I’ve been randomly going through a few of the current hunts whenever I’m around with a few minutes to spare. While hunting for a Cheshire Cat scarf from the Chase of the Beast hunt, I found myself in Panda Express, a shop I hadn’t thought of or visited in quite some time. After finding the adorable scarf that brought me there, I couldn’t leave without buying the Oh Deer! Tribal Horns with the great curved horns and multi-colored feathers. There’s also a version of the horns that’s plain along with ears and skins in both tribal and plain versions.

I know my last post featured a variation of this vest from silentsparrow, but it’s another limited edition, and I wanted to blog about it before it goes away. Hyasynth created this Oh Deer! version of the Fenris vest for the StumbleBum Brigade this past weekend, but that was postponed at the last minute because so many of the designers were busy with the Melt event. These vests are still out for the week though, so hurry over to silentsparrow if you like them.

If you were wondering why they’re also named Oh Deer!, then just take a look at the backs of the vests, and the answer will become obvious. My favorite is the faded version because I like the way it blends with my faun fur, but the regular and amanita versions are great too.

Body
Hair: Exile Ada / earth
Skin: Leafy Miso Lune Wicker – DB
Faun: Titania’s Court Female Faun – Chestnut
Antlers: Panda Express Oh Deer! Tribal Horns
Eyes: Shine Silent Lucidity Gasoline (large)

Clothing
Vests – silentsparrow (oh deer!) Fenris Leather Vest in 3 styles – regular, faded, amanita

Poses
Close-up: Glitterati Headshot 2
Other photos: Reel Expression Curvy AO and Shoes 02 – Curvy

Through the course of my education in real life, I’ve been a student at a handful of universities, but hands down, my favorite university experience has been, and most likely will always be, at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. The mascot is a polar bear, and the sports teams are called Nanooks, so you’d hear cries of “Go Nanooks!” at all the hockey games I loved attending, and along the way, I started collecting everything I could find that had a polar bear on it. So that should explain the post title at least once you see my silentsparrow goodies from Melt. And if you’re curious about the word nanook, it’s a form of the Inuit word for polar bear (also spelled nanuq).

As you might guess from that intro, I was really excited to see the items at Melt after reading this quote from Radio Signals. “This project is a study of translations. I presented 25 artists within Second Life with a concept of creating art with these words in mind: Drowning. Melting. Polar bears. Arctic. Culpability. Corporate greed. Inevitability. Extinction.” The designers truly rose to the occasion with a wide array of creative, thoughtful items.

I picked up a number of items, but I thought I’d focus on just a couple of favorites because I’ve been wearing them since I bought them. My love for silentsparrow and hyasynth Tiramisu is no secret, and it was no surprise to me that I had to have her creations as soon as I saw them. When you buy the tattoo, you actually get 3 versions – regular, faded, and iced. I’m wearing the iced version here because the blues bring out the broken icy hearts and spirals and the polar bears drawn in hya’s whimsical style. The tattoo extends all the way down the right leg. I didn’t think about much I was covering with my jeans until I started this post, and I’m sure the tattoo will be shown off more here in the future. The blue of the Fenris leather vest is striking on its own, but the addition of the broken heart and polar bears seen in the tattoo is what made it a must-have for me.

Body
Hair: Exile Carlotta / blizzard
Skin: Tuli Hope goth 07
Eyes: Shine Silent Lucidity Sky (large)

Clothing
Tattoo: silentsparrow iced Ursala Glacies Tattoo
Vest: silentsparrow ursala Fenris Leather Vest
Jeans: Decoy Dana 76 jeans – Dark
Shoes: **DP**yumyum Shoes

Props and Poses
Poses: Reel Expression Shoes 01 – Curvy and Arty V2 02 – Curvy
Backdrop: Frick Winter Scene Skybox

Exile released 3 new hairs this morning, and I’ve spent most of my time in world today flipping from style to style and color to color. Some hairstyles just seem more one color than another, and then I also have my favorite colors in the new textures. Of course, my favorites change from moment to moment, but still I have my favorites.

