Bananas!

I’m never been a big shoe-shopper. Unless I’m missing something important, there’s a truly amazing sale, or I’m close to leaving the house barefoot, I never buy them. Rowan Carroll’s shoes fit into a separate category: wearable art.

When I read the sad news about Unusual Isle closing, I knew I wanted to blog something really special. I’m a huge fan of her imaginative prim-work, as you can see in my “Lucky Kitty” post and in “Funk Me Pumps“; and these shoes illustrate all the reasons why. My favorite of her designs boast a clever concept, intricate prim construction, and always make me feel distinctive and original. Her Carmen wedges are a perfect example of those qualities, and are sexy and fun to boot. I decided to let them take me away, and ended up dressed as their namesake, the inimitable Carmen Miranda. With her for inspiration, they’re clearly dancing shoes, and work just as well in a nightclub or on dusty roads. Just don’t forget your trusty tambourine!

I always wear my darkest Chai skins when I want to be beautiful and striking, and Carmen certainly was both of those things. I went with a House of Heart style with a simple bun that made it easier to construct my turban, which is attached in two places and based on a Bare Rose bandanna and an Artilleri scarf. I bought a sculpty banana OnRez for L$30 before finding the sculpt map in my own library, and made the apples and grapes myself. The feather are sleeves of a gown, tinted white. Her high-waisted flamenco skirts and ruffled tops stretched my styling muscles, but I think I captured the feeling with a puffed sleeve from an Aoharu dress, and a Celestial Studios bandeau. I edited the length of my skirt pleats all around to mimic that rumba-style graduated fluff, and added a jacket-layer corset to heighten the waist. Ropes of gold necklaces from Bonita’s and Second Mirage catch the light and clinking bangles add music to my movements. Care to join me for a weekend in Havana?

Stop by the new She’s So Unusual Shoes location today! Thistledown (221, 131, 25)

Shoes: She’s So Unusual Shoes! – Carmen Platforms
Skin: LF Chai – Antonia in Cinnamon
Eyes: Lemania Indigo – Esther Williams Eyes
Hair: House of Heart – Ballerina in Black
Bikini Top: Celestial Studios – Bandeau Bikini Top
Shoulder Ruffle: Aoharu – Jewel Horse Dress in White
Pant Layer: G.L.A.M. – Chiffon Babydoll Dress
Skirt: Ceres Clothiers – Dotty Marilyn Dress Skirt (Edited a LOT)
Corset: CheerGirl allen – Champagne Corset (Only $L10!)
Small Chain Necklace: Bonita’s Jewelry – Platinum Chain Necklace
Triple Chain Necklace: Second Mirage – Tory Necklaces in Gold
Bangles: Yak & Yeti – Indian Devdas Glass Bangle Set in Red (Wear All Together and Hand Attachment Options)
Manicure: Candy Nail – Basic Nails in Gold
Lashes: Cake – Flutter Lashes

Headdress:
Scarf A: Bare Rose – Trench Coat Scarf (Worn on Chin, Edited to Fit)
Scarf B: Artilleri – Silky Scarf in Yellow (Tinted Green, Worn on Mouth, and Edited to Fit)
Feathers: DeFleur Fashions – Ariella Feather Sleeve (Tinted White, Edited to Fit)
Bananas: yamazaki Loon – Banana
All other fruits and crappy tambourine made lovingly by me.

For Slurls, see our Designer Locations and Photo-Shoot Locations pages.

House of Heart-Shaped Glasses

Outside summer may be long gone, but here in our windlight-world your poolside style doesn’t have to be. I slipped into a virtual bikini and did some beach bumming around the beautiful Las Arenas Rosadas (Click HERE for the original gangster “Who Let the Dorks Out” post about this stunning locale) for another look at the label-defying hairstyles from House of Heart.

I’m no longer surprised by the variety of styles that Sheltered Heart is able to create, and this batch was a perfect representation of that. I liked the idea of doing a dressed-up/dressed-down comparison again, although in this case, my “dressed-up” is pretty close to un-dressed. Back in early September when I started this post, there was still a little Autumn heat. Besides, everybody knows that sand feels better on naked feet.

With a long, lush ponytail like this, you could easily go day or night. I went with a beachy casual look, in a pair of classic white Karamia jeans and my favorite bikini-top: a leopard-print bandeau from a Blaze safari costume. The Nylon lolita shades pay homage to my favorite book, worn with a matching necklace from the same store, and I capped it off with some bright red polish.

