Dusky Ach post one

Thanks to /artilleri/ for the awesome beach
Hello! No, it really is Ach, dressing out of my comfort zone. The next five days are going to be M&R Skin Challenge, in which I try to figure out how to dress for Rosemary and Mimi's brand new skins -- in the darkest shades.

"I should send you the three lightest tones, right?" Rosemary said.

"Hmmm," I replied, "What about the three darkest!"

I put on the darkest skin and tried to find myself. What colors go with dark skin? What hair? My brain fled for a while, and for inspiration I turned to the feed. Lots of fine people have been wearing Zaara's clothing, and I thought perhaps the brightness of the fabric would stand out against the dark shades of this skin. So's not to steal other people's outfits, I'm also in boyish cargo shorts and bleached-out beach hair.


These skins -- I really love the softness of the features, especially the dusting of freckles on this makeup and the way it makes my eyes look thoughtful. The focus is definitely upon the structure of the face, with gentle contouring and careful shading instead of hiding anything behind color.

Yep, I'll be wearing these skins all week -- you'll get to see me flail as I work to dress in a skin that doesn't feel like me. I promise you that sometimes you'll laugh ("OMG. What was she thinking!"), but I will keep in mind that the point is to try new things and be creative...


***Skin: Rosemary and Mimi Coral *M&R Birthday Suit - Eclipse - Electric - Black makeup
***Bracelet: ::69:: Sprinkles Bracelet in Gold
***Hair: ETD - Al - Short Bob
***Sandals: ::69:: Beach sandals -- group gift with color changing hud
***Shorts: Doc Eldritch designs DE Cargo Shorts in Tan
***Belleh chain: Foxchase Designs Trouble Belly Chain
***Top: Zaara: Xacuti in burnt yellow-olive

Now I'm vaguely hungry

My first post was earlier today, but I realized I'd forgotten to wish everyone a happy July. Happy festival month! In Japan, people are gathering in yukata to tread the streets of their towns in search of fireworks and takoyaki; in the US and Canada we're doing the same, cooking out in honor of -- hey wait a minute. What the heck, I just looked out the window and noticed an enormous freak storm. No joke, Georgia (which is in a drought) just now has a sudden flash thunderstorm in honor of the 4th.

Oh well. I guess we'll be cooking in today. Glad I have a veranda for sparkler purposes!

This post is actually in honor of the new Relay for Life skin by Fleur, named Emma. Please note the soft, pretty eyes and mauve lips, hiding so cutely beneath the fluffy mop of Calico hair.

***Skin: Fleur Emma 1 for Relay for Life
***Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations Ryen in Dirty Blonde
***Kimono: Mare dress & kimono yellow kimono yayoi_y collar

Do I dare?

Hethr Engle
Ahhh, I come to the last day of writing about the ~silentsparrow~ Luxe corset. I roped miss Hethr Engle into photographing with me, and she immediately chuckled when she saw my skirt. "I just bought that from Honey Kitty in the 'kikilala' color," she said.

"I have two," I said sheepishly, "the blue one and this one to go with the corset." I have a bad habit of getting several colors of one thing if I love it enough!


Hethr went with her signature pink for the corset, and immediately turned brushed velvet into something polished and upbeat. Watching her put outfits together is rather inspiring -- she tried on no less than nine pairs of shoes hunting for just the right set of flats to balance out the colors. Then, just the right belt...

The shoes that I'm wearing are new from Schadenfreude, and I don't have to buy multiple colors of these because the nifty color-changing hud allows you to change the shoe and trim color independently! All that and a classic dolly shape.


I decided to wear my own favorite color for the last corset photo... Is it autumn yet? I can't wait for Halloween.

The pose stairs! They're from Faery Sola of Studio Sidhe, and allow one person to pose in six different ways. Nice idea, isn't it? I'll leave you with a snipped of poetry about stairs.