I thought I’d do a quick post today to show off the new styles in my favorite color of the moment in each color pack, and I matched up Shine eyes and Leafy Miso skins in the Lune tone to go with each one.

Credits
Top Row Left: Exile Lucia / natural (light blondes pack); Shine Silent Lucidity Ice; Leafy Miso Icebox

Top Row Right: Exile Odette / wheat (dark blondes pack); Shine Silent Lucidity Sky; Leafy Miso Nude

2nd Row Left: Exile Cassie / hazelnut (light browns pack); Shine Silent Lucidity Slate; Leafy Miso Wicker

2nd Row Right: Exile Lucia / whiskey (dark browns pack); Shine Silent Lucidity Grass; Leafy Miso Seabreeze

3rd Row Left: Exile Odette / russet (reds pack); Shine Silent Lucidity Kiwi; Leafy Miso Salad

3rd Row Right: Exile Cassie / violetdawn (blacks pack); Shine Silent Lucidity Violet; Leafy Miso Scarlet

Bottom Row: Exile Lucia / garnet (wildcards pack); Shine Silent Lucidity Gasoline; Leafy Miso Sky

Today’s look has several new pieces in it that are a lot of fun. I think I’ll start at the bottom and work my way up. The ravewarmers aren’t new as far as I know, but they’re new to me, and I love the little glowing vials that hang off the side of them. Moving up a bit, the pants are new from Toxic, and I think the tartan patches add a bit of color and funk to black pants. When you visit Toxic, you’ll notice that the designer really doesn’t shy away from color, and I guess you can tell I follow the same philosophy.

The skin is Miso, a new release from Leafy. Can you believe it’s her first skin? I think the lips are really cute in particular, and you can tell she has a lot of fun with color when she’s designing the makeups. Definitely check out her demos to see if they work on your shape!

The last piece of newness is hard to miss. It’s that big mass of purple hair on top of my head. Kavar released the new textures at Exile earlier today, so everyone should run over there right now to try them all out. Zoe remains one of my favorite hairs, and it’s such a big and fun hair that I usually wear it in one of the wildcard colors to just kick it up that much more.

Body
Hair: Exile Zoe / astral
Skin: Leafy Miso – Lune Rainbow
Eyes: Shine Silent Lucidity Aurora (large)
Lashes: Worldwide Industries Rainbow Hearts on my Lashes

Clothing and Accessories
Sweater: Exile Undone purple/green
Pants: Toxic Skinny Tartan Patch Hipsters Purple
Legwarmers: Plastik RaveWarmers – Montmartre
Shoes: Treads Kboots
Lip Piercing: ellabella No Rain Here

Poses
Reel Expression Expression 3 – Curvy

Kavar has been working so hard on creating new hair textures and retexturing hairstyles at Exile. You may have already seen a preview of them from Gogo, and of course, you’ll see them scattered throughout my posts because if I’m wearing hair, then I’m wearing Exile. I’ve actually been wearing the new textures for a bit, so if you think you’ve spotted them around here or in my Flickr stream, then you probably have. Soon, very soon, you’ll be able to check them out for yourself at the shop.

Since Kavar first started handing me sample colors, I’ve been changing my hair color daily. I still can’t decide on a favorite though I do love my darker shades and purples of course. With that in mind, I have to say that the violetdawn shade that I’ve always loved is even better now. Just look at all that shine and the layers of color in the purplish black. My current RL hair color is currently inspired by the previous violetdawn shade, and I’m going to have to go back to my stylist with this headshot or another photo to see if my RL color can get a boost too.

I’m also wearing my new collar from Plastik. I had the hardest time picking one out because there were tons of colors and patterns. Each pack comes with two textures, and then you get 4 collar styles in each texture, so for just L$269, you get 8 collars. I was a little worried about how they would look on me since I have a shorter, fatter neck, but the fitting was quite painless and quick, and I like the end result a lot.

The rest of the outfit is mostly from silentsparrow and uses a mix of hyasynth’s recent Kurai Tart release (bodice and arm warmers) and one of my favorite skirts, the Gutter Glitter scrap of a skirt. Hyasynth has made me love arm warmers with some of her recent releases, and these in particular have a great shape, and I adore the bits of lace over the hands and the big bows.

