A Brand New Designer On The Grid

“Fashion Nomad” is a new brand by a new designer Aleida Rhode. She opened her store only about three weeks ago and is already churning out new releases very energetically. Aleida had been one of the top models in SL and I had known her through modeling jobs as well as runway projects at Ewing Fashion Agency where we both work as a staff member and model. Through her modeling career, Aleida has seen many fashion brands as well as outfits and I am looking forward to see what she will add to the SL world of fashion.

Here is one of her new releases, Balinya Dress in rose dust. A very subdued soft pink dress that is very elegant and good for any semi-formal party. I matched it with a burgundy coloured pair of shoes and a matching rose hair accessory. I also tried white shoes, as well as similar coloured shoes but the entire image looked “sleepy” when I used soft colours only and it seemed to work best when I added stronger colours at my feel level and at the top as a hair ornament to sharpen up the entire look. I must say, however, pure white also worked too but it was a bit too predictable so I decided to show the stronger coloured match in my pics.

Fashion Nomad – Balinya Dress (rose dust)

Outfit: Fashion Nomad, Balinya Dress (rose dust)
Necklace & earing set: Twinkleberry, Delicato (rosa)
Rose hair ornament: Illusions, Hair Rose (pink)
Shoes: enkythings, Ekota-X (burgundy)
Hair: Amrita, Prim hair、Rea
Skin: MMS Light – Flower (this skin is no longer on sale and Minnu now has a new store under the name of LeLutka)

Although this particular dress I have shown is soft coloured, Aleida also has lots of bright coloured shirts, tank top as well as jackets. Even dresses too. To show one of such examples, I picked this shirt top which is a pretty fuscia coloured top with a see-through lower part of the bodice and puff sleeves.

Here I made a fun spring look using various accessory items. I could have made a sweet look with a pink shirt that has puff sleeves but I tend to like going against the expected so it was more like an experiment which was also a lot of fun.


Top: Fashion Nomad, Soroti Spring Shirt (fuchsia red)
Pants: Devilish Cupcake, Gidget Pedal Pushers Glitch Pants (houndstooth)
Belt: Sole Accessory, Sole Bend Poach Belt with Chain (gray)
Bangle: Sole Accessory, Sole Dot Bangle (pink)
Necklace: Sole Accessory, Sole Dog Tag
Sandals: Courtinsane, Marquise Sandals (pink)
Nails: Persona, Polished Nails (pink)
Hair: 69, Envy Me (charcoal)
Skin: MMS Fair – cold (this skin is no longer on sale and Minnu now has a new store under the name of LeLutka)

Written and modeled by Kay Fairey, model and writer for the Best of SL Magazine and Runway Magazine.

A Lovely Butterfly Dress From House of Beningborough

A relatively new designer, Bliss Beningborough for “the House of Beningborough”, has lovely gowns as well as day dresses that will catch the eye of many in SL. She already has several stores and her stores are all full of vibrant colours.

This gown called “Flutterby” comes in several colours such as bright blue, yellow, white. It is a lovely gown with a big butterfly that forms the front of the bodice with a very big ruffled skirt and a hair accessory included in the set with matching colours.

I matched it with a flower accessory called “Sakura (cherry blossom in Japanese)” from “si*na Jewelry” which is a relatively small Japanese jewelry store that has some really nice items. This one caught my eye because of it’s unique design using only dainty sakura flowers and leaves to create a charming necklace and earrings set.

Butterfly and flowers. What can be a better match in March when spring is just around the corner!

The hair I am using is “Kay ver2” from R’s Hair Style where my good friend Rise Matova made hair based on my image (blush, blush). It’s a lovely hair to be worn with formal gowns that is a clean updo and yet have some movement without looking messy.

the House of Beningborough – Flutterby (red)

Outfit: House of Beningborough, Flutterby (red)
Necklace & earrings: si*na Jewelry, Sakura Necklace and Earrings
Shoes: Haysuriza, Eiris Pumps Pointed100 Classic (red)
Hair: R’s Hair Style, Kay ver2 (black)

Written and modeled by Kay Fairey, model and writer for the Best of SL Magazine and Runway Magazine.

