52 Week Colour, Celadon

Celadon…never heard of it but that doesn’t mean I don’t have anything of that colour.

After a little search and try on session I came across Last Call’s Anytime dress. A pretty geometric patterned mini dress with a great ‘swishy’ skirt. But, wait! This dress must be ancient…Last Call does not exist anymore. Indeed, although it looks as fresh as any of today’s designs, it is a dress made before windlight, before sculptys, before any of the fancy add ons we have had in the past couple of years. This is truly a classic dress that has stood the test of second life time.

I chose elikatira’s hair and N-Core shoes to go with the dress. The rest are my usual suspects listed below.

Alternative shot here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/furystapleton/5958285995/in/photostream

Styling:

Shape: custom, FuriousDesigns
Skin: [PXL] Candy NAT Lime DEB
Hair: [elikatira] Lasting 2 - Black 04
Eyes: (Miriel) Eyes - Peacock (Big)
Eyelashes: Cake, Seperated lashes, tintable
Dress: Last Call : Anytime (fresh)
Shoes: N-core ILLUSION XtremeHeel "Apple"
Jewellry: *Giselle Bracelet* (R hand) by La Forgia Jewels

52 WHITE

I know --another bride you say? Well at least this is a sophisticated late afternoon, evening outfit. It is Kerry from the late and still lamented Last Call. [NA] Ginny Talamasca was a very gifted designer whose work still stands up in the current world of sculpties, shadows and Frankenfeet. I'm wearing Kerry with Caroline Apollo's Carlotta set in Diamond, Lelutka's Lush hair in "Rita", Maitreya Gold Ixkin in Pearl and Eleganza bouquet by Nirvana.

Cue the bridesmaids!

Other details:
Adam n Eve Taylor Natural Tone in Gold
Poses by !BANG

52 TAUPE aka Sam Cheats

I confess. This pictures has been on my flicker for eons waiting to be blogged. It's Julie by Last Call [NA] and it's one of my earliest full price purchases from LC back when. We could also call this "the old quad post" as my skin is from Celestial Studios, Vogue Winter 2 in Champagne and my shoes and hair are from ETD. Julie is an outfit that I wear often, with the slouchy leg option.

Details:
Outfit: Last Call Julie [NA]
Skin: Celestial Studios, Vogue Winter 2 in Champagne
Hair: ETD Camille in Blonde [NA]
Shoes: ETD Heel Strap Platform in Black [NA]
Earrings: Morantique [old gift]
Bracelet: Primagine [NA]
Poses: /GEEZ/ [R]

As I look at the credits this post could also qualify for achariya's Inventory Challenge, except that the skin is still available.

52 SIENNA

Ah Sienna--a wonderful reddish-brown earthy tone for redheads. I'm happy :)

A search on sienna in my inventory didn't reveal much, but I managed by sneaking in a little more reddish brown. I started with an older Simone Cuddly Sweater in Sienna [NA]. My belt is also an older Shiny Things Pouch Belt in "Reddish." Looked like sienna to me ;) Hair is an old ETD Aveda style called Short-Crop in Sienna, alas [NA]. My trousers are from Last Call's Magdalena pants suit in Red [NA]. Boots are from Pixel Mode called Rhea, also in Red. I'm wearing an Infinity Skin aka *blowpop* -- Carmen in Raw Sienna. [NA]

Otherwise:
earrings from GANKED
poses from Gesticulate

All around the skirt

I find patterns particularly hard to combine, especially animal and camo prints. So what happens is that, generally, I fiddle with the item for a while but in the end I never wear it: I just give up, figuring I lack the skill to mix and match. But when this skirt saw the light after hiding in my inventory for a while, I figured it was worth a shot, considering I didn't even have to adjust the prims. The culprit is Mimikri's Peggy sculpted mini in Olive, which I purchased in The Dressing Room Blue a while ago (meaning it's no longer available). The skirt came with a blouse which was too short, too sheer, and not autumnal enough for the look I had in mind. So, here was a challenge: finding something to wear it with in my out-of-control, out-of-date inventory. In the end I came up with not just one, but two combinations.