I have a serious crush on side ponies of all kinds, and Sable is just my style. With the side-sweeping bang and loose knot at the side, it’s modern but still soft, and undeniably sexy. The length is somewhere between glamorous and bohemian, which makes it really versatile and fun to accessorize – at the beach or in the ballroom. I chose a sun-kissed Tuli skin for my setting, the “Elizabeth”, which may be her most beautiful yet.

For this look, I went into the very depths of my closet for one of my secret passions and first purchases ever. The Tousled Isabella is for showgirls only, and I knew just the stage to set. Or backstage, rather. As an amateur burly girl (or burlesque performer) and vintage-lover in real life, a lot of my early days in here were spent in search of retro content. I’ve been imagining a shoot like this for some time, and this hairstyle finally gave me a reason to feather up!

A peacock burlesque costume from Reasonable Desires is my base, worn without the gorgeous feathered train and headdress. Fleur’s long leather gloves and a pair of over-the-knee boots from the The Abyss were the obvious choice for shiny black sex-appeal, and echo the sequined cap. I went to Mika, a vintage showgirl shop, and found several perfect feathered fans before choosing this one; and I added a pair of flashy art deco-inspired eyelashes from Cake.

With Tousled Isabella, it’s really a case of more is more. A fan of black feathers in a sparkling sequined cap is perfect for performing, paired with spiral curls and a complicated bun. Sexy updo’s are a must for private dancing, and guess what? It looks great with heels. My smoky silver eye makeup is thanks to another insanely pretty Tuli Asturias creation, a gift to us lucky group members.

Hair: House of Heart – Sable in Blonde
Skin: Tuli – Elizabeth in Sunkissed/Freckled (Past Group Gift)
Eyes: FTL – Ajisai Eyes
Bikini Top: Blaze – Safari Outfit Leopard Bandeau Top
Pants: Karamia – White Denim
Necklace: Nylon Outfitters – 4 Strand Red Necklace
Sunglasses: Nylon Outfitters – Lolita Heart Sunglasses
Manicure: Candy Nail – Freebie Nail #5
Pedicure: Awesome Designs – Glitter Nails in Maroon

Poses:
AnnaH – ? Pose Pack (Past Hunt Find)

Hair: House of Heart – Tousled Isabella in Lychee
Skin: Tuli – Emily in Coal/Freckled (Past Group Gift)
Eyes: Miriel – The Iridescent Collection – Peacock
Lingerie and Stockings: Reasonable Desires – Peacock Showgirl Outfit
Shoes: The Abyss – Catalyst Boots in Black
Gloves: Fleur – Leather Gloves in Black
Fan: Mika – Carnival Fan in Black
Cigarette and Holder: Persona – Cigarette Holder (Free! Left Hand Option)
Lashes: Cake – Deco Lashes

Available Props:
Curtains: Relic – Balloon Shades (Tinted a Dark Blue)
Chandelier: Decollage – Chandelier
Picture Frame: YIPs – Frame Friends Picker (Free!)
Table: YIPs – Hotel Tables (Available Free! at the Free*Style Home)
Gramophone: Serendipity Victrolas – Fiona Fair Edition Gramophone
Book: MarillaAnne’s Grey Hare – The Merry Tales of Robin Hood Library Book (Past Hunt Find)
Small Painting: Dahaus – Bouguereau – The Wave (Part of Vain Inc Group Gift)
Vase of Roses: Dahaus – Sweet Vase (Part of Vain Inc Group Gift)

Poses:
LAP – The Cat’s Meow

For Slurls, see our Designer Locations and Photo-Shoot Locations pages.

Tea House of Heart

Cleaning out your closet can be style catharsis. Not only do you purge the bad, but sometimes you’ll discover shiny hidden treasures that you never knew you had. From the depths of my inventory and an unknown time, I present to you my favorite “House of Heart” review styles!

Like many of you, I’ve been on the House of Heart subscribe-O-matic list for a while, and I’m always amazed when I receive each new release gift. Sheltered Heart goes beyond excellent customer service by generously providing a sample of her new creations with each update. For the thrifty fashionistas (like me!), it’s really become something to look forward to. Besides the fantastic freebies, I’ve always been struck by the sheer variety of styles. I wanted to emphasize the diversity of looks that can be achieved first with a very theatrical shoot, and for me “drama” usually means “geisha”; shown here with a ruffled lolita twist.

Bare Rose has the most beautiful kimono-inspired costumes, and even though I own nearly all of them, I can never resist another. The Nadeshiko outfit is 5 colors of pleated, lace-edged ruffles, and I’m even wearing the included fishnets and choker – the set was too beautiful to mix and match. My Digital Eyes freebie fan makes another appearance (Morgan Kincess recently released this to her group), and my Kanzashi spiderweb is part of a (Free!) Soulfire geisha hairstyle available at the Free*Style home. These geta sandals I spied on the stylish feet of Efemera Bisiani – with eight colors and two style options (rounded or square), they’ve become the stars in my geta collection. Oh, did I mention they’re only L$100?

