No More Backward Glances...

I've decided I want to live in the present, no more backward glances. I feel very frustrated trying to remember exactly the process of something I've done in here, so I think I'm going to try for immediacy..so if I buy a frock and I love it, I want to review it that day or the next, not create a bunch of folders where there is a lot of backed up stuff I'd like to review but I acquired ages ago.


So I recently bought three outfits from Karma's Destiny (I'm about to tp to their store inworld; wearing one of the outfits,) and I've had varying success with them that I think I'll write about. (Note: Store no longer at inworld location.)

On the whole I've loved looking at what she has on offer for awhile; and the one outfit I had; "My Spanish Rose" is exquisite and I love it,.So I was excited to see she had three of four pieces based on the Anna Valerious character from Van Helsing; including four versions of Anna's basic battle gear; two with red velvety looking corset, red Romanian embroidered shirt, leather pants, embroidered black Romanian shirt (The colour of the embroidery, not the shirt,) one leather corset with buckles and one other corset of unknown material. etc.. The jacket has always been my favorite part of her outfits, so I was happy to see one of them rendered pretty close to the movie version (she tends to "base" her designs on movie costumes.) So I picked one and bought it. At 400L it was a little on the expensive side, but as that is basically 2 pounds it's not exactly breaking the bank.

Luckily I've been getting better and better at editing and my friend; Madame X had just suggested I stretch some sleeves which weren't working, so now I know you can stretch clothing items, too! This is a revelation,  because two of the three items I bought needed extensive editing to make them work..I've been doing a lot of editing lately, putting things in a house or two and working on repositioning hats on my head on top of wigs, etc..

Anyway, the basic elements of the outfit were going really well, but  then I put on the jacket; which comes in five parts; the torso, upper sleeves and lower sleeves. The torso was fine, but the sleeves were awful. This outfit would have proved useless if I hadn't been practicing so much editing lately. Basically, there were big gaps which showed the blouse underneath on the sleeves. So I started stretching or expanding, really the sleeves so that the jacket would fit me. It took a lot to finally get rid of the holes, and I'm not sure I like the way it turned out, but it is better than it was.

So here it is, the final product. As you can see, the sleeves are slightly askew, giving a slight hunchback effect, but as soon as I evened them up that was taken care of. I've bought another version of this outfit to try, but until I've had a chance to edit them as well, this is the only review I have. So on to other news:

For the last three months I've only posted about once a month. This is because I've gotten quite busy with a couple of land projects. The first was just a private house for my own use, though I wanted to have some fetes, balls and a weekly salon there as well. All this editing came in handy as I was furnishing the place.
I got so into all this I've gone through three seperate houses and started creating my own sim. This is taking up most of my time.
Hopefully I'll get to posting more; especially about the progress on the sim, etc..But who knows, I need to write about what excites me at the moment!

Goodbye to The New Champagne Rooms

This is a tribute to the many nights I have spent with that ladies of the New Champagne Rooms in Seraph City; who had their last night Thursday.

One of the most tasteful and glamourous places on Second Life; the NSR just celebrated their 4 year anniversary and their closing on the same night. I loved dressing up and going to the shows there. Everyone was always friendly, the women were lovely and the hosts were attentive.  I wished as I sat there on the last night that all the people who turned up for the closing had come around a bit more often recently. I also feel that live sound would have gone very far in improving the show, and that a more aggressive marketing strategy might've brought more people into the club. I always felt the place was under utilized; with a lovely ambiance and a balcony and second floor with dancing; the club basically closed after the burlesque show was over. I always wished they would keep a host there and expand  into a dance club after the show. Perhaps these changes might have allowed the club to remain open, but since I am not aware of the circumstances which caused the closure of the establishment, I shouldn't speculate.

The last night was obviously well thought out, with a live performer, a DJ, and invitations going out several days before the event. The club was closed by a "police raid" at the end of the evening. We all ran for the secret exit behind the bookcase, through the basement and into the underground sewer system. The sight of all these well dressed people running down the sewer tunnels had me laughing for quite awhile. the police were somewhat effective and "caught"several people.


