So here goes!

This is a look I styled a month back, and it was born from my love of these uber-sexy Prestige Boots by Bax and the Pruriency Corset by The Abyss; which I though went gorgeously together.

Credits:
Hair: Felicity in Platinum (Blondes 1) by ETD
Eyes: Allure in Blue 2 (Full Blue Set) by Chai
Eyelashes: Moulin Rouge by Redgrave
Skin: Jessica in Fair by LAQ
Nails: Karma by Celestial Studios

Corset: Pruriency Corset in Black by The Abyss
Pants: Laila Pants in Cream by MichaMi
Boots: Prestige Boots in Black by Bax

Anyhow, during this break I started to finally create my own clothes; this is something that I have been wanting to do for ages, for over a year to be precise. Only I kept getting frustrated at my own complete lack of skill so I would give it up time and time again. Now though, after a over a year of Photoshop tutorials, clothing tutorials, sculptie tutorials, pulling my hair, hating the whole process and and the same time loving it all, I have finally come to a point where I can actually produce something I would wear myself. Phew!!

Please come and see the MichaMi blog for my new releases.

Here is a preview of my first ever release.

I just had to share this with you guys, a particularly tech-savvy friend of mine (who shall remain un-named) has figured out a way to exploit the avatar attachment points in the new Havok 4 physics engine. With the right manipulations, you can attach more than one item to each attachment point! Do you realise the freedom this will give us fashion lovers! Just to demonstrate, I’ve attached one necklace to the Spine (bottom gold chain), and the other two (black pearls and chunky gold chain) both to Chest!

*the trick below the cut*

This is what you need to do:

Make sure you’re on a Havok 4 sim (not all have been upgraded yet)

1. Get on a pose stand and make sure you face East

2. Attach the first item to your chosen attachment point — for example necklace 1 to Chest

3. Now, with your avie still posing, rotate the pose stand until you face South and close the Edit/Build window

4. Then re-open the Build function and rotate the pose stand back East, and continue rotating until you face the North.

5. At this point attach the second item to the same point — for example necklace 2 to Chest.

6. Volia! Your done!

*continues after the cut*

I still have a lot of tweaking of the settings to do — for example, I think all my prim parts look too obvious, see hair and pant cuffs — but I figured I have to start somewhere. I’ve looked briefly at the excellent posts by Iris Ophelia for New World Notes and Caliah Lyon on Soigné and I still need to incorporate their advice, but I was wondering if the info is still valid for these newer versions? I would also love to hear from you if you have figured out good settings for photography.

By the way, if like me, you can’t stand the new Snapshot window (in the WindLight/Release Candidate), please go and vote for the Jira issue (you have to log in with your SL credentials and then Vote on the left hand side of the page) so that things can go back to the way they are. I have to wonder why on earth they decided to change it in the first place?

Ok, enough “tech talk”; over to the clothes. I have a sexy chic look for today, that started with this gorgeous swimsuit from Casa del Shai — just love the ruffles at the front and the sexy back! I simply paired it with a pair of sleek slacks, olive coloured pumps to pick up on the bottom part of the swimsuit and then just some soft coloured bangles.

The side is even sexier….

Please see In-World Locations for SLurls and map coordinates.

Hair: Armidi Hair – The Pasadena Girl III in Orchid (Platinum Collection)
Skin: Redgrave – Chloe in Smoky 3
Eyes: Miriel – Blue Ice (Barely Unnatural Collection)
Eye Lashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes
Nails: Celestial Studios – Lulu in Salmon

Top: Casa del Shai – Zambia Safari Swimsuit
Pants: Elephant Outfitters (Armidi) – Journey Tweed Slacks in Creme Tea
Shoes: Maitreya – Verve Pumps in Olive

Bangles: Earthtones – bMc! Goldust Bangles and Cedar Spheres

THANK YOU MARIYA for all the excellent, fabulous, marvelous and super stylish looks you have shared with all of us!!! Now, please, pretty please start up a regular blog so we can all see more of you!

I’ve actually been back in-world for a few days now, just flying around and shopping and attending to other business and I’ve been in this cute little boho dress for all that time.

*Continues after the jump*

I love the bright and sunny yellow and the cute embroideries on the front. I shortened the prim skirt a little and attached it to Left Pec for better movement. I kept things very simple with chunky sandals, a long boho necklace and some rings on the fingers of both hands.

