Seltsam, im Nebel zu wandern!

The headline is taken from Herman Hesse’s “Im Nebel” and translates to “[How] strange to wander in the fog” – a poem which often comes to my mind on days like this, when no ray of sunshine penetrates the misty grey. Despite the melancholy air of poem and picture, I really enjoy spending time by myself, both in the real world and online, and pictures like this showcase the appeal SL holds in this respect also.

COCO’s swing coat is the perfect outfit to wear for such an outing: undeniably chic, yet perfectly blending in with the landscape, one can pretend being a member of the landed gentry while the choice of footwear betrays the city girl, walking with her head in the clouds. Combined with simple, sensible accessoires, Aderyn is ready to bear the second half of winter in style, waiting for spring to arrive.

Also, I have been on a quest to replace my cherished Miriel eyes recently, because I felt it was unfair to keep showcasing items on this blog which are not available anymore. I have not yet found a permanent substitute for Miriel’s lashes (and tremble at the thought of fitting another pair), but came up with two alternatives for the eyes by LeLutka and L.Fauna.

Shopping for eyes has proven to be more complicated than initially anticipated, because unfortunately a) a lot of bloggers do not state which eyes they are wearing in their posts, so it was not that easy to compile a list of shops to check out, and b) the majority of shops did not offer demos for their eyes, and I am not willing to spend money on something I might not like on myself at all.

Eyes can completely alter the character of a face and I have a very clear idea of what I want to look like in Second Life, so I decided to pass on those who did not offer demos and bought the Chai eyes, which have a wonderful depth and shine. The irises are slightly bigger than I prefer, however, which is great for an innocent look, but might prove unsuitable for other designs.

Two days later, LeLutka released its new collection of eyes and at first I was going to pass on them as well because there are no demos available either, but after seeing them on someone who used to wear Miriel’s eyes as well, I came to the conclusion that I would probably like them and bought a pair. It turned out a risk worth taking as indeed they came rather close to the look I was already used to and have a great texture, but if not for this other person, I’d most likely have refrained from this purchase.

So, I’d like to close this blog post with thanking those creators who do offer demos for their eyes and those bloggers who credit which ones they are wearing in their posts, both is very much appreciated!

Credits for the first picture:

Body:

• Skin: (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR Kitty 2
• Eyes: [LeLutka]-Reflections-Mist-Eyes
• Lashes: (Miriel) Lashes – Feather [not available anymore]
• Hair: Clawtooth by Clawtooth: Love Letters (Black Beauty)

Outfit:

• Coat: *COCO*_CheckSwingCoat(Cream)
• Skirt: Ingenue :: Vintage Basics :: Secretary Skirts :: Apple [tinted]
• Shirt: [W&B] Cole Boatneck Top Black
• Gloves: (5th & Oxford) Leather Gloves – M *black*
• Stockings: *Sheer* Stockings 01: Nylon Black
• Shoes: Tesla – High Oxford *chocolate*

Other:

• Pose: [LAP] – F-Blogger11-Poofyskirt PR4

“Brooke” – 5th & Oxford’s New Skin Line

Skins are important in Second Life®: more than anything else, they influence our avatars’ appearance. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I am following any new developments at 5th & Oxford with keen interest; always wondering where the next release will take me. My curiosity was answered when the talented Roslin Petion, one half of the creative duo behind the brand (the other being CJ Carnot), dropped a folder of the latest skins on me.

“Brooke” is based on the “Audrey” line, which it shares the body with, but has been adjusted in skin tone and contrast. The face, however, is very different and “Brooke” comes with completely new features: bolder lips, a changed nose and thinner brows are only the most prominent alterations, creating a slightly more mature appearance than the very youthful “Audrey”.

The new skin line launched with five individual make-ups, each available in six varieties and three skintones. Ranging from very natural looks over daytime tones to kaleidoscope colours, I chose two examples from each make-up to showcase here in my usual “fair” skintone. As you can see, some of the looks also come with one or several beauty marks or with freckles, which makes for an interesting variety.

With winged eyeliner and lip colours appropriate for vintage or retro looks, it can hardly be a secret that I adore the “Kitty” make-up.

“Rebel, Rebel” compliments the latest fashion release of 5th & Oxford, a line of punk-rock-inspired shirts and skirts, but the striking eyeshadows and intense colours work equally well in a different context.

