Berry Challenge: 5-20-2013

May 20, 2013 By in Berry's Blogger Challenges, Tools and Tricks 11 Comments

Strawberry’s weekly meme this week is actually a challenge, rather than a standard meme.

From Strawberry’s Blog:
Meme instructions: Blog a tutorial and teach me something that you think I might not know about (even if I do, doesn’t matter, do it anyways). The tutorial can be something within Second Life (how to build, create tattoos or clothes, pick up guys at info hubs, tie your virtual shoelaces, whatever…) or something in Photoshop or on any social network (just focus on something sl-related somehow). Make it informative, make it hilarious, make it whatever you like! I’d just love to learn something from you that you may be good at and are willing to share. Remember to leave your link in this meme’s post so others can come by and learn too!

For someone who used to be in SL Mentors and SL Instructors, I was having a hell of a time thinking of something that either a) Hasn’t already been done to death or b) is actually useful and someone might not know about it. Its not that I have to be Original or Die(tm), but what kinds of little things have I picked up over the years that some folks may not be aware of and find useful? After hitting up some friends and spending 20 minutes laughing hysterically at some of the ideas Aryanna came up with, I did settle on a Tutorial topic. Some of her ideas, though,  were too good not to share:  How To Talk a Friend Out of Buying Stupid Shit She Is Going To Hate But Buys It Anyway, How To Pretend You Actually Care About Someone Else’s Bullshit, Maintaining Sanity When Your Partner Gets Involved in Breedables, and probably my favorite of the silly ones I didn’t pick, How To Recover From Foot In Mouth Syndrome.

So On With the Tutorial!
Have you ever been working on a build, be it a building, an art piece, clothing accessories, anything really- that you’ve spent a lot of time and effort in editting, creating, resizing, manipulating.. You’ve spent Hoooooooooours in the edit window fiddling with dials and sliders to achieve perfection. Dear god the time you spent just adjusting that texture and its repeats and offsets so it looks good. You’re done! You’re so happy! You’re also smart! You’ve accidentally messed it up before (…or is that just me?) so you’re going to pick it up and make sure you have a copy in your inventory so nothing happens to it and its safe and sound! So you pick it up and one of four things happens:

1) It worked! (…lucky!)
2) OH DEAR GOD- I missed 4 pieces from the middle of the build. CRAP!
3) OH DEAR GOD AGAIN- I picked up part of <insert object that was in the background> as part of it. CRAP!
4) What do you mean “Unable to Link because not all of the objects have the same owner!”

I’m going to walk you through a few little tricks to help fight against situations 2-4. I use Firestorm, so your Menu Mileage May Vary(tm).

There are three things I always do before I start a project which will eliminate #4 on my list above entirely and help with #2 and #3.

1) Select Only My Objects
In Firestorm, you can find this under Build > Options > Select Only My Objects

tut1
This will make sure that you’re not picking up anyone elses stray prims while using the bounding boxes or by mis-clicking. This is also a great tickbox to have checked when you’re working on something for someone else on their sim. I’ve done several commercial builds where I’ve gone in and worked on their sim. At the end, I want a copy picked up as a backup- and you can easily select only your prims.

2) Limit Select Distance
In firestorm, you can find this in the Advanced Menu (Control+Alt+Shift+D) > Limit Select Distance
tut2This will make it so when you’re using the click-drag method of surrounding the prims you want to select, you don’t select anything that is halfway across the sim, for example. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve drug the mouse around an object to pick it up and I notice the Tree out there disappeared too. Whoopse.  Obviously if you are doing a HUUUGE build where you’re picking up half a sim or something- this setting shouldn’t be used. But for most things, its saved my bacon more than once.

3) Create and Lock Your Platform
Create a simple platform to work on. I set mine to a blank texture so I can easily see everything I’m working on. Then, in your edit menu, go to the Object tab and tick the top left box “Locked”

tut3

By locking your platform, you can not a) Pick it up, b) move it, c) accidentally link it to your project, or d) delete it. You now have a safe space in which to build on that isn’t going to interfere with the build itself when it comes time to link and pick up.

So you’ve got your safe space, you’ve burned the candle at both ends to get the piece done, and you’re ready to pick it up. You’ve got all the pieces selected, you’ve moved it to make sure you didn’t miss anything. You’ve deselected all the pieces you accidentally picked up somehow. (I’m not the only one that does that… right?) You’re ready to go.