I was lucky enough to have my good friend; Kit Guardian with me for conversation; as I had no sound, and I even participated in the "best of Jazz " costume contest and the local chat a fair bit. Dita won the contest (no big surprise, there.) From what I could tell the music was excellent, and everyone had a great time.

I will sorely miss getting dolled up to go there, and most particularly, I will miss watching the talented Subversive Vavoom (otherwise known as Dita) and Annyanka Delphin; the two most talented ladies in the place.  I will miss the balcony most of all, I think; where I've danced beneath the stars.. and I will treasure my maracas forever..

An Interlude

Before I get into the big blog article on the 18th century look, I thought a quick post about a recent adventure was in order; particularly since I have an amusing experience to recount and the pictures to go with it.

At the ball. I am wearing Ephemera, Madame X is in a gown by Arundel.

I was with Madame X, as usual; and I/we decided to attend a ball at a private estate residence that I'd managed to get a last minute  invitation to. We got all dressed up and went and after standing around for a bit, (yawn,) I suggested that we dance; and as there was a shortage of male partners; that we dance with each other. After I convinced her that we weren't breaking any period etiquette or other rules, we proceeded to have a pretty good time whirling around each other. After awhile I got really bored, however, so I asked Madame X if she wanted to take a tour of the place with me. I'd seen a sign at the entrance indicating a path to the "Winery," and I thought we should have a look. So we went for a walk on the balcony and ended up at the front entrance again, where we followed a stony path to a waterfront.

Some adorable little raccoons we encountered on the path. Aren't they brilliant??

We saw a rather large whale cavorting in the waves. Well, you can imagine what an experience that was, but we continued walking and after a bit we discovered a large building with an huge barrel filled up with grapes in front of it. Now it never would have occured to me to do this, but Madame X is fearless and before I knew what she was about, she was in the barrel jumping around and waving her arms in a most vigorous manner; pressing the grapes! Well, I tried jumping in, but it didn't work, so finally she told me to right click and select "sit here," which I did and sooner than you can say; "Reisling" I was in there jumping around like Lucy with Ethel!

Lucy and Ethel smashing grapes in the winery.

Soon we were laughing so hard tears were practically running down our faces. You'll notice it resembles the dancing quite a bit, rather amusing. I don't know if we broke any rules or anything, but it certainly was brilliant fun. Needless to say, I've chalked this one up as one of our more interesting experiences in second life.

Another disaster. Madame X and I at the bottom of the ocean where I crashed one of my new planes.
I am wearing the Amelia Earheart outfit by Reasonable Desires.

I still have some odd vehicles to show her so we can have some more bizarre adventures. A few planes, a huge roadster, and I'm sure she's found more as well. (As she is wont to do..)

Not exactly the right outfit to wear to drive an early twentieth century roadster.
From the second life marketplace under "vehicles 0L - 10L."

Who knows, maybe one day we will have an OOC (out of character) "Odd Vehicle Race" with other people who love dressing up..! Sounds like brilliant fun.

 It does seem to be a little competition we have going in a way; "who has found the weirdest/coolest most bizarre free/cheap vehicle in second life and how dressed up can we get to drive/fly/sink it???"  In all events, it's glorious fun and I look forward to many more.  I still have not had a chance to show her my free Millenium Falcon!  I wonder if it's a two seater?

Back to the Beginning

"Fezzig said, 'Go back to the beginning,' and this is the beginning."  ~ The Princess Bride

Various "Freebie" clothes and hair.

(In which I continue to thoroughly embarrass myself by showing my earliest attempts at creating my character in second life.)

So, continuing on with the story of my character and it's transformations...

I often wonder; with all the choices in Second Life, of who, (or what,) I could become, how did I end up looking so much like myself? I find it very amusing. I believe we were discussing this in an earlier post. Considering my goal is to create a persona and inhabit it in a virtual world; I could literally be a demon or a small fuzzy animal, (or a LARGE fuzzy animal,) a man, (done that,)a car hop, a piece of Swiss cheese, (only kidding,)a horned monster, a vampire,(done that,) or a seven foot tall banana. Considering my choices, becoming a red haired human with extremely creamy pale skin, green eyes, occasional glasses, a largish crooked nose and small lips would seem to be a little close to reality. 