The Magika hairstyle has a mix of exotic beauty and a high-fashion edge that make it perfect for more daring and adventurous looks. I instantly thought oriental, but the spiky softness says “punk” or “neko” just as loudly. If words like “shy” and “traditional” make you itch, this is the hair for you! Most of my House of Heart styles required a little adjusting, this one included, but the finished product is well worth the time. My skin is another stunning creation by Fricka Morgath, a gift to her group members. I own all of her Geisha makeups, for obvious reasons, and I can’t wait to add more.

Of course it’s not all spiky futuristic Geisha hair! On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the Ashiyya hairstyle, with a posh sculpted beret. I once knew a very striking girl with a gold-sequined beret, and tried to channel some of her quirky chic style for this look. I love this simple T-shirt dress from Emery, it’s hipster cool and a great basic. My Sugar Cube leather jacket is another wardrobe essential, easily dressed up with a fancy Veschi scarf and some fierce gold heels. I recently joined the “She’s So Unusual Shoes” in-world group for a pair of crap shoes (har har), and found these sexy lace-up pumps in the group archive. Yay! The rest of my accessories followed suit: a pair of golden hoop earrings, a sculpted bracelet from Baiastice, and the golden box from the Miriel hunt worn as a purse.

The beret is texture and color-change, so it’s a breeze to mix into your outfits, but I think my favorite part of the hairstyle is the simple side-gathered chignon. It somehow manages to feel sophisticated and casual at the same time – the hair is almost as versatile as the cap! I wear a lot of hat-hair in the fall and winter, and this is a great one to add to your collection if you do the same. I’m wearing Sin Skins’ latest group gift in tone 5, and my Candy Nails in gold to polish it off.

Hair: House of Heart – Magika in Black
Skin: Frick – Geisha in Group Gift Makeup
Eyes: Miriel – Anime Eyes in Gold (Free Wearable Demo!)
Kimono Dress, Choker and Stockings: Bare Rose – Nadeshiko Outfit
Geta Sandals: Dark Eden – Nu Kua Geta Sandals in Midnight (Square Option, Tinted Red)
Kanzashi: Soulfire – Geisha Spiderweb (Available Free at the Free*Style Home! Juicy (115, 115, 23))
Lashes: Aoharu – Geisha Lashes
Fan: Digital Eyes – Valentine Fan (Past Hunt Find)

Hair and Cap: House of Heart – Ashiyya in Coffee Bean
Skin: Sin Skins – Group Gift in Tone 5
Eyes: Miriel – The Arctic Collection – Midnight Sun
Dress: Emery – Glam Rock Dress
Jacket: Sugar Cube – Maze of Love Outfit
Shoes: She’s So Unusual Shoes – Tied Pumps in Gold (Group Gift)
Scarf: Veschi – Muffin Top Dress in White
Earrings: Ume Mode – Loop Pierce
Cuff: Baiastice – Sculpty Bracelet in Light Gold (Past Group Gift)
Purse: Miriel – Free Golden Box (Golden Cage Hunt Find)
Manicure: Candy Nail – Basic Nail in Gold
Lashes: Cake – Flutter

Poses:
Vain Inc – Boudoir Pack (Past Hunt Find)
LAP – Material Girl

Curious about some of the vocabulary? See Foreign Fashion Vocab for more information.

For Slurls, see our Designer Locations and Photo-Shoot Locations pages.

Funk Me Pumps

The Footwear Expo is on, and all your favorite shoe designers are out with their best. I was lucky to have a peek some artistic new designs from a store that just isn’t blogged enough: She’s So Unusual Shoes!

Just LOOK at these shoes!!! Imaginative, comical, and perfect for a day at the beach, these Bikini Platforms put an end to all “she’s wearing my shoes!” moments – and look fab doing it. The sculpted bikini laces make for great conversation-starters and interesting tan lines, and come in 5 colors to match your suit. They even come equipped with a tiny beach umbrella-heel, complete with cooler, beach-ball, and a lawn chair! Beat that, Barbie. Thrifty fashion-lovers like me are already familiar with Rowan Carroll’s work, but even I was surprised at the seemingly endless variety available in her main store. Flats, heels, boots, clawed neko pumps, and all the shoes with stuff in the heel that I could want (I have two pairs on my list now… ahh, payday). Stop by the She’s So Unusual Shoes! booth at the Expo for a good look at the selection. With simple sandals, posh pumps, and creations like this, there really is something for everyone.

