See, I’d bought this very very cute (sorry, Kyoot) hat/hair combo and was wearing my Artilleri coat from last winter, totally edited to fit my big ass belly, and really wanted a spot to do winter pics.

Wandering around, I stumbled to the Heart Garden Center. That link takes you directly to the winter area, where they have adorable lit up trees and things, including Christmas trees, all at totally reasonable prices. If you’re looking to do any outdoor winter scenes, they’ve got snow mounds and stuff like that too. I always went straight to Botanic for any tree/outdoorsy related items, and I still love that place, but this place is definitely worth a romp.

And romp I did. I was thinking this would be a perfect spot to create a holiday greeting of sorts. If you’d like my pinkified take on this scene, just go there and use a midday setting with a sailor’s delight sky in windlight settings.

That is all.

But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. I wanted to ask you all if you’re having this problem with some of your favorite prim skirts. I am, of course, talking about the ass problem.

Some things are not a matter of adjustment. See, I was all excited as I bought this cute red dress from Artilleri for Valentine’s day. Butt what you see is that the texture on my ass is actually a bit darker than the texture on the prim. I thought it was a windlight problem, as I noticed when I use windlight this happens all the time in skirts. Butt even when I adjust the prim skirt for better coverage (in this photo the skirt is rezzed right from the folder, no adjusting), there’s still a hideous difference in the colors. It’s like majorly disappointing. Especially since it seems like all my Artilleri skirts look like this now in windlight. Is it me? Is there some setting I should check out that’s ass friendly in windlight.

Today I was briefly in Dazzle, and I encountered this ass:

I mean that’s a really bad looking ass in skirt. The style of this ensemble is babydoll, meaning the waist of the skirt is supposed to be high as it is. But man, this chick has waaaaayyy too much ass for this dress. Sadly the texture on the ass isn’t rezzed, but trust me when I say even fully rezzed it looked horrible. I am not sure how she went out looking like that, unless she didn’t look at her ass. But who could not look at a wreck like that?

I am seriously no fashion expert. Can anyone help me out here?

I do not want to have to adjust my shape for every skirt, but maybe that’s what it takes. What do you do, you fashion mavens out there? How do you manage to wear these cute little numbers without showing your ass?

This is likely the last post from me until next week, because if we can manage it we’re going out of town to that place that has satellite internet (and isn’t at all SL friendly).

Don’t forget to hit -=CLOCKWORK= tomorrow night for Esteban’s funk set, Sunday night for Xax’s IDM electronica goodness, and then Monday night again for Esteban’s anti-Monday punk and stuff.

And – don’t get sick!

Love,
Myg

It’s Valentine’s Day and I actually have a date!

He’ll be here in a few minutes….omg….what am I going to wear????

I must have something in here to wear.

I’m ready!

A few hours later…….Stood up again!

WTF????

I don’t think so….not this time!

Sable’s Look :

Bathrobe and Towel – Total Betty – COZY PLUSH pink princess
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Son/184/221/27/

Skin – Chai skin – Nutmeg – Cole
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Port%20Seraphine/222/159/57/

Hair – Kin – Yohkoh – Black
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eventide%20Far%20East/176/203/45/

Dress – WRONG – Amity Dress – Red
http://slurl.com/secondlife/AlterNation/189/153/38/

Jewelry – Alienbear – DarkSassy Black Pearl Set
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bratz/194/240/29/

Boots – J’s Main Shop Tsukishima – Goth Ribbon Laceup Boots Black
http://slurl.com/secondlife/TSUKISHIMA/214/232/22/

Rain’s Look:

Lingerie – Little Rebel Designs – White Buds Lingerie Set
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gallinas/151/93/58/

Hair – ETD – Jared – Blonde
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gallinas/151/93/58/

Shoes – Shiny Things – Lollies – Cream
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Shiny%20Falls/173/181/37/

Jewelry – Kesskreations – Valentines Treasure – Hearts And Arrows Necklace, Kesskreations -Valentines Treasure Diamond Stud Earrings
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Shiny%20Falls/173/181/37/

Skin – Adora Shapes And Skins – Petra Skin Med. Rose Dust 8
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Inishfallen/119/148/22/

Lashes – Minnu Model – Thora
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Glam%20World/95/182/22

Wings – Cat’s Eye Main Shop – Cupid Wings
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zorn/190/214/24/

Abby has a fairy godmother in SL – Alyssum Therian. She’s been trying to raise money to help Abby’s parents out during this difficult time. Right now you can go to her store, Love, Aly and buy this cute little elf outfit for only 100L. All of the proceeds go to Abby.