I will pause here to note that, yes, you can right click and “Take a Copy” then rez the copy to make sure you got everything. But to me, that’s an extra step that is amazingly annoying. Depending on the intricacy of what you’re building, you may also not notice you missed anything or picked up an extra thing. By picking it up entirely, you can easily see a prim that is still sitting there or worse, the building next to you that disappeared.

So! You pick it up and BLAMMO- you missed some pieces… or you picked up extra pieces… or the very worst, you fatfingered the click (or the cat swung his tail at your hand right when hovering over it…) and DAMMIT! I just deleted it! OH EM GEE! “How am I going to get it back where it was!! I HAVE TO START OVER!! I will go eat worms now.”

Not so!

With the edit window open, find the item in your inventory. Right click on it and select “Restore to Last Position”. This will drop the item right back where it was AND have it all selected.

tut4
If you accidentally deleted it, it is a two step process. You must open your trash and select “Restore Item” first. Then get it out of your objects folder and repeat the step above.

tut5
Hopefully this didn’t read like stereo instructions and someone finds it useful.

Toodles,

=N

B@R-Dergie

May 20, 2013 By in Mesh, Nancy Boy Fashion Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

I spent a good part of Sunday doing little things on the Sim. Things I had forgotten I wanted to touch up- things that suddenly stuck out to me like a sore thumb even though no one else noticed. My nitpickyness had a field day today.  Not planning a huge “opening party” or anything, and just word of mouth (and blog, and facebook) telling folks the sim was open and handing out the Landmark brought a good many visitors in so that was nice. I feel good about the sim and my desire to continue taking pictures on it even though its open hasn’t waned. Thank god.

My hope is others will want to do photos here too.

A week ago or so I saw Carthalis had picked up an a couple amazing mesh outfits from B@reRose and I realised I hadn’t been there in a few months. B@R is one of my favorite places to go. The sheer amount of clothing and other items that they have is mind boggling and for a first time visitor, do plan to spend a little bit of time there. The mile high walls of product rez fairly quickly but there is a LOT to look at there. To the left of the landing point is all of the new men’s mesh. Some of their older designs have been updated and a lot of fresh, new content as well. This outfit here is one of the new designs. I LOVE it. LOVE LOVE LOVE. The texturing on the jacket alone is drool worthy nevermind the pants and all the silver bits. While I’m not an expert, I have to think that this is liquid mesh. There is only one size in the package and it fit perfectly. Considering I am a good two feet taller and muuuuch more buff than what would be called the typical B@R shopper, it has to be liquid.

One thing I’ve noticed, and was talking about with a friend of mine today, is that the more and more mesh becomes the norm- and kits are produced like crazy for designers to put their own textures on- the more everything starts looking the same again. B@R very clearly makes their own mesh and textures and everything there is completely unique. I’ve not seen anything like this outfit anywhere on the grid. From the lines of the jacket to the cut of the leathers. Completely and utterly unique and well done.

One more thing you’ll notice if you go to B@R is the price: Almost everything is below $300L. Most things are below $200L. Great outfits for any pocketbook always wins in my book.

Style Card:

Hair: Sadistic Hacker – Guren
Skin: FRUK – Jeremy Shade 2
Eyeshadow: Beauty Killer – Gothic Eyeshadows – Dark
Eyes: IKON – Sunrise Eyes – Deep Purple
Facial Piercings: ~*Souzou Eien*~ Of Obsidian Pearls (Lip and Nose), Mekare Brow/Nostril/Lip/Earlobe
Tattoo: Fallen Gods – A Skin Story
Jacket, Necklace, Pants: B@reRose -  Dergie (Mesh)
Boots: +grasp+ – Leather Boots
Location: Sandalphon

Pose: Just my Hover Animation from Akeyo.

Hedonistic

May 19, 2013 By in Nancy Boy Fashion Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

So now that I’ve finally finished building my sim (for now, god knows I’ll probably rip up something and replace it within the month since I never seem to be satisfied), I thought I’d do up some shots to show off the space a little more than just hints. I’m VERY pleased with how this one turned out, if I do say so myself.

