Advent Season - Day 2

Advent Day 2:

Left: Zacca's winter trees - Free at the shop on Swayland - 3 sets of various sizes.

Gabriel - long sleeved Black tee (group gift)

22769 - Black cords, Advent #2 (Really nice texture, prim cuffs)

Right: LaVie - Ringo Sweater with Touch Texture change collar.

Catch 'em quick!

Happy UnBirthday

I didn't get all the pics up for the SL House hunt, but you still have a few hours to finish it. (Pictures on the website) .What I'm looking at today is gifts -- which, honestly is the reason I want more groups slots. Yes, I'm that shallow. *grins*

But when you have designers like Gabriel, and Zanzo giving you things just because you click a group join link, it's hard not to be a little greedy and a lot grateful.

First up is Gabriel. The blue sleeveless polo I'm wearing is actually the female version of the male short sleeved shirt. You can get it in the lucky chairs at the Gabriel main store. You have to be in the Gabriel group to use the chairs.

The version I'm wearing comes with a dress/skirt prim. just don't wear it. The chest shading is minimal and while the short sleeved shirts are nice, I like the muscle shirt look to this better with the finished sleeves and actual collar. (But yes, you will need to wear the shit/tucked version to make it work. ) The collar comes with a resizer and chances are you will need it and to make minor position adjustments

The necklace pictured close up to the right is this month's group gift. It comes in male and female versions and the simplicity of the actual pendant lets you miss the intricate bead work along the strings. this is a really nice multipurpose necklace, and works for both casual and formal clothing.

Zanzo has been quiet for several months for a lot of reasons, including a sim redesign, but to say hello and celebrate the return of Zanzo creations and lines to the SL fashion world, this gift came out along the notices. You do have to be a member and joining the group isn't free. ($90L last time I checked). You also got a set of eyes in the gift pack.

The Pegasus shirt is a gift from Aemeth Lysette to celebrate the opening of her new gallery Lust4Art , which is adjacent to the 22769 shop (who were co sponsers of the openeing event). You can get the shirt and some very cool art, some at a discount, either there or at the aemeth mainstore. It's easy to forget when I spend a lot of time looking at clothes in SL that there all kinds of creative minds here. Visual and graphic artists, performing artists, writers. Aemeth brings you a mix of real world art as well as some amazing digital art and photography. If you ever log into SL an wonder what you should do, you might take a minute and visit aemeth or any of the hundreds of other art galleries and show spaces available. You may not like it all, but you likely will be impressed anyway.

**Leather pants are from Sf Design (not free)

When dog days were puppies

I've been a bit MIA lately -- wish it was because I was on a fabulous vacation but alas, mostly I've just been insanely busy. But, here's hoping June will be a little less hectic...and to start the summer off right, both Gabriel and Equilibrium have some cool stuff for you.

Gabriel swapped up the group gift to include a tribal tank in blue and black. Summer is the best time for tank tops and these graphics reflect that -- not a store logo, just a cool summertime sun emblazoned along one side.


That makes them perfect to be matched up with the usual generous gifts offered by Equilibrium -- this month there are three separate pairs of jeans and a fun Guitar Hero graphic Tee (in store gift -- look for the bag near the door.)

The pale blue jeans, with the dark shading are this month's Group Gift. For having the store in your profile picks, you can pick up these dark brown jeans, and the Midnight Mania offering are these open-waist blues (and fixed boxers - sorry those of you who like to go commando -grins-) complete with undone belt.

Over at Bellissima! you can snag this full outfit from their lucky board. The T shirt set (three versions, tucked and untucked ) are from the popular "Archer" animated series on FX --the outfit comes fully loaded: shirts, jeans, belt and boots. Even if you aren't a fan of the series, you can certainly be a fan for the generosity at Bellissima!

