Ophelia's Gaze: What Scarlet, Kate, and Angelina Would Wear If The Oscars Were Held In Second Life

 

Exclusive to NWN, Iris Ophelia's ongoing showcase of all things stylish in SL

I've never really been someone who follows annual awards ceremonies closely, but even I can feel the buzz in the air today. Many Residents hold Oscar parties in Second Life, and that's not surprising. Where else is it easier to pull together a glamorous starlet look within a few minutes? If you're looking for something to wear tonight, here's four outfits, three of which are presented in avatars inspired by some of the most stylish stars in Hollywood: Scarlett Johansson, Kate Winslet, and Angelina Jolie.*

Keep reading for my red carpet picks!

While Angelina Jolie usually wears far more simple dresses than this one, there was no way I was going to write this article without including one of Nicky Ree's versatile outfits. This is the Florence Gown, and while I've chosen to wear the Svelte with Train version, there are other skirt options, including a full ball gown.

Now there are a few rules that a prudent starlet should adhere to when dressing for the Oscars, and one of those is definitely to avoid taking up the whole press area with a massive dress. The best Oscar dresses are fairly sleek (and ideally at floor length). Florence is available in tons of brilliant colors, but to honor Angelina's usually simple palette, I opted for a classic black.

If you're interested in more gowns like Nicky Ree's, you should definitely check out some other formalwear staple stores like Simone! and Blaze. Her skin is Makeup 12 from Mallory Cowen's Elin line, available at Laqroki, which I chose because of its highly textured lips. The hairstyle, also from Laqroki, is Raven, which is a shiny, wavy ponytail. Formal, but still simple enough to do Angelina's style justice.

Scarlett Johansson is probably one of the most gorgeous women in the world right now, and it's incredibly hard to do her justice. For her look I wanted to keep to light, warm colors, and I found myself torn between several dresses at Paper Couture. If you're not familiar with Paper Couture, it's a brand run by the Lu sisters (Ava, Cora, Mare, Mimi, and Prue) that I can only really describe as being somewhere between handpainted fashion, designer tribute, and performance art.

The Lu's are heavily invested in their personas, and they create/recreate some truly stunning outfits. If you're a fan of photorealistic clothing, Paper Couture is probably not for you... but you should try it anyway, because otherwise you will miss out on some striking creations. That's another rule for the red carpet-- be memorable! The dress shown is Gilded Peach and Gold, which I've accessorized with the Juicy Classic Pumps in orange by Elven Dreamscape of Juicy, and the Organic Earrings by Natsuko Paravane of Swallowtail. I chose the Nina hair from SixtyNine by Kumii Yoshikawa because of its glossyness and lightly tousled look, though I admit the highlighting is a bit too dramatic to be properly like Scarlett's hair. The skin shown is Mink, on the Vixen face from Gala Phoenix's new line, which was released at Curio yesterday.

Kate Winslet has been a hot topic lately with the tabloids accusing her of being too fat and not fat enough at the same time. I think Kate's curves are perfect, so I chose a dress that follows suit with some of her past dress choices, but also highlights her healthy figure. I'm still in love with Kotobuki Jewell's store, Bijou, so I chose her Reflection Gown in aqua, since Kate tends to wear a lot of blue and near-sweetheart necklines.

The hair shown is Caitlin by Truth Hawks of Truth, pleasantly wavy and simple. I didn't want to distract from the neckline with a pendant, but decided to add a little glitz with the Amber Golden Earrings by cute Laville of Acid. Acid is one of my favourite stores, but unfortunately all of the jewelry has bling, so if you don't know how to kill a bling script, the store can be a bit of a heartbreaker (unless you like bling...). The skin was probably the easiest choice I had to make for my Kate look. I chose the Rosa makeup from Chai, by Launa Fauna, because these skins are not hard-edged and down to the bone, but rather soft and full. No jutting ribcade shading, no razor-sharp cheeks! These skins deserve extra appreciation for that alone.

My own Oscar look probably breaks a few rules, but I just couldn't stay away from this dress, Calangute, by Zaara Kohime of Zaara. The colors really stand out, for one thing. This particular dress is in apricot, but the green and blue belting gave me a little more room to play with my makeup and shoe choices, and even my nails. All the nails shown in this article are prim nails from Love Soul by BlueStarRUI Villota, a store which specializes in nail art from the simple to the criminally elaborate, as well as selling Pose Nails, which allow you to pose the prim nails to fit the pose your hand is in. No more hovering prims if you want an extra long french manicure in SL! I've been so excited about these nails that I haven't been able to take them off all weekend. Also shown are the Verve Pumps from Maitreya, as well as one of their new hairstyles, Piper II. Though they're not as visible as Kate's, I'm wearing the blue HOOP Earrings from Je veux, by sucreee Menges, as well as another of Gala's Vixen skins, Limon.

*The shapes shown in the Angelina, Scarlett, and Kate celebrity looks are made by Haver Cole, and they will be available as non-modifiable freebies at her store, Lemon, after tonight. And don't forget, prim lashes will be your best friend for those perfect starlet eyes! If you're unfamiliar with them, try a pair of Keri Flip's eyelashes from Detour.

Iris Ophelia has been featured in the New York Times and has spoken about SL-based design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.