The length of the skirt (or rather, the shortness) made boots an immediate must -- any excuse is good for boots. It was just the perfect chance to wear these again since I bought them last spring - J's Western boots. After trying them on the legs still seemed too bare, so I figured I had to find the right tights to go with the skirt. A quick inventory search for "tights" and, bingo, I had bought the whole lot at a place called MCs ages ago, so I was bound to find a colour that matched. In the end I opted for Dark Olive, from the Earth Tone pack. After that came the hardest part, finding a top, which is where I would normally give up. I had already included dark brown and olive green, so I figured camel would be a good option to pick up on the skirt's shades. So, I donned an old favourite, the Julie Sweater from the long gone Last Call. The combo looked nice, but somehow too bland... and then it dawned on me: how about adding a jacket on top, to give it a more layered feel? This bolero is part of the Robot Love outfit by Icing, but can be worn with almost anything, classic to modern. And last, on to accessories... how about something made of wood? Then, it has to be the Heartwood necklace from -back when I bought it,-Earthtones with its matching bracelet. That's it, got it! But... wait... how about a black turtleneck and thicker tights?

For this other, more wintery look, I chose the Eva turtleneck in black, by Pink Outfitters, together with the PixelDolls green knit leggings. To avoid clashes between the sweater prims and the jewellery, I decided to go without any accessories. So, not bad, in the end!

The other stuff: Hair - Amelia by fri.day (Jealous red); eyes - Miriel in Forest (store no longer existing); skin - Helena 03 by Tuli (TDR special, no longer available); poses (1st pic) Glitterati, (2nd pic) - /GEEZ/

Full outfit details HERE and HERE.

Chalice's Challenge

I started this challenge given to us by Chalice Carling, by looking for separates, but had a shortage of suitable skirts. So, since I own absolutely zero wedding dresses [outlawed from the challenge anyway], I looked through my Last Call outfits for something appropriate and found 2.



The first is Kerry, one of my earliest full-price Last Call purchases. While it comes with a necklace, I opted for the paper couture Sparkling Spheres set from their 2010 collection. Shoes are ETD's D'Orsay stilettos in Nude, hair is Cameron in Copper from Truth and skin is PXL Creations July NAT SpringWine MEB. I think this would be suitable for an afternoon church wedding.


This dress would be for a beach wedding I think, perhaps with a stole that I don't own. Sofia is the dress, also from Last Call. My necklace is Poseidon in Rose from (luc) Fashion Jewelry. Everything else remains the same. I wish I could have met the challenge more creatively, but this is what my inventory had. And getting married in Last Call would be far from shabby.

Poses by [LAP]

Thank You Ginny!

Two years ago today we lost the person behind the SL avatar, Ginny Talamasca. She was known to most of us only as the creator of the Dazzle and then, the Last Call label in SL. I first discovered Last Call through my friend and fellow blogger, Fury Stapleton, who took me to the first big LC sale in June 2007. I was all of 2 months old and still feeling my way. My earliest purchases bear the date of June 4, 2007.

After that, and particularly after I started work next door at ETD, Last Call was where I went for that special dress. It took me a while to appreciate the line she was drawing between chic, elegant and a wee bit edgy and even a tad slutty, but always classy. In the end I "got it."

Left to Right: Ingrid, Bass & Elizabeth (Diva)

In memory of Ginny and her work, which, despite several advances in SL technology, still looks as fabulous as when they were first made, I'm presenting 2 sets of photos. The first is of dresses I blogged before--and, sadly, my first blogpost was at the last sale and my second was from the skin fair this year. The second is of some of my earliest purchases, before the final sale in 2008.

Left to Right: Cameron, Jessica, Kerry, La Muse & Julia

Thank you Ginny -- we miss you always!

Fair Warning!