This is not the best photo of this adorable little ensemble, but you can see the whole thing over at Alyssum’s blog.  You are also most welcome to throw extra cash into the tip jar, or hell, forgo the elf outfit and just donate at Love, Aly.

Truth is, there are so many people out there who need help and support this holiday. There are very personal reasons why Abby’s story affected me so, and maybe it does you too. In any case, I hope that we all remember to stop and buy elf costumes or donate time to soup kitchens or buy toys for the kids in hospitals and go walk dogs in shelters and visit elderly folks in assisted living programs.

We’re not always going to be so damned lucky, you know? We need to stick together people. Stick together.

Dead City is an un-dead themed spot with shops, a club, some residential all situated rather serenely around a graveyard. (That’s me, escaping from Orchid’s coffin, below.)

The place was built by my friends Johnny Skosh and Orchid Zenovka. Back when it was Trenton, Alex and I bought an adjoining piece so we’d have a place to escape lag when Topgol was unbearable. Today that land has been transformed into some fine un-dead themed commercial real estate rentals, located on the corner of Envy and Gluttony streets.

Are ya interested? Grab a landmark to our little slice of hell: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deadwood/237/220/666/

There’s plenty of great retail to be had in this location already. In fact, my entire wardrobe for this post has been furnished in Dead City. Details below!

Boots: Slum Stompers by Catnip http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deadwood/158/184/666

Dirty Girl T-shirt, Atari belt, Camo capris all by SNATCH http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deadwood/185/226/666 (cool spot with a decent selection of clothes and accessories and even a few shapes)

Mini-influence armband – Virus Co. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deadwood/178/186/666 (also to be had was the mini-arsonist’s armband and belt, among other must-have accessories for the social deviant in you.)

Rusty Belt Necklace, Blood Orchid http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deadwood/182/218/666 (our very own Sable Slade – crafts wicked jewelery stuffs for yer neck now in two locations!)

Crate Myg’s sitting on is part of a set called Debris 1 – Cloud 9.1 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deadwood/156/166/666 (I didn’t set out the whole set as it wasn’t exactly what I wanted for the shoot, but it came with an nasty stained hammock, some two by fours and other stuff. Great for an empty lot hang out. They also have bunkers, a scary looking bathroom and other sets.)

Black Army Brat Hat – Blood Lust http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deadwood/186/169/666 (I bought this hat last week and have hardly taken it off since I bought it. Drop by for a lot of other cool accessories as well.)

Ratty Couch, Skull Bracelet – The Works http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deadwood/193/206/666 (Benjamin Bigdipper is one of my oldest friends in SL. He’s always been a great builder and now he’s showcasing his work at his store The Works. These photos don’t do the skull cuffs justice, and you can also buy great nasty furniture, belts and other gross accessories at his place.)

Stitch, left leg – Bloody Hell http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deadwood/159/213/666 (you can’t see it, but there’s a yucky, bloody stitch on my leg and there were lots of other gruesome wounds to be had at this spot)

Furniture
Loft3 is open, and this is definitely one of the best shop for a good prim/quality compromise, with standard prices. They have some very nice sofas, with nice animations and even multiple, menu based, poses (chat, cuddles). One of the best I have seen around!

Scope Cleaver has opened a new, fantastic shop. You can go there only to check the architecture of the shop, which is marvelous. Check their new desk: if you like futurist design, this is a must have !

Still a lot of empty space but the owner told me it will be filled in the following weeks: this is definitely a place to check from time to time to loose all your money on stylish, well designed, modern furniture!

And Maximum Minimum is just across, on the next zone (another top of the art shop for furniture), and now you know you will leave that area without a dime in your pocket !

Shoes and Boots

I have a crunch for the new C-Tech boots…. My girl even nearly went rebellious to get them and I had to roughly punish her and remember her to what place she belongs! Very well done, with a nice option to switch from heels to platform boots.

About boots, check that small shop : This French designer is doing some very nice over-knee boots ! Well designed, great details, super look: you will rock everything !

Clothes

*whispers* Ok, don’t listen the following if you don’t want to spend all your Lindens in the next 2 hours…. If you look for what I will call “smart casual” look, this is the place to go ! If you check Night & Days often, the name should give you an hint: Luminosity

One of the very best, stylish, smart shop for that kind of clothes: everything is nice, everything is well designed, everything is so “chic” ! you cant make a mistake !