Necklace by Virtual Impressions, forehead jewel by Grim Brothers, Fur by Icing, dress by Nicky Ree, hair by Ingenue



My look was determined in the beginning by the things I assumed I would be doing in Second Life. I thought for sure I would be engaged in some kind of steampunk scenario, or at least, Victorian role play of some kind. I ended up spending a lot of time in an Industrial/Goth club called Industrial Dreams, so I invested in clothes I wanted to wear there and in looking the way I wanted to look there. I always wore unusually over the top outfits to clubs in real life; so my sl wardrobe was similar; bustles, corsets, hats, period clothing of many kinds.




Bustle Gown by the Curious Seamstress


There was still, however, an awful lot of "all dressed up with no where to go," and I really needed some more to do than just walk around and change into different clothes. I visited the Legacies rp sim, without success, I also went to a few different clubs; but seemed to be going at the wrong times. Industrial Dreams was still a lot of fun, but I certainly wasn't going to create a club kid as my project! I had been walking around Languedoc Coeur for awhile and I managed to get on their events list. I went to one of the monthly balls where I danced with a nice young man. I also met a couple of the vendors as they sat in their shops. It was a start.

In the meantime the thirties had gotten a hold of me and I was going to The New Champagne Rooms whenever there was a show, plus I tried out Bogart's many times; hoping it was hiding some magic. Champers is a great place. The people are really friendly and the show is a genuine treat. I went to Weimar Berlin, but found I was too tall and it was too empty. I also visited several sims where I could be a Geisha; even one which offered virtual Geisha training!



Satin Top and skirt by Vita Bella, wig by Cut Up and Dyed, fur by Donna Flora

A friend mentioned Versailles in one of our chats; so I decided to visit. (As described in an earlier post.) I also visited St. Petersburg; and found it charming. But I still wasn't sure (and am not yet,) that either place was going to be for me. But the 18th century was/is growing on me.  So, we come almost to the present.

Gown by Ephemera, "Victoire" Wig by Yoohoo

Next: Of Courtiers and Kings ; How to get the 18th century look - I'll be talking about the search for an 18th century made-up look, along with the requirements for proper powdered wig and make-up for the Grand Habit de la Cour in role playing in Versailles - information applicable to both  Men and Women.




Gown by Ephemera, Portrait Miniature Brooch by Westbuitin, Animated Fan by Cherie, "Antoinette" wig

 



Back to My Future

Well, getting back to the present for a bit; I'm getting closer to a persona bit by bit, as I spend time in various places in sl and interact with the people there.

One of the places/periods (18th century: circa 1772) I'm spending a lot of time in is Versailles. The most unexpected things can happen there. Yesterday I bumped into this little guy:



A beautifully rendered little French bulldog named Bernard


His name is "Bernard" and he seems to be fond of lingering on the path between the teleport point/kiosk  and the outdoor market in Versailles. Dogs like this were beloved of Marie Antoinette, and consequently, the rest of the court. I'm assuming he's a french bulldog, and if you've seen the Sophia Coppola film; "Marie Antoinette" you'll remember that when Marie first comes to France from Austria, her beloved dog is taken from her because it is Austrian and she may not bring anything with her from a foreign court. Marie Antoinette was so fond of her dogs that she had her furniture legs and arms carved with little dogs' heads. Some of this furniture survived the revolution and can still be seen today.







Ladies of the court; one with an adorable little dog. The lady on the far left with her back to us
is me; wearing Ephemera. the lady in the middle is also wearing Ephemera. Other clothing unknown.


