A Little Bit of Style by Zoe Demar - Keep It Casual

New years brings a lot of thoughts of goals and ambitions to the mind.  Sometimes I can't wait for the year to be over...other times I wouldn't mind the year sticking around.  2010 involved a lot of bad health stories in my family, but some other major positives out of it all.  I'm hoping for a good start to 2011 but don't want to look too far ahead into the future and just keep it casual.  Which is what I did for this first look of the year.

Make sure you go check out the dressing room, if you haven't had a chance yet.  They're doing, "best of's" sale which has a good selection of items out from designers.  I'm showing off one of my buys with the Glam Affair skins called Jadis.  I'm typically mixed on the skins that Glam Affair puts out, but when you can get one for 70L typically you'll see me pick it up!

Exile also has released this new hair called Nikki and has a New Years Eve version out for free for awhile underneath the tree in his store.  I'm really impressed at how much Exile has put out over the past year and really feel like the quality matches.  Sometimes he can be a bit wild, but that's what I love about it too!

The top is from a store that is new to me called, LouLou&Co.  They have a few clothing pieces that I really liked as well as some jewelry and shoes.  I spotted the brand when out shopping at a SL, "mall" for lack of a better word.  I like the Jelly Pop top that comes already in a combo top.  Which saves time when I'm putting together looks.  Also sometimes layering doesn't quite work the way I want it to so I appreciate designers that take the initiative to do so.

Mon Tissu, I believe should mean love, because that is what it says to me when I first heard of them and they definitely delivered.  Congrats on their opening with imaginative and creative styles that I gaga'd over for days.  These Balcon Lounge Pants are part of their second release and though some might think they should stay in the bedroom, I say shout it to the world!  

Who knew elikatira would be back again releasing hair and now shoes?!  These Flair Flats are part of her brand new collection featuring many new styles.  I may be a Elika hair fanatic but will gladly accept anything she designs into my inventory.

Ah some tattoos to bring a new dimension into my look.  I decided to pull out an oldie from my GoK aka Garden of Ku collection called YlangYlang - we all need some of that this new year!

Manna's Victoria bracelet was another piece I picked up in the SL, "mall" and another store new to me!  Best thing about going to satellite store locations - shopping around!  I hope to show off another one of the pieces that I picked up from Manna later.

And since I have talked about these Ibanez eyes before - my brief - good eyes, pick them up if you want something new to add to your collection.

Happy New Year!!!

Love, Zoe

Quick Credits:

Shirt: LOULOU&CO - Jelly Pop in Pink/Cream

Pants: Mon Tissu - Balcon Lounge Pants in Goldenrod

Shoes: elikatira - Flair Flats in Cocoa/Brick

Bracelet: Manna - Victoria Bracelet

Tattoo: Garden of Ku (GoK) - YlangYlang in Medium Dark

Hair: Exile - Nikki in Whiskey

Skin: Glam Affair - Jadis Dark in TDR Special A

Eyes: Ibanez - Ltd Edition Natural Eyes in Grey

A Little Bit of Style by Zoe Demar - Sexy

A quick style for today.  I was more in the mood to photoshop than blab, so leaving you with mostly pics and less talk!

Inspiration is the newest skin, Amber, by League and one of the best corsets found on the grid by The Abyss.

Check out the other picture for details!

Enjoy!

Love, Zoe

PS - SO HAPPY TO HAVE SCULPTED HANDS ON THE GRID!! 
Thank you SLINK!
(hurry up Reek!)


(note images have been edited (shading/highlights) otherwise untouched.)

Quick Credits

Corset: The Abyss - Corset in Red

Leggings: LeLutka - Simp in Black

Heels: N-core - Temptation Xtreme II in Strawberry

Choker: The Abyss - Junkyard Barbed

Hands: SLink - de Jolie Hands Relaxed

Piercing: Zoe’s Nose Piercing - (not available)

Hair: Truth - Mischa Streaked in Raven/Blood

Skin: League - Amber Pale in Pillarbox

Eyes: Ibanez - Ltd Edition Natural in Blue

Dolly Pose Prop: Kari 

A Little Bit of Style by Zoe Demar - Scottish Dahlia

Sometimes a new find can change everything!  That is what happened in this look that was first inspired by the hair, but then other items crept in that pulled their own tugs to the overall look.