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, ``Do I dare?'' and, ``Do I dare?''
Time to turn back and descend the stair...
-- T.S. Eliot, from The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock


On Miss Hethr:
***Corset: ~silentsparrow~ (melon) luxe corset
***Skirt: Honey Kitty *H+K*(kikilala)mie*
***Hair: *TRUTH* Rachel - Blonde from HAIR CLOTHING TATTOO SHOES SKIN
***Skin: LF CHAI Skin -Cream- Trinity from LF Fashions
***Jewelry: {Violet Voltaire} Lollipop Guild Strawberry Set necklace, earrings bracelet from {Violet Voltaire}
***Bangle: Fresh Baked Goods-- Bright Sprinkle Donut Bangle - Silver (L)*
***Belt: League at Steam Forge Wide Belt mid Hipster~Turquoise
***Shoes: Luly's by Luly Lulu candy_neonpink flats

On Ach:
***Corset: ~silentsparrow~ (sun) luxe corset
***Skirt: Honey Kitty *H+K*(oreo)mie*
***Undershirt: Honey Kitty *H+K*(black+white)suger blouse2 l-sleeve*
***Socks: Honey Kitty *H+K*(cream-blue)rose dot socks-long
***Hair: Kin-Lucy-orange
***Skin: Fleur Vivant Cream Rose 3
***Shoes: Schadenfreude Lucent Bow Heels

Severina and her violet Luxe

Severina Dollinger
Yesterday I ran into Severina Dollinger (the creator behind First Flower shoes) wearing the ~silentsparrow~ Luxe corset in violet. She'd put together such a saucy outfit that I had to photograph her for corset day four. Severina is also beautifully accentuated by her sim, Dusk, which has all the best elements of dark fairy. She chose this gorgeous spot for photography, and looks like an elf newly emerged from under the hill, ready to cause a sexy ruckus at a fey rave.


I like how two people can own exactly the same outfit, but look entirely different. I played the outfit game with Severina (result here), but I still look like myself. I wonder if there truly are two avatars out there who look identical, kind of like the speculation that everyone in the world has a clone. Come to think of it, we all look like Ruth sometimes, so perhaps we need to look no farther to find commonality than our basic, pixel-headed Ruthed selves.


Severina Dollinger is in:
***Corset: ~silentsparrow~ Luxe Violet,
***Skin: Fleur custom
***Hair: Deviant Kitties "Eve"
***Stockings: Rebel Hope Lalique Amythist
***Boots: First Flower FF Witch-hazel Violet
***Necklace & Earings: Illusions Entranced Cherry Amber
***other jewellery: sentimental gifts :)
***Skirt: ::Lavish Style::"Alaliyah"

Witch corset

Day three of all ~silentsparrow~ luxe corset all the time, and today's theme is inspired by watching Prince Caspian. When I was a little girl, I'd visit Thailand for several weeks every summer. I was a shy, quiet person, and instead of getting to know my Thai cousins, I'd hole up with a book. My books of choice were either Lord of the Rings (you could get that at the British Embassy Library), or the Narnia books.

Forever in my mind, Narnia is associated with the smells and flavors and sounds of Bangkok -- durian, tamarind, jasmine rice, my grandmother clucking her tongue and saying "Ah nang sirh mak mak!" (you read too much). Books were better for a shy girl like me. Even though Bangkok contained wonders of its own, Narnia was cold and frozen and had beautiful witches and kids who could endure anything.

Here I am, a witch in Lantern Waste, looking to poison the land again. Yeah, I guess I always did side with the bad guys -- sometimes Aslan was a little too "I'm always right" for my ornery self.


