Text and Photography from Anna Avalanche
I felt I am lost in terms of Second Life fashion style. There are very good outfits items on good stores. That’s not the question. Here woman decide about clothes, accessories, hair style, animation and also body skin and shape. This means everyone can get confuse from the many opportunity and combinations we have on Second Life outfit. I don’t pretend to make this article a fashion manual. But “All fashion is clothing; although clearly not all clothing is fashion...we need fashion rather than clothes-not to clothe our nakedness but to clothe our self esteem” (Colin McDowell – 1995). This quote is particular truth in Second Life. The difference we need to choose also shapes, skins, hairs, etc.
Dress from Pietra Biondi and Halisson Usher
The problem is how combine everything to make us beautiful and desirable. How can we catch attention from our outfit on this wonderful world? On real life we can change very little our natural body shape with plastic surgery. This is not a problem on second life but might be a dilemma. I have seen people trying to make their outfit into a Christmas tree. Maybe we can find some “presents under the tree”. But, if you put a fabulous diamond on a box full of sparkling jewels you might not seen it. However, if you put this same fabulous diamond on a wood box with simple dull jewels you might notice it. “The best thing is to look natural, but it takes make-up to look natural” (Calvin Klein).
Dress from Pietra Biondi and Halisson Usher
So I interviewed some fashion expertise friends about my doubts. Lucille Morigi is equivalent to “Gisele Bündchen” from Second Life. She is a SL top model, fashion teacher and an expertise on Second life fashion. She has attended some of the best modeling shows on Second Life like; Shakture Couture Unveiled Fashion Show on late 2007.
Anna Avalanche (AA): what's your style?
Lucille Morigi (LM): My mood tells me what kind of outfit I must wear. Sometimes I want to be the girl next door and others I want to be a Star. Therefore I don't have one outfit I like best.
AA: What suggestion you would like to give to designers?
LM: Show some real fashion, show things that come from your minds. Work with prims and attachments. Bring different textures, dare to be different!
AA: What is your advice for those women that what to be a models?
LM: Women that want to become models should get used to be thinner, have less muscle, less butt, hips and breasts. Never and I mean Never wear blings and body oil. And then apply to a Modeling School. It's really important. It opens doors for you. They should also start reading fashion blogs or magazines to know something about style. Start going to fashion shows and see what that is all about. They should also know that they will spend much money before anything happens. Portfolio, Classes, poses, skins, hair, outfits, all that have a cost. So, you'd better do it for fun.
AA: What is your opinion about people that like to use oil in the body and big muscle shape?
LM: In my opinion body oil makes avatar look like plastic people. Well, that's not my taste. Each person shows here what they want to have in return. Obviously, they are not well dressed, but maybe they don't care. The important thing is to be happy!
AA: What about Second Life?
LM: Second Life seems to be growing fast in fashion and entertainment. Musicians, video makers, builders and scripter’s these seem to have future. Second Life has amazing places to explore, to learn and to open mind, if one is willing to do so. That's really interesting. I can see some future here.
I also talked with Pietra Biondi and Halisson Usher. They achieved success in Brazilian Second Life fashion world. In real life they really work on fashion. Halisson is graduated in Industrial Design from the University of Brasilia, Brazil. But he also studied product design and had a close relationship with professionals and fashions centers. Pietra has worked as a producer of fashion.
Anna Avalanche (AA): What are the difficulties for a designer?
Pietra Biondi and Halisson Usher (PB and HU): The most difficulty is creating and innovating. Follow the SL progress require some real life time.
AA: What is your view about people outfit? Especially those that like to use oil in the body and big muscle shape?
HU: The stature of Brazilians avatars is influenced by the Latin-American people self esteem. The Brazilian people are vain and try to create a beautiful figure.
PB: About the fashion, I know a few women who really dress their avatars very well. Oil, tan lines and low-cut clothes, commonly seems artificial in the SL and I don’t like it. The extreme hinder the finality. Women with strong muscle legs and body lose their female curvilinear shape.
AA: What is your opinion about Second Life?