When I headed to the Skin Fair now going on at the KMADD Events sim to pick up demos, there was one skin I knew I wanted. That was Tuli's Bella Natural in Fair. Tuli had been kind enough to send demos out to her inworld group so I could just buy on the spot.

Having secured that I struggled through the lag to League, Pink Fuel &, finally, Curio, where I made an expensive mistake:( I accidentally BOUGHT a Vixen skin in Sundust, rather than getting the demos. It's a lovely skin, but I was leaning towards Breeze II in Petal. So my "warning" is ... make VERY sure it's the demo box that you're clicking :( Particularly in the gray lag sea of the fair.




First up is what I came for, the Tuli Bella and boy is she!! The modeling, the freckles make Bella a combination of wise and innocent. I'm wearing Adam n Eve's Dorsal in Aqua. The textures make this a very elegant dress. My hair is ETD Tyra in Auburn Burnt, a great low lag "do" for fairs. On my feet are the Zhao Precious Silver, which are color change and very useful with dress-up clothes or lingerie. My jewelry is all posts is from Dark Mouse. In all except the last picture it's Divine Deco in Gold.




Next up is my "mistake", Vixen Pure in Sundust. It photographs better than it looks on me inworld, but the gloss on the right is quite wearable. And it never hurts to have a few suntans in your inventory. On the left I am wearing Last's Call's Elizabeth [Diva] in RED. This is also elegant, but verry slinky. On the right it's Adam n Eve again, my namesake dress, Samara, in Apple. It comes in many luscious colors and has a lingerie option that is pretty hot.



The Curio I had originally wanted was Breeze 2. I gritted my teeth and robbed my "bank alt" because Breeze 2 Mudslide in Petal was irresistable. Both of the makeups suit. If you don't know, Curio offers you two related skintones, two makeups and freckle or not for the 1k they cost. So when everything suits, it's a real deal! I'm wearing another Last Call, the Bass dress, which was one of my first purchases from LC back at one of their sales in early 2007. Shoes are Adam n Eve's Babii in Black. These shoes are so smooth that they should be illegal. Jewelry remains Dark Mouse, this time Vintage Marcasite in Silver. Hair is a new favorite Fastball in Pyre that I picked up at the Exile sale.




And to close, a blast from the past. My first good skin was Gala Sparse Medium. It looks pretty bare now, but it was my skin for many months. I use it now to adjust eyelashes :) On the right is my second good skin, Gala Shale in Medium. I can see the development trajectory and, in many cases, progress in skins, but the softness and perfection of these have a lovely innocence about them. I wear the Shale from time to time because I adore that mouth and the shading. Sometime "old" is "as good as new."

Flowing with the Pose

My response to Achariya's Pose Challenge.

I admit that I never credit to poses I use in my blog, which, is current parlance, is a FAIL.

I have poses from [LAP], Reel Expression, AnnaH, AnaLu, Sn@tch and Torrid that I can remember. But I'm choosing to feature pose maker, Flutter Memel's, work because I really like the imagination behind the poses. And many of her poses work beautifully with system skirts. I especially like her poses with one hand up as they get the hand out of the way of prim skirts as well as showing off any ring you are wearing :)

So without further ado, here's {flowey} -- five poses to meet the challenge.




From left to right the poses are named: "Love is everything I can give to you", "I don't love you", "Rainy mornings which never end", "Oh do you?", "I was going to send you loveletter". Each provides a unique twist on the situation it names. One element that I really appreciate is the foot positions. Many poses end up with one of your feet inside the other--not with {flowey}.

To show off the poses I am wearing the following:
Hair: Maaliyah in Auburn Burnt from ETD
Skin: Meredith Silver Shine in Sunkissed [group gift]
Earrings: Gypsy Soul from Love Chic
Top: Eva Turtle neck in Cocoa Puff
Pants: Last Call Ariana Pinstriped trousers [no longer available]
Shoes: Kristin Booties in Spice from ETD
Wedding Ring: Eros from JCNY

Sometimes It's Just One thing!

