New World Notes

Tomorrow in Second Life, The Post-Apocalypse Becomes a Fashion Show

Thereafter could be the name of a zombie RPG or for that matter the new name of New Jersey after the 2nd US Civil War, but since it's set in Second Life, it's something somewhat different: A fashion showcase and party where all the stylish kids will come! Yes:

Thereafter is a Second Life theater, music and sales event celebrating humanity and society in a post-apocalyptic world.  Join us as some of SL’s most cherished content creators contribute exclusive items that provide the backdrop and costuming for live theater events set in a post-apocalyptic, Shakespearean environment. Highly regarded live musicians and DJs are scheduled to honor the favored and familiar sounds of a post-apocalyptic world.

Go here for event details and teleport link starting Noon PST tomorrow. Get there soon, because if our civic infrastructure collapses into chaos, you're going need new fashion tips.

Cajsa's Choices: Six Stylish SL Fashion Photags with Composite Couture

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

The composite of three or four fashion shots pulled together is a standard in Second Life fashion blogging, but Tea Peony (above and below) takes it to a new level. Her composites include different delicious angles that highlight details with narrow and wide slices.

She creates a mood that is fun, cheeky, and she never forgets that the point is highlighting the clothing and accessories. Her blog can be found at Hitchhikers Guide to Second Life.

Mokotana Boa is another fashion blogger who demonstrates how in one image, she can highlight individual details and show the fashions not only in the best possible light, but also project an individual style that makes her work instantly recognizable. I like how she samples three colors and creates a palette for each photo.

She also can lend those same talents to non-fashion decor items as you can see in the photo above. This Road Trip composite from Mokotana Boa is fabulous combination of the sideview mood shot and the details people want to see. She brands photos with her blog logo, but her real brand is her distinctive style. Her blog can be found at Moka's Way.

More masters of composite pics below!

To Survive, Second Life's Modeling Industry Must Modernize and Be Less Drama-Filled Than the RL Modeling Industry (Comments of the Week)

Really interesting conversation over last Friday's post on how mesh has helped contribute to the decline of Second Life's modeling industry. According to SL fashion blogger Alaska Metropolitan (above), SL agencies must transcend the technical limitations of Second Life as a platform and leverage social media more:

I think for the SL model agency to survive in modern times, they'd need to really take a look at what they're offering. In times past, a fashion show was a fun way to showcase an entire collection on release. That doesn't happen so much anymore. It's fast fashion now ;-) with lots of event releases. Fashion shows still make sense for shopping events, charity auctions, etc. But the max number of folks that could TP in and watch a show live hasn't changed! It's still really low. To get lots of virtual eyeballs on a brand, agencies could do more video production, catalogues and lookbooks, etc. I feel like part of the decline is just an industry that didn't innovate as much as it could have.

Reader "Dusky" argues that the real challenge is not so much mesh, as the culture around SL modeling, which seems pretty much like its real life counterpart, except maybe with a little less cocaine and anorexia:

Have Mesh Avatars Destroyed Second Life's Modeling Industry?

That's one of the pretty provocative point of a post by Moni, responding to a provocative YouTube video by SL fashion model Christa Wellens (below), who summarizes and responds to it this way:

Friday SL Flickr Fashion Photo With Sloth Fashion Accessory

May all your fashion come with gratuitous sloths. Let Mericat Ireland tell you about hers:

SL Fashion Ad Photo to Rival the Best RL Fashion Ads

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Skip Staheli's stunning Second Life-based image is actually an advertisement for the SL brand Blacklace and features a dramatic pose from DeePosed, and for my money, it's better than any actual fashion photo from Vanity Fair or any other thick perfume sample-smelly magazine you'd care to crack. (Featuring SL supermodel and spouse Delinda Staheli.) Yes there's surely heavy post-processing going on in this image, but then again, RL fashion photos are even more notorious about Photoshop and pretend they're not. Click to Staheli's page embiggenate.

Great Virtual Cosplay: Harley & Joker Suicide Squad

Hardly anyone seems to like Suicide Squad (except the actual audience) but at least it inspired this great Second Life cosplay of The Joker and Harley Quinn by Roman Godde -- click to embiggenate.

Virtual Hair Benefit for Wigs for Kids Non-Profit

Hair Fair 2016 is now running in Second Life, an annual extravaganza fundraiser in which all proceeds from sales of virtual hair are converted into real cash to benefit Wigs for Kids, a three decade-old non-profit providing, as the site explains, "Hair Replacement Systems and support for children who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, Alopecia, Trichotillomania, burns and other medical issues at no cost to children or their families."

Go here for all the links and virtual hair for sale. For further inspiration, here's a Flickr pool of Hair Fair submissions on display (where I got the one above, from Carley Benazzi).

Top SL Fashion Brand Developing Project in High Fidelity

Well this is an interesting tweet that High Fidelity founder Philip Rosedale retweeted today:

We are preparing something for @highfidelityinc #VR #VirtualReality #elvencity #HTCVive #3D #blueberry pic.twitter.com/NFA2wK4jCd

— Gizem Mishi Akin (@blueberrymishi) July 19, 2016

Gizem Mishi Akin is associated with the insanely popular Second Life fashion brand known as Blueberry. Unless I missed it, this is the first well-known SL brand that's publicly announced a project in High Fidelity (let alone Linden Lab's Project Sansar.)

Insanely Diverse & Diversely Fantastic SL Fashion Blog

Blanche's Randomity from Blanche Foxclaw is a very well-named SL fashion blog, because it is definitely a cornucopia of random scenes, each pretty unique and impressive, and there's just dozens and dozens. This screencap above is just a tiny sample: Go to her homepage, click on a thumbnail for the embiggened image and credits for each item.

Thanks to Sophee Mojo for the tip!