“I’m a former hippie, so clothes are important to me – your clothes defined you in that period. I guess clothes still define people. But, I change a lot. I’m in my Brooks Brothers period now.” ~ John Hughes

Hippie Chic Ensemble

When I was a little girl, hippie and gypsy style clothing was the height of yum; it was long, straight hair and peasant blouses as far as the eye could see. So, when I saw the Ana hairstyle from Burley I had a squee fit that set off a David Gates soundtrack in the little girl lobes of my brain.

The bulk of this outfit comes from League, with the exception of the hair, the corset and boots, and I’ll get to those piece by piece.

First the Gypsy Tunic blouse from League is a nicely textured top with wonderfully billowing sculpted sleeves. League features some of the best textured system-based items on the grid today in my opinion. It amazes me how they convey so much character with the detail of their items. This gypsy style blouse is not an easy trick to turn (trust the girl who spent *years* in SL whimpering for peasant blouses). The system layer textures are delicate with minor folds and planned imperfections (like the lopsided, drooping tied bow). This detail is carried into the folds of fabric on the sculpts which lend femininity and break up the fixed shape that otherwise might come across as more bulk than breeze.

You see the quality in texturing again in the Merino Leggings that feature shade and highlights to create sheen without too much shine. So many creators in SL take this too far and you see girls wandering around in liquid latex instead of that whisper of luster that comes from silk-based hybrid textiles. IRL when a fabric like charmeuse is woven with lycra to make items like stretch leggings, they don’t cast a wet paint gloss. These leggings are perfect in the presentation of just a hint of shine while still providing the illusion of a tactile surface.

Hippie Chic Hair Problems

As you can see above, Burley‘s Ana hairstyle has a few drawbacks. Like all non-mesh long hair in SL right now it really only looks good when you’re staring straight ahead and bent slightly forward. I also reduced my breast size. These are unavoidable construction limitations for the moment and it’s easy to forgive them when you look at the detail in this style. The little fly-away loop that is caught in the leather band enchants me. And I love the way the hair is indented and shaded to emphasize the path of that band.

The base wig provides the long mane in the back and the chest-length sections in the front; there is a lower add-on section if you want to extend the front sections down to waist length. The style also comes with roots and no roots. IRL roots are not a style I embrace, but in virtual worlds I often find that things which don’t work in the real world are details that trick the eye and help with immersion. This is why often shadows work to build an immerse environment, even when they are placed somewhere that wouldn’t necessarily make sense with the light source.

The hair is heavily scripted and I had a moment of “ugh” when it showed up in inventory as no-mod, but that turned out to be an artifact of the scripts; I had no problem editing the hair manually or removing the scripts.

Hippie Chic Corset & Belt

The really great find of this outfit has to be the Celstine Dream Mesh Corset. If mesh provided nothing else but delicious corsets like this, it would have been worth the trouble. I love the antique brocade texturing and the oh-so-nummy chocolate sash and bow. The creator doesn’t seem to have much inventory, and as far as I can tell she’s only on the Marketplace, but what a hidden treat this item is. It comes with the necessary alpha and a notecard to help you adjust your body settings to make it work. I know many people balk at adjusting their sliders to fit mesh items for the moment, but is it really any different than sucking in and zipping up your skinny jeans? I’ve taken to making adjusted copies of my shape and tucking them into folders as needed. The whole point of a corset is that it changes your shape anyway, so it seems somehow appropriate.

The Crochet Belt with the little sculpted tassles attachment is another quality item from League. It comes with a matching necklace, but the long hair made that item moot and I had my eye on other jewelry. This crochet belt is a textured-on system layer item I would have killed to have back in the early SL shopping days. It is the perfect topper for making way-too-low bottoms slightly less low. My only complaint about it is that it doesn’t come in other colors.

Hippie Chic Jewelry

Switching to Truth‘s Velvet piggie buns to showcase some jewelry lovin’. This is the Coin Collector Jewelry Set, again from League. Other than little bell anklets it doesn’t get more gypsy than coin jewelry. You’ll have to click the image above to go to the full size verison (or take my word) to appreciate the detail at work. The gunmetal chain isn’t just a solid lace, but a linked chain and each coin dangles from equally detailed links. The aged copper and brass coins contrast well with their buffed gold cousins and the set features the necklace and a bracelet for each wrist. It’s a nice costume jewelry staple that will work for multiple earth-tone casual outfits.