The first picnic I went to was attended by a young man who designs lovely jewelled portraits, sedan chairs and furniture, including little baroque dog beds. He had a little French bulldog with him, and  one of the ladies at the Charity Ball and Auction later the same week also had a dog.  You see him in her arms above; a truly sweet little dog. One of the coolest things I discovered in second life is that you can have realistic, virtual pets; as well as horses, cattle, rabbits, tigers, ferrets, etc. As I am not allowed pets where I live and also have always wanted to ride horses this is a very welcome discovery. The type of pets one had in the 18th century were similar in a way to the modern woman with her toy chihuahua. One's status is inferred by the clothes one wears and the pets one has. In the virtual world some pets require feeding and attention to be kept alive. I hope this is optional! I don't want to spend too much time worrying about an animal. I'm too busy shopping! Terrible, I know.



Late for a ball, I take the opportunity to take some images in a new gown from Ephemera.
Wig "Antoinette" by Canelle, fan by Cherie, Winter Fairy skin by Rag Dollz 

 Back to my future; I've now attended several court events and interacted with the courtiers there. Every time a serious one comes up I have a little excited/nervous flutter. The first few events I made some mistakes. The first one was showing up without a character and expecting to be able to role play; though this did not completely prevent it. A few people took pity on me; and unexpected things happened. I met a few people. I made a new friend. And one of the scarier, (and I mean this in the nicest way,) characters said something very nice about me when she thought I was out of hearing.

I then attended an event where the King was present and neglected to notice in the dress notes that a powdered wig and face are de rigour in his presence. I was wearing a huge natural coloured wig with an even huger hat with many ribbons. I couldn't see a thing and I was trying to back out of the tent. No luck. The King had sent an IM telling me about the wig requirement, and I was trying to make an inconspicuous getaway. I finally teleported out and went somewhere to change, but by the time I got back the party was breaking up and the King was either gone or about to be. At least I found out what I need to look like to be in the Kings presence!

At the charity ball in a dress by Ephemera, fan by Cherie, Äntoinette"wig by Canelle, sleeve, neck ruffles and chest ribbons from Trefusis

I was, however,able to attend several events, and I met several more people, in Versailles, Languedoc and St. Petersburg. I've now been accepted onto the online web site for the court of Versailles and I'm getting their announcements on second life, as well. I think they are expecting me to become a part of their court. I'm not certain that's what I want. It's not that I won't end up doing that, it's just that the character is still developing and I'm not certain that 's what it will want. I have to follow what the character wants.

For me, the psychology of character personification is complex. I usually prefer non-historical personages; but I have done a couple of real individuals; Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal; the poet and painter, and Mary Shelley; the author of Frankenstein. In each case, opportunity coincided with intellectual interest to encourage me to pursue this type of character, but usually, I go with a successive number of creative inspirations such as films, books, chance encounters, etc. Usually it's sort of a build up of coincidence which then inspires a tiny flame of a character. If this inspiration can be sustained through all the work that goes into character building, then I have a new persona.

The same seems to be holding true for second life. A desire to be a certain type of individual is emerging. It is coalescing; coming into focus.. Before I went online I had great interest in pursuing an 18th century character for a friends' role playing group. I bought yards and yards of ribbon and fabric to make up a wardrobe for her and watched every 18th century film I had over and over. I started reading about society in the period and practiced a french accent and the bit of french I have left over from school. (By the way, watch "Marie Antoinette" with the french dubbing. It's a lovely experience.) This is one of my language and accent learning methods; to watch film with dubbing in another language or in other languages. It works very well, for speaking. On sl, unfortunately, I need to be able to read and write French. And I keep misspelling Monsieur!

Wig "Äntoinette"by Canelle, headpiece by Ephemera, Gown by Wunderlich, chest
ribbons by Trefusis

Anyway, I'm at last feeling a distinct personality. This is a great sign. I've researched one historical personage I either want to become or I may base the character on her. I'll write about it more as I decide or feel out where it's going. I don't want to tip my hand. The ideal thing would be to be able to move between several  places. I think she may be a little more independent than she ought to be, but I think I need that.

And with that...

The First Time My Avatar Looked at Me - My attempts at a unique face and figure...Part One

The default "Female Gothic" avatar. 

