Even the evil relax

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this is an essay. At least it is in my classes. Anything longer and the students do that thing where they panic and pout at the same time. It’s so confusing.

Credits to creators
Zibska, Hailey ~ Ruby [sz1] (NEW; ty Zib Scaggs)
:[P]:- Astrali Skin[Toned-Down]:// Calypso
:[P]:- Soul Ink Reloaded://(Tint):Liv
:[P]:- Soul Ink Reloaded://(Tint):Jame
:[P]:-Haunt Collection-Sickness eyes
N.B. All of these Plastik extras have been packed with skin releases for Lazy Sundays. Collect, people, collect.
Aeva // Eyelashes // Long Lashes
Epic, Pierced gold horns (was a freebie at ???)
.:EMO-tions:. STARLINE-braided tattoo / darkred
.Maitreya Gold * Moxie Coal
^^Swallow^^ Bad Ring Gold & Pink
ooo studio and Gos, pouffe
Everybody GIMPs

Casual glamour

I think of them as “my ladies”—the talented women who send me their creations so that I may share them with you. My ladies have been busy, so Portia is drowning in spring/summer wear, and I have blog posts planned through the end of next week. Yesterday, I showed you h.m.a.e.m’s new mod-inspired slim-fitting slacks. Today, Zib Scaggs of Zibska also recalls the 60s with her striped linen Chloe palazzo pants. In real life, I am short and dumpy but I can wear palazzo pants, so I think of them as the ninth wonder of the world. Zibska’s palazzos are big but sexy because they sit below the waist and curve elegantly around an av’s belly. The Chloe pants come with a coordinating halter top, but I didn’t want Portia to look too bare at this time of year, so she’s wearing a cutout crop top from Ozi. In addition to the aqua version shown here, the Chloe outfit is available in lime, white and gray renditions. One last note for today: Portia is wearing Margot, one of Glam Affair’s affordable skins for May’s Collabor88. I was chuffed to discover that the 288L pack contains the red-lipped glamorous look advertised on the vendor and a “clean” version of the skin, which offers a dewy daytime makeup with a pale lip.

Credits to creators
Zibska, Chloe Trousers ~ Aqua [2] (comes with an aqua-blue halter top) (NEW; ty Zib Scaggs!)
{.:Ozi:.} ORGAMI CROP top V2 TANGO – xxs
Glam Affair – Margot – India 03 – Dark brown (at Collabor88)
*Dura-Girl*28(Sienna)
[7891.] Total – Gold earrings
-REDGRAVE – Shoes Helena – 12colors (NEW)
Tee*fy, Colour Blocking Minimalism Bangle Critus (yesterday’s 50 L Friday)
Adore & Abhor, Lambie (special event item, but there are other versions)
Alouette, Bibliotheque Chair (old Arcade gacha)
GIMPed but not pimped

If you prickle me…

Had anyone told me when I started this blog that Portia’s fanciest outfit would be made of cactus, I’d never have believed her. Was this because I didn’t know then that Portia likes pain? Because the end of irony made working with succulents seem insensitive? Or because the Belgians rejected cactus as undeconstructable? No, no and no. It was because my little mind could not anticipate Zib Scaggs’ imagination. Her fabulous Valentina gown will be shown April 6th, the last day of Avenue’s Spring/Summer fashion shows. It is also one of the limited edition items available in the fashion week market. In addition to the gown and black face-paint you see here, the special package includes a set of delicate earrings and necklace, a pair of simple, strappy sandals and a decorous chignon hairdo in black and white versions. Underneath the cactus skirt there’s a gorgeous black satin evening skirt. All of these items will come in handy if the President’s Ball bans weaponized frocks (or ‘fros).

Credits to creators
Zibska, Valentina gown (NEW at Avenue Spring/Summer Fashion Week; ty Zib Scaggs!)
::dutch touch:: ::AmBeR:: V2 Dark – PeachyLips [The inworld store is closed, but there's one skin on Marketplace. Could more follow?]
~SongBird~ Delirium’s Spiral eye makeup (Twisted Hunt gift)
Clemmm -ReSnick eyes
[Iruco]hair25(black)
*BOOM* Fearless ankle cuffs (v2) Silver (NEW; ty Aranel Ah!)
*BOOM* Fearless wrist cuffs (v2) Silver (NEW; ty Aranel Ah!)
*LpD* – *Steam Clouds* Earrings White (a Fashion for Life donation item that may not be in store; I will check) (ty Nevery Lorakeet!)
Hello Spacegirl – Ilia Collar (long) L (black) [Try a demo. This collar is very very small]
*SoliDea FoliEs* chameleon rings
Debrah’s, “Coty” HighHeels Black Snake
Blah, Model pose pack 2
GIMPed but not so much that I have cactus needles stuck under my fingernails.