It started with the newest release of hair by lamb called Cinnamon.  The hair is very relaxed and romantic feel to the texture and style of hair.  I really thought about doing a back shot to show off how lovely it is from the back as well as the front.  I picked up both versions, one with bangs (shown) and one with a center part.  I'm loving the newer blonde shade of honeycomb that lamb has added to the blonde pack too (shown).

Originally I was wearing a sweater by LeLutka that will just have to wait for another blog post.   The sweater which I was hunting for a skirt to fit with, turned into this lovely sculpted dress shown in Scottish Dahlia found spontaneously on the marketplace by The Secret Store.  There are 3 other texture versions available that are also stunning.  I asked for hubby's opinion on which one to buy.  Cute shop, n ot a huge selection but am definitely putting on my "must check out again" list.

From there the skin was inspired by my friend Leah plurking about it.  She was happy that it shared her name, Leah.  I'm kinda in a pale mood so decided to pick up a copy for myself.  I've owned a Lara Hurley skin before, but decided not to blog about it due to a lot of people having issues with not only finding the store but not being booted as well.  I don't know if it is still a common occurrence or not, but you've been warned!

The eyes by Ibanez were mentioned in another plurk by Valena.  She was doing a bit of a new look for herself.  I'm picky about eyes but am always happy to find a new store (to me) to talk about.  There were a couple of sets that intrigued me.  This Limited Edition Naturals set sold me the most.  I wasn't digging the size of the iris itself when wearing the eye texture.  So was almost thrown out (btw I think size options for eyes is a good idea).  Then I tried on the prim and found it not as large.  Also something I hadn't really thought about is the texture on prim better than what you can get with typically worn SL textures.  If you check out your clothes if it has both prim and texture parts, the prim textures are much more sharp than what you see on the SL mesh.  This is something that frustrated me with my own SL clothes making in the past.  In photoshop, I could see much more detail.  SL resolution of the mesh dumbed it down a bit.  So having prim eyes would be more detailed.  Something to remember when shopping for eyes!

As for the rest of the look, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for shoes, but didn't want anything to overpower the dress.  I traveled to Maitreya to see if there was anything that I didn't already have sparked my interest.  At first I considered one that I don't currently own, but decided to go with a neutral of IXkin in Champagne.

For accessories, I did think about sunglasses that would be similar to what lamb had used in the ad for the hair, but decided to nix that when I found the dress.  Instead I wanted some sort of organic long necklace.  I went through my inventory finding a couple pieces that would do here and there, but felt like venturing out for options.  I thought of two places, Sigma being one of them.  I had avoided the store, not because I didn't like it, but knew that my pockets would most likely be empty if I went.  I'm happy I did, the sim itself is worth the trip (other than the annoying water fountain sounds).  And there it was, the perfect piece.  Sigma's Deco chain necklace.  I was really intrigued that even though a single change drapes down the front, the fact that it wasn't perfectly centered allowed more for an organic flow.  It is nice to see curves and asymmetric pieces in jewelry.  And that was it, I considered bangles, but went for simplicity and not a lot of bulk.  I really dislike seeing jewelry worn so heavily.

The look being hugely changed based on finding the dress, I decided to name this post after it!
Happy Shopping!

Love, Zoe

Quick Credits

Dress: The Secret Store - Scottish Dahlia
Necklace: Sigma Jewels - Deco Chain in Earth
Heels: Maitreya Gold - IXkin in Champagne-Duo
Hair: lamb - Cinnamon in Honeycomb
Skin: Lara Hurley - Leah in Milky / Smokey1 nude lips gloss + Light eyebrows
Eyes: Ibanez - Ltd Edition Natural in Grey
Pose: On The Cover (no longer available)