Unique? Different? Special? Outstanding? – Human!

Not too long ago I had an interesting discussion with a good friend of mine about modeling and how it changed over the past years. It was interesting and a few things she mentioned really had me think about a lot.

I went back to the basic idea of a model… what is a model? The model usually is a blank vessel, where a designer can project his vision on (quote of Wolfgang Joop). That means it is not about the model at all, it is about the designs. Certainly a designer might have special preferences about certain shapes and faces, but in general they are just a mannequin wearing the designers creations, styled after the designers imagination of how he wants to see the outfits.

So why some models throw a tantrum, when they get told certain styling requirements? Like short hair, a certain makeup and strict regulations about jewelry and accessories?

I was thinking a lot about that and where in Second Life that could have come from…

Maybe it is because people got mixed up by pageants and modeling? Both of them have nothing to do with each other. A pageant is about the person doing it, modeling is about showcasing designers creations!

In the beginning, there were not so many models in all those pageants that were held in the past. All of a sudden everyone had to be the face of whatever and to win the “Miss Whatever” title – I never understood why to be honest, I never had that desire. I was talked into doing this kind of things 2 or 3 times and I regret each time, as it only did cost money and time for nothing. It was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a model, to showcase designers creations and their hard work – not being a beauty pageant participant, being all pretty and smooth and kiss my way up to where ever it was necessary. We all know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and with a good relationship to an event owner, designer or judge, your chances get higher by nature – we are all humans. In the end no one wants to work with a winner, that he/she can’t stand for a certain period of time, again we are all humans after all 😉

But what did that do to SL modeling?

All of a sudden people wanted to be recognized for their avatars when they were walking a runway. One started to pose “fierce”, the next one tried as hard as possible to ‘accessorize’ the shit out of every outfit – anyways if it did fit or not – to be noticed on the runway.

By all means, I do love expressive posing myself on pictures and at themed shows or productions, that request those kind of poses. But for a general casual, formal or regular runway show, to me it makes no sense to spread all limbs out as far as you can, even if for quite some time it was called “fiiiierce” posing.To me fierce or dramatic posing doe snot have to be all spread out and hands up in the air like I would be ready to take off or acting like a GoGo dance animator in a discotheque.

If you ever watched a RL runway show for general fashion – not talking about special shows like Alexander McQueen had – the posing is very clean and simple. Again models showcase a designer, not being actresses on a red carpet – and even those keep it quite simple usually as they represent a designer with their clothing most of the time as well 😉 I am not saying there is no room for anything else, but for ‘usual’ runway shows I can see, why people prefer the more simple way of posing and styling. Simplicity can be the key and it can be so much more modern if you keep your poses updated and re-invent your posing each time and not just use the same 20 poses over and over again.

There is as well 2 kind of shows in Second Life, that require two completely different ways to approach them with posing and stying. We have the ‘usual’ runway shows like fashion weeks or special designer showcases and then we have the theater, show or event like shows which are mostly themed. For example a special Halloween show, where the main focus is on the event itself and in opposite to a fashion week those kind of shows are more to entertain people. Last summer Trouble Dethly and his group did an amazing example how fashion, event and as well a theater fashion show can be combined with their Thereafter event. Designers provided outfits, but as well did know it is not just a runway show but more of a ‘happening’ to entertain the main grid users. There we can go all crazy with posing as long as it follows the story, you even can use little animations to underline your character while on a runway I am all for static poses.

For accessories it was quite the same and all of a sudden avant garde was the way to go on the runway. I love avant garde BUT in Second Life avant garde seemed to mean you put a bunch of metal scraps on your head, go half naked and try to fill as many attachment points that you can and certainly do not forget your wings… If you look for the general idea of avant garde fashion that is so way off… it could not be more away from the subject, but thats a completely different story 😉

But I can understand why modeling is kinda dead in Second Life at the moment, because of all this things besides an economic/business aspect as well which made fashion shows not anymore profitable for most of the designers.

I get that models were taught to be unique and to stand out, but there is so many ways how you can do that without taking all attention off the clothing and onto your avatar… It is so much more important to make a brand out of yourself on your flickr and blog instead of runway shows. When you are making pictures or go out window shopping all prim-perfect styled, it can do a lot. Especially on blogs and pictures you can express your styling abilities, your way of posing and you kinda have no limits if you are not blogging a certain piece for a designer. That is why I love posts and pictures so much where you do not have to showcase any specific item and just can go with the flow of your imagination.

