Photo by: Rudyn Carter
The above piece is the first place winner, Rudyn Carter with her photo of Winterfell Amaranthine. Second place went to Blondie Uriza and third was KoroCarnell. Click the names to view 2nd and 3rd place winners and view entire collection here: Winter Fell Photo Contest.
The holidays are quickly approaching.. what most ladies like to wear is something fantastic, something beautiful, something sparkling, something classy. Whether it be a cocktail Christmas party, a Hanukkah gathering, a Kwanza celebration, or a New Year’s Eve fete.
First the fantastic:
Raven Pennyfeather’s dress is a wonder of airiness and beauty, especially this version, which includes an incredible silver bodice.
With it’s exquisite textures backless bodice, Nicky Ree’s absolutely stunning snowflake-embroidered dress crosses over from Ice Queen to a warm and sexy queen. The headpiece almost looks like an ushanka, made of snowflakes instead of fur. The glorious cape completes the look.
Or you can go for truly elegant:
Nardya Rousselot’s gorgeous dress, suitable for tango or flamenco, will take you from Christmas to New Year’s with it’s full filigreed skirt complete with train, slit up one side, and beautifully embroidered bodice, all in a deep red.
Elettra Gausman’s elegant and theatrical tiger-striped gown will suit the provocateur. With it’s tight slim skirt leading to a flounced, silver-hemmed skirt and its dangerous back with provocative end point, this dress oozes sensuality.
Shiryu Musashi’s brocaded midnight blue evening gown is, then, a perfect choice for me. With its rich draping fabric, carefully constructed prim skirt, elegant wrapped sash, and opera gloves, it’s an evening gown for a lady of mystery.
This long, elegant dress from Sparkle Skye is perfect for the princess off to a night of magic and wonder on New Year’s Eve. This particular gown comes with a short option, a semi-sheer and a non-sparkling or sparkling skirt. With its understated elegant lines, it suits a woman of sophistication.
What about the woman who wants a something a little less formal? We don’t all go to balls for the holidays. I have flirty, fun, and sophisticated for you….
This dress from Ivey Deschanel would be ideal for more informal parties. With its full and flirty blue satin skirt and sequined spaghetti strap top, it fits the bill. What really pushes it from girly dress to a more elegant look, however, is the scarf and fishnet tights Ivey includes.
This dress from Vitabela Dubrovna is another great choice. Based on her real life designs, Vita’s dresses are beautiful, imaginative, and couture. This lovely dress will take me to several parties, both day and night, with its lovely laces and beading on the bodice and full graceful skirt.
Running along a more vintage line is this sleek couture dress from Raven Pennyfeather. With its feathered decolletage, tweed pattern and three-quarter length cuffed sleeves, it’s sophistication unparalleled. A tortured prim collar surrounds the neck like a piece of constructed fluffery with a well-chosen sculpty belt around the waist. A dramatic (but not overdone) feather hat tops the ensemble. The system skirt is tight and sexy with a brilliant pleated flexi attached, and Raven’s characteristic textured stockings complete the outfit. This truly is high fashion—unique, artistic, designed well. It shows how Raven continues to push herself artistically and technically.
Finally we have a short little number from Kuranosuke Kamachi. A marvelous fluff of stiff satin, this dress is understated enough to stand with more elaborate accessories (such as the shoes I am wearing from 2408 Alekseev. This is formality with a bit of fun.
Hair brings one's self-image into focus; it is vanity's proving ground. Hair is terribly personal, a tangle of mysterious prejudices.
~Shana Alexander
Every morning when I wake up in SL, I am faced with the prospect of what my hair will look like. In my real life, I am pretty much limited to the hair I have, as messy or incalcitrant as it will be. In SL or IMVU, I have the choice of just about any hair I would want.
As Shana Alexander suggests, hair is the headliner, the opening statement, the engine to the whole train wreck.
What is amazing is that it is one of the least expensive ways to completely change one’s look in either world. Both mediums offer a variety of hairstyles for women (though the complaint in SL is that not enough are offered for men).
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For fashionistas across the worlds, seemingly trivial things become incredibly important. Like where to get the very best shoes.
Why shoes? They are the punctuation on an ensemble. They set the tone for the entire outfit and show the wearer’s expertise with the finer details of accoutrement. The shoes alone can tell a whole story—are they scuffed boots, fresh from role playing in a gritty urban scene, or pristine stilettos on long legs, full of sex appeal and class or sweet flats, perfect for a “day off”?
Both Second Life and IMVU offer users the ability to enjoy their shoe fetish and secretly indulge in Imelda Marcos’ extravagances without breaking the bank or building a new closet on to the house.
Shoes are also incredibly important in both words because the feet in both are dreadfully unattractive.
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere it's that wonderful time of year again....winter. This week on Koinup's Cream of the Crop I want to announce a newly create group that is having a wonderful winter contest - Winter Fell Photo Contest. Winter Fell Photo Contest Rules
In order to take part in the competition you will need to do the following:
- Join the Winter Fell Photo Contest Group on Koinup.
- Visit Winterfell between December 1st and December 31st and take photos of things you find that are related to the Winter and Holiday Season
- Add your images to the pool, limit three per person.
- Each image's name must include the sim name where it was taken.
Across the virtual worlds--especially in Second Life and IMVU—the avatar is made in a way that layers of graphics go over a computer-calculated mesh. Both worlds allow residents to create skins and bring them in world.
