In Which Sian Mixes and Matches with Jackie Graves

When Sian joined Second Life a little less than two years ago, Jackie Graves was the first designer whose name she knew. Jackie has been making beautifully textured clothes that are a little sci-fi and a little pervy for a while now, and in the last two years she's gone from strength to strength, producing outift after outfit to the highest standard.

One of the most interesting things about Jackie Graves' work is that her clothes, although available in a dazzling variety, are all cut from the same group of textures and a set of common patterns, meaning that they mix and match with startling facility, while Graves' prim attachments can be used with multiple outfits (Sian is particularly fond of the little carabiner hooks that come with the Crossfire outfits). Most Graves outfits include options. With the right two sets your options explode, and with more than that... well. Sian's been mixing and matching Graves outfits like nobody's business. Here are some of the best ones.

Pretty much every outfit Jackie Graves makes is priced between L$400-490, which is about average for her sector, although in terms of quality, Jackie's stuff is far superior to most fetishwear emporiums in SL. Shoes are mostly between L$300 and L$400, although one or two items are more or less than that.

Most of Sian's jewellery is her own work. She is wearing the [PXL] Gaia Dark skin and its makeups in all of these pictures. Obviously, the vast majority of the clothes here come from Graves, and this is the link to the Graves Mainstore.

Parts from:
G230 Operative (corset, blouse, cuffs, collar/tie, glasses, gloves)
G200 Executive (pencil skirt, hat, stockings)
G201 Executive Stilettos (shoes)
G166 Viper Catsuit (belt, briefcase)
G331 Jinx (nipple tape)
G210 Defence White (shoulderpads)

The Executive and Operative sets go together perfectly, since they have that slightly off-kilter official thing going on.

The Executive set is the only one of the Graves sets that includes a system skirt. Sian finds that with a system skirt, particularly one clearly designed to be a pencil skirt, a good skirt shape is essential - to make the skirt look better, Sian made a variant shape based on her usual one (Sian, vain as ever, calls that "the fashion model shape"), reduced her hips, bottom and "saddle bags" and made herself knock-kneed. Without the skirt she looks absolutely ridiculous, but with it on, the difference is pretty obvious.

The Executive Shoes are only L$150, although Sian wonders if they wouldn't be better served as part of the Executive set. The hat from the Executive set is modifiable and (well-)made from traditional prims. Sian had to modify it quite severely to make it fit on her head, shrinking down and widening the five prims that make up the main section of the hat almost halfway.

Sian was standing on top of the Gemini building in Insilico when she took this one, by the way, although you can't really see much of it. All the other ones were taking in various places in Toshigi Cybercity Japan, which has already become one of Sian's favourite futuristic spots.

Parts from:

G332 Legion Red (catsuit)

G324 Paradox 2 Black (harness thing, socks, gloves, plugs, collar)

G325 Paradox 3 Black (sleeves)

G331 Jinx (pockets)

G179 Crossfire (carabiner hooks, padlock)

Note also

[Abyss] Stompers

The Legion, Jinx and Paradox sets are the most recent releases from Graves. Sian has already blogged the Paradox and Jinx sets and directs you to that post for more of the mixing and the matching. Rather than the usual black and white, the Legion outfit comes in seven vibrant colour options, available individually for L$400 or in a set with all seven for L$790, and frankly Sian thinks you'd be mad not to buy the fatpack if you fancied even two of them.

The prim parts on more recent releases from Graves have been no-mod, including resize scripts instead. Sian's a bit sad about this, although the resize scripts do go away when you press the right menu button.

By the way, Sian recognises that she has been wearing the Abyss Stompers a lot, and has never really talked about them. Sian is fond of them because they amount to three prims in each shoe and are modifiable - here, Sian took the black versions and by tinting them with a bit of grey got them to match the tone of the outfit. Sian recommends them for that very reason - if you have an outfit that's modern or futuristic and you can pull them off, buy a set (particularly of the silver or ice ones) and tweak them like crazy.