Like the pictures for today’s post. I tried to put the idea of standing out off a crowd with not too much accessories and to underline my statement about being unique. I already posted all the items before when I wanted to showcase them and so I had room and freedom to play with them now and try to create my imagination in Second Life. It was not an easy way though and probably took the longest time I ever needed for a picture to be done. I wa struggling with the idea and the inspiration since March 2018. Now we have July and I am still not 100 % satisfied but this time it felt that was the best I can do with my actual skills – I am learning everyday something new 😉

The face is something that makes every human unique anyways – if they do not have a twin and even those have their unique trademarks if you take a really close look. So if you ever were at a Second Life modeling agency you were told your face is the most important and unique trademark you have. Anyways what it looks like as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if you push the limits of human face proportions slightly and well thought you really could create a very unique look in the past with system heads. Then for quite some time many models were struggling wit the first wave of mesh heads. The static mesh heads in the beginning were not really as ‘character’ friendly as the system heads were. Only a very few sliders reacted to customizing and the skin more or less was the only way to create a unique look somehow. I hesitated a long time myself until I gave it a try and I felt so relieved, when bento came to live and we were able to customize your faces and heads again more even with a few limits to bento bones. Nowadays I am very happy with the head and the skin and even if we are told constantly to update I am stuck with the head and the skin since I got it.

With the pictures I wanted to try to express a feeling or an emotion that follows me for quite some time in both worlds. I am not yet ready to really tell the whole story behind it, as it is a very vulnerable spot in my soul, but maybe with the ongoing process of playing with that picture idea, it will come out eventually and I am brave enough to tell. But for now it shows how you can have a face, how you can be unique with not much on yourself than just your face. I really hope i did make sense in what I was talking about, even if I tried t not go too deep into it and not let my emotions take over too much.

Big thanks goes out to Hill.S (Hillany Scofield) and her amazing exhibition that let me find those mannequins, which I needed so desperately for my pictures. She is an incredible artist and picture queen and has such an amazing installation going on – I have to go back and take a picture there, as I promised her 😉

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: .:EC:. (Enelya’s Creations) – “Norena” (Maitreya)

Face Art: Slackgirl – “Circles”

Nails: Slackgirl – “RingQueen Nai” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Makeup & Lipstick: Zibska – “Piper” (LeLutka Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Props: Snowpaws – “Static Store Mannequins”

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Skin: YS&YS – “Ginny Vamp” (Maitreya & LeLutka Applier)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Through the Eyes of a Child

Through the Eyes of a Child

TUNES

Sweet innocent child with your open eyes.
You’ve seen us for who we really are.
And I know that there’ll be tomorrow.
So that hope can have it’s glory day.
And I wish that this world would embrace you
from magic stars and mystery.
My open heart …Why did we make it so hard, this life is so complicated
until we see it through the eyes of a child.
Why did we make it so hard, this life is so complicated
until we see it through the eyes of a child.

I know you, I’ve seen your face before
you brought me to this open door
afraid to walk through.
Please take my hand.I know that there will be tomorrow.
So that hope can have it’s glory day?
And I wish that this world embrace you
from magic stars and mystery.
My open heart …Why did we make it so hard, this life is so complicated
until we see it through the eyes of a child.
Why did we make it so hard, this life is so complicated
until we see it through the eyes of a child.


I see where we’ll go from here.
‘Cause love doesn’t break
with the right amount of care
in your hands is whom you’ve choosen to be.
Life is a freedom.
Now go out there and be free.
Why did we make it so hard, this life is so complicated
until we see it through the eyes of a child.
Why did we make it so hard, this life is so complicated
until we see it through the eyes of a child.
[Reamonn]

Outfit & Accessories

Dress & Headpiece: Fellini Couture – “Farfalla Gown” (Maitreya) – NEW @ SENSE Event
Eyedeco & Necklace: GizzA – “Papillon Set”
Gloves & Bag: Bauhaus Movement – “Audrey Gloves & Purse” (Maitreya, Bento)
Shoes: [Gos] – “Rihanna Boots” (Maitreya)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: lock&tuft – “Shane”
Makeup: Zibska – “Noir Pack 06” (LeLutka Applier)
Lipstick: je suis – “lelutka lips no. 005 – [yellows]” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”
Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”
Face: Izzie’s – “Pores & Blemishes” (LeLutka Applier)