A New Release From Azul

Mami Jewell of “azul” has just released a new gown called Mia. It is an elegant gown that has a very wide black ribbon that composes the bodice of the gown and tied in a very big and soft ribbon at the front. The colours are arranged into what seems like a graduation with the colour becoming darker at the skirt but more vibrant at the top, creating an interesting look to an otherwise very simple design. The skirt is soft and voluminous while it is cropped short at the front revealing the legs. I found this gown to be great for dancing as you can still be in a formal gown while your legs will be revealed as if you were wearing a short cocktail dress.

I matched this gown with a very unusual coloured hair. I tried my usual black, but with a navy coloured dress, I wanted a bit more colour to the entire look. This is a colour called “pink brown” and it is a colour that is only available if you purchased a fat pack of the Kay ver2 hair at R’s Hair Style. Usually pink hair will be too childish or only good for fantasy looks but this one, because of the shade of brown in the pink, was good for any style with a touch of difference.

Choice of shoes will be important with this gown so I couldn’t just slap on a pair of “same coloured pumps” that you can’t even see anyway. I chose Stiletto Moody’s Bare series sandals to emphasize the bare legs in this look.

azul – Mia (blue)

Outfit: azul, Mia (blue)
Jewelry: Caroline’s Jewelry, Athena Pearls in White
Shoes: Stiletto Moody, Bare Audrey (midnight)
Nail: Towa, Prim Nail (blue heart)
Hair: R’s Hair Style, Kay ver2 (pink brown)
Skin: Minnu, MMS Fair – Care
*Minnu is closed until the renewal opening scheduled on March 15 when it will be re-opened as “LeLutka.”

Written and modeled by Kay Fairey, Modavia Super Model, model for Boulevard Agency, Evan Model Agency, Ewing Fashion Agency, Runway Magazine, Beauty Avatar, Best of Italian and Second Look Studio.

A Formal Wear That We Have Been Waiting For!

Yes! At last, after Styles of edo had been creating men’s high quality formal wear for so long, winning the “MFA 2008 Best Male Fashion Label” and “Vain Inc. Readers’ Choice Award 2008, Best Male Formal Wear” only last week, edo Tone has finally decided to share his talent for the SL ladies to enjoy.

He had made a single lady’s suit last year for a charity auction for RFL. However, no regular items of such was ever introduced that customers can go buy in his store. Finally they are here! The “Black Suit for Women” and the “Red Suit for Women” were released only today!

Haven’t you ever thought you could never stand out in a sea of beautiful ladies with gowns? In such an environment, a sharp and smart look of a lady in a men’s suit can be so much more sexy and so much more cool! Just like Yves Saint Laurent when he introduced the very first pants suit for ladies…..it was welcomed by awe and still remains a legend in the history of fashion.

The key becomes styling, however. If you just threw on these suits, they can look like women wearing men’s suits. As simple as that. So what do we do? I think we should try to look as sleek, sharp, smart and sophisticated as possible, yet have some leeway to reveal some sexiness, which should never be over done. Too much ends up in bad taste. Of course, this is my personal taste, so I am sure there will be others who will think otherwise. But this is how I styled them.

For the black suit, I wanted a very sharp look with red as the focal colour. So I wanted some short red gloves but I couldn’t find the right colour and style so I quickly made my own. It’s not hard. Just go into appearance, click on gloves, make new outfit, choose the length, texture (if you have any appropriate ones but don’t worry if you don’t) and colour. Voila! You have your own red gloves. I also added red with the tiny bit of shirt that shows from underneath the jacket as well as my lips and shoes.

Oh and one more tip about makeup. For makeup, your face should be imagined as scoring 100% with all the features. So if you use strong lip colour, it works best if you refrain from using strong colours on your eyes. On the other hand, if you used strong colours for your eye shadow and a lot of it too, the lip should be more subdued. Of course, there are irregular makeup designs that aim to achieve certain images or looks but this is the basic yard stick which I learned in RL when I was trained by a makeup artist and for regular makeup, it helps me avoid big mistakes. So here, the make up I chose focuses on the red lip and the eyes are less focused except for some lashes.