Hippie Chic Boots

Last, but not least are the Cairo Mesh Boots from Celoe which you have most assuredly seen in every SL fashion blog. I’m sort of over mesh boots in general as every designer has come out with a pair, but these worked exceptionally well with the outfit and they are a quality item. Not much to say here that hasn’t been said. The modeling on this product is excellent with the rounded toes and the gathers at the ankles. The texturing is equally well done with highlights that provide that slight sheen of brushed suede where it’s needed and shadows where they’re needed.

I suppose that’s all for now — I’m off to find a VW van. Peace, love and all that jazz.

Where Does She Get Those Wonderful Toys:

Gypsy Tunic – L$185
Merino Leggings & Flats – L$95
Tassles Necklace & Crochet Belt – L$115
The Coin Collector Jewellery Set – L$195
League | Nena Janus

Celestine Dream MESH Corset – L$50
Celestine Dreams Marketplace | Celestine Neutron

Cairo MESH Boots – L$760
Celoe | Jaden Celoe

Ana Hair – L$285 (Color Pack)
Burley | Bella Earst

“Pies, para que los necesito si tengo alas para volar?” ~ Frida Kahlo

Although the holiday season might seem like an odd time to be talking about bare feet, the opportunity is simply too tasty to ignore.

Recently, Slink came out with their rigged mesh bare feet and mesh static feet which are a direct competitor to Maitreya‘s sculpted feet. Of all the things I have been awaiting since the launch of mesh, bare feet are near the top. J’s started the prim foot revolution and several other worthy lines have taken that innovation to the next level (it’s worth noting that J’s still has their own offerings). In my opinion the front runners of sculpted feet /shoes have been Maitreya, Slink and Pixel Mode. I’m sure there are others who feel passionate about other brands, but I consider those three to be the ones currently worth watching. I hope that GOS, Ennui, and Zaara will be making open-toe offerings into this arena soon and the oldbie in me is always hoping Fally throws her buckles back into the basket. So far, however, when it comes to prim toes and open-toe mules, the big three I mentioned still hold. (In the interests of fairness, I suppose I should mention, Stiletto Moody‘s store is still out there with those heart-vandalized stripper shoes, so if that’s your thing, don’t forget those).

Amusingly, when I went to get the Slink feet I discovered I had been banned from the SIM. Me. Banned. How hilarious is that?

I assume this is due to bruised ego hijinks that started with this post and ended for me with this one. I have never, to the best of my knowledge, been banned from anywhere, so it took me a few teleports to understand what was happening. Then it took me a little bit of head-scratching to IM a friend and ask them to go purchase the product for me as a gift. The purpose of making me spend 20 extra minutes of someone else’s time to get a product that is available to the open market is anyone’s guess. But it was a unique experience.

I feel that to evaluate the Slink Rigged Mesh vs Maitreya Sculpts, we must explore a couple of factors. First I’ll compare rigged vs static attach points, then I’ll talk about the texture differences and blending methods of the various products before presenting the benefits and downfalls of sculpt vs mesh for feet.

Rigged Mesh Feet vs Sculpted Feet

Rigged mesh, for those who are fuzzy on the term, attaches mesh objects to a fluid skeleton point, enabling more natural posing and positioning that may not be viable with static attachments (including mesh objects that have static attach points).

Take the above examples. The left two show how the feet are positioned with rigged mesh. The center is Maitreya‘s static tip toes and the right is Maitreya‘s static flat feet. All of these use the same poses, but, as you can see, the feet behave very differently. With rigged, the pose decides if the feet are flat or pointed. With static attachments, the attachment is not flexible and holds its shape, regardless of the intentions (and natural flow) of the pose.

Look carefully at the far left pose and compare it with the center tip toes. With rigged, the feet are flat as they should be, but tip toes static positioning overrides the intention of the animation. The same is true with the second image from the left and the pose on the far right. With the rigged mesh, the toes are pointed as they should be. But with the static flat feet attachment, the shape of the feet takes the place of the pose intent.