Poses & Props

Balloons: anxiety – “Sorrowland Balloons” (color modified in PS)
Clouds: +Half-Deer+ – “Simple Cloud Set [Bright White]”
Poses: Poseidon – “Chasing Butterflies” (Bento)

Model & Photographer

Creature


We are creatures of light and darkness
Only happy when we love, when we dare
We know nothing of moderation
Only suffer when we love, when we can

A human can only fly for so long
I’m coming in to land
It may seem strange, but I need you to
Help me understand
Who I am

[Information Society]

Outfit & Accessories

Top: A&Y Cybernetics – “Electra Cyber Top” (Maitreya)

Gloves: A&Y Cybernetics – “Electra Cyber Gloves” (Maitreya)

Pants: A&Y Cybernetics – “Electra Cyber Panties” (Maitreya)

Legs: A&Y Cybernetics – “Electra Cyber Legwarmers” (Maitreya)

Horns: E.V.E Studio – “Maleficent GW Horns” – NEW @ SL15B Lucky Chair

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Shield” – NEW @ TRES CHIC

Body & Tattoos

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Teeth: LeLutka – “Beast Teeth 1.1”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Skin: YS&YS – “Ginny Drow” (LeLutka & Maitreya Applier)

Eyes: ANATOMY – “Dragon Eyes”

Poses & Props

Poses: Poseidon – “Horror Set”

Location

District 18

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Wicca’s Wardrobe @ DUBAI July 2018

Wicca’s Wardrobe @ DUBAI (July 20th – August 10th)

We are thrilled to be a part of the DUBAI event. Special for this event we have created the Maurine Collar. It is a collar rigged to fit Maitreya, Slink & Belleza. The Maurine Collar also happens to match our Maurine bracelets created for the latest round of We ♥ RP! The Maurine Collar comes with a HUD that offers you all the same color and metal choices as our Maurine bracelets. The Maurine Collar comes in two parts so you can wear it with or without the large central gemstone (as featured in both images).

Taxi: DUBAI

Wicca’s Wardrobe @ Red Light District July 2018

Wicca’s Wardrobe @ Red Light District (July 15th – August 8th)

We are very excited to be a part of this round of the Red Light District! To celebrate we have created the very sexy and very tempting Mia Body for Maitreya’s Lara, Slink’s Hourglass, and Belleza’s Freya. Mia comes with a HUD that offers you 10 different color choices and 6 metal choices. Special for the event we are offering a L$100 off the price!

Be sure when you come by to pick up Mia, that you hit the RLD Like Button!

TAXI: Red Light District

 

Rock’n’Roll ain’t Noise Pollution!

TUNES

After all those nice, sweet and girly posts, I really had the desire to do something more ‘me’ again 🙂

Today I wanted to do something with short hair and the “No.Scene” hair style from no.match was exactly what I felt for today. You can find the hair style for a few more days at the MOM event before it probably hits the main store. Yes you heard right – MOM (Men Only Monthly). The hair comes in 2 different sizes, so male and female short hair lovers can wear it. For the “No.Scene” style you have an optional add on wisp, which I completely loved as it makes the whole look a little more ‘messy’ and loosely.

With that kind of hair, you cannot do a pretty. beauty look only… it needs a bot more character and power. The first thing I wanted to add was the “Kings” tattoo from [White~Widow]. It was at We RP last month already, but I was not able to put a look together that made that amazing tattoo shine enough until now.

What I more and more enjoy are the braces that are part of all of the LeLutka heads. It is only a tiny detail but together with the septum from [ kunst ] it just made perfect sense to me. O love such little details that are barely to see, but I know they are there :p

The glasses actually are super old ones, but I still do love them for pictures. [Steinwerk] was always one of my favorite brands for glasses and it is so sad that they did not release any new designs for quite a while, but you still can find all the fabulous creations at their inworld main store.

When I was trying to place myself onto the “Alleyway” backdrop, I had a feeling that it needs a ghetto blaster and some headphones to complete the look.

Such a cool look requires kick ass poses and where else than at Poseidon you can find such poses :p. The set I used is the “Anime” set, which was released for the ‘Notice Me, Senpai’ event but O am sure they are already at the Poseidon main store now, since the event closed a few days ago. If you want to know which poses I used exactly, just scroll down to the credits, this time I named each single one I used in order of appearance of the picture.