I went out this morning and hit up a few of the places I really like, seeing who had anything new – or at least new to me since the last time I’d been there. Sadly, …Scars… seems to have gone missing. The landmark for their shop now lands you on a for sale sign for the land. I looked in search but didn’t find anything. Will have to do some more digging. So I hopped over to Hedo and was aghast to find the same thing.. but luckily, they were easily found in search and had moved to a new location.

The outfit here comes in silver and gold both. I think what I like about it is the seemingly unmoving silver- so high and brash and polished and sturdy- against the black feathers on the shoulders. The contrast was really appealing. Its also the first pair of bolted-pants (As I call them, you know, with lines of rivets or pads or slats or whatevers down the thigh) that actually look right. So many times I’ve gotten these types of pants and had to spend hours adjusting them to actually sit on my thighs or look even close to sitting where they should.. these just worked right out of the box. The shading on the knees of the pants really caught my eye as well.

As for the location, this is on top of the centerpiece build of my sim, overlooking the east part of the island.

Cheers,

-N

Style Card:

Hair: /wasabi pills/ – Dragon – Night Shadow
Skin: Fallen Gods – DRACO – Carbon/Inferno Scaled
Eyes: Fallen Gods – Elemental – Cat Eyes Red
Boots: [GOS] – Triumph – Worn Black (Tight)
Jacket, Neck, Bracers, Belt, Pants: Hedo – Run The World – Silver
Pose: Niquotine – Battle Stance 47 (No longer in world)
Location: Sandalphon

Visit Sandalphon

May 19, 2013 By in Bobbles and Babbles Tags: , 8 Comments

After what seems like a millennium, I finally finished my sim build.

Between the time I started it and now, I think it went through four iterations. And by “iteration” I mean “OH MY GOD I HATE IT ITS CRAP NUKE EVERYTHING!!!” and start over. Four times. At least. You see, I am my own absolute worst critic. I build something and hate it almost instantly. I think most of that stems from the builders I admire on SL and their amazing creations and I sit back and look at my stuff and go, “Yea, uh, that’s crap.” In between each rebuild I think I did 4 commercial sims, 2 charity sims, and random other builds for friends. I think those were needed distractions to keep me from nuking and rebuilding even more.

I had started with an idea of doing a sim-size theme build with a good friend, Eliza. But it became quickly apparent that my day job, travel, and other responsibilities were going to keep me from being an effective partner with someone who has their own business and exquisite talent to share with SL as well.

After I’d nuked the sim for the fourth time, I built what is now the centerpiece of the sim. The rest of the sim sort of fell into place after that. I had tinkered with individual bits over time and then each section began to coalesce.

Ultimately, I’m happy with it. Even if I keep finding little things I want to change or make better.

I have other installations that had nowhere to go- so most likely will be changing sections ocassionally and putting out new pieces.

For now, however, Welcome to Sandalphon.

A few notes on the Build:

To see the sim at its best, it is reccomended that you have all the tickboxes checked in Preferences > Graphics for Local Lights, Basic Shaders, Atmospheric Shaders, Advanced Lighting, Ambient Occlusion, Sun/Moon+ Projectors.. y’know, everything that generally will slow down your computer.  A great deal of the atmosphere around the sections of the sim comes from the use of projected textures, shadows and lighting. Increasing your LOD for mesh/sculpted items wouldn’t go amiss either.

Sandalphon is best viewed with a night or sunset setting. By default, the sim is set to a simple midnight. I highly encourage you to play with the windlight settings and find one you like. I have built the majority of the sim with shadowplay in mind. Additionally, build is allowed. Feel free to rez pose stands or lighting if you need them for photography. Finally, the sim is set to adult- so feel free to do nudes/semi-nudes for photos if you desire.

Let me know what you think! Good and bad!

Toodles,

-N

Visit Sandalphon

Poetic Justice

May 12, 2013 By in Mesh, Nancy Boy Fashion Tags: , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

I managed to be quiet for a few days but, alas, yours truly is back with another heartwarming round of ‘What the hell are you wearing?” I got a wild hair of an idea for a build to put up in the final blank section of my sim and have been wildly crazy about it in the last week. Its about halfway done I think. I may actually *gasp* be almost done with the sim. But I digress.

I almost feel like I should have a pipe and a newspaper or at the very least, some young nubile beauty kissing the ring. Ar at the very least, polishing my shoes.

And speaking of shoes, lets start there, shall we?

