A Little Bit of Style by Zoe Demar - Street

I was planing on doing a nice elegant style when I stumbled upon a dress but when I was going around to stores looking for a piece to go with it - everything changed. Sey had some new items out for sale and I couldn't turn it down. Awhile ago I picked up a wrap around sculptie plaid shirt. Now they have these hoodies that are flipped open like you've just unzipped it and it has fallen around the waist. Thus my whole inspiration took flight towards a look to fit with it.

I knew straight away that I wanted to use the Kass Calypto dirty skin by The Abyss. Abyss skins have been a straight away purchase as I always know they're high quality skins - each one being unique. The skin also goes the best with the shapes that they offer - but I wasn't 100% on the body and ended up modifying a copy of my body shape with the Abyss head.

The challenge I had with the hoodie was that it creates a really heavy midsection and it being a jacket I didn't want to bulk up my top half with another jacket cause well that isn't realistic. So I needed to have my bottom half hold up the weight and finding pants that are still stylish without being the "in" legging style wasn't gonna fly. It took awhile but I pulled out a set of pants that I've had for awhile from Bijou. They're from an outfit called Exceed and typically go with a nice tank top layered outfit which could also fit with the look. Instead I choose to go another route because I like to mix it up. One feature that I did like by using these pants was no need for adding socks because it looks like they're already there but it is just part of the pants.

Did I say challenge? Because the footwear also was a bit of one for me as I was kinda thinking about showing off the newest Maitreya Gold pair but knew that I was going in another direction and thus pulled out some boots from Abyss but they weren't fitting the bill. I remembered seeing these League High-Tops when I had been in their store for good pants and went back to pick them up. What is awesome is the all the options that they are scripted with. You can choose from 10 textures for the buttons that are found on the side of the heel. The back of the heel has 5 graphical texture options. There are 2 options for sole color. And to top it all off you can choose any color you want for the laces, shoe sides, toe tip, heel, and lace rings. Other shoe options include size, shine, and glow. I decided to match it up to the hoodie in a nice brown shade for the main sides and laces. The other bonus was they were just the right height that I really needed to pull of the right form.

As for the upper half - originally I had picked out a tank that I have liked for a long time from League but switched it up to this Abyss USA t-shirt. I love the hem on to show off a bit more tummy rather than the standard horizontal. Gives it that edge that I wanted with the look.

I then felt I needed something else, and though I typically try to use my own thoughts ideas for inspiration - the store poster promoting the Sey hoodie used suspenders and thus out I pulled some that I had from League and really liked how it looked.

As far as hair, I went straight to my 69 hair collection and played with two styles picking this one out the Echo style in the end. My hubby said that it reminded him of Kate from Lost - I didn't complain one bit with that comment as I really like her look.

The lashes and eyes are both from Abyss' Opium avatar which includes the shirt as well as more awesome quality items. A bit pricey but worth it for everything it includes.

Feel free to comment to provide feedback or if you like the look. Comments are moderated to avoid auto-bot spamming but all comments are approved if from a real person.

Enjoy!

Love, Zoe

A Little Bit of Style by Zoe Demar - Early Fall!

With the rainstorm that I experienced on Sunday night, it certainly isn't surprising that I'm pulling out the trusted umbrella and thinking already of the upcoming Fall. On the news it was announced that my area experienced the coolest July of 15 years! So on that note, I present to you an early Fall (or autumn for those of the British tongue) style.

My first major inspiration for this look comes from Bax Coen's brand new release of the Prestige Boots. I have been luckily enough to be one of the first few to try them on and I can't tell you how spectacular they are!! I resisted using them until they were released. There are also a ton of accent color options to play with that they truly can go with any look. They also come in black as you should be able to see on my flickr page, considering I took plenty of pics of them for Bax.



The other major inspiration is the hair from Tiny Bird - which is the creation of Autumn Hykova. I adore this style called, "Into My Arms," and absolutely love all the bobby pins including one that you can wear in your mouth! One of my earliest college buds would wear her hair in similar styles that I really found remarkably creative - and Autumn did not let me down in SL either.

The jacket from Bijou was my next major piece of the ensemble. An older buy of mine that I have been wanting to do a style with for awhile now and I'm so excited to use it here for fall. Bijou has a wide assortment of creative styles that I love to mix and match into new looks and is a store that I have used previously in my blog post. I thought pulling the jacket from Metro outfit would really tie in the modern classic style that I tend to go for and hope that you think so too!

The "With You" top by Argrace has a really nice sculpted collar that I loved to piece together with the jacket. A lot of jackets have sculpted collars which are nice but sometimes limit what all can be worn underneath - thus I thought this combination worked brilliantly. The top typically comes with a lovely scarf but I decided to leave it out since we're not quite to winter wear yet! Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves!