In the Free and Not Entirely Free category, I offer up the new monthly from F2H, which is one of my favorite places for nice looking , stylish looks that don't break the bank, Linden or otherwise. This red Racerback tank has a nice sheen, shadow and wrinkle texture, an unobtrusive logo and pride star at the chest.

I put it with this not free kilt from Sangre Noir (at the Shopatorium) which you should consider for a couple of reasons: First, its $200L which is an excellent price for a kilt of this quality. And what makes it quality, you ask - well, you can't see it in this static picture, but this kilt moves like it's made of cloth. It's a dark charcoal grey texture that looks like finely scraped leather and the triple wrap belt detail on it is amazing (take a look at the clasp sets). You actually get two versions of the kilt itself - one with a resize script and one without. Noirran Marx, the creative mind behind the Sangre Noir line, doesn't do men's clothing very often, but she's a kick ass designer and when she does something she does it well. (She also has a couple of turtlenecks available for men with equally nice detail and textures -- but since we're going for the summer theme here, I'll let you take a look at them for yourself.)

Spring Cleaning

MHOH3 ends in a couple of days, as do a lot of hunts. And new one's start in May, so some Spring cleaning is necessary. This means checking and clearing landmarks, unpack and sorting hunt gifts, and generally trying to make room for the new stuff to be picked up as the hunt season continues.

Tuft was in one of the first to pop up; offering all kinds of interesting and fun builds, accessories, clothes and clothes and a good dose of odd, this Creepy old abandoned house can be found in the cheapies and freebies section for $5L -- it has a 24x35m footprint and weighs in at 70 prims, but it is kind of creepy but oh so much fun with built in dust covered furniture. rickety staircase and working fireplace.

RoTtEn DeFiAnCe is having another mini hunt with five items each for men and women, including these (low) low rise plaid jeans.

The shirt is the April gift from SF Design (in addition to the MHOH3 gift swaffette is offering).

Wrist cuff is the group gift from Gabriel and comes in black and brown and with or without chains.

Hair is Trowa2 from Mischief Boy.

Shoes are part of gift #4 from the ever generous Matt Kungler at Sensual Mistery for MHOH3 The skin is the MHOH3 gift from Atomic Bambi.

Also while checking landmarks, Sweeter than Candy popped up and these men's jeans & grey shirt were hiding in the back of the men's section on the Freebie Wall.

MHOH3 - Separating the men from the boys

MHOH3 Started off with a lot less furor than past hunts; fewer masses of male (and female) AV's starting off in a cluster, like competitors at an Olympic freestyle run. A lot of the names of the creator participants are well known by now, and the few I didn't, I've been pretty pleased with.

Crowded start or not, I still tend to run from end to beginning, and while it's a an entirely unscientific assessment, I figured the hunt was going to be pretty damn good when the very first gift I get out of it is a really nice henley from #174 Sky Clothing. Comes in two colors, Navy & Cranberry with both long and short sleeve options.

I tucked it into these Basic LR Jeans in grey from #166 TuttiFrutti. Pocket glasses are a gift from Equilibrium MM board (not part of the hunt.)

From #122 Santero you get a whole Avatar. Angelo skin and shape, eyes,
Keitaro in Hessian hair from discordDesigns [dD], jeans, shirt, shoes and accessories...and as fond as I am of the skin I wear, I like this skin, both versions of it, a look you don't see often in SL.

The jeans come in both black and blue and have a lot of definition. They come with a separate belt buckle, useful elsewhere if you like it. Nothing but a win here. Hair below right is Lane Short hair in Mocha from #167 Pocket Mirrors.

#15 Gabriel (yes, I jumped. -grins- I like Gabriel) offers a loose open shirt, graphic Tee and washed denim jeans, casual and cool for spring, with the usual attention to details. (There's also a set of wrist chains for group members, and lucky chairs for both men and women.)

There's a lot to like on this hunt, some symbols are hidden better than others. I've been a little short on time lately, so most of what I will be posting will be highlights, but I've been impressed so far and at the moment, Yves over at Fashion Freebies for Men is doing a hell of a job covering the hunt (and he starts at the beginning.)