Going back to the beginning, I have to say I was only too happy to change out of the default avatar you pick when you first join Second Life. Not that they aren't serviceable in their way, but I wanted to express who I was as quickly as possible. Trying to trace back exactly where I got my first shape and skin would be impossible, so I'm just going to share early pictures and attempts to alter my avatar with you, and tell you what I can about the process, hopefully culminating in my most recent search; which was for a skin and shape to reflect the fashion in cosmetics and silhouette from the 18th century.  I'll put in the brand names of shapes, skins, hair and makeup tattoos when I can find them.   

Hanging out at a pub in Dublin; wearing all clothing from default folders, and my first or second
customized shape. Here I'm wearing an outfit I called "Wicked School Girl"

Of course, in the beginning I had no knowledge about shapes, skins, hair and eyes, but I was lucky to encounter people  right away who wanted to help. A very nice guy gave me my first pale skin; which was called "pallid fae" and also an eye package (bunch of different eyes.) I settled on a green pair of eyes and some hair  called "Trizzi Burgundy" that he also gave me and between that and innumerable freebies, as well the default freebies you get  in your inventory folders, I was able to put together my first unique looking avatars.

I also discovered quickly  that you can manipulate your shape, including your face, so I changed my facial features  and my bodily shape very early on, as well.

One of my earliest attempts at customizing my face and body. I ended up going a bit too far, here, I think.
I also customised he clothing a little bit; shortening sleeves, getting rid of collars, etc.

I should probably explain how this all works as I understand it. Your "shape" is your facial and bodily structure, your skin is skin tone and built in make-up such as lip colour and eyebrow shape. You can add make-up by using make-up "tattoos" which are added on top of the make-up embedded in the skin. Be sure to use the "add" option when using several facial tattoos; the face and head and neck are connected; a complete area, so more than one tattoo in the area could cancel each other out. With hair; you often are given a "bald head" which was created for use with that hair. This may also alter the position of the eyebrows. Sometimes you can use a head which has a hair base tattoo on it, which matches the colour of your hair/wig and makes it look seamlessly attached to your head. Also, if you are getting some bald patches on your hair it can help disguise them. You can re-size and change your hair, usually, but until you do that it's a very useful feature.





Early days, indeed. Another early face and body. Here I am wearing all free stuff,
 including the tattoos, the henna on the hands, hair, stockings, dagger, bangles
and "Female Gothic" outfit.



Incidentally, there is literally EVERY kind of hair, body type, skin colour and shape you could possibly think of; as well as some you never would. All of these things usually have complete Demo versions for free or $1L, so you can try them before you buy them. As they are often the most expensive components, it is a smart to try them first. There are also quite a lot of free skins, etc; so it is advisable to pick up as many of these as you can to build a library of possibilities. You never know if the occasion will rise to change into some kind of green fog creature or winged demon.



Getting closer to what I want. Clothes all freebies. Corset from BlakOpal. Hair from "Truth," make-up Tuty's.
Tattoos, armbands, etc, unknown.





....to be continued....

Making Friends in Second Life - The Names Have Been Changed to Protect the Innocent

"Madame X" and I in St. Petersburg, outside Catherine the Greats' palace. I am wearing a new wig "Antoinette" by Canolle (?) and a wonderful court gown from Ephemera (fantastic place.) She is wearing "Beatrice," the free St. Petersburg visitor's gown, hair unkown.

Ahhh...the pleasures of one's own company! They begin to pale after weeks of walking around beautiful places, exquisitely dressed, and all alone. So finally, after quite awhile, (or at least it seems like it,) I started to meet a few people here and there. The first real friend I met turned out to be a great shopping friend; and also someone who enjoys sharing finds and changing outfits mid chat. We tend to meet up when it's early morning for her and mid-afternoon for me. We also started going to a few events together; mostly dancing at The Vault; a place which plays early 20th century music, and The New Champagne Rooms; a very classy and refined place which features a tasteful yet exciting Burlesque show on many weekdays at 9pm sl time.

She and I were just getting out of one of those shows, quite dressed to the nines and I offered to take her on a ride on my 1917 Gorgon Motors Motorcycle.

