Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion
Now that Christmas is out of the way, New Year's Eve is approaching quickly. There are only a couple days left to pick up your perfect party dress, so I have some suggestions for those of you spending the last hours of 2011 in Second Life.
Black and silver are generally my favorite colors for New Year's outfits, so League's Sequin Scoop Dress [Cick here to teleport to League in DUENDE] is a nearly perfect New Year's dress as far as I'm concerned. It can be tricky to make a convincing sequined fabric texture in SL, but this dress does a fabulous job at imitating the look of sequins on light, flowing cloth, without going overboard. The cowl, skirt, cuffs, and shoulder pieces are all prim, so you won't have to worry about the anti-mesh crowd missing out on your splendour.
However... This dress is definitely not for the fashionably faint of heart. Keep reading for a more modest (though no less stunning) alternative, as well as the details on accessories to match both ensembles!
As much as I love League's showstopping sequins, I can't blame anyone for being exhausted by the amount of cleavage that seems to always be out in SL. If nothing else it can be a nice change of pace to opt for a more classic and elegant style, like the Nolita mesh dress from Maitreya [Click here to teleport to Maitreya at MAITREYA ISLE]. This knee-length belted pencil dress comes in 4 different sizes and about a dozen different colors in case you don't share my taste in New Year's party palettes. What sets this dress apart, even in standard black, are the delicate wrinkles and folds in the mesh. These little details really bring the dress to life with even my minimalistic approach to accessorizing it.
Speaking of accessories, here are the details on all the little pieces I've used to fine tune both of these beautiful outfits:
My skin is Alyx in Nice, a gift hidden at Pink Fuel that I've talked about before. I've enhanced it with Cheap Makeup's Black Oil eyeshadow tattoo layer, which is available at Four Corners for a limited time.
- The hair shown is Wintour, one of my favorites from LeLutka.
- The silver prim nails are Oval Posing Nails by Love Soul, which can both change colors and poses to suit your mood or your snapshot.
- The necklace I'm wearing is from tres blah, available in silver and gold for a limited time at Collabor88.
- Finally, I love the look of Nardcotix's Absinthe bow-backed pumps with both of these outfits. I chose a black and white pair that I had from a limited event, but I'd also recommend this scintillating shade, Sterling, as an equally appealing alternative.
No matter which world you'll be celebrating in, I hope you have a happy new year!
Iris Ophelia (Janine Hawkins IRL) has been featured in the New York Times and has spoken about SL-based design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan and with pop culture/fashion maven Johanna Blakley.
Agreed on the amount of cleavage at times. I'm a lot more used to the amounts of cleavage we show than I was when I first landed in Second Life (a case of familiarity breeds contempt, I suppose). But it's refreshing to see the Maitreya dress, which shows that you can dress well and stylishly, and not have half of your chest hanging out (grin).
Posted by: Harper Ganesvoort | Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 10:17 PM