If all of that has only served to confuse you more – let me make it easy. Rigged attachments will position and move your feet the way they would be if you weren’t wearing prim feet at all. They will conform to the same behavior of your system feet. Static attachment prim feet will stubbornly keep to their own shape which will often go against the intentions of animations and can frequently end up in unnatural positions.

When it comes to wearables — especially hands, feet, and other body-based objects — rigged really has the advantage over static attachment points and the more you move through the virtual world, the more obvious this will be.

Slink Mesh vs Maitreya Sculpt

Okay, now let’s talk about texturing. It will confuse you when I say that the above photo shows the two competing products using the same light settings and both blending into the same skin. They so clearly have different shades, so how can that be?

Well, the processes for blending these products are completely different. Maitreya‘s feet blend directly into the leg, so the RBG value of the bottom of my calf is the same as the one I enter into the foot. For the Slink product, the creator has added an extra step, providing a tattoo blending layer. For the Slink, I used the “light” blending layer and entered the RGB of my calf into the tint of the blending layer which created a slightly more red-based RGB for me to enter into the foot.

Overall, I found the Slink feet, blending layers, etc to be more red-based. This is excellent for people who wear skins from Redgrave and/or Curio et all where the flesh tones have a pinker base. If, however, like me, you prefer LAQ with the more yellow/beige base, you’re going to find your results to be a bit more rosy. It’s unlikely you will notice unless you have them side by side like I do above, and I suspect the results would be more similar if I’d used the white/gray blending layer instead of the light (but I haven’t tried that yet). If you follow the instructions step-by-step, you will be happy with the outcome, and I have it on good authority that the creator does offer help to those who have difficulty with the product (assuming you aren’t banned from her store).

What should be noted, however, is that the texturing on the Slink feet is more airbrush style than Maitreya‘s photo-realistic lean. That is purely a preference. I prefer the Maitreya texturing with the tone variations and highlights. But the smoother airbrushed look of the Slink product is well in keeping with the products preferred by many others I know. I find airbrushed skins and products to appear…rubbery, whereas some people think the more realistic products I prefer are creepy in an uncanny valley sort of way.

That said, there is no comparison to the “physical” benefits of mesh vs sculpts for this kind of product. You may not see the differences in the lighting above, but we do not exist in an SL with only bright studio lighting. Once we introduce shadows, the benefits of mesh become obvious (and, let’s face it — what’s the point of having cute bare feet if you’re not planning on taking a moonlit walk on the beach with someone).

Lighting Used For Examples

I used three different lighting settings to demonstrate the differences of mesh vs sculpts when it comes to SL lighting. The above photo shows the overall effects of these settings which are, from left to right:

AnaLu *studio* 5 | AnaLu – outdoor city | Midday 4

I recommend using AnaLu *studio* 5 or a similar light setting when going through the process of blending your feet tones to your skin. Using a brightly lit setting that mimics natural light will give you a far more dependable outcome. This will provide more consistent results no matter what kind of atmosphere you find your avatar in.

Now that we’ve established control with the light settings, let’s see what shadows do to these different offerings.

Slink Mesh Feet - Various Light Settings

Above are the Slink rigged mesh feet. As you can see, if you follow the directions, the seam is near-invisible in the studio lighting, and even with shadow play, the seams are only visible if you are zoomed in and looking for them. But the important thing is that the seams only exist where the product combines with the calf. There are no seams where the toes meet the foot because they are part of a solid, fluid single prim.

And if you’re really worried about the seams on the calves, just go anklet shopping. Earthstones has their darling little Christmas bell anklets out, so that’ll cover you for December.

Maitreya Sculpted Feet - Various Light Settings

As you can see in the above photo, this is why sculpted feet are doomed to die a horrible death in the wake of mesh. If we skipped through a fantasy world that only consisted of bright studio lighting, sculpts might still be competitive. But shadows are unforgiving things. Not only do they highlight with hideous intensity the areas where the prim ankles meet the system leg, but also where the toe sculpts tuck into the foot sculpts. Yee-ouch. They also betray the places where the sculpts warp at their vertices, creating the unnatural blurring and twisting that textures do across sculpted objects in areas where the shape has been abused into the desired mold like so much silly putty.