I’m wearing a new skin; its the Chloe from Redgrave. It’s still in beta, i.e. still unreleased, but there is something very special about the face, in particular — the make-up and skin look very realistic and beautiful. It actually looks even better in WindLight, which I’m using lately, (I use the standard viewer for shooting my pics as the Snapshot function is broken in WindLight) and I haven’t taken off the skin since I put it on. Redgrave have many other beautiful new skins for sale — each face is based on a celebrity, like Scarlett, Beyonce, Tyra, etc, and they really do look good.

*EDIT*: Chloe has actually been released and is available in the Redgrave shop

Please see In-World Locations for SLurls and map coordinates.

Hair: Armidi Hair – Abigail in Orchid (Platinum Collection)
Skin: Redgrave – Chloe (not yet released)
Eyes: Miriel – Blue Ice (Barely Unnatural Collection)
Eye Lashes: Cake – Bedroom Lashes
Nails: Celestial Studios – Lulu in Salmon (White Tips)

Dress: AnnaH – Annie
Shoes: Storm Schmooz – Mimi in Coffee/Wood

Necklace: Earthtones – Chakra Boho Beads in Pumpkin
Rings: Earthtones – Tri-Solitaire Ring in Multi/Silver

I’ve seen some fully sculpted dresses around lately, but had not felt convinced that they would be nice. You see, I love movement in my clothes, so flexi prims are big favourites (sculpted prims cannot be made flexi). However, I like this dress! The sculpties allow for this gorgeous balloon/tulip shape that would not be possible (at least I think not!) with normal prims. Of course, this brilliant red colour does nothing to hurt it’s appeal.

(click the thumbnail for a larger image)

The second new thing is what I call “textured” hair, granted this is not new, however, when they first appeared on the grid, I was very put-off by the overlapping alphas which made it flicker incessantly. Well, that is all gone now, and I have to say, I’m completely in love with this over-the-top, fabulous do, in fact I don’t ever want to take it off!

In conclusion, two big thumbs up from me for both of these new technical advances.

*Product details and credits after the jump*

Please see In-World Locations for SLurls and map coordinates.

Hair: Cake – Faith in Pecan
Skin: RaC – Dina #2 Palette Smoky
Eyes: Miriel – Pacific
Nails: Celestial Studios – Lulu in Crimson
Dress: Gisaci – Sculpted Silk Organza Dress in Chinese Red
Shoes: Armidi Gisaci – Bacelona Slingback in Falu
Necklace and Bracelets: Miam Miam Luxe – Bamboo and Pearl

I wanted to add my voice to the protest and just encourage all of you to do your part in protecting our beloved content creators. It’s really simple – don’t buy rip-offs! Make sure the shops you go to are legit and that the products on offer are indeed by the seller. If you are unsure, ask somebody (you could even contact me personally, I’d be happy to help) before giving them your business.

Last Call Sale

I’ve also been wanting to recommend that you get as many outfits as possible from the final Last Call Sale .

Most of the time (but not always) I try to not feature clothes that are no longer available, so that you guys can easily recreate the looks. However, Last Call clothes are so fine I’m going to find it really hard not to use any of them once they’re gone. So, you can expect me to feature them for a long time still to come. I personally spent a silly amount stocking up on all the outfits I didn’t already own, but I don’t expect you to do the same. I would especially recommend any outfits with pants, as I’m yet to see any other designer come even close to the detail and quality of Last Call pants. Also, these outfits come jam-packed with tops and jackets on all kinds of layers, making them a must-have for mixing and matching.

(click on the thumbnails for large pictures)

Ingrid, Christina, Hunt Club: Jumper, Casablanca,  Marie-Helene, and Tessa.

One More Thing….

Don’t you just love these new chunky sandals from the very talented Storm Schmooz.

The Diary of a Second Life Socialite

As mentioned in my previous post, I will not be in-world again until January 4th, 2008 — I will however, be online and getting my daily SL fashion fix through the blogosphere. Please drop notecards on me if you should need anything (IM’s cap as you know) or e-mail me on milla.michinaga at gmail.

See you in 2008!! Ciao, ciao!!
-Milla

*Product details and credits below the cut*

Please see In-World Locations for SLurls and map coordinates.

Hair: Armidi Hair – Bombshell v2
Skin: RaC – Tasha
Nails: Last Call – Deviant Nation, Ginny
Dress: Last Call – Petra
Shoes: Shiny Things – Signature Slingback (red)
Bracelets: Last Call – Red Carpet Ready (old group freebie)