Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion
In the Second Life Flickrsphere, German designer and illustrator Elisandra (known as Sevenstar Amat in SL) may be one of the most underappreciated gems out there. Although die-hard fans have known and loved her for ages, the lack of comments and faves on her Flickr pics is completely criminal.
While these days she mostly does vintage-inspired illustrations, her collection is peppered with painterly portraits that may look a little familiar to a trained SL fashionista's eye. Take the picture above for example. If one of those faces looks familiar to you, it's because it's the gorgeous Gogo, of Juicybomb fame. If a second face seems just as familiar, it's because Elisandra used both her own avatar and Gogo's as an inspiration for this pic, including their garments-- You can pick up that candy coloured corset from Ooh LaLa! on the SL Marketplace).
But that's not all, look:
A little more recently, Elisandra posted truly charming portraits based on Emma Gilmour's Bloom doll avatars, which became a fashionista craze when launched last summer. This set has a sort of innocence and idealism that suits the style of the avatars themselves, as well as being a compliment to her own work. I'm still a big fan of Blooms, so these images are among my favourites. They almost look like they belong to quirky greeting cards and children's books from the 60s and 70s.
Of course Elisandra is a professional illustrator, so the breadth of her work expands well beyond Second Life-inspired pieces. Whether you're an artsy fashionista or just curious about her colourful collages, drawings, and paintings, I highly recommend taking the time to explore her Flickr gallery, as well as her illustration blog. And if you want to support this talented artist, be sure that you take a look at her print shop on Etsy and her merchandise shop on Cafepress.
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.
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