This is a killer for me. I prefer Maitreya‘s style of texturing. I prefer their square toe nails to the round ones so often found in prim feet. But sculpts are the past where wearables are concerned and my toes will currently be all Slinky. A good mesh product that I mostly like has full advantage over an outstanding sculpted object I would otherwise love.

There really isn’t any contest here. If you’re looking for the best prim foot, Slink‘s rigged mesh are the high mark to beat for all competitors to come.

As far as other considerations, they’re about even. You can’t resize meshes yet, so you may have to slightly alter your leg muscle settings for the Slink‘s, but they come in five sizes, so you’re likely to be very close to one of them (I seem to be a small/medium in most mesh products). The nail-tinting options are pretty even. The Slink nail tinting is a two part process and as such might seem a little more complicated to newbies.

Neither of these have a good stocking feet option. Hopefully with mesh someone is working on that.

Stellar Mesh Schoolgirl Skirt & Boho Baku Blouse

Oh, and if you’re at all interested in the outfit I’m wearing, the tartan skirt is from Stellar and is the Schoolgirl mesh skirt in red (dear designers: it’s the holidays, will you get your butts in gear on the red tartan offerings, please?). This mesh skirt comes in two sizes (which basically means how big do you want your ass to be) and provides the necessary alpha layer. It is partnered with a forgettable top and a nice shrug. The shrug has a sculpted turtleneck collar and sleeves and even a cute little sculpted necktie if you’re looking for that sort of outfit.

I opted for a sweet little texture-only blouse from Boho Baku called the lil lace boho crop top. In this day and age its lack of prim collar, sleeves, ties, etc make it a bit of a throwback, but the texturing is delicate, feminine and charming. I recommend it highly for something to wear under a prim sweater or jacket.

Where Does She Get Those Wonderful Toys:

Womens Natural Barefeet (Mesh Rigged) – L$675
Slink
Creator: Siddean Munro

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sanctum/84/94/503

Maitreya Gold Bare Feet (Flat or Tip Toes) – L$675 each
Maitreya
Creator: Onyx LeShelle

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Maitreya%20Isle/207/165/26

Schoolgirl – Mesh skirt – L$299
Stellar
Creator: Lexi Morgan

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rigby/163/211/24

Lil lace boho crop top – L$124
Boho Baku
Creator: Twill Tymets

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kierman/215/219/21

“He was no dragon. Fire cannot kill a dragon.” ~ Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen (via Jane Espenson, David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and/or George R.R. Martin)

Daenerys Targaryen Tames the Drakyns

It all started innocently enough. Sax Shepherd Designs finally released their Animated Drakyn companions and I wanted to write a follow-up to my video blog preview. Lately due to fever, I’d been catching up on Game of Thrones. Yes, I know, Martin lacks a certain amount of creative talent and is devoid of any gift with prose… and he blatantly steals draws significant inspiration from every major fantasy series that came before his, but HBO and Jane Espenson pairing was enough to make me give it a go.

And of course, the moment I realized I had pet dragons to play with, I had to play dress up as Daenerys Targaryen.

Large Drakyn

I really didn’t think it would be so hard. And it started well. I took a trip to Truth and a purchased two “light blonde” packs — one that would suit the character and one that would allow for proper display of jewelry and upper body purchases. That took two minutes. Next, I remembered that my Shiny Things Boho Sandals are still awesome and up to par for even a Dothraki khaleesi. Next, for the trappings, I thought, no problem. In writing his novels, Martin leaned on existing fantasy tropes like a drunk on a sagging bar, and as we all know, John Norman’s Gorean environments thrive in Second Life. So I’ll just find some Tuchuk/She-Urt/Panther wrappings and be done.

Daenerys Targaryen Outfit

Three hours later, I finally had an outfit I felt comfortable with. Before I continue, it’s important to realize that I am both spoiled and picky. I don’t spend a lot of time in stores that fall below market standards these days, and a vast majority of creators for fantasy/costume wear of this sort are not up to the standard a fashion blogger would be accustomed to. Items do not come on multiple layers. Resizing scripts (if they exist) are badly scripted and not as customer-friendly as the more current offerings. Skirts in general are skirts only in the sense that they go around the hips and sort of dangle. The vast majority of “skirts” offered in the Gorean costume markets I visited were just badly textured scraps of flex prims. But that’s okay because most of the tops covered only a single breast if you were lucky. I get the impression the avatars that purchase these types of outfits aren’t wearing them for long or for the purpose of taming dragons.