Parts from:

G215 Cobra Black (sleeveless catsuit)

G216 Cobra White (long sleeved undershirt)

G196 Hydra Dress White (corset)

G331 Jinx (pockets)

G179 Crossfire Black (carabiner hooks)

G222 Crossfire White (padlock)

G210 Defence White (shoulder pads)

Note also

[The Plastik] Recluse Collar Black

[Tokugawa Heavy Industries] Shock Helmet

[Eclectic Randomness] Gauntlets from Siren Avatar Black

[Rublik] Galactic Stomp Adders (boots)

The Cobra catsuits are nice straightforward catsuits with the same hex pattern featured on so many of the Graves outfits and a few nice prim attachment options. They are made for mixing and matching with Graves' other outfits and a good basis for other matches - click through on the picture to see the big version. The Hydra set (one of the very few Graves sets that doesn't come in black) shares the pattern, creating a set that maintains a harmonious balance between colour and shape.

Note the hex pattern on the Eclectic Randomness gauntlets that goes so nicely with the Graves catsuit.

Sian doesn't get to wear the Tokugawa Shock Helmet a lot but loves its elegance and the beauty of its textures. It's actually grey, but Sian darkened the metal bits with a bit more grey to get the black. The Plastik Recluse Collar was the right colour to begin with, though. There are loads of colour options - you get two in a pack and again, it's really nicely textured and sculpted. The Rublik Galactic Stomp boots are out of this world. Sian was glad you can resize them though, because when you get them they are massive, easily twice the size that they are here.

Parts from:

Graves Black and White Insignia set (number)

G206 Defence Black (pants, shirt, shoulders, pockets)

G210 Defence While (underpants, undershirt)

G121 ZERO (bustier, gloves, number)

G222 Crossfire White (white vertical strap)

G179 Crossfire Black (carabiner hooks)

G166 Viper Catsuit (glasses)

One of the nice things about the Graves outfits is the options. Here we have the black version of the Graves Defence set worn without the transparent latex cutouts on top of the identical white version worn with the transparent latex, which creates a nice contrast.

The Zero set was the first Graves set that caught Sian's eye right back at the beginning. It's part of a smaller range of black and white anime-flavoured uniforms that Graves produced a couple of years ago, all of which of course mix and match beautifully.

Parts from:

G177 Escape Transparent Underwear (catsuit)

G206 Defence Black (nipple stripes)

G325 Paradox Black 3 (thong, socks, collar, gloves)

Note also:

[Neurolab] Activa Boots Black

[Ezura] Acha set (earphones)

[A:S:S] Drama Shadow Ash

[A&Y Bunker] Silicon Acid Eyes

The Escape underwear set is actually an optional add-on to another set, but with the right additions works fine on its own, as you can see here. Note the pattern of lines which maps onto Cobra, Defence and many other Graves sets. Sian made the lights on her back with three sphere prims and one of her own textures, although the other Escape sets include something similar.

Sian is ambivalent about the Neurolab boots. She can never get them to fit quite right on her feet, although they are very pretty from certain angles. They have a HUD that allows you to change the glow colour, though, which is nice.

Parts from:

Graves Black and White Insignia Set (number)

G216 Cobra White (undershirt, underpants)

G329 Paradox White 3 (sleeves)

G262 Risk (pants, shirt, gloves, loops)

G210 Defence White (nipple stripes, shoulderpads)

G222 Crossfire White (carabiner hooks, padlock)

Note also:

[Defectiva] Original Sin: Pride (chin cover)

[Ezura] Acha (visor and earphones)

[Bare Rose] Dadamalio (collar and sleeves)

Sian modified the shoulderpads from the white Defence set here, stretching them up a bit, making them a teeny bit transparent and adding a bit of glow, the better to go with the bits from the old Bare Rose Dadamalio set. See how even a non-standard set like Risk has an almost mathematical harmony with the other clothes. This isn't fashion design. This is science.