When I tp-ed over to Sweet Magic the Softish Cami in Late caught my eye. But what to wear it with? It's pretty definite color with a detailed black lace edging. So started trying on inventory items.




Then I remembered that a very kind avi had given me some Last Call items.Now why anyone would clear Last Call from their inventory I can't imagine and why she didn't want any money... well I didn't argue! So I finally settled on the LC Marie-Helene White Linen suit. I adore the lovely hand drawn tie knot on the jacket, and the buckle on the pants is classic Ginny.

I am, of course, wearing the Street Magic Late Softish Cami along with Maitreya's Mishima Dawn in Shiny Auburn. My jewelry is from (luc), his Feuille Naturelle in Silver. Finishing off the look are ETD Luth in auburn burnt and Fleur Allure Limited Release Valentine Red in Truffle


I had my Neko ears on from a party I attended when I bought the Tiered_skirt(blue) by **nikukyu** at the MNK Shops. I also bought a contrasting top there, but thought, hey -- the flowers in the skirt are dusty pink and the late softish cami ... So I tried it out.




Then it seemed a bit bare--all skirt and just a cami, so I inventory-groped again and came out with the Ibizarre soft metal Bolero in silver. With the medallion hanging from the bolero tie I didn't need any jewelry.

I'm wearing my favorite Kookie shoes, Phoebe in noir as well as an older Fleur Vivant skin, Dakota 3 in Buff. The discovery for me in this outfit was the Apatia hairstyle from Pixel Dust in Caramel. I know Atumn Hykova from Fleur and Plurk, but this was the first time I had gotten over to her store. With Apatia it was love at first pixel!

My ears are the Kyu-To neko Ears in white from Dirty Lynx. I axed the tail cause it looked a bit odd whisking around under the skirt. These are my absolute favorite Neko ears for their funky punkness. My socks are the free ones from Shiny Things, the thigh-highs in pink. If you don't have those you should. They come in really useful wardrobe colors as well as being modifiable.

Thus one camisole begat two outfits!

Anytime...

This week we're featuring the Allure Exotique skin at Fleur [now on 50% off sale for a week] and I COULD say my blogpost title is because I could wear Exotique "anytime." But that's not the case.




In a feeble [and totally failed] attempt to clean out my inventory I realized that I had a large number of Last Call items, which, after purchasing both before and during the final sale, I don't wear:( So, since they are available from time to time in yard sales, I thought I'd start blogging some of them.

"Anytime" is one of the first Last Call dresses that I bought. It's a beautifully textured babydoll dress with a beautifully moving skirt and amazingly well-matched pants layer. Even when my hip pokes through it looks fine. Ginny was a genius and is sorely missed.
BUT it's where I am, so I paired it with the black turtleneck from the Tres Blah! Mod outfit, the cigarette pants from Michami's Joanie on the underwear later, minus their primmy bits and with black socks of my making, as well as Kookie's Phoebe shoes in black. Hair is Lily from Truth in whatever color they are calling "pumpkin" now.

Skin is, of course, Fleur Exotique 3 in Truffle.

Sam's "Inner Critter"

I got a blue fox a while back to keep my late friend , Artistic Fimicoloud company, but never really warmed to the head shape or the color. Then, after her death, as I was searching for my "inner critter," as Sunweaver Chieftess, Rita Mariner put it, I came across Cheetah Kitty's Cheetah avatar at Lost Furest and fell in love. My first one was pink for Relay for Life. This is just a quick outfit I tossed together from an old freebie and a Bossa Nova shrug, also free way back when. Hair is ETD Emily in pink burnt.


Of course furry avatars have different dressing issues than human ones, but at least the feet are taken care of *mews*. The cheetah head needs little adjustment for hair fortunately. [The fox was a serious PITA]. Just back a bit and move a couple of strands for Emily.