As for the red suit, I added a bit more softness overall in my choices. I still like my hair short but the one I am wearing with the red suit is a bit more round and soft. I also wore a lingerie bustier from Angel Dessous instead of a shirt since all you’ll see is the lace part and it conveniently exposes a bit of my tummy. 😛 With a belly button showing, I might want to add a belly ring here but then I remembered. This is styled as a formal wear. So in thit case, no belly ring. I often see people who will wear belly rings whenever their belly buttons are exposed but belly rings are also a jewelry piece and you want to be selective when it will be better to have one or not. Another thing I kept in mind was to not add too much red. The suit is red already so too much red becomes an over-kill. So here, I chose a sharp looking makeup with pale lips and pale red nails too. The shoes I chose is also a sharp looking pair as in the black suit but this time, a plain black pair.

Now jewelry. With these kind of outfits, glittering pieces with lots of gems or very flowery, feminine designs won’t match since I am going after a sharp look. It was only by coincidence that the best pearls I know in SL were released from Styles of edo also. I often wear the triple strand necklaces for my gowns but here I chose the single strands for simplicity. Akoya pearls (antique pearls which I blogged about earlier) for the black suit and for the red, I chose the Tahitian Pearls which are the greenish black pearls, also the best I’ve seen in SL so far. Of course, earrings should be simple too, so I chose the plain studded earrings.

Both suits have pants that come in underpants and pants layers and also in regular and low rise styles. Here in both pics, I am wearing the regular style pants.

Oh damn. I am talking way too much! I should just show you the pics which is probably easier. 😛 My apology for getting carried away but that’s how excited I am so I hope I am forgiven.

Styles of edo – Black Suit for Women

Outfit: Styles of edo, Black Suit for Women

Shirt worn under the suit jacket: plus, The Silk Top in Red

Necklace: Styles of edo, Akoya Pearl, Short Single Strand Necklace

Earrings: Styles of edo, Akoya Pearl, Studd Earrings

Shoes: Styles of edo, Eiris, Straight Strp Pointed Pumps (blood red)

Gloves: Made by Kay

Hair: The Abyss Hair, Secret

Skin: Minnu, New York, Fair makeup 6a

Styles of edo – Red Suit for Women

Outfit: Styles of edo, Red Suit for Women

Bustier worn under the suit jacket: Angel Dessous, Alexa Black

Necklace: Styles of edo, Tahitian Pearls, Short Single Strand Necklace

Earrings: Styles of edo, Tahitian Pearls, Stud Earrings

Shoes: Styles of edo, Eiris, Cross Strap Pointed Pumps (black)

Nails: Armidi, True Enhance, Painted Nails (Raspberry I)

Hair: ETD, Aleah (ebony)

Skin: Minnu, London, Fair makeup 8b

Written and modeled by Kay Fairey, Modavia Super Model, model for Boulevard Agency, Evan Models Agency, Ewing Fashion Agency, Beauty Avatar, Best of Italian and Second Look Studio.

OC Orage Creations – A Gown For An Elegant Night Out

OC Orage Creations is another great name in Italian fashion whose creations can be found in the Best of Italian sim, which is one of my favorite shopping places. I never stop to wonder why Italian people are so talented in design and creation which is true not only in SL but in RL as well. Elletra Gausman is no exception. Her designs are dynamic, creative and sophisticated giving much pleasure to many fashionistas in the SL virtual world.

Here I am wearing Marvel Dress, which is one of her recent releases. It is a simple dress made with silky taffeta like material that has a tight fit to the body without any big prim skirt that poofs out from the waist. Instead, it had a very big ribbon set on your back which adds that sweetness while maintaining a very elegant look to it.

I matched it up with a black pearl jewelry set from Bandit Jewelry Shop. The necklace is this set is a three strand necklace with diamond ornaments that add an interesting touch to the design and matches this otherwise simple but elegant dress.

The hair is from Exile and also one of my favs. The ribbon colour can be changed by clicking on it and choosing the colour from a drop down menu that appears.

This can be a nice dress to wear to a classy formal Christmas party.

OC Orage Creations – Marvel Dress

Outfit: OC Orage Creations, Marvel Dress
Shoes: Stiletto Moody, d’Orsay (Black)
Necklace, bracelet and earrings set: Bandit Jewelry Shop, Akita Black Pearl Set
Hair: Exile, Runway 1 (black)

Written and modeled by Kay Fairey, model for Boulevard Agency, Evan Models Agency, Ewing Fashion Agency, Beauty Avatar, Best of Italian and Second Look Studio.