HU: The Second Life is the best interface to customize own appearance. For who has patience and wish a relationship it is a good tool for socialization and contacting new people. I believe that the Linden should seek partnerships and integration with browsers "in-world", expand the possibilities of real business and improve graphics mechanisms. The Integration with other Internet services is in my opinion, a matter of survival.
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I would like to give my personal fashion tips and suggestions. Please don’t understand this as an obligation to be beautiful. “The most courageous act is still to think for yourself aloud” (Coco Chanel). This is only Anna Avalanche thinking of myself aloud. Lol!
Tall Boots:
Knee-high boots make great sense because they let you wear everything from skinny jeans to miniskirts. Black or dark color pairs with almost everything.
Fitted Jacket:
A great tailored jacket fitted to show off feminine curves, not a baggy masculine style, will pair with everything from work trousers to jeans. A jacket adds structure to your figure and creates waistlines and smoothes out lumps and bumps for all shapes.
Chic Colors
Opt for something red, crimson or pink…. Red can give your skin a lift. It reflects back its warm color to your skin. Whether it is a wide belt, round toe heels or matte red lips, this color is always a good choice. Also try the classic colors of black and white.
The Baby Doll Dress
Baby Doll dress rises to the occasion. The baby doll dress comes in different styles with fullness in the skirt and a shorter length. Perfect for day into evening... look cute and casual in a sundress, a pretty mini, or splash out in something special.
Skirts style
Some skirt could make your lumps and waist look bigger. Take care and reduce your lumps and waist if that is the case.
Emphasize Your Curves!
Women have coveted the hourglass figure for centuries. Now it’s easy to create those classic curves no matter how you’re shaped. You could also use clothes to emphasize that.
Face Light!
This is a tricky tip. The face light can shine your face. But don’t use the strong light in some places if you want to see the natural lights. You can fine a very nice faceFX Designer light at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cleary/102/72/114
I personally think that we should look at the overall situation, background and timing. Don’t forget that our “diamond” must shine. So maybe you must simplify. One who better understood the relation between fashion and context in real life was Coco Chanel. “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different. A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous” (Coco Chanel).
The background context changed with the introduction of automobile and modern industrial machinery on daily life. After 1900 women's clothing became lighter and lighter in construction and materials. A popular style in this period was the "Lingerie Dress" a feather-light white cotton dress inset with strips of open work lace and net.
Most women's dress in this era was highly influenced by the advancing feminist cause, which after 1903 escalated to widespread civil disobedience by "Suffragettes" (radical suffragists). Women modeled their behavior and appearance upon the “Gibson Girl” the popular image of the "New Woman". Men's clothing styles such as the suit, shirt, hard collar and tie were worn by women forcing themselves into professions formerly occupied by men. Health fads of the 1890's and 1900's also encouraged women's sporting activities, particularly bicycling, which, in turn promoted sport clothing as a fashion.
“Fashion is in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening” (Coco Chanel). Chanel understanding of the relationship between woman context and fashion was unique. She was completely modern in this respect. She once said: “women have to be light, quick, to run to catch a bus or a taxi”. Maybe we might be less attached to be seen well in a lagging place. In Second Life we must understand that our image must download on someone else computer. With a lot of attaches, sparkle and particles you might be beautiful but not rezz totally. “Fashion is all about expressing yourself without saying a word” (MuñekaWear).
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I would like to conclude with real life designer's quotes that might help you.
“Be yourself is about the worst advice you can give some people” (Tom Masson).
“Designing is a matter of mixing known elements in new and existing ways in order to create fresh combinations and products” (Sue Jenkyn Jones).
“When in doubt, wear red” (Bill Blass).
“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months” (Oscar Wilde).
“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safer, the creatures of the common place, the slaves of the ordinary” (Cecil Beaton).
“Zest is the secret to all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest” (Christian Dior).
“Fashions fade, but style is eternal” (Yves Saint Laurent).
Lucille Morigi wore:
skin - Splashing Doll Pinkie
Outfit - TaP - Effervecent Dress
Shoes - Zhao Clover - Black/ Gold
Hair - DH, Sydney Hershey
Anna Avalanche sponsored by:
AA Trade Company, Cleary (111, 69, 113): AA Trade
For more pictures and information see my flickr
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