9.23.2009

Autumn is the mellower season...

For me, autumn is always a time of the simplest pleasures: crisp mornings, gentle afternoons, leaves flaming into sunset colors, geese calling overhead. Digging into the closet for my favorite sweater and hat. Snuggling under a down quilt and flannel sheets worn soft with time and love.

And then there's a pleasure that's far less simple but every bit of fun. Shopping for fall clothing! SO much simpler in Second Life. Here's my first outfit for the fall. Sometimes simple is good. This is Toasty Warm by Fuschia Begonia of Fuschia' Frocks. At an economical L$150, this outfit is a good bargain. It comes with muttonchop sleeve prims and a driving cap. Miss Begonia has done an absolutely lovely job with the texturing. This dress looks as petable and cozy as a favorite blanket, should a blanket be so nicely detailed and tailored. It has a very nice profile, with a sweet bit of bustle. I do loves me the bustles!

There's also the matter of avatar rendering cost. This outfit, all things considered, weighs in at an ARC of 970. Not bad, with the marvelous hat, my Tauri eyeglasses from Solar Eyewear (they have an adorable pair of round Victorian-esque pair on my want list, check them out) and the Ziggy/Enlighten heels from Tesla. The dress is absolutely doing its part to keep the ARC down in the realm of the reasonable.

And then there's my new favorite hat, the Lady Auburn Boater, from the fabulously talented Miss Reghan Straaf of Hatpins. I do love boaters best of all the Victorian hats (with itsy-bitsy top hats not far behind at all), so imagine when my pleasure when I found this gorgeous little seasonal beauty. Like many of my Hatpins hats, I've not wanted to take it off since purchasing it. At L$250, Miss Straaf has made this hat do the work of many. It comes with a menu allowing the wearer to change the size of the hat, as well as the texture and color of the hatband. In this picture, it's set to amber. Those are my kitty ears you see poking out of the hat. Miss Straaf, being the Commandante of the Caledon Catgirl Brigade, tends to make hats that accommodate one's ears fairly gracefully.

Also, I'm finally starting to find hair that works with hats - no easy task when you're as fond of messy little updos and short styles as I am. This particular style is from Kyoto's Hair Shop. The creator, Kyoko Forcella, does not have a huge selection, but I love just about everything there and the prices are exceptionally reasonable. Individual shades are L$100, six color fatpacks are L$250. Very pretty styles, I recommend giving her store a look.