The name says it all: only a hint of eyeliner and lipgloss make the “Natural” make-ups a look where the differences are down to details, like the hue of the lip-texture, a beauty mark or flushed cheeks.

If you’re trying to add a dramatic note to your attire, “Nightfall” offers smokey eyes in dark jewel tones.

Finally, a range of eyeshadows in subdued colours and balanced hues for the lips – “Subtle” includes great daytime make-ups that add a bit of colour without dominating the appearance.

“Brooke” once again shows great craftsmanship: the textures are smooth, the make-ups tasteful (even the more flamboyant ones) and the skins are well-balanced, with intelligently and sparingly used highlights. A personal delight is the fact that pitch black brows are available again – with “Audrey”, you had to settle for a brownish black, which sometimes could create the impression of having your hair dyed black rather than sporting your natural haircolour. As always, the eyebrows are modable, so that you can easily adjust them to your haircolour.

I love this new skin line already and look forward to any additions Roslin and CJ might want to add to it in the future!

Skins:

• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Kitty 3
• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Kitty 4
• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Rebel, Rebel 2
• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Rebel, Rebel 4
• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Natural 3
• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Natural 4
• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Nightfall 4
• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Nightfall 5
• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Subtle 1
• (5th & Oxford) Brooke FAIR – Subtle 3

Other:

• Hair: Clawtooth by Clawtooth – Woman of the Year – Black Beauty
• Eyes: (Miriel) Realistic Eyes – Strong Green [not available anymore]
• Lashes: (Miriel) Lashes – Feather [not available anymore]

A Trip Down Memory Lane

It’s rather late for hopping on this bandwagon – waiting any longer, and I might only see the red rear lights of the train. But I actually enjoyed Sophia Harlow’s bloggers’ challenge and the results it generate on the feeds a lot, so here is my belated contribution.

This first picture still makes me cringe and laugh out loud at the same time. It was taken the very first day I entered the grid in December 2007, and prior to this I had not noticed that my hands were bigger than my head.

A little more than two weeks later, in January 2008, I was living in freebies – but nice freebies. I’m still partial to the *ICING*-dress, and even though the look itself is a bit outdated, at least i don’t have to be ashamed of it.

That one is from April 2008, and by that time I had long arrived in my Vivant skins (TaP had just become Fleur then, I think), which still look very lovely in my opinion. And I was so in love with this hat by Tesla – which now is available  as a freebie at the store.

Finally, a recent picture. I would be two years now had I not left in between, and I’m wondering if the difference in another two years will be just as dramatic as the one here (even between April 2008 – when I had already shed the newbie-look – and April 2010 there already is/will be a huge difference).

Credits for the last picture:

• Skin: (5th & Oxford) FAIR Audrey Summer Cocktails 2
• Eyes: (Miriel) Realistic Eyes – Strong Green [not available anymore]
• Lashes: (Miriel) Lashes – Feather [not available anymore]
• Hair: Tiny Bird – Into My Arms – pepper [edited some of the hairpins out to give it a vintage look]
• Jacket & Blouse: Sugarcube peplum jacket & ruffled silk shirt
• Earrings: Eclectica Medallion earrings

Goodbye 2009 – Welcome 2010!

2009 is officially over here in Europe, and I wanted to wish all of you a good start into the new year!

I will not attend any SL-festivities, but if I would, this dress would probably have been my choice – it’s one of Ingenue’s recent releases.  “Kerria”  is a very sexy yet elegant gown with a sweetheart neckline and a single strap on which a big prim flower is pinned. Very reminescent of the classic Hollywood divas of the 1940s.

To emphasize the elegant side of it, I paired the dress with a pair of 5th & Oxford’s new leather gloves, which I tinted slightly to match the dress better.

All promotional items are marked with a bold “R” for “Review Copy”.