See by yourself !

Hairs

Ha well, experienced shopping girls and guys knows this already but…. Check Deviant Kitties … If you wanna some original haircuts, something different from the classic & curls from GURL6 you see everywhere, DK is for you

Accessories

If you are a kitty, you know Temenos Island ! But what is not so well known is that this very large shop has some new sections, and one of them is about streetware. They have a great set of belt, armband, gauntlet and collar, and some nice shirt/pants.
What still here? Don’t wait! Go on out and shop!

If you’re new to Second Life and you’re at all like me (and some of you are) you’ve got way too little patience to go through all that bull on Orientation Island. You’re itchin’ to see what the hell is out there. There’s only one problem.

You look like shit.

To make matters worse, you really don’t even know how truly shitty you look because odds are, you’re in some place with a bunch of other noobs who look as bad or even worse than you do. But we all know how crappy you look, and you might want to look good, but you just don’t know where to start.

I call this a cute crisis.

But don’t panic! For as little as 5L and 30 minutes of your time, I’ll help you go from this:

To this:

I classify the above as a “cute enough” look that will gain you entry even to the most exclusive, sarcastic, hippest, catty, or snooty chats in SL. For the skinny on hot freebies, read on!

Now, just especially for the truly impatient, (like yrs truly) you can skip the rest of this post and go directly to Mainline, Little Philadelphia (Topgol) by following this SLURL. When you get there, you’ll see my very own freebie box, made just for you. The box has all the landmarks to the freebies I’m wearing in the photo here as well as a few free gifts I’ve scrounged up.

–>Don’t know how to follow an SLURL? It’s easy! Just click it. Then follow the prompt for your browser to open your SL Viewer on your computer. After you log in (if you were already logged in it doesn’t matter) click on your large map. Then inside the large map, click teleport. That’ll take you right to the freebie box. Follow these instructions for all SLURLS mentioned here.

That said, let me give one caveat. It is my damned opinion that you’re way better off buying Linden dollars, and I’ll rant on why I believe that another time. But for now let’s just say you just want to check SL out and you don’t want to look like a pixeltard. These tips will help you. And some of the stuff is so cute you’ll wear it long after you’ve bought your first 10kL.

Lucky for us, there are some talented designers in SL who give away quality items. But when you’re new, you don’t know where to look. Try going to one of those huge “free stuff” outlets sometime like the Free Dove. You’ve got to wade through 4,328 boxes of shit–who the hell wants to waste their time digging through all those boxes looking for the one cool giveaway?

Nothing against the Free Dove, but you don’t want to work that hard to look cute–and looking cute is more than an urgent need, it’s a damned emergency! We need to get the good stuff now, Now, NOW!

So let’s start with skin, people.

The basic SL skin is just fucking horrible (see noob princess prancing in her undies on the left, above). You need a new one–fast.

I recommend going with a Bare Rose skin, which you can get in white. I’m wearing it in the lead photo–let’s take another look, shall we?

It’s really not all that bad for 1L, is it? It also comes in a shade a little darker called coffee. To get it, go here: Bare Rose SLURL.

This puts you directly in front of the freebie table at Bare Rose. (In SL, keep in mind that 1L is considered “free.”) Buy the skin for 1L. Put on the skin immediately. Just right click and select “wear” or drag it to your avatar.

Ah, you feel better now, don’t you? At the very least, I know looking at you, I feel better.

One bad thing is that these free BR skins have no genitals–they come with PG-friendly drawn-on underwear. Don’t worry, I’ll find you a skin that has bits for another post.

But for now, we’re onto hair.

I always fucking hated adjusting hair early on because I’m terrible with editing tools and have accidentally slid some object off a sim with my clutzy fingers more times than I can remember.

You can probably avoid this dilemma by getting a GuRL6 freebie hair. Their hair normally comes in three sizes out of the box, and one is bound to fit fine. They have two ways to get free hair that doesn’t suck.

For the truly impatient, follow this SLURL to GuRLyWood.

Pay 1L for the freebie bag (right in front of you when you get there). Open it, and inside you’ll find a free hair you can wear right now! Whee!

If you’re less than two weeks old, in your GuRL6 freebie bag is a free hair voucher complete with instructions. Read them, follow them, get rewarded with hair of your actual damned choice.

