The Roaring 20s - Vain Inc. Magazine Issue 20

This month, Vain Inc. took a trip through time, and I did my best to bring the fashion of the 1920s alive. Fabulous dresses from ~Ivalde~, Cartunno Couture, Greenwood Designs, Adam N Eve, Rebel Hope Designs, & Simone. Hats, wigs, and shoes to suit the style of the era.



Check out the full Issue HERE.











Click the images to see larger versions with credits on my Flickr Stream.

Elegantly Waisted

I have been on a casual jag lately, and I decided it was time to class things up a bit. I was surprised on log-in yesterday to find some gifts from Neferia Abel in my inventory, a number of her latest releases, and I couldn't wait to dive in and see what the folders held inside. The very first outfit I pulled on was this Aksana Highwaist Skirt Outfit in Grey. It is another one of the reasons I adore ~~Ivalde~~ so very much, it makes dressing beyond easy. This outfit comes with a number of layer options, so you can wear the top or skirt separately, as well as some stockings (though I opted to go with a Black pair of Tights from Blaze*). I love the fine grey plaid of the skirt, and Nef's hand painted details are really sweet. The ruffled blouse comes with a prim collar, and is a great photo-real texture that looks elegant yet understated.



Nef often tells me that she thinks Morrigan Hyun's Elegance Hats are under-represented on the feeds, and I tend to agree. This amazing Thalia Hat is really spectacular, a mix of pearls and flowers, black twisting loops that look almost celestial. I am pretty sure that Morrigan sent it to me after I saw it and commented on it in her Flickr feed, but it is so fantastic, I may have bought it, and certainly would have if it wasn't sent to me. Speaking of fantastic, it has been said before and needs to be said again, Tesla Miles newest release of these amazing Hylda Low Boots are simply brilliant. I am always impressed when -Tesla- has a new release because each one trumps the last in terms of quality and style. These boots are great with elegant metal accents and a great selection of colour options. I had a blast picking up freebies and shopping the Jewelry Expo this week, and am thrilled to show off some of my goodies, starting with these simple but much needed Stud Earrings from Sian Birke Jewelry. I have always wanted a basic stud earring, and this offers endless combinations for metals and gemstones by script. I also nabbed these ~flirt~ Hearts & Diamonds Bracelets in the Semi-Precious Stones version. They can easily be worked into a more dressy or more casual look. A big chunky Catherine Black Pearl Cocktail Ring from ~Muse~, who was sadly missing from the Expo, is still a favorite, and a really stunning piece. A simple Silver Clutch from Adam N Eve finished off the accessories for this look.



I picked up this great Minako Hair from Kin at the Hair Fair, I am still wading through my folders from the Fair, and this style is really punky, but somehow works perfectly to set off the elegant factor of this look with a little bit of edge. It works really well with the hat too. A favorite skin from Celestial Studios, the Silver 2 in the Charmed Line is always a fun one to wear with a more classic style, giving it a glam factor. Separated Lashes are from Cake, Glassy Mustard Green Eyes from Freak Fantasia complete the essentials. This time, and elegant look was definitely not wasted on me.

Shopping Details:
Blouse, Skirt - ~~Ivalde~~, Aksana Grey Highwaist Skirt (Includes Stockings, Not Worn)[Gift From Designer]
Tights – Blaze*, Pantyhose/Tights Bundle
Boots - -Tesla-, Hylda Low Boots (Black)[Review Copy]
Purse – Adam N Eve, Handbag, Clutch (Silver)
Hat – Elegance Hats, Thalia (Black & White)[? Review Copy]
Bracelets - ~flirt~, Hearts & Diamonds Bracelets, Semi-Precious Stones [Jewelry Expo]
Earrings – Sian Birke Jewelry, Stud Earrings [Jewelry Expo]
Ring - ~Muse~, Catherine Black Pearl Cocktail Ring (Platinum)
Hair – Kin, Minako (Black) [Hair Fair]
Skin – Celestial Studios, Charmed Skin (Tone 20, Silver 2)
Lashes – Cake, Separated Lashes
Eyes – Freak Fantasia, Glassy Mustard Green Eyes

Roll'em Girls Roll'em

My grandmother was born in 1911 and I used to love sitting at her feet as she braided and unbraided my hair over and over and told me stories of her youth. Like the time her 7 older siblings took her out of the house without permission and went to play stick ball in the park, and someone managed to accidentally slap her in the face with the stick because she was only two years old and in the way, and then they asked her to lie to their parents about what really happened. She told me about her friend "Tootsie" who loved to sunbathe till she was a bronze beauty. And she told me of her teen years during the Roaring 20s', when the girls would sing a song called "Roll'em Girls Roll'em" as they rolled their silk stockings down to expose bare knees, very racy stuff.