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: [sYs] – “Assia” (Maitreya)

Shoes: DECO – “Mesh Classic Sneakers small”

Glasses: [Steinwerk] – GT Sunglasses

Gloves: L’Emporio – “Fingerless Gloves” (Maitreya, Bento)

Headphones: [Figure 8] – “Gold Headphones” (Gacha)

Piercing: [ kunst ] – “Anuket Septum Ring”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Scene” – NEW @ Mens Only Monthly

Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Face: Izzie’s – “Pores & Blemishes” (LeLutka Applier)

Tattoo: [White~Widow] – “Kings” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Background: Wartz Store – “Alleyway” (Gacha)

Ghettoblaster: [Since1975] – “BoomBox” (Gacha)

Poses: Poseidon – “Anime Ghoul 1rev”, “Anime Ghoul 2 rev”, “Anime Mako 2rev”, “Anime Saeko 7”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Who says it always has to be a Bikini?

Do you know that feeling, when you get told by people what you can do and what you can’t do?

I do and sometimes I am getting tired of it 😉 That usually brings out the little rebel in me and I do want to prove them I can do everything I want – usually in SL that is easier than in RL, but it works in both worlds somehow 😉

I was in such a mood, when I put on the new lingerie from [Gos]. With the “Diana” lingerie set, I was thinking about an idea for pictures. I tried all the usual stuff first – laying n a bed, a couch or a sofa… on the ground with some aerial, wavy cloth… all looked ‘ok’ but none did the ‘WOW’ for me. That made me think of something completely different. Why not doing a summer, pool inspired scenery. Like you come from work, or you were on a walk with your dogs and you see that amazing pool and have no swimsuit or bikini? If you have a lingerie like the “Diana” lingerie from [Gos], it is not a problem to use that for a quick refreshment *snickers* Who says it always has to be a bikini?

When I saw the cute “Fun in the sun Frenchies” gacha from Bee Designs, I fell in love with the little puppies in a blink. The gacha holds 4 different kinds of little dogs in 4 different coat colors – Swimmers, Held Puppers, Companions and Wanderers besides the 3 special rares. They are so cute and adorable I simply could not resist to not have them in my pictures 😉

The amazing pool decor you can find at the actual round from the Liaison Collaborative, made by Bee Designs.

As well an awesome new release you can find at the actual anniversary round of the Cosmopolitan events which only has a few days left. The “No.I don’t” hair style from no.match.

The perfect hair style for a warm, sunny summer day. With the little knot up at the back head and the long hair falling down your back it is perfect for swimming as well 😉

Typical for no.match you get a lot of different possibilities for the color HUDs. I really love the hair textures of no.match an as well the special blond tones, they go so very well with my skin tone and the no eyebrow trademark that I now have for quite a few years.

Last but not least I would like to drag the view on the amazing “Diana D’Orsay” pumps as well made by [Gos]. With the delicate lace and the second color high light option at the back of the foot, they match perfectly to the lingerie, which as well has solid parts and amazing lace parts. The best advantage is, the color HUDs of both make a perfect match , because they hold all the same colors 😉

Outfit & Accessories

Lingerie: [Gos] – “Diana Lingerie Set” (Maitreya) – NEW @ UBER

Shoes: [Gos] – “Diana D’Orsay Pumps” (Maitreya) – NEW @ FaMESHed

Body Jewelry: (AMD) – “Body Jewelry – Gold” (Maitreya)

Jewelry: AvaWay – “Emmanuelle Back Necklace #1”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.I Don’t” – NEW @ COSMOPOLITAN

Makeup: Zibska – “Delight” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Delia” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Face: Izzie’s – “Pores & Blemishes” (LeLutka Applier)

Tattoo: RedFish – “Sexy Flower” (Maitreya)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity – “Pool Bunny Vol 2” & Body Language – “FineSand” (Bento)

Set:

Dogs & Pool: JIAN – “Fun in the Sun Frenchies” (Gacha)

Pool Deco: Bee Designs – “Pool Decor Gacha” (Gacha) – NEW @ The Liaison Collaborarative

Location

Wicca’s Wardrobe (Garden Parcel)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Into the Underground – Composition can be frustrating sometimes!

Lately I got really frustrated about picture composition and why sometimes things work and if you try to do the same thing exactly as before it won’t work anymore.

Did you ever come across such as well?

You know you have the basic rules for picture composition down, you do as you learned over years how to align things and items and set your avatar in place and still you miss the “wow” on the picture? Then you start playing with lights and shadows, push around prims, add more lights and delete them again, change the angles and anyways what you do always looks ‘ok’ but not that you would like to work on the picture more?