Oh Mah Gawd, the shoes. First off, I own these shoes RL. They’re not red and silver, they’re black and white, and they’re my Dress Docs. Yes, Nigel wears Docs with a suit for work. Its true. When I have to do Coporate Drag, I have to keep at least a little bit of my inner rebel even if it is only in a pair of fabulous shoes. These come from one of my favorite labels, Mr. Poet. The detailing, texturing and mesh on these shoes is oh holy hell obscenely beautiful- and the fun doesn’t stop there. With this simple pair of inexpensive shoes comes a texture hud. The front, back, top, inner-top, laces, gromets, and the sole are all color changeable individually. Each one comes with 16 different colors to choose from. SIXTEEN! And its not just “the standard” colors- these are off the wall shades of colors. Mauve and chartreuse. Ocean and rose. Enough to make this queen’s interior decorator gene all aquiver. (It should be noted, however, that I couldn’t decorate my way out of a wet paper sack with a compass, map and head-lamp. I queued twice on Gay Day for “Showtunes” and missed both “Interior Design” and “Track Lighting”. My pet and boy decorated what you see in the photo.)

Moving up my insanely long legs, are a new pair of white leathers from Guarded Cross. I love the wrinkles and shading on these but admittedly, they make my legs look way too freakin’ long. They’re designed to be nice and tight but I think they’re just a wee bit too small. Its clear without the alpha layer how much of me is actually missing… so to speak. I do love the ankles though especially. I would have called these silver, personally, rather than white. But white is such a tricky, hard color to pull off right.

The jacket is a new acquisition from a label I’d not heard of previously, M.o.w.. What intrigued me about the jacket was the unique design of it. It isn’t cut like every other jacket you see out there. Maybe its the weather outside, but I’ve been on a coat and jacket kick lately.

Though barely visible in the photo, I’m also wearing a new pair of glasses from Mr. Poet that are highly customizable as well. A nice half-frame. It almost makes me look studious.

Its about that time to get back into the building fray. I really want to get my sim done before I decide to nuke the whole thing (again) and start over. My boys may kill me if I do.

Toodles,

-N

Style Card:

Hair: Dura 40 (Boys and Girls) black
Skin: FRUK – Jeremy – Shade 2
Eyeshadow: Beauty Killer – Gothic Eyeshadows – Dark
Eyes: IKON – Sunrise Eyes – Purple Pale
Glasses: Mr. Poet – Half Rim Eyeglasses
Necklace: :SEY Kabbalah Necklace
Hands: Shelly Laufer Men’s Hands (Silver & Black)
Jacket: M.o.w. – Buttoned Up Coat – Red
Pants: Guarded Cross – Leather Jeans GC501M – White Gold
Shoes: Mr. Poet – Full Brogue Derby Shoes
Pose: Chair – Manicure Pose (No longer in world)

Seer’s Tower

May 8, 2013 By in Mesh, Nancy Boy Fashion Tags: , , , , , , , 6 Comments

Its a Two-For! Also known as “Nigel bought two items from the same designer in one week!” This is a rarity for me, since I’m so damned picky. But to the rescue is Aitui- again! This time, its their Seer’s Tower (I keep wanting to call it Sears Tower which sends me down a whole Ferris path of destruction that can only end in having ‘Oh Yeah’ stuck in my head for a week. D’oh!) shirt and ‘scarflet’ as I call it. It comes in several styles, 2 per pack. I picked up version 3 and 4- the scarflet has a stripey design on the other one that I’m not wearing.

Once again I have to wax Ermagherd about Aitui’s wrinkles and shading. The shirt really flows and is incredibly smooth. As I mentioned in yesterdays post, sizing is very small. I fit in the medium just fine but it does make me look REALLY skinny. It does fit over my ample backside, Petr, so don’t worry- no slider adjustments necessary!

The pants are an older acquisition from a favorite designer, Mr.Poet. What I really like about these pants- like the Immerschoen from yesterday’s post- is that the fabric isn’t “perfect”. It is marked and faded and wears like real fabric should. Additionally, the designer put in three pairs of pant bottom sculpts- one for short boots (Worn here), one for tall boots so it has a scrunchy look above the boot, and one for no shoes.

The boots.. I don’t know when I got those. If you saw my boot folder, you’d probably pass out. I … tend to collect them. I like the over distressed look of these. I have a few pairs RL that look like theyre about to fall off my feet and sue for maintenance. So they’re comfy.