Now you need clothes–and I hope to GOD you’ve been wearing some while going around for this other stuff.

I have a couple of spots for you. To get the hoodie I’m wearing and a bunch of funky free clothes and toys, get thee to the freebie box at {soap}.

Clicky you the SLURL for {soap}. Buy the freebie box for 0L. Open the box. Wear hoodie (and don’t forget to attach the hood). Yay yo.

Now, get some kick ass Canimal freebies. Go to this weird place: enkythings SLURL

That SLURL puts you outside, so follow the signs that say free and point the way up, go through the first room and continue up to the free clothing room. Canimal’s display is back and to the right. I’m wearing her camo pants, which come in a number of hideous colors, but they also come in this nice black color. While you’re there, get some sick skins and some other cute things. Wear them.

No more excuses! Read up and get your cute on, now. And, don’t forget to stop by Mygcentral in Mainline, Topgol (188, 134, 55) to show us how adorable you are in all your free thrift-store chic! You can still pick up the freebie box, which has the LMs for all these cool spots–and the *bonus*–Yadni’s Free Emoter HUD. Wonder where I get my trademark sneer? Want to look mad without a stupid gesture and some irritating .wav file? You need a Yadni’s.

Cute crisis averted. Over.

This post is for you!

This post is the second one on a complete look, the streetpunk style. Again, I will give some tips about everything you need — clothes, shoes, jewelery, hairs, and accessories.

You need something dark, dirty, ripped….old, worn but still stylish! I have several shops to advise:

Clothes….

Gritty Kitty: one of the best, period.

Everything is good there, from the clothes to the accessories, hairs included. Don’t forget to check the jackets, and they have real cool shirt as well…and the hair! Some of the best “dirty, disheveled ” hair you can find! And shoes…and…ok, this is a damn good shop. There’s far more for your cyber-thug look if you keep reading…

Forgive me for the following joke: you can’t go wrong at WRONG!

Yes, I need some relaxing…. I promise to whip Vanny tonight hard, and I will feel much better! But let’s focus…WRONG! is a punk style shop, with a lot of nice things. My short list: black leather jacket, “bretelle” short skirt…

Another good spot – The Block. This is a whole sim with many nice shops dedicated on the street/punk style. Be sure to check Sinister shop, they have terrific belts, some good ripped jeans, blood stain included and if you wanna look really tuff, grab their black combat boots, with a blade you can sting out…totally cool!

Hair

For hair, I would advise short “disheveled ” style, with flex ! Kitty Gritty, but you have seen them already, don’t you ? Kin, a nice shop, just near By Max, has some very good one: check the Duncan style, it is the one I have choosen (then, it’s the best, no reason to argue! .

Not enough ? Ok … check Playful Kitten at Tenemos Island. If you really need some long one, Cake is definitely the best shop imo for long, flex hair and some can fit the streetware style. And check the glasses there as well

Accessories….

Skank – R – Us has some good accessories, especially their necklace and gloves, that are very well made and pretty cheap. And again, check Kitty Gritty !

And you need some boots ! My favorite for that kind of style is the Femme boots, you can find them at Nevermore Studios. They are terrific, period! And check their jewelry and clothes section as well, you can find some very nice things there (hint: the cross necklace, the leather motojacket, the leather pant…).

Myg gave me another tip for some shoes – Civvies : Go there, check the shop !

Need some tattoo… you can find a lot of black tattoo here on SL… to stand out, go to the color ones and make the difference…. Canimal has some pretty good ones. If you are rich, the Yakuza Asian Theme is really nice.

By Max (near Kin, check hair section) has also a whole wall, and not that expensive.

Animations
Remember my post about business ? Again here, build an AO notecard for your ZHAO, with firm stand and poses… If you look weak, you are ! or find a protector

Speaking of animation….and if you are outrageously rich… Ok, kids, the following is definitely mature, DON’T go there.. and when I say mature, I mean it… SVU Intimates animations, the portable Ruff n’Snuff: test it…yes…I have it…. *blushes*

Weapons

Well, you can’t live in the street without a weapon, can you? Guns are not my specialty but I have myself done some shopping at BlackOps and BCS, they are standards for many combat sims, reliable and well done. For blade, I have choosen the yakuza way, with a nice katana at Samurai Tokyo.

Sometimes, you can’t wear a weapon and still need to fight. DCS kung fu is really cheap, you can grab it at the Toxian entrance area. Wannt something really cool? Try the leather belt from Dictatorshop.