Mix those messages

The five stages of male denial: I never promised you a rose garden. What made you think I promised you a rose garden? Who promises rose gardens nowadays? Why do you think you deserve a rose garden? I suspect you’re unstable.
I met a fellow scholar in the cafe where I write four hours a day. I’d seen him there every day for a year. Comfortably trapped in a depression-powered, safety-glass bubble, I had spent that year refusing to interact sociably with anyone on the premises. Until the new manager insisted that baristas take customers’ names. Suddenly we were family. (I can walk in and order the usual. I always thought “the usual” would be some exotic cocktail. Shame about my alcohol allergy. And my aversion to night life. Night period.) Around Thanksgiving, I finally responded to my fellow cafe denizen’s friendly passing remarks. I even let him watch my computer while I went to the ladies room. (If you knew me you’d say “Woah.”) His dissertation sounded feminist. He wasn’t afraid of me. I decided to try to get past the problem of his looks: typically handsome and thick-necked muscular. (I prefer tubercular-looking British boy/men. Bad teeth optional. This is the consequence of growing up goth. Damn you Peter Murphy.) After two months of chatting and indirect conversations about sex—the scholar’s specialty—he mentioned his wife. He never wears a ring. He never said anything about spending the holidays with her. He spoke in the present tense about the difficulty of meeting women he could relate to. I was hurt and angry about this lie by omission. But I decided not to do what I’d done in the past. No intimacy-building confession of pain. No consciousness-raising confrontation about the disrespect he’d shown me and, much worse, his wife. No obligation-creating request that we work together to establish new boundaries. And I resolved that if he asked about my sudden distance I would borrow a phrase from the last coward who dumped me. I’d tell my cafe friend that his failure to acknowledge his wife “raised a red flag.” That’s a phrase that is so perfectly clinical and cliched that it means nothing except “The conversation is as over as the relationship.” This latest bad experience leaves me feeling proud of what I’ve learned over the years: I no longer give anyone the opportunity to do the denial dance. On the other hand, it sucks that, once again, my armour isn’t coming off. Not to mention my pants. (Damn you pants!)

Credits to creators
cuffs: Zibska, Ute Deux (part of a full set) (NEW; ty Zib Scaggs!)
skin: Al Vulo, Alyss skin and Lolas Tango applier (group gift)
lip tat: old Heartsick gift
bags: Handverk, Valentine’s clutch gacha (NEW) [g'damn—I wanted the Spank Me clutch!]
hair: Dura, #40 (resizable by menu) (NEW)
bouquet: Vita’s Boudoir (Tainted Love Hunt item, 1L)
arrow harness: Contraption (Tainted Love Hunt item, 1L)
crown: Tee*fy (past Collabor88)
boobs: Lola’s Tango
stockings: League, side-gartered stockings
pose: LAP and bouquet pose
GIMPed for your pleisure. And dedicated to Shortcake Sugarplum.

The fear of gold

I was about to hit the pay button for Paperbag’s silver Slique unitard when something inside me snapped. Or creaked. It was more like a creak. I realized that it was time to give up on the safety of silver and confront my longstanding fear of intense gold.

In real life, were I to wear even a subtle gold, it would look like a piece of Hanukkah geld had sprouted a whitehead. But this is not real life, and Portia doesn’t look like she needs to be squeezed (more).

Credits to creators
Paperbag, Slique Uni Metallics with Lolas Tango appliers (at Lyfe of Style)
Zibska, Zhenya (color and size change; at TGGS till the 13th; ty Zib Scaggs!)
h.m.a.e.m, midnight princess clutch ice [available in three other colours] (NEW; ty Riri Ninni!)
Swallow, Iman LB Panther with Lolas Tango applier [with three choices of awesome nips] (Limited Bazaar)
Lolas ::: Tango ::: Mesh Breasts (spine)
Miss C., Catch Black (fi*friday) [not the way it looks on the box: I had to add booN's gathered raised hairbase]
MONS / Round Sunglasses Black Button (past TDRF)
MONS / Earrings – Basic Button (past TDRF)
Cliche, Citta black and gold heels
Fleshtone :: Vanity Studded Cuffs
pose prop: Nuwiggles, Forever Alone (not available)