Body:

• Skin: (5th & Oxford) FAIR Audrey Summer Cocktails 1
• Eyes: (Miriel) Realistic Eyes – Strong Green [not available anymore]
• Lashes: (Miriel) Lashes – Feather [not available anymore]
• Hair: ETD – Tyra – smoke

Outfit:

• Dress: Ingenue ::  Kerria :: Egyptian R
• Gloves: 5th & Oxford) Leather Gloves – L *purple* [tinted]
• Earrings: Paper Couture Faceted Golden Sapphire Dangle

Other:

• Pose: [LAP] – Chub – Doin Right [from the 2009 Poop Hunt]

World AIDS Day, Pt. II – or: Unexpected Consequences of a Blog Post

Whenever we make a blog post, the words are “out there”, accessible to everyone worldwide (at least in theory). Yet, with the Second Life community being one of a limited size and the musings of its members being of no particular interest to anyone outside of it, it’s all too easy to forget that those words can be carried away from the intended audience. It happened to me with my last blog entry on Sunday.

I stand by my words and do not wish to take back any of it. I spent quite a while debating the pro and contra of publishing the entry, but in the end, decided to go for it because the topic is important to me. After all, people can choose to not read it if it bothers them, and I believe that HIV-awareness should be higher than it currently is, for a lot of reasons.

According to the WordPress statistics, this particular post brought a few people from outside the SL-community to my blog, but not significantly more than any of my other posts. There are always people googling for pictures of real-life vintage fashion or seemingly completely unrelated things who end up at “Vintage Verwood”. However, one of those visitors wrote a blog entry herself and decided to quote parts of mine (you can find the links and my elaborations in the comments on the previous entry), and I find that it bothers me – not because my words are used, but because they were taken out of context and are leading a life of their own now and the same incomplete compilation of them appears in various syndications of articles related to World AIDS Day.

What bothers me most is that my original blog post was made in the form of an avatar “speaking” to other avatars, and published together with comments about virtual fashion. Within the context it appeared – on a Second Life-related blog and syndicated to various Second Life-related feeds – it made sense. Being singled out as “the voice from Germany” in between real life-blogs by real-life people, not so much – not because what I wrote isn’t true, but because the real-life me has a lot more to say on the topic than “Aderyn Verwood” put into the original post.

In the end, I guess I would not have minded as much had I known about this before. The topic is a very serious one to me and my original point was not so much detailing why I care about it or that I love my friend and care about his well-being, but to consciously take a break amidst the holiday troubles and remind myself of all the people living with HIV (other than my friend), and to give the readers of my blog a little heads up on it, too. At a time when the number of people who underestimate the effects of a HIV-infection is on the rise and at a time when there are voices claiming the use of condoms is a sin, and when the vast majority of the population of the Western world believes that there is no danger from HIV anymore, or that it is a problem restricted to so-called Third-World-countries, at such a time, I wanted to send out a signal. No less, but also no more.

Most of you who are reading this probably did not come here to educate yourself about HIV. Maybe you believe your knowledge about it already is sufficient – before I learnt about my friend’s HIV-infection, I thought the same, only to discover that most of what I knew was incomplete or not up-to-date anymore. In case you feel like updating yourself, here are two links I found particularly helpful back then, and still do:

http://www.namlife.org/cms1254847.aspx

http://www.aidsmap.com/cms1038153.aspx

World AIDS Day 2009

December 1 is World AIDS Day, and on this occasion I would like to do a blog post to raise awareness of a condition we all know about, but – for various reasons – choose to largely ignore in everyday life.

A very dear friend of mine is HIV-positive, and he also is the person who first introduced me to SecondLife® in December 2007. Without him, I wouldn’t be here, writing this post.

Like most people, I knew about HIV, but the role it played in my life was too insignificant to ever become more than a distant, abstract threat that seemingly did not belong to my environment. Now, no day goes past that I don’t think of it consciously, that I don’t hope for improvement of already existing therapies or for a breakthrough in scientific research, so that a cure might be found.

At a time of the year when most of the Western hemisphere has its collective thoughts on either upcoming or past holidays, I would like to take a break for World AIDS Day and for all those who are infected with HIV – regardless of age, race, gender, sexual identity or social status; regardless of whether their infection was a risk they took, an accident, or fate; whether they were born with it or not.

To my friend, I’d just like to say: I hope that many decades from now, we will sit together, old and wrinkly, laughing about the times when we were young. I love you.

——————————————————————————————————————————————–

Of course, the red ribbon I’m wearing is very anachronistic, but in this case, I really don’t care.