The lighting here was done with a projected texture using a sunset windlight. You can really get some great shadows with projected textures when you’re inside a build and can’t get the SL shadows.

Toodles,

-N

Hair: Dura 40 For Boys and Girls – Black
Skin: Fruk – Jeremy Shade 2
Eyeshadow: Beauty Killer – Gothic Eyeshadows – Dark
Shirt: Aitui Clothing Factory – Seer’s Tower/black – b04
Pants: ::Mr.Poet:: Leather Woven pants red
Shoes: ::380:: – Civil Boot Black Distressed
Tape: SiniSTyle Taped Fist
Pose: ReelExpression – Ledge 03 (No longer in World)
Lighting: Inworld with projected textures

Frontlines

May 7, 2013 By in Mesh, Nancy Boy Fashion Tags: , , , , , , , , 7 Comments

My love again relationship with Aitui hit a new peak last night when I spied this new jacket.  Their color selection is currently limited to black, grey and “officer” which is what I’m wearing- sort of a purply-browny-tanny-uh-somewhere-in-the-middley color with grey accents that match the shirt underneath. What I love about the shirt is the sort of scoop-out neck instead of laying flat against the chest. The shading is outstanding.

As usual with Aitui, big men need not apply. They only offer sizes XS, S and M. The M is a tight fit on me and if I wanted to be honest about it, my ass would have to lose a teensy bit on the slider in the back. And while I’m honest, I like my ass.. so a little cut here and there as I move will have to do. Because I do love this jacket.

The leathers were a surprise purchase. Immerschoen has been on my radar for awhile but I never manage to get over there when I actually remember. I’m rather bad that way.  They’re scrunchy and wrinkly the way I like but high and tight- not a saggy, invisible pony ride to be found. The highlighting and shading is nice too. I think their best feature though is that the leather isn’t perfect. There are marks and lines the way good leather wears in. Its attention to little details like that which make me a happy leather queen.

As an aside, has anyone noticed when you take really high rez snapshots with a night sky in the background, and zoom in close in photoshop to work on some detail or another, the stars are shaped exactly like Pac*Man?

I was so tempted to paint in a little ghost in the corner.

Toodles,

-N

Style Card

Hair: Dura 40 – For Boys and Girls – Black
Skin: FRUK – Jeremy Shade 2
Eyeshadow: Beauty Killer – Gothic Eyeshadows – Mess
Eyes: IKON Sunrise Eyes – Purple Pale
Jacket/shirt: Aitui Clothing Factory – Frontlines – Officer
Pants: Immerschoen Man – Mesh Leather Pants (Slim)
Shoes: [GOS] GTFO – Fatpack
Tape: SiniStyle – Fingertapes
Pose: Miamai – Model Poses – Strategies 08

SL Haiku – Berry’s Blogger Challenge 5-6-2013

May 6, 2013 By in Berry's Blogger Challenges, Bobbles and Babbles Tags: , , , , , , , , , 8 Comments


the leaves fall quickly
its hard to nurture alone
will you add color?

Berry posted her weekly Blogger challenge and I struggled a bit with this one. I’ve always loved Haiku so when I initially read the “Sum up your SL Life in a single haiku” I thought, “Well, damn, awesome! I love Haik— oh crap…”

The nature aspect of Haiku has always been what I love about them. Finding a spiritual meaning within a season. Who knew, Nigel ocasionally has deep thoughts- just like Jack Handy. (10 points for the reference).

One thing I will say is as I finally wrote this one, the photo instantly came to mind. That part was easy. For me, anyway, if something written can instantly give me a visual- you must be doing it right.

Or I’m an egomaniac.

And speaking of imagery, Berry’s original image with her Haiku is just astounding. The simple elegance and beauty. I really liked the stark white of the image- which I’m sure helped inspire why I went all white with mine. At least in part.

“So Nigel,” you ask, “why such a downer of an image, dude? You’re like, always so chipper unless, y’know, you’re ranting about something on your blog and making me choke on whatever I’m drinking at the time.”