Yes - a new store on the grid with a good assortment of basics is where I pulled the charcoal trousers from. I think I'm a sucker for gray pants over black because it shows off more of the texture than what you can get in black, at least in my opinion. As you might have guessed they are from Fri.day - already hitting the rumor mill of alt-doom I really don't mind it and won't over think it too much if I enjoy the creations. The store honestly reminds me a bit of Tres Blah mixed with Miabella mixed with Maitreya and a dash of the Armidi collaboration personnel. I'm not trying to help fuel the fire but do have a certain curiosity as I do feel I'm probably one of the few without another active alt - though I'm sure plenty will prove me wrong.

The umbrella from the creamshop was another easy choice. I have yet to take a picture there but I adore the sim build and a lot of the creations found there. I decided to go with the border brown style over the vinyl option due to the colors to bring in some more fall colors of brown and yellow to reflect the green in the jacket and brown in the hat.

And moving onto the hat, I had a few choices of hats that I have also been wanting to blog about but the Kyoot Army's Old Money hat won out due to the pattern, shape, and color. I love how it sits on my head in this shot. I was a bit concerned of overdoing with pattern but I really felt that it does work and that it isn't too overpowering against the metro jacket. But I'll let you decide.



For skin I ended up going back to Curio to check out more everyday styles of make-up options and decided to go with the beach pack. 6 skins for the price of 3 is a hard bargain for me to pass up but it isn't something I can afford to do on a daily basis. I ended up going with the Sundust in Light tone with the beach collection in Crude 2 make-up due to the eye-shadow. Matched up with the vintage feeling hair, green eyes, and tipped hat really gives me the feeling of mystery and allure. Typically I don't like blogging the same skin brand twice in a row but I couldn't help it and I doubt you can blame me.

I did however pick up the light green eyes from Curio as well. I loved the light green reflecting the color of the jacket to make the overall look pop. I probably will go back to buy another color eventually. Note - I do try to blog about something different that I haven't blogged before - but no guarantees - especially when it comes to eyes. Being a photographer I'm really picky about those I shoot having good eyes. I really think you can have the perfect skin and hair but if you don't have good eyes - it can spoil the shot. So a tid-bit - get a good assortment of eyes if you plan on modelling.

There you have it - my early fall (don't kill me I'm already talking about fall) lil bit of style.

Happy Trails!

Love, Zoe

A Little Bit of Style by Zoe Demar

This style is a mix-it-up between two designers - Barerose & Bijou.

Both designers create unique looks to Second Life. I've been visiting Barerose for almost as long as my avatar has been around. I received a random freebie prize from Barerose that I still keep but don't wear all too often. Bijou on the other hand is rather new to me but I find myself keep going back to see what they've done now. Mixing the two designers was a bit of fun for me and I leaned a bit more on the exotic side. I love absorbing diversity and thus why it is hard for me to wear the same thing for too long, aside from my shape.



First thing you might notice compared to my typical blog-post is the lack of shoes! I was going to pair up the look with something but preferred the thought of this look being worn barefoot. I am not a bit shoe wearer myself if it can be avoided.

The inspiration is all about the peacock skirt from the Prayer outfit by Bijou. I saw this originally in a picture done by Lux Yao of Three Fall (can be seen here) for Hathor. I love how it organically sits low and wide on the hips. The full outfit is awesome but I wanted to pull in from another designer to mix up the look a bit and help inspire others to try something new.

As I said before Barerose is definitely the place to go if you're looking for unique. The Over The Rainbow outfit hits a bit close to home as it references a bit of "Oz" which of course has me automatically linked to my original home state of Kansas. I love the simple geometric printed tube top with a lot of character mixed in with the straps that fit the full outfit with wings (not pictured here). I also kept around the other accessories including gloves and lamp.

To finish the look, an older favorite is the Mofumofu hair from Shop Seu. It was one of the first hairs created there and a personal favorite because of the way it flows down over the front of one's torso. Upon visiting a shopper will find a few other must have styles along with skins and clothing. I visited Redgrave last night and picked up this Niaomi2 skin. I personally love how well the realistic skins photograph and how each diversify on my body shape. Last but not least, the pale blue eyes from Madesigns. They completely have me sucked into the deep glistening pool of blue when I see them. I'm not a fan of large pupils and these fit the bill perfectly.

Store Slurls:
Barerose
Shop Seu
Bijou
Redgrave
MADesigns

Other References:
Lux Yao (flickr stream)
Three Fall (flickr stream)
Hathor Model Agency (website)