Sian recognises that this isn't really a post for the freebie-lovers out there, and that some of these outfits have a good L$4000 worth of stuff in them. But even with one or two of Jackie's outfits, you have a wide range of things you can do with them. Visit her store, marvel at the lovely futuristic outfits and dream about what you can do with them.

Want to see more of Sian's Graves mix'n'matches? She's got a set of them on Flickr.

In Which Sian Reviews Certain Curiosities

Marleen Vaughan, who Sian understand to be a longtime creator in Second Life, very recently opened her House of Curiosities, her stated intent being a seller of really random stuff. Sian got some review copies. Marleen's stuff has a nice retro feel, so Sian took herself to New Babbage for the pictures. It sort of felt right.

Sian Wears:

V. Summer Swallows Dress L$93

Sian likes the cut and style of the dress. Note that the prim skirt and belt are a) made of sculpties, so they don't swish about or anything and you may have to stick to one or two stands or put up with your hands delving inside it, and b) have the dreaded resize scripts. At least the item is copiable, there is only one of these scripts in each item, and it's deletable with a single click. It's a nice, pretty dress in a nice cut and it's cheap and very well-made. So thumbs up (note the stockings aren't included - they're from an old Bare Rose set).

Sian doesn't like resize scripts much. She still has nightmares about a Japanese creator who shall remain nameless who makes some outfits out of hundreds and hundreds of teeny tiny prims, every one of which has a re-size or show/hide script in it without a delete button. If you're going to put them in, writing a good script that only requires it to be in the one prim and making it go away when you're done is about as good as it gets. Marleen does that. So that's OK.

Sian Wears:

V. Artist Mafia Hair L$93

Now Sian doesn't normally wear hair, but if she did, she would wear something like this, because this is great. It's modifiable, and if you click on the beret you can change the colour. The hat has six colour options (the grey one isn't pictured above because Sian is not very good at GIMP and couldn't figure out how to fit it in) so it goes with most outfits. It comes with a hairbase, but honestly, you might find yourself using other hairbases in your collection or none at all, since it works fine without. It's well worth 93 of your Lindens.

Sian Wears:

V. Sinister Goggles L$76

Also pictured:

V. Childhood Dreams Wall Mount L$76

The goggles are a nice cheap steampunky find. Modifiable, Sian found it easy to shrink the strap down to fit her head and appreciates the opportunities for customisation these present (Sian might recolour the lenses next time she wears them, for example).

On the right, the Childhood Dreams Wall Mount. The blogger pack actually had all this stuff packed inside, but you can buy it as a furniture item. The texture on the bear's head is exactly like a teddy Sian had when she was little. That's a teensy bit disturbing. Which is sort of the point.

Sian Wears:

V. Telephone Hat L$156

This is genius. Seriously, Sian's so wearing this the next time she goes clubbing. It's deranged and funny and quirky and Sian loves it. Note that Sian's copy doesn't appear to be modifiable, but it fits all right (Sian's head is an average size) so that's not an issue. (Edit: Marleen forwarded Sian a hat with the correct perms, so it's modifiable. Which is nice. SP)

Go visit: Marleen Vaughan's House of Curiosities.

In Which Sian is Disciplined

Taste the whip, in love not given lightly.

Taste the whip! Now plead for me.

-Velvet Underground

Sian Wears:
Outfit: [Bare Rose] Phi Harness (recoloured)
Boots: [Vanilla C] Patent Boots Black/Silver (no longer available)
Nipple Tape: [Graves] G331 Jinx

In Which Sian Is a Harlequin, But Not a Columbine

When Sian asked Lillian Shippe if she fancied making a makeup for her Columbine, she wasn't prepared for how quickly she'd do it or the extent to which Lillian would rise to the challenge. Sian and Columbine felt the need to dress up together to celebrate.

Sian and Columbine wear:
Outfit: [Jetdoll] Harlequin Dress
Makeup: [Miss Shippe's Studio] Columbine Apres La Danse

In Which Sian Waits for Her Lover's Return

I've loved you for as long as I've known you.