But I will be covering more and a spattering of other finds this weekend.

I expect you all to look like runway models by Friday.


*click pictures for larger images.

Biker Boots From Redgrave
Army Crop hair from MADesigns

Spring Sales & Hunts & Things....

Rfyre's $10L retirement sale - doesn't happen very often and take a closer look at some of the women's things:

Left: Rfyre - Trammel in black (bronze also available) two shirt types: open laced and solid. Belted pants. ($10L)

Necklace: [PRETURB/ation] [P/a] Group gift - Periapsis: copper & turquoise, large links, heavy turquoise ovals with accents. (free)

Bracelet (left arm): [P/a] Uranus - men's bracelet - silver, copper, leather and turquoise (not free)

Bracelet (right arm): ::Gabriel:: crest bracelet black (not free - group only)

Right: Rfyre Chromatique black (women's). The men's Chromatique is also on sale but I like the shirt on the women's better. Since they are both $10L, for $20L you can get a nice mix and match including the fringed top boots. Keyhole open neck, chain-mail like pants and trim. Knee high boots laced and fringed.

Left: Rfyre Stripes pants (women's but with no actual buttons or zipper, it hardly matters) brilliant color, modifiable for boots or wear as is with the flare.

The top is part of the Vinyl cowboy set from A:S:S. Not free, but the whole set is $150 and including two sets of leather pants - one full legged style and, as well as a chaps version, multiple layer versions and ways to mix and match, accenting buckles at throat. arm and thigh. There's a bulge for the pants and laces there too. If you'd pay $30-50L for individual pieces you like, this gives you a lot of options for not a lot of lindens.

Necklace: Sable Rose from the Ostara Hunt. Double pendant with a pentagram and triple sun cartouche on a leather cord.

Speaking of A:S:S (we were, weren't we?) Photos is also having a sale. Not that he needs to; his stuff is pretty damn reasonable. But, if you do want a new pair of leather pants, you can pick these up for $30L and the suspenders for $80L (not part of the sale) to go with the awesome Lady Gaga t-shirt F2H is giving away this month. (just in case you missed the free leather pants F2H was giving away last month.)


And just a heads up: I'm going to be doing a post on stripper wear soon. Dancing/Hosting/DJing at the many many clubs in SL is one of the most common ways to earn lindens for those of us on a budget and probably the question I get asked most about in world (where, how, what do you need, is it difficult, etc.) . I don't host and I couldn't DJ to save my life, but dancing I can do. (funny how much better a dancer I am in SL ~grins~), If I can tap one of my female dancer friends to help, I'll try to make it for both sexes, but my own resources are pretty much limited to the guys. If you've ever been interested and have questions, getting them into the comments here before I post would let me answer them when I do post on it -- probably in the next week or so.

Shrug it off

Upper shoulder shrugs seem to be the new style and trend for both men and women, and a couple of gifts and hunt items reflect that. The Black Canary is offering up two items, plus a bonus in the Tainted Heart hunt on the Necrosis Noctis sim (yes, a different tainted heart). Items are not free but at $6L each it's not a strain and you can check before you buy since there are items for men and women as well as non clothing, non-skin items.

The first is this black knit and furred shrug called Regret
(left). There's some frills and ruffles you can opt out of in the outfit. It comes in a jacket layer so you can add your favorite tank to it if it's still too cold to go bare-chested. Or you can surrender the shrug for this trimmed out hoodie called Malice (right), also by Black Canary. Options for hood are up and down and Morrigan has a knack for hats and hoods you can actually wear with your existing hair. Hair in both pics is Rob by Amacci, part of their sale. Jeans left are Funk Pants from .:Robbish:. (not free). Jeans left are also from Rob, and are free. Boots are the SAH prize at #BeforeSleep#.