***Lamp: October Rust Watchmen Lamp
***Corset: ~silentsparrow~ luxe corset in blood
***Tattoo: silentsparrow~ (free!) birdie luxe tattoo, comes with set
***Boots: First Flower Witch-hazel in ruby
***Pants: Aoharu Color Denim in Tricolore
***Under-corset belt: Pixeldolls Black Belt; Cameo Underpants layer
***Hat: Gritty Kitty Witch Hat with color changing hud (halloween freebie -- is it Halloween yet?)
***Skin: Fleur Vivant Cream Paon 4
***Hair: Gritty Kitty Metric - rage
***Lip ring: Synthetic Memory *SM lipring_spiky rainbow
***Armband right: My Dead Kitty Spiked Armband
***Armband left: Bliensen + MaiTai Armband Tailor
***Earrings: Lassitude & Ennui Imminent
***Collar: Violet Voltaire Gank Collar in black
***Necklace: /Fuel/ Heart felt key

The turn of the year

I feel vaguely emo today, so I'm in pink. It's midsummer, and I sense the school year approaching like a cold chill on my neck. It'll be football season, the undergrads will be back in town, and I'll be womanfully working on my dissertation -- I hope. It'll be my toughest year in graduate school ever, and I almost feel like I should spend the whole summer running through snow to train for it -- or, uh, dandelion fluff or something.

My pink is enabled by Royal Blue's incredibly fluff-licious ballet tutu, by Paper Couture's top, and by SLink's ballet flats. All of these items of clothing contain various kinds of pink, and that matches enough for me. This outfit is actually inspired by Stein Shilova, whom I saw briefly last night floating around a space station in several Royal Blue outfit bits. "Oh yeah, my Royal Blue stuff," I thought. Thank you, Stein.


***Fluffy skirt: Royal Blue (RB) Lost Ballet in Candy
***Hat: Teresa Elegance Hat
***Earrings: ***Blanc*** Heart earrings
***Necklace: Baby Monkey BM 4. Heart Set
***Stockings: Petite Ange *an* knit_tights_pink_socks
***Jacket, shirt, broach, sleeves: Paper Couture p.c.; Spring Awakening
***Gloves: Paper Couture p.c.; Champ Gloves from the Trophies on the Waist set
***Hair: -Hiccup Paper Tiger in Light Blonde
***Skin: Heaven's Shape Yuuko make1-sobakasu -- free Another Skin mod.
***Shoes: SLink Claudia Ballet Flats in pink with pink bows

Fauns on a dock

Wisteria Reinard on my left, there
Day two of ~silentsparrow~ luxe corset week! Today I've got crouching faun, hidden corset -- it's peeking out from behind a "salopette" that I got from amerie's Naughty yesterday when I got the skirt. What is a salopette? I believe this term means overalls. The difference between Japanese terms for stuff and American terms is fascinating -- for example, even though the word for earrings is a loan word, it isn't the same -- it's "pierce." Wonder what they call a Big Mac in Japan?


Oh, the cute girl? I have a bad habit of picking up women in shops and taking their picture. In this case, I became enamored of the black faun in Toxine and had to drag her away for a photo or two. Wisteria's also sporting one of my favorite hairs from -Hiccup and a quirky pair of glasses. Her skin is free from Another Skin, which reminds me to wear those more often. Sure, I wanna photo myself with a tall, cute faun!

Congratulations to Elusyve Jewell and Aralute Undercroft for winning the Faces of the Darklands competition! I'd say I was disappointed that I didn't win, but...I'm not. :D The best people won! Congrats to the rest of us for hanging in there through the lag and trotting around in pretty clothing. Wasn't it nice being the center of attention for a moment?


Wisteria Reinard:
***Skin: Another Skin Envy
***Suit: silentsparrow toxine in chocolate
***Hooves: Queen Titania's Court faun in black
***Hair: -Hiccup amelieish
***Glasses: Serious Giggles. Hmmm, I can find no slurl.

Ach:
***Corset: ~silentsparrow~ luxe corset in (special) color
***Socks: TheCloset **TC in SHELTER** Dangerous socks black
***Skin: Boneflower Design :: Whispers of Night :: Deathly F [Ebon Twilight Stalker]
***Horns, hooves, tail: Queen Titania's Court Faun in Fire
***Hair: Kin Apostate in black and white highlights
***Shirt: ~silentsparrow~ (ash) sylvan suit armwarmers and gloves
***Overalls: amerie's Naughty *aN* Salopette BP ver2