I think of your smile, your eyes, and it makes me want to dance.

I know you're far away now, but I know you're thinking of me.

I pirouette and twirl, and use the horizon that one day soon shall bring you back as my focus.

The thought of your touch, your kiss, makes me shudder with joy, makes my eyelids flicker.

I think of you every moment of every day. I love you. Come back, my darling.

(Sian is aware that this is a teeny bit dramatic. Columbine's only on holiday a couple weeks.)

Sian Wears:

(all)

Shoes: [Miamai] Deco Rumba Black

Trousers: [Leezu!] Britpants Black

Skin: [PXL] Gaia Dark

Piercings and fingernails: Model's own

Head Tattoo: [Miss Shippe's Studio] Potatoes Grow Out of Your Ears, Love (not yet available)

(first, third, fifth and seventh pictures)

Blouse: [Leezu!] Van Elisabeta Jacket

Necklace: [Leezu!] LaPerla freebie

Eye makeup: [A:S:S] Drama Shadow aqua and [Nuuna's Skins] Tattoo makeups freebie

Lipstick: [PXL] Gaia dark/Darklips

(second, fourth and sixth pictures)

Blouse: [Leezu!] Izabelle Blouse

In Which Sian is Jinxed (Paradoxically)

Sian loves the new latex sets from Graves, particularly because it can mix and match in all sorts of satisfying and sexy ways. The recent sets maintain Graves' high standards once more...

Sian Wears:

(top, bottom, second from bottom)

[Graves] Pieces from G324 Paradox Black 2, G239 Paradox White 3, G331 Jinx, G210 Defence White

[Rublik] Galactic Stomp Adders Shoes

(second, third)

[Graves] G331 Jinx

[Abyss] Stompers Black

(fourth, fifth)

[Graves] G329 Paradox White 3, shoulders from G210 Defence White

[Abyss] Stompers Silver

In Which Sian Is Purple and Shiny

For a while, Sian was into rubber. Although she doesn't wear so much as she used to, she does enjoy breaking out the latex, especially the Elixir latex, from time to time.


Sian wears:
Collar: [Glam Affair] Moscow
Shoulders: [Glam Affair] Intima Niu
Gloves: [Elixir] Queria Violet
Trousers: [Elixir] Latex Ripsters Violet/Blue
Top: [Elixir] Renegade Vest Violet
Boots: [Abyss] Stompers (recoloured)

In which Sian Does Interior Decor on a Shoestring

Sian recently got fed up with having her house look all industrial and sci-fi. If you follow this blog, you may recall that Sian's house largely looked like this:



Look. All glowy and cold and bleak. The house, that is. You're supposed to be looking at the building, right. Not the breasts. Also, Columbine never felt, or looked at home, and Sian will do anything for Columbine. Sian herself, in the last few weeks, has made a shift in her style somewhat, moving to something softer and more ornate, if no less futuristic.

Anyway, armed with a few textures of her own and a few packs she found on the Midnight Mania at ThatChick, Sian made her house look like this:



Sort of looks bare now, doesn't it?

Problem here is that all of Sian's furniture (bar the fridge - that's staying) was sort of sci-fi looking, sort of strange. Or, like the sofa you can see in the far left corner, far too many prims.

See, Sian's only got 200 prims to play with (many of which are tied up with the stuff in her rooftop garden). A thirty-primsofa doesn't leave a whole lot of space. And more - you may be surprised to know that Sian and Columbine are not interested in pixel sex (suffice to say their romance Just Isn't Like That, all right?) so Sian didn't want a bed or a sofa full of doing-the-nasty poses. Just the cuddles.

Would you believe how hard it is? An anguished cry for help on Plurk led to a response from Ariadne Korda directing Sian to her store, Vent Du Sud where everything - everything, each chair, sofa, table, picture frame, everything - is L$1.

And it's such. High. Quality. Sian took Columbine on a shopping trip. It's all sitting there, ready for you to try and buy. Pretty much everything has solo and couple poses, and clickable texture changes.