Yea, I am. But it does say, “Sum up your SL Life…” As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I used to run 4 sims with the partner I had at the time. He had a massive family and we waxed and waned. For many years, I would log in and get absolutely nothing done because my IMs would light up to the point it would take me two hours or more just to get through those conversations; everyone needed something, wanted something, or just needed to say hi. As our family waned, the islands were sold one by one, and then finaly my partner and I split, (add in there being offline for two international moves thanks to my RL Day Job) I retreated to find some peace and quiet when I returned to SL so I could build and enjoy the solitude I could never get before. But as the English Proverb says, “The Grass is Always Greener…”

Most of the time I am building by myself, or doing photography, or just hanging out with a small group of people. I’ve been told I’m hard to approach and overbearing. But if you ask me, I think I’m pretty damned laid back about most things- unless I get riled on a particular thing. Perception, yadda yadda. I’m not shy- but I tend to keep my mouth shut until I get to know people because I always think I’m either going to sound like a bloody idiot or railroad any conversation and dominate it. I’m an INTP (That’s Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving for those of you have haven’t had the bliss of doing the Myers-Briggs) AND a Leo- and while I don’t adhere to many stereotypes, it isn’t called a stereotype for nothing.  Watch as Nigel is the quiet one in the corner… until you get his attention. Then look out.

So anyway- there’s my SL Life haiku.

IM me sometime.

p.s. Don’t forget to do one yourself! If you do, link back to Berry’s thread and share with others.

Toodles,

-N

“style Card”

Tree Sculpt: Prefabrica 05 (Full Model) – Original Shadow Map / Untextured (Kit doesn’t seem to be available any longer)
Leaf Sculpt: Prefabrica Leaves Pack – Texture by me
Hair: /wasabi pills/ – Erik – Blacks Pack (Night Shadow)
Skin: FRUK – Jeremy – Shade 2
Tattoo: Fallen Gods – A Skin Story
Finger Tape: SiniStyle – Taped Fist
Pants: D-Style – Blake
Boots: Muism – Troy (White) (No longer available in world)

Pose: HISPose – Emosit3

Prince de Galles

May 4, 2013 By in Mesh, Nancy Boy Fashion Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Sometimes you just have to discard the ripped up leathers, the tattered t-shirts, and scores of bangles up and down your tattooed arms and dress it up a bit. Keeping with the gothic/industrial style and dressing for a semi-formal or ‘dressy’ sort of occasion can pose a bit of a challenge in Second Life. Going all the way to formal is rather simple- grab yourself a nice suit or tuxedo and simply add rings and some nice, leather pointy boots. The half-way point though is a little tougher. At least, it is if you want to stay away from looking like a baby bat(tm) in his sister’s eyeliner.

Most “formal” gothic wear involves velvets, lace and a lot of jackets with flexprim tails. To this retired goth, that’s just club wear. That’s what you wear to the Cat club or Death Guild. I’d call it more High Goth rather than formal.

So what’s a gothyboy to do when the ocassion calls for a dressy event in SL. Weddings are easy- grab your suit. But what about Art Gallery openings, perhaps a night out at a Jazz or Blues club (Don’t judge. You want serious, gut wrenching melodies and drown-your-sorrows-in-whiskey music, hit up a blues club some night and tell me they couldn’t out angst The Cure in hand-to-eyeliner combat) and other events where you may want to tart it up a bit by stay on this side of comic, out of place vampire?

This jacket is a DAMNED exquisite find for such an event. From Diram, the Jason Coat comes with a host of possibilities. You can wear the coat, the coat and vest, or the coat, vest and shirt/tie. There are two alphas; one for just the coat, one for coat and vest. The ensemble comes in the standard 5. The jacket and Vest are sold in several color options.

My only gripe about this is that the shirt is not tintable. The collar is- but the shirt layer is no-mod and there’s no hud to change the color. A minor thing- I can easily swap it out for my own shirt.

My combination “oh how bloody awesome!” and “What the hell?” are the hands. Yes, it comes with hands. The alpha covers your arms completely to the hands and the ensemble comes with a left and right hand plus a hud which has several different hand positions based on the pockets of whatever trousers your’e wearing and skin-tone matching. Now that’s a damned cool idea! Very original thinking. The downside is, to be honest, the hands are a little oddly shaped. For photos or something they most assuredly work. Not sure how I will like them being unmoving as my avatar’s AO takes over and has me doing things that are missing the arms.