When I was looking for a black and white cheetah for an event at Club Cutlass [at Buccaneer Bay] I had a very "blonde" moment and couldn't find it again, so I got the Arctic Fox pictured below. I'm wearing a Last Call design, La Muse. Again Emily from ETD in white burnt. I'm also wearing the Paper Couture River Stone necklace, [earrings are an issue for furries] and the mid-length Grey Gloves from Fleur. I didn't win the contest, but it was a lot of fun dressing this avi.


As I stated I originally bought a furry avi to match Artistic, but now that I've found my "inner critter," look for me on the grid as I'll be a FUR from time to time.
Furrily yours,
Sam [don't call me "hun" ] Barzane

I vant to be alone ...

With 56,000 other avies LOL

My reference is to the name of one of Sioxie Legend's super tops, "Garbo," seen here in three of its variations. Its silky drapes and plunging back make it a modest, yet sexy, top to wear for a special event. Sometimes showing less IS more:)


I have paired it with the skirt from Last Call's Bass dress [discontinued unfortunately]. On the left I'm wearing ETD's Orsay stilettos in red. [I think Elika's shoes are wonderful -- next time get out of the hair section if you can and take a look!] In the center photo I am wearing LAQUE in black by Storm Schmooz -- on the right ETD Orsay again, this time in navy blue. Jewelry in all three photos is Violet Voltaire's new Angel set in silver/black. Hair is ETD's Shanna in caramel burnt. Skin is Fleur's new Shoujo 3 skin in lily.

Two Faces of Sam

Well at least it isn't three and my name isn't Eve.

The picture on the left was taken after a good friend's Rezday Party -- with a super live band yet!! I came home and, before I kicked off my shoes, I took this photo. The outfit is a mix 'n' match combining several elements. I started with the top from Last Call's Casey, because it went with the Nereid jewelry set by Tekeli-li . The set is color-change, but I love the seagreen/blues it comes in. The skirt is a very useful one from Ibizarre called "Mix it up." I colored the G.L.A.M. freebie metallic Lycra tights [light] and finished the outfit off with the Shiny Things T-straps revamped from the balcony discount section. Hair is AJ from ETD in cinnamon, skin is Celestial Studios Jade-Mid in champagne.


Once I got started taking pictures I wanted to see how Last Call's Aphrodite would look against this shot I took of a medieval courtyard in Arles, France. Hair is AJ from ETD in strawberry. The skin is one from Another Fundraiser -- [Fayray] Lf0 - Dark Angel (Another Fundraiser) by Shani Fayray. Then this avi left to make dinner in RL.

Baby, it's cold outside ...

This is my first real change of seasons in SL, not that we need to, but any excuse for some shopping I'll take :) So I've been exploring the new items out there for us in the Winter Wonderland that SL is becoming these days.

I took the "something old, something new" approach to this outfit. Well I suppose when your avi's only 6th months old, nothing is really OLD, but here goes.


Old, the black PixelDoll skinny jeans for boots from the Port Seraphine sale. "Old" the Armidi Gisace men's turtleneck sweater in beige. [Well it WAS last month! LOL] Old, the belt from the discontinued Ariana outfit from Last Call. It's one of the few belts I have found that looks good on a small avi -- after a little "tweaking" that is ;) Old -- the freebie earrings from Cailyn.

New [for me at least], ETD's calf boots in black. New for all of us, the Lydia hairstyle from ETD, a recent group freebie. And NEWEST! The Cherries flexi scarf from Artilleri! The scarf replaces the turtleneck prim on the sweater, but with such a snuggly adorable flexi scarf I'm toasty! And the skin is NEW, one of the new ones from Chai, Alloy in the Ginger tone.

So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Very Sad News

We all just learned today that half of the creative talent of Last Call has passed away.

My heart goes out to the one that remains. You are in our thoughts and prayers as is your former partner.

We who work at ETD [one of the Quad sims] knew no more than other SLers why the Quad was closed, so we are just as shocked and saddened as you all must be on hearing this news. Please support the remaining partner in their time of trial.