In most of my outfits, I’m not a big fan of exposed midriff, so I covered up a tiny gap between the bodice and skirt with a sash from the Gabriel set at Bare Rose. That set, as you might expect from Bare Rose, contains 4 colors of this sash, and I use them a lot to add some color to an outfit or to help me cover up. Because the outfit was mixing a lot of purples, I kept the rest black with tights from Luck Inc and heels from Periquita. The heels are one of my wardrobe staples because they’re scripted for a ton of colors, and the oil color I’m wearing here is a great black with a bit of an almost purple sheen.

Body
Hair: Exile Ada / violetdawn
Skin: Pink Fuel Skye – Kaoru (dkbrow)
Eyes: Shine Silent Lucidity Violet

Clothing
Top: silentsparrow (dusk) Kurai Tart bodice and arm warmers
Collar: Plastik Recluse Collar – Buckled – Resonance
Skirt: silentsparrow (bruise) Gutter Glitter scrap of a skirt
Belt: Bare Rose Gabriel (optional sash) Purple Jacket
Tights: Luck Inc Wool Panty black
Shoes: Periquita Stiletto in oil

Poses
Reel Expression Sassy 06 – Curvy and Casual 06 – Curvy

It seems like every time I’m digging through my inventory for something to wear, I end up with at least one piece from silentsparrow in the mix. I guess it’s not that surprising since such a large portion of my inventory comes from silentsparrow. Today’s mix ended up being almost all silentsparrow and in my favorite color purple, and I feel all cute and cozy in it. Wearing something from silentsparrow is like wrapping my av in the artwork of one of my favorite artists, which is a pretty amazing thing to be able to do.

The purple henley I’m wearing in this outfit was a 50L Friday exclusive, but white and black versions of it are available in all the Chapiteau corset sets. The Chapiteau ruffle skirt is one of hyasynth’s more recent releases, and like everything she sells, it comes with a ton of options. In one pack, you actually get 3 skirt styles and a pair of bloomers with ruffles.

Body
Hair: Exile Laya / violetdawn with braid attachment in astral
Skin: Tuli Bella (pale/br) F.Y.E.O. night (PU1)
Eyes: Shine Silent Lucidity Violet (large)

Clothing
Tattoo: silentsparrow (dusk) belladonna:lepidoptera tattoo
Corset: silentsparrow (dusk) Datura corset
Top: silentsparrow (grape) Chapiteau Henley (50L Friday exclusive)
Skirt: silentsparrow (Dollie) Chapiteau Ruffle Skirt
Shoes: Scribble Candy Flats (Marshmallow Rosettes)

Poses and Decor
Poses: Reel Expression Shoes 02 – Curvy and Casual 04 – Curvy
Top Background: silentsparrow (grape) StarForest Wall Sticker

I have a folder in my inventory that’s called Everyday Brandy, and it’s a simple outfit that I can switch into quickly after wearing a complete avatar or to kind of reset my appearance if I’ve been inventory sorting and have on a random mix of things. I update the everyday outfit every couple of months to include new favorites, and I thought I’d share a quick look at my current look. This is also a good time for me to encourage all gacha machine lovers to run to anuenue for the boots at just L$60 a try. Anuenue also has other cute gacha machines with scarves, arm warmers, and mesh glove/sock sets.

Body
Hair: Exile Amelia / duskwood
Skin: Pink Fuel Skye – Leafy
Eyes: Shine Silent Lucidity Gasoline

Clothing
Tank: Mischief Bow Tank – Olive
Cardigan: Mischief Spring Chill Sweater – Leaf
Jeans: Decoy Dana 76 Jeans – Dark
Boots: anuenue patchwork knit boots *green*

Poses
Reel Expression Casual AO – Curvy

Fricka Morgath has some adorable new dresses out at Frick, and of course I had to choose the Grape Lolly set because it’s purple. Other colors are available, and they’re only L$50 each, which is a huge bargain for 2 skirt styles, 2 top styles (short and long sleeves), choker, socks, and underbust corset on all layers. Yellow fans are especially lucky because the Lemon Lolly set is only L$15.