Outside in Caledon, with my Motorcycle from Gorgon Motors; wearing a dress by Ivalde, pearls by Icing, "Lulu" hair by Sonnata Morales, Ultra High Heels by Etuo (?)

I've ridden it a bit, mostly around Caledon; a huge network of Steampunk sims. You have to be in a place where you can "rez" objects, which means take them out of your inventory and presto! you have an object; like a burning torch when you are about to go into the Phantom of the Opera's castle, (yes, there is one!) So there is a place in Caledon and also right outside Champers where you can rez your stuff and fly it, ride it, wear it or use it.
It's great fun, actually, though I am a terrible driver. Anyway, we had our slightly disastrous motorcycle ride, (at one point I drove right into an empty bar,) and then we started getting out all of our different odd vehicles and took rides on them. The funniest, which I've already posted one picture of, was riding around on a giant, stuffed looking lizard (?) which my friend;Madame X, (not her real name,) had stashed in her inventory from a sim called "Gor." I'm going to look for another picture of the lizard, (her word for it, I rather thought it looked like a dinosaur..) Ah! Found one:

Madame X and I riding the "Lizard" from Gor. She is wearing a gown from Vita Boudoir.
I am wearing a Nicky Ree gown with fur by Donna Flora.

Have you ever seen anything so silly? I have rarely laughed so hard in my life. Madame X is really good for that, I must say. She and I enjoy being goofy, which I really appreciate in a friend. It helps with the escapism to have that kind of fun sometimes, I think. I have to admit that the escapism factor is probably the main driving force behind my desire to be on second life. Doing the project is important, but I also need a distraction right now. So my new friends are wonderful for that, especially Madame X. I'm also trying to get her to go to some of the more intimidating events, (intimidating for me,) so that I have a built in support system. Perhaps not fair, trying to drag her there so I won't be scared (sorry, Madame - please forgive me!)



Flying in an unknown vehicle of Lady X's above The New Champagne Rooms, same clothing as the Lizard ride.

 She's also been extremely supportive of my efforts to put myself together. I try to be the same for her and hope I succeed. That's another thing is seems like I'm doing in sl. Sharing and helping people with dress. I've become a sort of consultant. (More about that later.) Up above we are riding in some kind of balloon or zeppelin. We also rode my personal dirigible, which I found in Caledon Victoria City for 50L. The dirigible is a kind of two person zeppelin. People create extraordinary objects to play with in sl.

"Neo" and I at The Vault. I'm wearing a Nonna Hedges gown with Donna Flora"Jessica" Fur and hair by Sonnata Morrales. Also, my skin is "Donna Intense Make-up" by Tuty's; a free skin from Mr. S. and Tuty's.

I've also met a great dance partner and friend; "Neo," who has been wonderful chatting and hanging about with. He supported me in my first attempt to join in on an event in Versailles. (I'm not using his name right now because of the nature of this post, but He's given me permission to use it, so I'll be revealing his identity eventually. He's a performer in sl, and one thing I want to do here is help promote people who do great work. So if you see a real name in here, that is usually why.) I was pretty nervous about going to this event, so having a friend there was fantastic.
Let's see if I have pictures...

At the Versailles picnic wearing gown by Ephemera, "Winter Fairy" skin by Rag Dollz with hat by Le Grenier du Chateau. Clothing on the gentleman unknown.

Well, no picture of me and Neo there, but I do have a picture of myself relaxing at the picnic, with one of the attendees. I don't have permission to show any pictures of the court, hence the absence of a face on this serene Monsieur....and the lack of anyone else in the pictures. I have to say my male friend; Monsieur Neo received a much warmer reception than I did, though I found out later I had broken some rules by attempting to role play before having an approved character; a rule I completely understand. Apparently there is a bit of a process, which is excellent. You must submit a character proposal and have it approved and until then you are requested to wear a visitor's tag and refrain from interacting with the established characters. This is fairly standard for role-playing sims. You can, however, join the announcement group before that, and therefore be aware of what is going on in that sim (simulation.) Of course, Monsieur did not go through the process either, but I believe males are a little scarce sometimes, so they were happier to see him! Eventually a few people took pity on me and talked to me a little, but things definitely improved when I sent a glass of champagne to everyone! I guess simulated champagne can help loosen people up in sl, just like rl. "/me laughs" ha ha lol he he, etc.. I should mention that one of the gentlemen there also took pity on me and IM'd me to say hello. He made the tiny portrait miniature I was wearing! I'll definitely be reviewing his work; it's spectacular.