(Under)statement

It’s sad to see Kyoot go. Saeya Nanda participated in Fifty Linden Friday and in Collabor88, so I have been able to collect quite a few of her pieces. When I think of Kyoot, I think of cleavage. I’m not kidding. Ms. Nanda shows off an av’s assets in a way that is softly sexy rather than flashy. For today’s post, I accessorized one of Kyoot’s understated Whitehaven dress with a new statement necklace from Zibska. It’s an array of slim bamboo branches, appearing substantial from afar and delicate up close. The different textures combine closely related colours: if you blow up this pic you will see that the coffee texture juxtaposes brown with green. The other texture options include black, green and indigo. The necklace is also resizable.

Sweet up front, the A/D/E kneehigh boots from R2 turn surprisingly sexy in the back.

Credits to creators
Kyoot – Whitehaven Beach Dress (Mesh) (Rose) (50L in closing sale)
Zibska, Bambu (NEW, only at the Zenshi shop; ty Zib Scaggs!)
r2 A/D/E kneehigh boots{XS}beige (at Collabor88)
[e] Sound – White 01 (70% off)
Essences – Wednesday Light Skintone (at TDR Fusion)
poses: the first is built into an ottoman I bought at Kyoot and the second is from the Back up pack by bang!
Everybody GIMPs some time.

Gifted

The Gallery Gift Shop has just launched its latest round of goodies. Portia wears a big comfy sweater from 22769 and pink felt Button Boots from NuDoLu. If you don’t like pink, you’re in luck, because these beauties also come in a mustache-decorated version done in two shades of grey.

This month’s artworks are especially lovely. Portia poses with Gabrielle Swindlehurst’s image of a bulbalicious chandelier. (What you’re seeing is just a detail. The photo looks much more cinematic when some blogger isn’t cropping it for a vanity pic.) Chiana0 is featuring olde-timey airplanes in her works. This is a good time to head off to Amacci, where there’s a sale on all hairdos including recent releases. You can also pick up this skin, a 10L Cold Winter Night Hunt item. I like this skin because it’s sophisticated-looking without being too made up.

Credits to creators
22769 ~ [femme] Knit Tunic grey M (at The Gallery Gift Shop; ty Manuel Ormidale!)
[M] Jean w/knot – Petal v3- XXS (LB prize)
:NuDoLu: Bottes de boutons Love (resizeable: I blew them up quit a bit, for the lulz) (at The Gallery Gift Shop; ty Neuilles Newman!)
Amacci, Skin – Nuiko (Pearl) – Winter (CWN hunt item, 10L; you are looking for a blue snowflake)
Amacci, Hair Celine ~ Light Copper [I shrank this quite a bit and added a hairbase, which can be had for free at the shop] (on sale)
Zibska, Evion ~ Earrings [colour change by menu] (ty Zib Scaggs!)

If you GIMP something, say something.

My pretties

I swear that someone somehow stole my blogging gene. I’m down to “system skirt bad; she pretty.” So I shall just say that I hereby offer you a shot of Aliza Karu’s tour-de-force Ania gown for AngelsDemons Creations. In addition to the dramatic cut-out back you see here, there are cuts in the front of the gown which make the dress look as though it’s independent of the body, not hung on it. Suvi Breil took a fabulous shot of the whole ensemble, from the front, because she’s a genetically sound blogger.
I am also featuring this beautifully ornate brooch, with optional stripe makeup, which is an Avenue Readers group gift in the A:S:S deLuxe shop at Zenshi. I like the look of the brooch on bare flesh, with its nasty screws set into Portia’s adamantium breast-plate. Portia is wearing MiaSnow’s unusual Sweety skin, a favourite of mine, in the Exotic tone. The Sweety skin comes with the lashes shown here, with eyebrows, a few lipsticks, and with basic options of cleavage and dimples on or off.

