SL Fashion Fit for a First Lady's Second Inaugural Ball!

 

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

Election day has come and gone, and now it's time to look forward -- and fashion-minded folks who love the First Lady's style can look forward to the Inaugural Ball. It may still be a couple months away, but I'm still curious to see what fashionable gem Michelle Obama will be wearing. In the meantime, I can always do a little virtual speculating...

We've covered the First Lady's fashion here on New World Notes before, including photorealistic avatars based on the first couple and my own take on Michelle Obama's sense of style (from way back in 2009), but in celebration of Obama's win on Tuesday night I thought I'd put together a Second Life ensemble fit for an Inaugural Ball in the metaverse, and worthy of one of the most chic FLOTUS' in history. Here's how I did it:

• Unfortunately I wasn't very happy with the Michelle Obama inspired avatar shape I tried to make for this post, so I'm still wearing my everyday shape as well as a skin (Pink Fuel's Kumi) more suited to my avatar than to accurately recreating the First Lady's own features. At least the pumpkin-coloured lipstick I chose from Kumi's matching cosmetics layers is in line with the FLOTUS' tastes, as she often favours pale pinks and peachy tones herself.
• I did pick my hairstyle with Michelle in mind. I'm wearing the Found updo from Elikatira [SLURL], though I've tinted the black version with a bit of orange to get a more natural-looking shade. This is a trick I use fairly often when I'm wearing a darker skin tone: it unfortunately dulls the glossy effect of the hair's texture, but the colour doesn't seem ashen in contrast to the skin.
• The gown that Michelle Obama wore four years ago was an elegant white, much like the dress that First Lady and style icon Jackie O. wore decades ago. I decided to keep with white rather than going with any partisan colours like red or blue, so I picked the Lucille Pleated Silk Gown from Beetlebones. It's chic and classic with a touch of a modern edge, like so many of the dresses that Mrs. Obama wears, so it seems like a natural fit.
• I didn't want the outfit to look too old-fashioned, either, so the wrong jewelry could have really dragged it down. The First Lady often wears bold and contemporary-looking pieces, so I went straight to Paper Couture to pick up something suitable. The White Diamond necklace and earring set was ideal, though I scaled the necklace up a bit just to make it a little more dramatic to balance out the sleek simplicity of the gown.

Virtual speculations aside, whatever Michelle ends up wearing to the ball come January will no doubt be a showstopper.

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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.

Comments

[shockwave yareach]

An enormous skunk tail that arches up over the head :)