The couch is seven prims. It has a menu of poses, both for couples and on your own, and the chair can be synchronised with it, so you only ever need to cycle through one set of textures. Maybe you've seen the poses before? You're paying one Linden! Who cares? And these things are beautiful.



The cushions don't change texture. Even so, they're elegant in their simplicity.



Another L$1 couch.

Click on the cushions to change texture, the frame to change pose. Same for the bed below:



Sian never thought she could get excited about SL furniture. She was wrong.If Ari wanted to, she could sell her stuff for a hundred times more (Sian bought a far, far inferior bed from a well-known SL shop for L$125, for example) and make a killing. She doesn't. She contributes to the beauty of the community - and SL is better for her and people like her.

Check out Vent Du Sud. Even for such a tiny price, the store's got it all there for you to play with right out there. Bravo, Ari K. Bravo.

In Which Sian has a Glam Affair

Columbine wears:
Hat: [Illusions] Napoleonic Bicorn L$125
Boots: [Illusions] Pirate Boots L$175
Outfit: [Glam Affair] Pierrot Dress L$390



Sian wears:
Bodice/Top: [Glam Affair] Nell
Skirt: [Glam Affair] Elenya
Pastie: [Glam Affair] Mila
Shoes: [Leezu!] La Vivien Black
Earrings: [Glow/Dressing Room Blue] Black Glass Earrings
Tights: from [Miamai] Eve Legacy set

In Which Sion is Free At Last

In creating a male counterpart for no Lindens at all, Sian refused to compromise, making sure that not one single part of the avatar, even the AO, cost anything.

The skin was the hardest thing to find. The best Sian's so far been able to find for Sion is the Ian skin which is currently on the board at Tellaq. She likes the face, but has issues with the oily bodybuilder chest.

The Menstuff Lounge has a good sixty or more gifts, but most of those are pretty basic. One highlight is sf designs' Gothic Explorer set that includes shoes, a (silly) hat and several outfit options, of which Sion is only wearing part.



Sion wears:
Shirt, belt, shoes: [sf design] Gothic Explorer (Menstuff Lounge gift, current) L$0
Trousers: [Elixir] Hextile Pants (Squirrel'd Away Hunt Gift, June) L$0
AO: [Oracul] Basically Boy (modded, offered free in May) L$0
Skin, Eyes: [Tellaq] Ian (Midnight Mania gift, current) L$0
Shape: [Eclectic Equations HQ] Sion L$0

In Which Sian Makes Herself Really Uncomfortable

"Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves." - George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

"The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power... We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites." - Orwell

"We shall abolish the orgasm. Our neurologists are at work upon it now. There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science." - Orwell

Sian and Sion wear:
Outfit: [Defectiva] Oppressive Force - Blackheart L$500

Sian wears:
Boots: [Abyss] Stompers Black L$200
Eyes: sian's testcard eyes (Sian's own work, IM her in-world if you want some)

Sion wears:
Boots: [Black Cat Bones] His Dark Future (Dark Future Hunt Gift, defunct) L$0

Note: The outfit is designed for men. The version Sian's wearing has been modified.

Sian, you should know, is about as left-liberal-vegetarian-tree-hugger-pacifist as you can get. But sometimes, for the sake of role-playing, or pretend, or hallowe'en, or just trying it on because SL isn't real, an avatar can dress up, and sometimes you dress up as something evil.

Some avatars dress up as devils, criminals, or some other monster. Sian (and Sion) dressed up as one of the worst things she could think of.

But then, role-playing and fiction are like that, aren't they? Just because we like horror movies doesn't mean we actually like watching serial killers at work, does it? Should playing at being non-specific totalitarians really mean that we approve of these things, or take them lightly?

Should it?