My outfit is a new-ish release by Ingenue that I love so much that I’m not yet willing to change into something else. Both the high-waisted “Jane Jean” and the “Marguerite” sweater have a playful, pin-up style sexiness which is never really out of date, so even if vintage or retro fashion are not usually your cup of tea, you still might enjoy these two items. The quality is, as always with Betty Doyle’s creations, very high, so there really is no reason why you should hesitate to get one of the many colours she offfers.
If your balance is currently low or you still need further persuasion, there’s a red version of the Jane Jean available through a Midnight Mania board at Ingenue – just touch the board and with a bit of luck, you’ll receive a free copy at midnight SLT.

Since I recently joined the “iheartsl.com bloggers”-group, I will from now on note all promotional items I received through them with a bold “R” for “review copy”.

Body:

• Skin: (5th & Oxford) FAIR Audrey Summer Cocktails 5
• Eyes: (Miriel) Realistic Eyes – Strong Green [not available anymore]
• Lashes: (Miriel) Lashes – Feather [not available anymore]
• Hair: >Truth< “Ashlynn” espresso

Outfit:

• Sweater: Ingenu :: Marguerite :: Coal R
• Jeans: Ingenue :: Jane Jean :: Blue R
• Shoes: Maitreya “Verve” black
• Red Ribbon: freebie from the SL HIV Prevention and Education Center, here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Snowlion%20Mountain/149/126/25

Other:

• Pose: [LAP] Wonder Girls II – The Zoe

Autumn brings (a) New Look

In order to re-familiarize myself with blogging, I’m going to visit the 1950s again, and what would be better than wearing the “Doriane” coat by L’Abel on that occasion? Not only does it offer a splash of colour I’m often missing at this time of the year, but also it does have the most wonderful “New Look”-shape, with a tight-fitting bodice and a wide skirt. Accentuated with a black collar, black cuffs and matching accessories, the outfit remains classy while still making a statement.

Body:

• Skin: (5th & Oxford) FAIR Audrey Summer Cocktails 5
• Eyes: (Miriel) Realistic Eyes – Strong Green [not available anymore]
• Lashes: (Miriel) Lashes – Feather [not available anymore]
• Hair: Kin -Joan- [black]

Outfit:

• Coat: L’Abel – Doriane coat
• Shoes: Maitreya Group Gift Pumps black
• Stockings: *Sheer* Stockings 01: Nylon Black
• Earrings: ~Muse~ Claris Pearl earring in Gold
• Gloves: Fleur Gloves Short Black
• Hat: Tesla hat “Joan” [free]
• Bag: (P-K) Vintage Petit Sac Noir

Other:

• Pose: *TorridWear* Drama 08

 

A little explanation of my prolonged absence

After weeks of attempting to get back into blogging mode and miserably failing at producing anything worth sharing, I’m just going to leave a little note here:

I have given up neither SL nor this blog, but health problems (still the same that plagued me back in June already) had all but eroded any creativity and patience in me for a good while. In addition, currently I don’t have as much spare time as I used to, which makes it even more difficult to come up with something.

However, I remain hopeful that both me and “Vintage Verwood” will be back on track soon.

Hybie’s Blogger Challenge

Just a quick drive-by-post, since RL has me in its thrall, but I couldn’t bear to have this picture sitting any longer in my flickr-account. It is a contribution to Hybrid Ansar’s blogger challenge, issued here.

I’m quite in favour of plus-sized avatars becoming more visible, and as I wrote before, I’d use a bigger shape myself if it didn’t come with a bunch of problems: prim parts of clothing don’t fit and sometimes cannot be modded enough to make them fit and a lot of poses are rendered unusable because of arms or hands sticking in tummies or hips…

I’m wearing Prelude’s Estelle dress in silver blue here, a beautiful 40s-inspired dress with excellent textures and great shading. Complemented by Evoke’s Slingbacks, some of the cutest shoes I have seen on the grid in a while, this makes for a very romantic outfit.

Body:

• Skin: (5th & Oxford) FAIR Audrey Summer Cocktails 6
• Eyes: (Miriel) Realistic Eyes – Strong Green [not available anymore]
• Lashes: (Miriel) Lashes – Feather [not available anymore]
• Hair: ETD Juliana – Smoke

Outfit:

• Dress: Prelude – Estelle (silver blue)
• Stockings: *Sheer* Stockings 01: Nylon Black
• Shoes: Evoke Ribbon Slingbacks – Black Leather / Black Satin
• Earrings: Paper Couture Diamond Bow

Other:

• Pose: *TorridWear* – Geometry 06

Intoxicating Mixtures

(More pictures and credits below.)