There were many events  this last weekend; A Balloon Race in Languedoc Couer, a Royal Stag Hunt in Versailles with picnic afterwards and a charity ball. I managed the stag hunt, which was brilliant. One of the most eminent court ladies enchanted herself into a stag and was chased by the assembled nobility. This was very entertaining. You could actually rez a horse or borrow one and participate, or chase on foot with muskets to the ready. This was great to watch, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I believe it was their first one, and perhaps there will be more which will be great.

I left early, as I was very tired, and returned later, when I met this lady:

At the post Stag Hunt picnic (which was over..) in Versailles wearing a fantastic militaristic ensemble which I cannot identify, with a lovely lady in a Canolle wig which she modified herself (!)

She's new to Versailles, as well, and I think  just started the approval process thingummy. Anyway, we had a lovely conversation, and she gave me some great Landmarks to some stores, and we did a little role-playing chat. It was great fun.

Sometime during the weekend, perhaps the night before the stag hunt, I went to what I think is a monthly ball in Languedoc Couer, where I met Sophie Trefusis; of Trefusis designs, and "Mlle. Gardens."  Here I am wearing one of Sophie's gowns; "Nimue," with wig and ship (ship!) headpiece by Ephemera. The original ship wig pieces were created to honour a real ship "La Belle Poule,"  I believe. I've wanted to make one in rl  for ages, so it's really brilliant to have a virtual one.

"Nimue" Gown by Trefusis, wig and ship ornament by Ephemera, pearls by Icing.

Mlle. Gardens and I hung out for a bit after the ball. (I was looking at a house to rent.) We walked around the house a bit and chatted. Turned out she and I had a lot in common. Both interested in theatricality, clothing, aesthetics. She writes and directs plays and hopes to do some period entertainment on sl. We discussed my participating by singing in one of them, so we shall see what comes of that. I am meeting people finally who share my interests and it is very exciting. Much better than just playing dress-up and walking around shopping alone, (though I still love that!)

"Mlle. Gardens"  in an unreleased gown and wig, designer unknown. The wig is fantastic!



So this is what has been going on recently. I intend to go back in time and show you my early attempts at dress and creating an unique avatar. For now, I'm going to stick to the present, as there is a lot to catch up on. Thank you to my first followers; Lady Fandango and Apollo Weiss! I hope the trend continues. I'm getting a good number of page views, so I'm hoping more people who will enjoy the blog become followers. Also, don't forget to comment and ask questions, I'm eager to hear what you have to say.

 The black and white suit is by Trilobitewear. Hat by Jackie Graves. Weapons by Fairlight. Mask by Illusions. Hair by Sweet Hair. Accessories by the defunct and much missed Mini A*Go*Go.

Here is another new friend; "Evil Girl," wearing an ultra cool outfit which is a complete mystery to me, honestly. I call her my "flirty friend."  We've had a great time dancing and chatting; little bit of flirting. It's fun. We even swam around as mermaids for a bit, which was really a unique experience. I have pictures somewhere, let me see if I can find any of us together...

"Evil Girl" and I dancing. I'm wearing "Johnnie" a flapper frock from the Curious Seamstress, "Lulu" wig from Sonnata Morales and fur from "Guilia-black" by Donna Flora

So here we are dancing on the balcony of The New Champagne Rooms after the show the night we met (I think.) Well, we have some fun here and there and she was great to meet, so on that note, I think I'm going to put this to bed.. Goodnight all..enjoy your adventures in second life; and don't forget to have adventures in your real one!