The bulk of the outfit above comes from Torvis Gorean Weapons and Bina.

Let’s go over the Torvis stuffs first. The top was the main reason for the purchase, but the outfit seemed a background offering meant to be a bonus for the sale of the dagger included in the outfit (at least the dagger seemed to be the main focus of the advertising). The full skirt is actually better done than most, but it’s no-mod and the resizing scripts were obnoxious. Because of this, I couldn’t get the belt narrow enough for my hips without exposing my ass. So, I shopped and shopped and shopped until I found something else. Also, the top by itself exposed my left breast. Because it’s on the shirt layer (and only the shirt layer) it was a little frustrating to mix and match with.

Yes, I know. If I were using 2.0 it wouldn’t matter because I could have multiple things on the same layer. Imprudence isn’t offering that yet.

Daenerys Targaryen Support Outfits

On the left is the “Tende Slave Rags” outfit from Bina. Bina is one of the very few stores I visited that offered what I consider to be market-worthy products. Their prims were nicely done and nicely textured. There was some creativity in the pieces offered and most of them were on multiple layers. For medieval costuming, Bina and Vigo, were the best costumers I found (although nothing at Vigo struck me for this outfit – maybe a later entry). They’re not quite up to the quality of Evie’s Closet, but they’re close with lots of potential. The slave rags outfit has what may be the best all-prim waist sarong ever. It’s modify and copy (I re-tinted it in the previous photo) so the right textures could make it perfect for a swimsuit wrap for your beachy wear. Or, if you wanna play a little “You Tarzan, Me Jane” in the backyard, this outfit works for that, too.

On the right is the “Panther Scout” outfit from May Tolsen of May’s Soul. I wanted this for the leather straps that go around the top (they are a different layer from the shirt beneath) to hide the previously mentioned exposed breast. Unfortunately they only came on the shirt layer (suddenly, I’m shopping in SL 2007). I IMed May and she was an absolute sweetheart. She uploaded them for me on an undershit layer and then fought with me over trying to pay her for her time (I think she finally let me give her L$250 over the cost of the outfit, which is not NEARLY enough for a custom request, but some designers are just too kind for their own good).

And I was *so close* to being done.

Daenerys Targaryen Jewelry

Luckily I knew just where to go for jewelry. Previously, I had discovered TRIDENT while seeking dock supplies for the Freudian Slip. These “Lunnuitsa” bronze and ivory pieces are beyond perfect. I’ve always loved ivory, but it’s, of course, reprehensible to own any in reality. So being able to slip some on in the pixel is a nice treat. Plus, wearing bone helps keep the drakyns under thumb. If they get cheeky you can just tell them you’ll make a necklace out of them.

Where Does She Get Those Wonderful Toys?

Drakyn Animated Dragons – L$1475
Sax Shepherd Designs – Here Be Drakyns
Creator: Sax Shepherd
SLURL

SHAYNA PACK (Top & Big Skirt) – L$375
TORVIS GOREAN WEAPONS
Creator: Torvis Rainfall
SLURL

Panther Scout – L$250
May’s Soul
Creator: May Tolsen
SLURL

Lunnuitsa Necklace & Earrings – L$350 / L$250
TRIDENT
Creator: Rossana Llewellyn
SLURL

Tende Slave Rags – L$365
Bina
Creator: Cymoril Lightfoot
SLURL

Boho Sandals – L$250
Shiny Things
Creator: Fallingwater Cellardoor
SLURL

“The only constant is change.” ~ Heraclitus

I decided to see what the oldest outfits were that I could find in my inventory. In preparing for a new culling, it was fun to take one or two last shots in some of my favorites.

Hint: If your avatar looks in any way like these photos, you are sporting 2005 pixel vanity. Upgrade now. You may think it makes you seem cool and aloof, but it really just makes you outdated and out of touch.
Extra Hint: If the stuff you are making looks anything like these photos, stop, drop and skill up (this means *you* hair designers).