This look reminds me of those days she spoke of, and what took me back there in an instant is this absolutely remarkable millinery masterpiece by Morrigan Hyun of Elegance Hats. The Cecily Art Deco Hat is brilliant, a silver sculpted nude with fans and feathers, bringing Erte to mind. It is wearable sculpture and something I had to buy the minute I saw it. I wanted to wear the perfect matching dress, but what does one wear with such a hat? Then I remembered a great flapper dress called the RKO Girl from *Simone!* that I had nabbed for a costume event ages ago, it is the perfect Art Deco Match, the sexy stockings and Silver Deco Armbands are included. I pulled in this great 1920's Black Beaded Bag from Yummy, a freebie, that was era perfect. And of course, some classic retro pumps, these from 1-800-Bettie's.



When I think flapper, I think short bobbed hair framing the face in Clara Bow style. My favorite Bob is the Aveda Institute Short Bob from ETD, perfect because it isn't. The skin is Celestial Studios Charmed Skin in Red Dusk, a lovely dramatic eye and crimson lips, eyes are from Freak Fantasia. Oh how I love a step back in time, and this one made me feel closer to my beloved grandmother.

Shopping Information:
Dress - *Simone!*, RKO Girl (Red, Includes Stockings and Arm Bands)[Available OnRez]
Hat – Elegance Hats, Cecily Art Deco Hat
Shoes – 1-800-Bettie’s, Slingback Pumps (Black)
Bag – (Yummy), Freebie Vintage 1920s Black Bead Bag
Hair – ETD, Aveda Institute – Short Bob (Noir)
Skin – Celestial Studios, Charmed Line (Tone 20, red-Dusk)
Eyes – Freak Fantasia, Glassy Mustard Green

Week 10: Flickr SL™: Look Of The Day Winner

Well, with all the Easter Celebrations on Retrology and Working on My Monthly Column for Vain Inc. Magazine, I am a little Behind on Weekly Winners for the Second Life®: Look Of The Day Contest. Since Announcing the Week 9 Winner, there have been oodles of great submissions rolling in to the group, so I have really had my work cut out for me. But the minute I saw this fabulous submission from Yuvi Robbiani, I knew it was a winner. This looks less like a collage of a single look, it is really a special photo, and it resembles a piece of art. It is eye-catching, really well shot, and really expresses a unique fashion sensibility.

Yuvi is wearing a fabulous gown from Kyoot Army, whose creations are really unique and different, and can be worked into your wardrobe to suit so many different looks, from goth to glamour. The addition of one of Morrigan Hyun's amazing hats from Elegance Hats, this one called Valena is really clever, and wearing it with this edgy hair from TRUTH really is ingenious. The lovely goth skin from TULI makes the look even more dramatic. I love that Yuvi chose to wear these very interesting gloves, which resemble electrical tape wrapped around her forearms and hands, it really adds something dark and disturbing to the ensemble.

Yuvi wins the $500 Linden™ Dollar Prize for her submission, as she was sure to include all the shopping details in her photo's description, and gets extra points for actually including the SLURLS™ as well. I will be choosing one submission each week and awarding the prize money to them in-world, and everyone is welcome to submit one entry per day to the Flickr Pool for Second Life: Look Of The Day. Remember to include as many details as you can about your look if you want to be in the running for the weekly prize. Congratulations go out to Yuvi for her amazing submission. Thanks again to all those who keep submitting their fabulous looks, can't wait to see what you put together next!

Crimson Goth
by Yuvi Robbiani



Dress: Kyoot Army, Mourning Minnu Gown (Saeya Nyada)
Hat: Elegance Hats, Valena Elegance Hat in black (Morrigan Hyun)
Skin: []::Tuli::[], S5 goth ~ natural 1 (Tuli Asturias)
Hair: *TRUTH*, Kensei 2 - Black (Truth Hawks)
Shoes: Cyber Bunker, White and Black Boot (mealune Arad)
Eyes: Simtropia, eyes/ gray set /gray deep (Nadir Skolem)
Gloves: Electrical Tape Gloves by Jilliam Banjo [No longer for sale]

My Green Heaven!

I am not Irish, I am not Catholic, heck I am not even Christian, but today I am celebrating! What you may ask... well, the Colour Green! It's always been my favorite, and in RL you never see an explosion of green simply becuase it is St. Patrick's Day. In SL however, it is the colour of the day, and has been for over a week now, so for a gal who loves green, this is better then Christmas, um.. which I also do not actually celebrate.

