Otherworldly

Following on their Baroque gowns, Boudoir has released another outfit with a French twist, the dashing Miss Bonaparte costume. When we started looking for a place to shoot this look, we began by searching for an Egyptian build. This led us to Museum Island which turned out to be full of pretty cool replicas of various famous monuments. So, Miss Bonaparte got to go on a little tour around the world.

Never one to let an opportunity for an interesting image go to waste, the fact that this excellent mesh statue of Michelangelo’s David was in the vicinity of the temple build I used for my previous photos reminded me that I do have something else new from Aeros that I should be reviewing…

Outside of a couple of hair creators, I haven’t really found much mesh hair that really suits my interests. I tend to go for longer hair styles, those that perhaps have a slightly fantasy or historical flair, and those are hard to come by at good quality (Wasabi Pills is a notable exception). But I see Secrets Hair has been working hard to change that, as you can see with one of their newest hairs, Rohan.

Boudoir has five gorgeous new Baroque-style gowns out, beautifully textured and with amazing details. I am wearing the Crimson Beauty version but if you’re anything like me, you will have a hard time picking a favourite from these five. Whether for roleplay, for a costume party or just for dressing up for fun, these gowns are going to make an impact.

Nomine has just released a whole heap of mesh skirts and dresses, ranging from sexy vinyl skirts to charming print dresses. I am showing three of the shorter skirts, but there are also some gorgeously textured long skirts that are perfect for all sorts of occasions, including roleplay, as well as several dress styles in a variety of patterns.

I am also wearing the lovely group gift skin from PXL, Faith in the natural tone and with pink makeup, and a serpent ring from HANDverk that is available through a gatcha at the Arcade.

There’s a new round of L’accessories and there’s a brand new event as well, The Arcade, which is all about gatchas.

From L’accessories I have the Phoebe boots from lassitude & ennui and from The Arcade I have the Baroque Bench by Trompe Loeil in one of the 12 colours available from the gatcha.

Wishbox is having a big sale, with reductions on single purchases as well as packs. This proved the perfect excuse for me to pick up a lovely fantasy gown, which I haven’t done in quite a while. I am also wearing a brand-new hair from Amacci and the pale and lovely Nephilim skin from Nomine.

Occasionally we see a fantasy skin that really captures our imagination… and lately, those skins seem to be coming from Fallen Gods. The latest entry in their fantasy skin line is Depth, and it’s pretty amazing, as you can see below.

Mesh clothing and I may not always get along, but mesh hair and I have quite the love affair. In fact, since mesh came out, I have probably bought at least three or four times as many hairs as pieces of clothing. Just call me Lady Godiva.

This week there were entirely too many tempting mesh hairs released and it was with great difficulty that I limited myself to a new release each from Exile and LeLutka.

Volstead is a new brand from former PixelDolls creator Nephilaine Protagonist. Currently sold only on the Marketplace, the starting collection consists of two shoes and two gowns. The clothing was created for Shady Falls, a 20’s era roleplay sim, so naturally the style of the clothing is appropriate for the period. It is also all done in mesh, which lends itself very well to the kind of gowns one would expect for the 20’s. But, you don’t have to roleplay to wear it, of course!

I find that unlike a couple of years ago, I am not spoilt for choice when it comes to new, great skins that suit my tastes. There’s a lot of new releases, true, but there’s also a lot of releases that fall within a fairly narrow range of style. Fortunately, there are still some very distinct skins out there. One such is the fresh release from Hart Larsson of PXL, a beauty called Faith. I decided to focus on the two new tones added to the range with this release, Olive and Ebony. You’ll see both side-by-side in this first shot, though the rest of the shots are using the Olive tone, which is my new favourite from PXL. These shots do use Windlight and shadows, so make sure to demo the skin yourself to see how the tones look in your preferred lighting.

Other new items featured in this post come from Cynful (for My Attic), lassitude & ennui (for L’Accessoire and the If I Were Rich hunt) and Bent (for the Archie Appeal fundraiser).

Another round of Zodiac started yesterday and the Virgo event will run from the 23rd of August to the 17th of September. I quickly picked out some favourites yesterday, such as the nifty bucket prop from Cheeky Pea and Exposeur and the Kasia outfit from Evie’s Closet. Together they made me think Cinderella.

There’s good news and their’s bad news. The bad news first: the legendary Munchflower Zaius has announced that she’s done with making regular skins, and will instead focus on fantasy skin lines in the future. But the good news? One last release of “regular” male and female skins, though in a pale range. And so we have Nephilim, the last “normal” line of male skins.

A new round of Collabor88 has just started. It is the 1 year anniversary for the event so there’s an extra large number of creators participating and the opulent theme for this month is Baroque. No wonder I found more than a few things to take home, such as a new Trompe Loeil prefab, a gorgeous corset from Ingenue, hair from elikatira and a Glam Affair skin.

Vintage Fair 2012 opens in just a few minutes and the three sims will be offering shoppers a huge array of vintage-flavoured products, from avatar accessories to props and furnishings of all kinds. I was lucky enough to get a preview of some great hairs from Wasabi Pills as well as two fabulous props from LostAngel. Both Ran and I are also wearing new skins; he’s wearing the male Nephilim skin from Nomine and I am wearing the Hollywood skin from Adam n Eve, another Vintage Fair release.