or whatever I find interesting at any moment.

 I decided to try this out on wordpress so that I could compare and contrast the two since my other blog is on blogger. So far this looks far more elite as far as features go, but will it compare in the ease-of-use department? We’ll see. I think I smell a future post in the works already.

 So yeah, welcome to my little slice…if you’re here, you’re probably a friend, either that or a total nosey-stalker, geez!