To compliment such statement-making shoes, I think it’s best to either wear a lot of color or dress very simply. In the end I decided to do both. Something about them said “Amy Winehouse” to me, so I went with a Rockabilly beach-wear look. There’s something both boyish and feminine about a white button-down cover-up, and I liked this Artilleri version for the little knotted tie detail and prim cuffs. Every ‘billy girl needs a few tattoos, and mine are frequently stars or rainbow-colored and even better when they’re both. Sh*t Happens offers another, tintable version of the tattoo as well. The swimsuit was a freebie from the Tanabata Starry Sky festival (thanks Beanie!) and happened to match the tattoo pattern perfectly in a happy accident. The gorgeous hair, one of my all-time favorites and default “hairs with attitude”, is an HCT creation; and this Wax Poetic skin was a “Lucky” past hunt find. The little hair umbrellas I created to finish the look, and because I have been coveting them ever since Amy wore them to a recent performance. Available in many colors just as soon as I open a store.

Shoes: She’s So Unusual Shoes! – Bikini Platforms in Green (link to the She’s So Unusual Footwear Expo Booth: Rezzable Design (143, 111, 22))
Skin: Love.Love.Love – Wax Poetic in Lucky (Hunt Item, No Longer Available)
Eyes: Miriel – The Iridescent Collection – Blue Opal
Hair: Here Comes Trouble – Nalirra in Exclusive Red
Shirt: Artilleri – Heidi in White
Bikini Bottoms: iTuTu – Starlit Bikini
Tattoo: Sh*t Happens – Rainbow Star Tattoo
Manicure: Candy Nail – Freebie Nail 04
Lashes: Aoharu – Geisha Lashes

Pose:
LAP – Glamour Girl 2

Available Props:
Beach-ball with Pose: Ray Skin – Beach Ball 3 (Free or $L1, Another Beanie Canning find!)

For Slurls, see our Locations and Designers and Photo-Shoot Locations pages.

Bad Company

You know the girl, the one still wearing last night’s makeup as she stumbles off the tour bus to have a smoke. You’d hate her if you weren’t afraid she’d kick your ass and steal your boyfriend. Me, I just want to get in her panties.

I’m a bad girl wannabe, I never grew out of it – so when Bakersfield Kidd dropped this wicked tattoo set on me, I had the perfect excuse to indulge in it. The Dia de Los Muertos-inspired set is packed with ink, made of over 50 separate old-school images and truly rocks my socks. It’s unisex and would work great for any rocker boy out there, but it’s not for weaklings – with ink on both sides of the kneecaps this baby requires some seriously high pain tolerance. My glitter-hawk by Digit Darkes is so very cool that I have a hard time shopping when I wear it, it’s hard to look at anything else! For the clothes I wanted to keep it tough and sexy to show off the tattoo work, and be as close to indecent as publicly possible. A prim Bare Rose vest and these damaged socks from Etchd are favorites I’m wearing again, and these boots are my default for footwear with attitude. These pasties by Indie Rainbow and some playful animal-print panties are an homage to the gothy girls I’ve known, though they wouldn’t be caught dead with a diamond-encrusted lip ring. This vertical bridge is my favorite piercing, it feels like a kind of punk bindi to me.

In this closeup you get a better look at my favorite feature, an included prim tattoo (yes PRIM) for your neck. I had never encountered that option before, and I think it’s a great one. Plus, it’s a lovely Mexican skull design – I’ve been wearing it alone a lot. Why don’t you crack open a beer and join me?

Skin: LF Chai – Vedette in Cinnamon
Eyes: Miriel – The Iridescent Collection – Blue Opal
Hair: NATURALe by Digit Darkes – Defiance in Glitter Punk
Tattoos: Like, OMG! – ‘to Live and to Die’ Tattoo Set
Pasty X’s: IRainbow – Indie Masking Tape
Vest: Bare Rose – Short Vest Outfit (Black Shine Option)
Panties: Artilleri – Deanna Zebra Lingerie
Socks: EtchD – Atomic Damaged Plain Socks
Boots: Axis Mundi by Katat0nik – Sculpted Boots
Bridge Piercing: DEEKS – Blue Piercing Set
Lip Piercing: Juicy – Diamond Encrusted Lip Ring in Black
Manicure: Awesome Designs – Glitter Nails in Maroon
Cigarette – FKNY Cigarette II (Short Burning Ash Option)

For Slurls, see our Locations and Designers and Photo-Shoot Locations pages.