This time I forced myself to work on all of the pictures, anyways if I do like it or not. The purpose was to do a Visionaire homework and I wanted to discover why I feel so different or see different things in pictures. As well to see if all the popular art rules would go over my personal liking in picture composition.

I adore people who know how to place things for sets, it looks so easy and consistent while there is so much thinking behind it.  I only can imagine how long you have to play ‘prim nudger’ until you have everything in place for a huge complete scenery. I only do little sets, with a few selected props usually and that already feels like it would take forever. I do not mean to feel like a whiney but I really pulled my hair over that the past weeks and if you have a solution, you are more than welcome to put it in the comments – I would highly appreciate that :).

Now, more about my todays look…

It was time fo contrasts again for me. I went for a black and red look and wanted to combine it with a blue/black background, that I was eying quite a while already and never had any ideas what I could do with it.

When I saw the “Maggie” pants from Salt & Pepper, I immediately fell in love with them. They do have an amazing color HUD as well, but when I saw the black and red I was sold :p

I just had to find a jacket, that goes with the whole idea and that I found in the “Bubble Crop Jacket” made by Sabotage. Since I do have an addiction for tattoos – I always had – The amazing blank belly was able to be tattooed with one of the amazing creations of White Widow.

With that strong styling and as well the contrast I chose by using a blue/black background to my red/black style, I needed a strong makeup, too. And yes – you can make a guess – it comes from Zibska :p It is not a secret how much I do love Zib Sgaggs designs and the more I am happy, that I can showcase another amazing Makeup/Lipstick combo named “Ventura”.

I enjoyed playing with artistic rules in mind like ‘Lines & Diagonals’, ‘Repetition or the ‘Rule of Thirds’. For some I even found the Fibonacci sequence applying – can you guess which ones?

Outfit & Accessories

Jacket: ..S.. – “Bubble Crop Jacket – Red” (Maitreya)
Pants: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Maggie” (Maitreya)
Shoes: PHEDORA – “Abby Heels” (Maitreya)
Face: +XAnSA+ – “JianDi Face Straps”
Piercings: Meva – “Bento Hand Piercings 2” (Maitreya)
Rings: Meva – “Bento Nails 3” (Maitreya)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: .shi – “Hearken”
Makeup & Lipstick: Zibska – “Ventura” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”
Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”
Face: Izzie’s – “Pores & Blemishes” (LeLutka Applier)
Tattoo: [White~Widow] – “Dead Man” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Background: Mesh India – “Bon Voyage Escalator Background”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Wicca’s Wardrobe @ We ♥ RP July 2018

Wicca’s Wardrobe @ We ♥ RP July 2018

For this round of We ♥ RP we have a very special creation, the Maurine wristband made to fit Maitreya and Slink. Maurine is made up of a ruffled wristband bound by leather and stones. The wristband is then connected with delicate chains to a striking ring emblazoned with a large gem. As always we offer a powerful HUD that offers you ten different textures so that you can make Maurine uniquely your own.

TAXI

Summertime

Summertime

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy’s rich and your ma is good-lookin’
So hush, little baby, don’t you cry
One of these mornings you’re gonna rise up singing
And you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to the sky
But till that morning, there ain’t nothin’ can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin’ by
One of these mornings you’re gonna rise up singing
And you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to the sky
But till that morning, there ain’t nothin’ can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin’ by
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy’s rich and your ma is good-lookin’
So hush, little baby, don’t you cry
[Ella Fitzgerald]

Outfit & Accessories

Top & Pants: [sYs] – “Mirbel” (Maitreya)
Shoes: [sYs] – “Vogue” (Maitreya)
Glasses: ANE – “Tehe Sunglases-Lemon”
Bangles: :Z.S: – “Cheer Bangles”
Rings: *elise* – “Sabrina” (Maitreya, Bento)
Nailpolish: Nailed It! – “Ray of Light” (Maitreya Applier)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Cheat” – NEW @ Secret Affair
Lipstick: Izzie’s – “Metallic Lipsticks” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”
Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”
Face: Izzie’s – “Pores & Blemishes” (LeLutka Applier)

Poses & Props

Set:
*Artisan Fantasy* – “Boho” (Gacha) – NEW @ GachaLand
JIAN – “Chipmunk Collection”
Little Branch – “WildGrass”

Location

Wicca’s Wardrobe (left to the store)

Model & Photographer