Ophelia's Gaze on Second Life Summer Swim Wear: Tank Tops, Sun Burned Skins, and Other Ocean Accessories

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

All good things must come to an end. It's been swell (surfing pun intended) but today I give you the very last of my summer swim wear articles. I've covered one piece swimsuits, bikinis (here, here, and here), trunks for the guys, and wetsuits for the athletes. What's left? Well I have to admit that the last category I've picked is a bit of a cheat. It's not so much swim wear as beach wear. I really wanted to highlight the Sheer Knit by mirai Jun of Cubic Effect [SLurl] (pictured on the left) and the Tank Top with Sunglasses by cocoro Lemon of COCO [SLurl] (pictured on the right). Both are well-made beach basics, augmented by the designers' skillful use of sculpties.

Since this is my final installment, I've squeezed some extra accessories in as a bonus (including something many of us might be leaving the beach with in RL). Check them out after the cut!

Tote bags are essential for hauling your sunscreen and trashy novels in. The one pictures is from Tres Blah [SLurl] by Juliette Westerburg who has released various permutations of it for promotions and sale. Another essential is a wide-brimmed sunhat, like this one from Gos [SLurl] by Gospel Voom, which has a texture change script that allows for a lot of variation to match almost any outfit you can throw at it. It is also a gorgeous example of how far sculpties and texture baking can take an accessory in SL, down to the little label on the end of the scarf.

But what if you forget your hat and your sunscreen? I love Riq Graves' sunburned tattoo layers for viewer 2.0 from Reek [SLurl], which has various tanline options (since most guys likely wouldn't want a bikini top burned onto their skin) and other realistic shading variations and voids, as though you really had been laying out just a little too long. If you're not really in to the novelty of virtual sunburn though, you might want to grab CK Winx's Skinburner (not pictured) for L$1 at his store, Luck Inc [SLurl]. This tattoo layer will darken your skin a couple shades, like you spent a more well-timed afternoon in the sun-- though it may not look as good with some skins as with others. Either way, for L$1 it's definitely worth checking out!

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.

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[Ajax Manatiso]

Now that we've covered sunburns, its time for skin with heat rash, herpes, and strange green foot fungus