It’s worth noting that I no longer seem to have my old glasses, eyes, or stockings from that era, so I’m sportin’ current eyes and glasses and sans stockings.

Throwback SL 2005 Look

2005: Part I
Hair: Lash Xevious (Flower Child in Bronzed)
Skin: Starley Thereian (CS Passport Skin – Paris/Brown Torrid)
Rose: Forseti Svarog (Roses For Hair – Scarlet)
Top: Nicola Escher (GK – Red/Black Lace Corset Top)
Skirt: Janie Marlowe (**Mis** Lil Ebony Ruffles)
Shoes: Fallingwater Cellardoor (Mary Jane Mules)

Throwback SL Look 2005

2005: Part II
Hair: Lash Xevious (Flower Child in Bronzed)
Skin: Starley Thereian (CS Passport Skin – Paris/Brown Torrid)
Dress: Nonna Hedges (Thank You India)
Shoes: Jackal Ennui (Taupe Brocade Mules)

“Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.” ~ Pablo Picasso

Tableau Peddler Woman

After being out of SL proper for a time, I slipped back in to tend some Sim-related tidying which I will likely be blogging about tomorrow or the next day. However, since I was already en pixel, I decided to traipse over to the oft-blogged Tableau Spring Color Event which started on 3/28. My main goal was to pick up the Tres Blah Mexican Peasant Dress which has already been blogged to death. But while I was there, I found a darling little number tucked into one of the outskirtting trailers that houses Surf Couture‘s wares.

Surf Couture - Somer Dress

The sight of this Somer Dress (which only appears to come in Goldenrod and Tomato) might not affect younger shoppers in the same way it did me. You have to be a child of the 70s for this dress to bring back memories of mini-Tupperware tea parties. When I was little, Tupperware was indestructible and came in four main “harvest” colors. My favorite was the one I referred to as “golden squash” — I suppose because the cheery yellow complimented a sunshine girl who spent hours setting a small table in the backyard with pecan sandies and grape Kool-aid while forcing the most tolerant dachshund in the world to wear a baby doll bonnet to take high tea with her (high tea requires bonnets, this is an axiom). The child-sized mini-set was one of my favorite toys. Unlike my expensive dolls or the fine china tea set that had been passed on for five generations, Tupperware could get left out in the rain, the sun, the rain again, get half-buried (by aforementioned dachshund) and yet only require a quick rinse before it was ready for bonnets and high tea again.

Simple and perfect, much like this little dress.

Like most items that rely heavily on sculpt prims, there is some compromise in the movement aspects. And if your avatar is small-waisted there is the usual grumble of butt-cheek poking through the back when you size the skirt small enough to fit your waist. And, for the record, I have a modest bottom, so if you’re a boom boom in the back type gal with a small waist, this dress will likely not be your friend.

The compromise, however, is worth the little quirks. The shape and shading is tended with care and creates a lovely overall effect. The sleeveless top also has a sculpted bodice fold that would do Carol Brady proud and provides the perfect touch of dimension to compliment the textured buttons and seams on the system top.

Bow Soiree Platform Wedges

Interestingly, I had no golden shoes in my inventory so I trotted around the Tableau a bit and found the Bow Soiree Platform Wedges which are eye candy crack. How much do I love these? Well, let me put this in perspective. I hate 90% of all wedges because, you know, I’m not a stripper and I don’t want to play one on TV. Also, they require you to lapse back into the horror of system feet. And finally, I have a hard rule about buying shoes in colors I am unlikely to ever wear again. Despite those three strikes, I didn’t hesitate to squeak “mine” and tackle the damn things. They won me with their squee-tastic charms. It doesn’t hurt that they are deftly sculpted and richly textured.

Shopping fix accomplished.

Where Does She Get Those Wonderful Toys?

Somer Dress (Shown in Goldenrod)
L$175
Surf Couture (Emma Gilmour)

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tableau/205/244/23

Bow Soiree Platform Wedges (Shown in Honey)
L$400
Paper Couture (Cici Vonderheide)

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tableau/171/63/23