Today I headed over to "Ivalde", to pick up the latest freebie from Neferia Abel, and ran into Nef mid-shop. She amazes me, I seriously think she may not have slept in years, she has boundless energy, surpassed only by her boundless generosity. Nef put all the green dresses in her shop at 50% off for the holiday, and I wish I could say I picked up a pile, the thing is, I own almost every dress in the shop, a lot of them are green, so I did not over-indulge as much as I might have otherwise. I decided that today I wanted to blog Ivalde, not the new Freebie Dress (which is brilliant by the way), and not something I picked up today, but something I have had for months, and something that I have always loved, and of course, something green! This 'Judith' dress in Green is fabulous, from the shine of the satin, to the full flowing bustle in back, it is also perfect for showing off NEW SHOES!

The minute I saw that Stiletto Moody had released some of her shoes in green today, I was over the moon! Finally! My sister Anessa Stine over at On Your Toes, had blogged them this morning, and managed to get a review copy for me. I have them in red as well, but these 'Elegant Slingbacks' in 'Green Twinkle' have got to be my favorite shoes from Stiletto Moody yet, I own about 6 pair altogether, so that is saying a lot. It matched the Emerald Green of this dress so well, and shoes like these deserve to be seen.

Nef told me to go check out the St. Patty's Gift at "Elegance Hats", and while there I picked up this wonderful hat called the 'Valena 1'. Morrigan Hyun really does have such a flair for primwork ans texturing in her hats, they deserve to be in the spotlight more then they are. Some retro fabulous hair from "Ingenue" made me feel about as Irish as a lass could feel, and my Irish 'Green' eyes, these from "Sh*t Happens" were definitely smiling. These dramatic lashes from "Celestial Studios" look great with this 'Drama' skin from their 'Charmed Line'. Jewels from "Swallowtail", "{JUNK}", and "Paper Couture" polish off my look of the day.





Eyes – Sh*t Happens, Dark Greend
Hair – Ingenue, Christine (Auburn)
Skin - Celestial Studios, Charmed Line (Tone 20, Drama)
Lashes – Celestial Studios, Prim Lashes (Club 13)
Dress – ~Ivalde~, Judith Green Dress
Ring – Paper Couture, Diamond Bee Ring
Necklace – Swallowtail, Big Gem Necklace (Green)
Bracelet – {JUNK}, Tangled Antique Gold Bangles
Shoes – Stiletto Moody Shoes, Elegant Slingbacks (Green Twinkle)
Hat – Elegance Hats, Valena 2

Big Bomb Diva

I have a ridiculous sense of humor sometimes, I like things that border on the absurd. So here I am, wearing maybe the biggest Wig in all of SL, the coveted 'Big Bomb' Hair from BettitPage Voyager's "BP*", and I decided it yet needed something more... yep, a fancy hat! I just thought that this hair, which has been worn (and blogged) by everyone and their SL uncle, needed a little personalization. "Elegance Hats" has had a home on Retrology since the SIM opened, and this amazing hat is one of Morrigan's Newest Creations, the 'Betty Golden Pheasant'. I wanted it the minute I saw it, and just love the green of the feathers, it matched the rest of this look so well. I have dozens of hats, I usually forget to wear them... but this one simply cannot be forgotten!

The dress, the new 'Lady Minx' in Green from "Mimikri" is a brilliant ruched heaven. Yes, my addiction for the colour green knows no bounds! And even though this dress comes is half a dozen delicious colours, I simply had to go for the green! I love the matching gloves, and though this look was very couture and quite a switch-up for me. I seriously tried every pair of tights in my inventory on, hoping I could get this look a little more funk-a-fied, but in the end decided that the best match was a simple pair of Tan hose, these from "Blaze". The shoes are some of my favorites, and every time I wear them I am determined to head back over to "Lassitude & Ennui" and grab more of their brand of fabulous. I threw on the wardrobe staple 'Cameo & Sautoir' necklace from "Boing Fromage", if you don't own it already... what are you waiting for, it is just too fun and can be worn with so many different looks! This Look is Big, It's 'Da Bomb', and I am such a Diva!





Skin – Celestial Studios, Charmed Skins (Tone 20, Glitter Gold 2)
Eyes – Naughty Designs, Eyes by Lost, Doll Eyes (Mystical)
Hair – BP*, Big Bomb Hair (2)[Lucky Chair in BP* Mainstore, Osaka ONLY]
Hat – Elegance Hats, Betty Golden Pheasant
Dress, Gloves – Mimikri Hot Couture, Lady Minx Dress (Green)
Necklace – !BF! (Boing Fromage!), Cameo & Sautoir Set
Ring – Caroline’s Jewelry, Gimcrack Diamond Solitaire
Hose – Blaze*, Tights/Pantyhose (Tan)
Shoes – L&E - Lassitude & Ennui, Eva Pumps (Huntress)