The texture on the coat is VERY well done. The fine woven lines of the coat are detailed, shaded and highlighted, and the buttons don’t stretch out. The style is so verstaile that I could pair it with a nice pair of slacks or, as I’ve done here, my leathers and still look dressy.

Lovely!

Style Card:

Hair: /wasabi pills/ – Erik (Blacks) – Night Shadow
Skin: FRUK – Jeremy – Shade 2
Eyeshadow: Beauty Killer – Gothic Eyeshadows – Dark
Eyes: IKON – Sunrise Eyes – Purple Pale
Facial Piercings: ~*Souzou Eien*~ Of Obsidian Pearls (Lip and Nose), Mekare Brow/Nostril/Lip/Earlobe
Ears: Rozoregalia – Gemma Earring4+Ear
Necklace: T.E.D. Tass/Black
Shirt, Tie, Vest, Jacket: Diram – Jason Coat – Prince de Galles
Trousers: L&B – S’Wear Mesh Zip Leather Pants
Shoes: [GOS] – Triumph – Worn Black
Pose: Gliteratti – M – Stylin 2

NV Corsetry

May 2, 2013 By in Mesh, Nancy Boy Fashion Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

This is the part of our show where Nigel gets to munch down on some crow. And let me tell you, this plate of feathers has never looked so tasty.

From Alexandra Nichols and NV Corsetry comes her first men’s mesh corset “Pride”; a limited edition corset released on May 1st as part of the new Season of Couture adventure on The Renaissance Galleria Sim. Items will appear in the Season shoppe for a limited time (Each vendor only holds 100 copies) at a discount price and then it may later be found in the Creators individual main stores at full price.  The Season shoppe is centered around releasing content with the Real World Fashion Seasons and designing outfits inspired from the current runway walks. A bold ambition considering how quickly things are released.

What can I say? I love this corset. Technically, and due purely to my height in SL, it ends up being more of a waist cinch on me but that doesn’t make a damn bit of difference in my opinion. Its gorgeous. Her talent for making corsets and applying beautiful textures to the mesh stands out like a beacon to which other designers should aspire. Before I even get to the texture, lets talk about the mesh itself. It curves and bends where it should- especially around the back and under the arms. It lifts and dips appropriately like a good corset does after you’ve broken it in. And above all, it wears exactly like a corset would in RL. I own several, I ought to know. (Yes, yes, Nigel wears corsets for certain events in the real world too… ask me sometime if you’re curious.)

The back of the corset is absolutely delicious. The gromets and lacing are just as superbly textured as the corset itself  and if that wasn’t enough, they bend and fold with your spine since its part of the corset mesh.

Y’know how some mesh looks stretched and rubbery? Not this corset. The texturing on every aspect of this piece is absolutely lovely. The shading and highlights give a real feel to the corset so it doesn’t seem flat in any respect.

One last bit of gush before I get to the stylecard- the corset comes in 5 sizes from XSM – XL. Not being an expert in mesh, don’t quote me, but I really don’t think this is the “Standard 5″ The Standard 5 don’t usually fit me- too big for a medium, to small for a large. And while that is the case with the corset (Something in between would be juuuuust right for this Goldilocks), the Large fits quite quite close. What is really nice about the multiple sizes, especially for a corset, is that I can wear a regular clothing layer shirt as I am here and wear the large- and if I want to wear a mesh shirt with it, I can put on the XL and it fits over it. I tried it with a few different shirts before settling on the RFyre/Egoisme shirt that really brought out the gold in the corset.

Here’s hoping Ms. Nichols does more corsets for men. I, for one, would kill for more styles and textures from NV Corsetry.

Simply Delicious.

Style Card:

Hair: /wasabi pills/ – Erik Black Set (Night Shadow)
Sunglasses: [GoS] – Custom Eyewear – SCT Loaded
Skin: FRUK – Jeremy Shade 2
Tattoos: Fallen Gods – A Skin Story
Necklace: T.E.D. – Tass/Black
Shirt: Rfyre & Egoisme Alliance – Fire
Corset: NV Corsetry – SOC Limited Ed – Pride Men’s Mesh Corset (Currently available at Seasons, later available at Alexandra’s shop)
Belt: L&B S’wear Men’s Square Belt – Black/Bronze *
Pants: >>GothiCatz<< – Diavolo
Hands: Shelly Laufer – Men’s Hands [Silver/Black]
Pose: HISpose – emoLean II – 2

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