So simple and effective: wear the belt, and with a click, grab it on your hand and slashes your opponent…Ask Vanny, she just loves it! Be sure to tell Lilliani that I advise you to come there, I need some rebates, that evil shop is drinking all my money ^^

Friggin’ post, Myg would say!

Lisa Takao

You can’t say a sentence without “ROI” or “LBO” inside? You awake screaming in the night because you had a dream about a financial audit?

This post is for you!

Today I am gonna describe two kinds of look: the standard business one and a subcategory, the mob (mafia) one. This is the first post about a complete look, and I will give some tips about everything you need–clothes, shoes, jewelery, hairs, accessories…the works!

To take advantage of my best advice to create your perfect look for business, read more.A good business look is simple, firm and should impress your partners. The success key lie in the simplicity and color code.

Clothes
We can have a debate on the “dress or no dress” issue. For me, business style is pants, period. A feared business girl will always wear pants, and won’t use her legs to soften her business partners…she will use her brains and charisma.

If you still wanna wear a dress, please follow this advice:

1. Hemlines should be knee length or longer. Miniskirts are not only inappropriate they scream, “do not take me serious!
2. Color does not have to be limited to dark colors but remember the rule – if you have to ask yourself “Can I?” then don’t.

Now, time for shopping!

Musashi-Do has a very good business pack, with 3 outfits (grey, black, blue), 12 or more shirts, and same number of ties.

Very simple design (single color texture), but the result is pretty good. You can multiply the possibilities by mixing shirt and tie color…and yes, girls can wear ties!

The shirt and tie color, another complex debate. Basically, I would advise you the following:

1. Always wear a tie that is darker than your shirt.
2. Wear a conservative tie with subtle patterns or solid colors.

If you want something more stylish, or you wanna have an outfit with a dress, I would recommend you the DE Design casual/formal area, they have some fantastic outfits here.

For a mob look, you should head for stripes. I would recommend you Nyte ‘n Day (already featured by Mode Premiere). They have some pretty good striped outfits here.

Mischief’s business section is also to be checked.

Shoes
For shoes, you can go with your standard, formal shoes, but I will recommend something more aggressive and eye catching. Even for a strict business look, you should have something that brings attention. Try some short boots (the kind you can wear with a pant), with high heels.

My favorite: the Solange Fashion, “Stilleto.”

These boots are so good, you can wear them with many looks. One of my best investment in shoes I have ever made here! You can wear them in short version, with pants, or tall version, with a skirt or a dress.

Haircut
Short one, that’s it! Long hair is for hot babe, not for a business woman! But short can be very stylish. Head to ETD and check the new “Couture” collection. They have some perfect short haircut for that style, the best in my opinion.

Animation
Most people forget about this but a good look is not only about what you are showing (clothes, haircut) but how you behave… and a first step is to have some stand-up poses that fit with your look.

As much as 90% of your communication is done without words. Gestures, facial expressions, and posture provide information about a person’s emotions and relationships with others. This is also true in SL: You can have the best business outfit on you, if your AO is a submissive one…then that’s how you will be seen – a doormat!

Go to Outrider Animations and look on the animated poses wall, some of them will fit perfectly.

Another tip: use the ZHAO free AO tool, and do some specific scripting, one per look or way of behaving…trust me, soon, your friends and relatives will understand in which mood you are quite fast .. *grins*

Accessories
Follow one of the following rules when accessorizing for a business look:

1. The 5 Piece Rule: Wear only 5 accessories – earrings count as 2; watch counts as 3, allowing 2 additional accessories, or…
2. The 13 Piece rule: Wear only 13 accessories remembering to count each button on your suit front and sleeves as individual pieces.

Regardless which rule you follow, the meaning is clear, do not over accessorize.

Need a watch ? Go to SteinWerk :

If you wanna wear some jewelery, definitely choose some discreet and classic, no bling. Jewelry should be keep minimal and conservative. And that means no facial piercing except earrings. They should add a subtle touch to your look but definitely not be the eye catching.Mob style: Take a look on my Accessories post, and choose a nice hat, black or white, according to your outfit. I have also this new shop, Erika with some good ones! You can add some sunglasses, mirror or black.

And a gun! Shoulder holster is the best – you can’t go wrong. And, if someone is looking at you with a glance you dislike…shoot him ^^ Ask Myg if you need some advice!

Lisa Takao, Moneyshark