New Releases! Anubis Style and JCNY latest!

JCNY has released a VERY unique and modern necklace and earrings set called “Angels on High.” I was positively shocked when I saw this necklace!! It’s certainly one of the most unique, modern and creative necklace I have ever seen! The necklace is more like a choker that fits your neck with long sticks of gems extending out radially from the center ring. What makes this so unique is that the left half, when seen from the front, face downwards while the right half ascends out from the ring, almost forming a cage like look on the right side of your neck.

This is hard to explain in words, so best look at the pics below.

But in all honesty, I had been looking for formal and yet modern looking jewelry for a long time, but there were very few available. Most formal jewelry take on a more classic look or even if they are somewhat modern, it was only the way the gems were arranged and NOT the basic shape of the piece. This necklace, in that sense, is SO creative and modern and resembles none that I have seen. I am absolutely loving this and wearing this with a lot of my formal outfits now.

The set come with matching earrings and also for both necklace and earrings the set comes with a glow version and a non-glow version so you can choose whether you want a glow or not. As for me, I have always been wearing the glow version as the glow is not as tacky as a bling and what better idea than to show it off!!

The outfit I matched today is a another new release. This time from Anubis Style called “Tiger.” As you can see, this is also a very modern and creative outfit too! It looks like a gown with a long skirt but in fact, the bottom part are two prims with ruffles that attach to both legs! So strictly speaking, the outfit is more a pants outfit than a gown. As the name suggests, it has a strong and impactful image which made it hard to match with conventional formal jewelry.

This was a perfect outfit to wear JCNY’s “Angel on High”!

Last but not least, I also found these lovely ankle boots that fit outfits with brown/orange based colours, “Victoria Shoes” from Dirty Lynx. The amazing thing is, although this store had footwear too, it was not a shoes store. And yet the quality of the ankle boots was simply amazing! Again, this was perfect for a skirt-like pants as the one you would see here since people will be able to tell that this is a pair of pants rather than a gown if I start moving.

I am absolutely loving this look as I tend to like looks that have an impact that co-exist with elegance. I am so happy!! Can you tell?

JCNY – Angels on High (jewelry)

Anubis Style, “Tiger” with JCNY, “Angel on High”

Dirty Lynx – Victoria Shoes

Outfit: Anubis Style, Tiger
Necklace & Earrings: JCNY, “Angels on High” ICONOCLAST Necklace Set
Ankle boots: Dirty Lynx, Victoria Shoes
Hair: EXXESS Designs, Doggy (black)
Skin: QS (Quelita Soon), Milk tone, Dark 002

Written and modeled by Kay Fairey, Boulevard Agency, Evane Models Agency and Second Look Studio

Sexy New Launch From Styles of edo

Mami Jewell, designer for all female outfits at Styles of edo has just launched yet another very sexy gown, “Mojito Royal (pronounced mohito).” It’s practically all glitter!!

The reason why it’s call Mojito Royal is because she has also launched “Mojito,” a shorter, knee length version of this gown. The basic form of the gown is kept very simple, which is probably the reason why this gown does not look “over done” even with all the glitter. The gown comes in seven colours; black, red, blue, green, orange, pink and silver. This is going to be a tough decision to make which one to get!!

The gowns that Mami has been introducing had all been extremely well made and sexy. “Mojito Royal” is certainly another addition to her line of sexy outfits that can be worn to any party or a romantic dance in a ballroom.

Here I matched a classic pearl necklace with ruby ornaments as any gem based jewelry will be a bit too much glitter.

Styles of edo – Mojito Royal (black)

Gown: Styles of edo, Mojito Royal (black)
Necklace: PISA, Drop Pearl Ruby Diamond Necklace Ver.2
Earrings: PISA, Drop Pearl Ruby Diamond Earrings
Hair: Exile, Taylor (twilight)
Skin: Beauty Avatar, Light Skin 03

And here are the other six colours you can choose from.

Styles of edo – Mojito Royal (red)

Styles of edo – Mojito Royal (blue)

Styles of edo – Mojito Royal (green)

Styles of edo – Mojito Royal (orange)

Styles of edo – Mojito Royal (pink)

Styles of edo – Mojito Royal (silver)

Written and modeled by Kay Fairey, Boulevard Agnecy and Second Look Studio