Fricka has also set out a gacha machine with 8 skins and 4 eyes to match the Lolly sets. Each try is just L$20, and I stuck around long enough to get the Grape Lolly Skin in Cream and the Grape Lolly Eyes. If anyone out there gets an extra Grape Lolly Skin in Goth, then I have some extras of the other colors to trade.

Violet Voltaire took a bit of an SL hiatus, but now she’s coming back, and I couldn’t be happier because I can’t wait to see what new things she’ll be creating. Before the new shop is set up though, she’s running a sale on some of her older items. I went by there this morning to see if the Their Cell crown/key set I’m wearing is still available, and I’m happy to say that it is and that each piece is only L$25. Go pick up some super cute bargains today!

Body
Hair: Exile Eva / astral
Skin: Frick Grape Lolly Skin – Cream
Eyes: Frick Grape Lolly Eyes

Clothing
Dress: Frick Grape Lolly
Shoes: Katat0nik Bowie Mary Janes
Crown and Doll Key: Violet Voltaire Their Cell

Poses
Top: Long Awkward Pose F-Blogger9-Poofyskirt
Bottom: Striking Poses Amy Lee Dollarbie

In a world where we can all be perfect and every hair can be in place and every piece of clothing can always look fresh, I often find myself drawn to the deliberate imperfections. I value items that can convey that feeling of literally loving an item to pieces through repeated wearings. Although there’s a lot of variety at Moonshine Designs, the pieces that usually catch my eye there tend to share a similar style of bright fabrics patched together and gently frayed edges. Two of Shelly’s newest releases show that off perfectly from the cascade of patterns in the Carousel top and skirt to the rips in the aptly named Hobo Jeans.

The Hobo Jean comes in two colors, a denim blue and this dark gray, and the textures feel comfortably worn in.

I paired a lace tank and shirt from silentsparrow with the jeans because of the lovely little details in the tops like the pulled threads and a rip in the lace. Though I intended to do something grungier with the ripped jeans, I ended up with a look that feels both shabby and kind of classy to me.

Body
Hair: Exile Karen / duskwood and Brigitte / duskwood
Skin: Pink Fuel Pink Fuel Skye – Flirt (dkbrow + hair) and Skye – Starlett (dkbrow + hair)
Eyes: Shine Silent Lucidity Slate

Clothing
Henley and Tank: silentsparrow (seanorses) Chapiteau henley and lace tank
Corset: Cynful Jeans Corset – Red
Jeans: Moonshine Designs Hobo Jean Dark Gray
Skirt and Top: Moonshine Designs Carousel Horizon
Shoes: SLink Jolie Pied Achillia Gladiator Silver and Shiny Things Button Boots – black

Poses
Reel Expression Arty V2 06 – Curvy and Shoes 01 – Curvy

I didn’t think I was going to get to do this noob blog challenge because I’m ruthless about deleting old stuff from my inventory, but then I remembered a box I packed away months ago. The skin, hair, and eyes that vintage Brandy is wearing are the first items I bought in mid 2007.

I opened my SL account in February 2007, but I didn’t actually go in world until May or June, and between setting up my account and signing in that first, I did quite a bit of reading about SL. I got hooked on Closet Crisis, and that influence led to my very first shopping trip at Celestial Studios on my first day in world. I also bought an outfit at CS that day, but I don’t seem to have boxed that one up. Instead I’m wearing the very first shirt I ever fatpacked, a great off-the-shoulder top from Surf Couture, and my favorite jeans from Launa Fauna.

This example of my current look is courtesy of Exile, Pink Fuel, Fusemelon, Decoy, and Treads. I think the biggest change from then until now is that I change my look a lot more with different skins and hair colors even though I kept dark brown for both in this case. The shape has stayed pretty much the same except for a bit of tweaking around the mouth and the spacing between my eyes, and I became just a tiny bit shorter.