Credits to creators
Look one, pic one
[AD] Ania Gown (ty Aliza Karu!) [note that the mesh gown comes in only one size]
MiaSnow, Sweety PALE w/ bra cleavage
/Wasabi Pills/ Skye Mesh Hair – Orchid
*BOOM* Fearless wrist cuffs BrwnGlaze (at Collabor88)
S o H, Big Dragon Friend (old freebie: the year of the dragon will soon end, so breathe fire while you can)
PDA, Gangplank Oddment

Look two, pic two
A:S:S deLuxe – Playful Violence brooch (with stripe tattoo) (gift in shop: join Avenue Readers group)
/Wasabi Pills/ Jamie Mesh Hair – Rye
Zibska, Ayira ~ Ear Cuff [colour-change and resizable via menu]
MiaSnow, Sweety EXOTIC w/ bra cleavage, worn with LASHES black
MONS / DualColor eyes – green
Ma Vie, Ma Vie pose pack (60L limited time special at new pose shop from Miamai on the Glam Affair sim)

Look one, pic three
[AD] Ania Gown (ty Aliza Karu!) [note that the mesh gown comes in only one size]
MiaSnow, Sweety PALE w/ bra cleavage
[ #7 ] In the City Lashes M/C
Mynerva~Platinum Drow Eyeliner (old gift)
/Wasabi Pills/ Skye Mesh Hair – Storm
Finesmith, Happiness (includes a tiara; VIP group gift, with a fee to join, but I think it is also the current subo gift)

GIMPed for your safety.

There’s always a siren

I took my mother to Anna Karenina because I thought it was a mother type of movie. And I loved it. Tom Stoppard’s script is so spare that it feels like poetry. The action takes place mostly on and around the stage of an old theatre, but, this being Russia, there are escapes into the countryside in snowy winter and grassy summer. I didn’t intend to emulate the film, but Portia ended up out in the snow in a big warm fur and prowling the floorboards of a ruined theatre.

I combined Aliza Karu’s gold-sequined Minni gown and headdress with a colour-change jabot from Zib Scaggs at Zibska. I want to thank both of these creators for helping me grope my way to glamour in 2012.

The fades version of Tableau Vivant’s Ewing hairdo is available at My Attic. There is a blue-silver metallic version along with the raspberry version shown here. I have to say that Aida Ewing’s fantasy skins for Glam Affair are always a pleasure to blog. The best ones feature a skin tone that inches just past plausible.

Credits to creators
[Angels and Demons Creations] Mimmi gold [mesh dress comes in only one size] (NEW; ty Aliza!)
*BOOM* Dame Elbow Gloves (antique) small (NEW; ty Aranel Ah!)
MOLiCHiNO, Fur Poncho
~ Tableau Vivant~ Ewing hair – female (S) – Xmas ed. Red fade (at My Attic)
Glam Affair – Hybrid Christmas Gift
Zibska, Lizzie Jabot ~ Silk (colour and size change) (NEW; ty Zib Scaggs)
pose one: tapoe, kimono poses
pose two: Glitterati, Headshot 3
pose three: La Petite Morte, Editorial Headshots
locations: Small Town of Green (Danni Ravinelli showcased this sim—her locations are always fantastic)
Lookingglass sim

To err is SL. To GIMP is divine.

Luxuriate

These pictures obviously go together.

Ladies stretch out their arms in them.

And look very pretty.

Credits to creators
Look impish
{Meghindo’s} ~ Chy Dress [comes with fringed clutch and many different flexi skirts] (VIP Gift, which also contains a skin in multiple tones; fee to join)
*BOOM* Dame Elbow Gloves (antique) xsmall (NEW, mesh, in many many many colours; ty Aranel Ah!)
Glam Affair – Renee – Fairy Tales 01 RAV (Arcade gacha)
MEMIL eyes 06_orange brown (from Marketplace)
Clawtooth: Louise Brooks – Red eye flight
Eclectica Deco Knot set in pale silver
Addictia, METRO Sandals – Silver
BENT, Posebox (old hunt gift)
Lightly GIMPed

Look admirable
Zibska, Amelie set of colour and size change earrings and necklace (ty Ms. Skaggs!) UPDATE: Still available at TGGS until December 19.
Luxury[87] – Snakeskin sheer catsuit (former Lyfe of Style item; no sign of an inworld store)
/Wasabi Pills/ Skye Mesh Hair – Pancake with /Wasabi Pills/ Hairbase included
MONS / Sunny Skin -light brow-soft makeup- light tone V1 (at TDR Fusion; includes a freckle version; love this hard)
[sauce] ka-pow! : lashes (not available)
MONS / Shocking eyes – blue
Yummy, Thin Boho Ring – Maroon (Nov. Collabor88)
Glitterati, Boxed
I GIMPed thie beejezus out of this one. Okay, maybe only the bejeez.

Pleisure apologizes for the quality of today’s comments and wishes to assure readers that we will fire whatever unpaid intern let an unpaid intern assign an unpaid intern to write copy.