Equilibrium is offering up this blue rolled turtleneck shrug as their weekly freebie. They've been putting out some pretty cool things in their weeklies, as well as what you might tap into the other offerings they have. Check the second floor for the MM board. I paired it here with the short pants and leggings you can get from JetCity (blogged before) as well as the $30L sale hair -- Morgan -- from Amacci. The socks and suspenders are from the MHOH2 gift from *Mire* and the tennies are from the SAH hunt at .:Robbish:. and are still available.

Speaking of .:Robbish:., there's more than hunt items worth grabbing at Rob's store. Granted, the Funk Pants I'm wearing in the picture top left, will run you $149L -- but they are part of the "A New Man" stamp card hunt and with them you get a stamp card that you can redeem for at least one free item . Also at Robbish are a pair of distressed "one shot" jeans for free and this sweater Rob calls "The Hobo" -- underlying red pattern shirt under a zippered and worn sweater (all one jacket layer) for$10L.

And while I know I've sent you there a lot, lately, you might want to cruise by Mimi's Choice for Men one more time. She's got a lucky chair in the shop now, and the current prize is this red down jacket from Gabriel, for both men and women (yes, both in the box). I'm not usually all that big on puffed jackets in SL, but I admit I like this one a lot -- it's not a fussy wear, you can wear other things under it and it doesnt' take up every single attachment point on your upper torso. I'm wearing it here with a thr group gift from Find Ash, Amacci's Morgan hair, the leather pants form F2H (previously blogged and the Judd boots that are the boys SAH prize from #BeforeSleep#

~*~*~*~*~
Hair:
Amacci hair sale - red carpet room -$30L per pack: Morgan ~Jet Black & Rob ~Dark Brown

Shoes/Boots:
#BeforeSleep# Judd Boot (SAH) BOYZ - #153
Robbish - Red & Black Tennies -(SAH) BOYZ - #43
Mire* - Socks/Suspenders Black (from MHOH2)

Jeans/Pants:
Robbish - Denim Shot $0L & Funk Pants: includes pants cuffs w/bandannas. pockets, belt and lanyard. Part of A New Man stamp card hunt @ $149L.

Shirts:
Equilibrium -(EQ(GT)(Azul)(Prime) Shrug - free weekly
The Black Canary - Necrosis Noctis sim wide hunt $6L/item: Regret Shrug
Robbish - TheHobo (+Sweater) RED $10L

Jackets:
The Black Canary - Necrosis Noctis sim wide hunt $6L/item: Malice Jacket
Mimi's Choice presents Gabriel RED Down jacket (Lucky Chair)

Accessories:
Fiction & Condensed Chaos - Consume (mouth candy) from the Tainted heart hunt (previously blogged)
V3 Tattoo - Veritas
Skin by Redgrave: Emil
Scarf/Necklace combo - Find Ash Group gift
Thumb Ring from Gabriel at Mimi's Choice
===============

Just an FYI, the group pool on flickr for Designer Spotlight is open if you want to share your own finds.

Kicking it up

Revisiting some favorite places, like Santero at Moonlit Desire, who has a habit of giving out really fantastic outfits in hunts, and who offers some unique styling choices in full sets. There's a freebie Chango Leather jacket out with Santero's MidNight-Mamba shades. The back carries the Santero logo in red, but it's a simple sharp look.

The hair is Morgan from Amacci's $30L Hair Sale ($90L for the full pack,) 2 men's styles, color change on the knit cap. Red carpet room only.

From Mimi's Choice, where the priorly blogged Gabriel shirts can also be found is this silver cross men's thumb ring, modifiable and sharp looking, and a arond the corner in the landmark giver you can grab M.R.M's Silver Necklace *Crest of Lily* necklace.

And just kicking around, I found these Dark Green Wash Jeans from Studz. There's a logo t-shirt in there too, but if you are tired of blue and black, these are nice, basic fit jeans.