This is all a fancy way of saying we can make our faces and bodies kind of look the way we want. However, if we are not pros in Photoshop or 3ds Max, we need to live with the skins given us or purchase them from content creators in our respective worlds. Imagine me without a skin. This photo could not exist…
The skins are the most human elements of the avatar, besides the mesh shapes and animations, for avatars. They mark the difference between being a generic body and an individual persona and skin makers do fine business in both worlds. The skins create the base of the being that we inhibit in avatars and bring the poignancy of our humanness to our interactions. They make the 3D we engage in much more meaningful.
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I took this photo to show off the really fabulous build on the east side of the sim. It is the main shop for Dirty Rat and also a few smaller satellite shops. I really enjoyed just hanging out up top and enjoying the fab vistas.
Photo by: Shoji
Shoji's fantastic shot here shows you what a picturesque place the fishing area really is. I really love how Shoji captured the sunlight on the water as well as the all the reflections. Nice job Shoji!
I really want to credit n0th1ng Ackland and Oriolus Oliva for making a wonderful sim to both shop and enjoy as well as a great landscape for taking some fab photos!Fiona Haworth
Guest Author - Koinup.com
Staff Blogger - Phantom’s Republic
Co-Owner - Prim Pads
Twitter - Fiona_Haworth
Photo by: TaliaTokugawa
TaliaTokugawa's BL Berlin09 is a fantastic shot of one of the many stages out at the Burning Life sims. This particular stage was made by Kazuhiro Aridian...who is the fabulous creator of Europa.Photo by: LoquaciaLoon
LoquaciaLoon's piece named Moon was shot at Burning Life-12 Mile and is just one of the many freebies available for you this year. Grapho Fullstop, of alpha-tribe, not only includes five marvelous avatars but some corresponding animations and some fabulous fun. Grab the notecard and enjoy this site.
Next week we return to our regular columns so please feel free to PM me on Koinup and tell me all about what's happening in your groups. You never know when you'll be Koinup's Cream of the Crop pick of the week!
Fiona Haworth
Guest Author - Koinup.com
Staff Blogger - Phantom’s Republic
Co-Owner - Prim Pads
Twitter - Fiona_Haworth
Machinima by: Poid_Mahovlich
Our own Poid Mahovlich claimed a bit of virtual land on Burning Life - Rabbithole. She used some inspiration from the RL Burning Man and produced a lovely installation called Cabaret of Flames. It is full of fire, drums, and dance. Watch this lovely bit of machinima shot at the installation and then go experience it for yourself. Additionally, you can read more about Poid's inspiration at her website: http://cabaretofflames.blogspot.com/
Photo by: RAFTWETJewell
This snap from RAFTWETJewell was taken at the Radiant Bliss Music Project installation located at Burning Life - High Rock. It's both psychedelic and a really fun place to party. They have events on Monday all day and Wednesday all day so try to stop on out and catch it.
Photo by: bark
As a huge fan of Gulliver's Travels I just had to include this installation by Ub Yifu. bark's photo of this installation on Burning Life -3 Mile is really wonderful. All the small people on Gulliver are about avatar sized and there are some poseballs for you to play on and takes some photos of yourself participating in the capture. Really wonderful work!
Burning Life only runs until Oct 25th so make sure you get over there and check out what our residents have created just for this special event. And stay tuned to Koinup's blog as we all bring you our own perceptions of such a fabulous event.
Photo by: Musique
Photo by: TheaMaiman
Thea Maiman has picked the popular sim of Bitterblue where it's always raining. The choice in place and the overall composition of this shot makes it a real winner. I really like how the lights look.
NeveryLorakeet's Dreaming the Sky is just fantastic! I can't tell where the photo starts nor ends. This is one of those pieces that just embodies photo manipulation techniques. I love it!
Photo by: Photoliv42
Photoliv42's Flight of Icarus is another really brilliant piece. It looks more painted than photographed. Really lovely use of layering and filtering.
Please feel free to PM me on Koinup and tell me all about what's happening in your groups. You never know when you'll be Koinup's Cream of the Crop pick of the week!
Fiona Haworth
Guest Author - Koinup.com
Staff Blogger - Phantom’s Republic
Co-Owner - Prim Pads
Twitter - Fiona_Haworth
Photo by: Dimitri
Dimitri's Rosana & Lin is just one in many summertime themed works in his collection. Dimitri does a fantastic job of capturing the fun of the season. His Sims avis are seen doing everything from pool parties to picnics.
Lookatmy Back's Alpha and Omega is a beautiful shot of Light Waves / Starax piece. Light Waves or his earlier incarnation Starax is the big daddy of sculpture on the grid. He's been producing sculptures long before sculpties and has just gotten better since those were introduced.
Machinima by: kyota
Kyota's lovely vid not only shows off Joy's sculptures at the Mermaid Temple sim, but also cuts in a bit of the process that goes into making such a lovely work of 3D art. The film takes us in and out of the 3D program as it shows off the piece in game.
If your group is having a contest or an event, please PM me on Koinup and let me know. I'd love to cover all the fun to be had in joining such expressive groups of people from all over.
Fiona Haworth
Guest Author - Koinup.com
Staff Blogger - Phantom’s Republic
Co-Owner - Prim Pads
Twitter - Fiona_Haworth
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