In Which Sian Escapes

The last time she escaped, we found her in the top floor of an abandoned industrial unit, staring out across the ruin of the planet. She had not tried to get out of the restraint, and didn't resist when we approached her and told her it was time to go to the ward. She was largely silent, apart from this statement: "It doesn't matter how far outside you go. You just find another wall." - Dr. Grimslade, Cadigan Psychiatric Hospital



Sian wears:
Straitjacket: [Dilly Dolls] Silently Black L$400
Thong: [Abyss] packaged with Pruriency Corsets L$450
Boots: [Abyss] Stompers Black L$200
Skin: [Nuuna's Skins] Black Skin L$300
Head Tattoo: Sian's own work

In Which Sian Goes Mad With Facepaint (and Tattoos)

Sian's big quest recently has been for a decent head tattoo. As you know, she really likes being bald (recap: saves on hair care products, presents a cleaner head to the world, tickly when it's windy, makes her move faster on a laptop etc) and has been seeking decent head decorations. Sian had a go at doing her own recently but honestly wanted something a little less... monochrome. Enter the fabulous Lillian Shippe, owner of Miss Shippe's Studio (Marketplace/two inworld shops) and purveyor of quirky, fun and interesting makeup and tattoos, who has been known to make stuff by request and in honour of her friends.

Sian dropped Lillian a message, and less than a week later, Lillian came back with a creation she's called "Potatoes Grow Out of Your Ears, Love" (it's in the top two pictures below) and which she's most likely going to have in her shop very soon.

In the pics below, Sian is also wearing an Abyss choker, PXL's Gaia Dark skin and (mostly) A:S:S Vision Darkness in Your Eyes cinnamon eyes. You can also see boots by Abyss and a bikini by Paradisis.


Top row: Potatoes Grow Out of Your Ears, Love head tattoo (not yet available)
Bottom Left: Gotcha Gold Chompers gold tooth L$5
Bottom Right: Giving Butterfly Eye face paint L$50

What Sian particularly loves about the makeup Lillian makes is the way that everything has her unique mark on it. It honestly looks like someone really has smeared the paint on your avatar with her fingers.



Top left: Undereye Sequins Aqua L$30
Top right: Acha's Fox Face (two colours in pack) L$50
Bottom left: Mako's Girl Shark face (four versions in pack) L$50
Bottom right: Oh-My-Stars-O-Rama Gold Feather Lashes (several variations in pack) L$50



Top left: Hush fingerpaint red L$10
Top right: Sometimes You Shine (two versions in pack, includes prim lashes) L$50
Bottom left: Black Glitter fingerpaint L$10
Bottom right: Panda Lips L$50 (also available in crab, hippo, and zebra)

Lillian's sense of humour shines through in everything she does. Want a cute hippo on your mouth? Want to look filthy, like you've spent the day digging? She's got the layer for you.



Above: Cyborgian Inserts and Eyes in blue and white L$100 each (also available in red)

Anyone can make something that looks clean and artificial in a virtual medium (and Lillian can, as you can see above).

But it takes a real talent to make it look handmade.



Top left: Fingerpaint Dotty Brows White L$50
Top right: Ta Moko Mana Maori face tattoo L$50
Middle left: Spring Showers Blue Bells (four variations in pack) L$50
Middle right: Spring Showers Fiddleheads (four variations in pack) L$50
Bottom left: Spring Showers Deep Pansy (four variations in pack) L$50
Bottom right: Spring Showers Violets (four variations in pack) L$50

Sian loves Lillian's restless creativity and playful humour. Her artisan quality gives her shop the feel of one of those small, unique little places you find sometimes that you fall in love with and go back to again and again.

In Which Sian Returns to the Last of Earth

They sent me here to dance. They programmed me to dance and sent me here. But no one is here. The programming has me now, threaded into my mind. I must dance for my audience. My audience is not here. I cannot dance. I must. My audience is not here.

I can only wait, helpless, my thoughts trapped in this loop, until someone comes, and I may dance for them.



Sian wears:
Outfit: [Defectiva] Original Sin: Pride L$450
Boots: [Abyss] Stompers (Silver) L$200

In Which Sian Overdresses Somewhat

Outfit (includes shoes and all colour variations): [Bare Rose] Laticia L$170