Mothers, lock your daughters in, it’s too late to talk to them – the Verwood Sisters are in town and you are going to lose your last bit of grip on the young girls if you let them visit these concerts! On stage, they will intoxicate you with their velvety voices only, but well-informed sources claim that that the sisters’ singing and dancing is not the only thing which will get to your head and that they have a habit of inviting their most faithful fans to night-long hedonistic debauchery.

I was one of the lucky bloggers who received a review package for 5th & Oxford’s latest cocktail-themed release: 6 new skins, 12 dresses (2 different models in six colours each) and a retro-style bar set were released by Roslin Petion and CJ Carnot last weekend, and my high hopes have been surpassed even.
Not only does everything meet the high quality standards one has come to expect from the creators, but is also is a very inspiring and inspired colourful collection.

The diverse set of skins comes with lipsticks and eye shadows in different textures and – partly bold, partly subdued – hues, the linking element being the most lovely winged eyeliner. And since it’s 5th & Oxford, it goes without saying that the more demure make-ups look classy, not dull, and the more chromatic ones look vibrant, not garish.
There are two kinds of cocktail dresses: a mini with an asymmetric, gathered top and a longer v-necked dress with short (prim-)sleeves and an obi-like belt. Both come in six colours, all of which are shown in this post – three on the mini, three on the obi-dress.
I’m especially in awe of the longer dress, not only because it is a style I favour anyway, but also because the top part of it exhibits some great shading and wrinkles around the bust which create a very realistic and sexy appearance – the upper part actually makes a great top to go with other pieces of clothing.
Finally, there is the retro bar set that comes with a lot of accessories, which I couldn’t show all here: highball and martini glasses with drinking animations that actually empty, a cocktail shaker which dispenses new drinks to your friends, bowls of lemon slices and olives and finally something that promises to bring life into the dullest party, a soda siphon you can use to spray other people! The set is sold with four of them, so you can hand the three remaining ones to your friends.
The bar furniture itself are of an understated elegance that lends a timeless quality to the design, despite the reminescences to bygone decades, making it suitable to match a lot of different interior designs and tastes in furnishing. My only regret is that I don’t have a home in SL where I could rez these permanently.

Since I wanted to do a theme that did not feature the obvious (sunsets, swimming pools, the silhouettes of palms against the evening sky), I came up with the 1960s girl band idea – plus it was the perfect excuse to air all those beehive-updos I had bought.

The Clawtooth by Clawtooth-hair is not available in this very colour anymore, since it was a temporary offer only. It can still be bought in other varieties of black, though.

Body:

• Skins: (5th & Oxford) FAIR Audrey Summer Cocktails 1, 3 & 5
• Eyes: (Miriel) Realistic Eyes – Strong Green [not available anymore]
• Lashes: (Miriel) Lashes – Feather [not available anymore]
• Hair: fri.day – Allison – Paranoid Black; ETD – Roslin (smoke); Clawtooth by Clawtooth – Sweet Whispers – Softest Black [only available in other black tones]; ::69:: Model hair 01 – offblack -

Outfits:

• Cocktail dresses: (5th & Oxford) Summer Cocktails *RED CRUSH*, *CHEEKY MONKEY* & *BLUE LAGOON*
• Cocktail Mini: (5th & Oxford) Summer Cocktails Mini *COSMO*, *APPLETINI* & *PURPLE HAZE*
• Stockings (with long dress): *Sheer* Stockings 01: Nylon Black
• Patterned Tights (with short dress): *Sheer* Tights 11: Vines Black
• Shoes: [hoorenbeek] Stilettos [colourchangeable]
• Earrings: Paper Couture – Round Diamond Circle Drop Earrings

Other:

• Furniture, Drinks etc.: (5th & Oxford) Cocktail Bar set
• Poses: First picture = [LAP] Bolly9, DQ – Cam Hoor Too & BB – Fierce; second picture = inbuilt female sit from bar stool & *ELISA* melting icecream 6; last picture = pose built into hair