On the mountaintop one thatched hut,
Thirty li from the roads.
Knock on the door: no disciple to answer;
Look in: only a table for tea.
The firewood cart is covered;
Have you gone fishing in the autumn stream?
I look among the pools, but miss you;
I try but fail to pay you my respects.
Grass shines in the fresh rain;
Pines murmur at evening windows.
Here at this moment a harmony,
Profound and unrivaled;
The self completely cleansed,
The heart, the ear.
Although there is no guest or host as such,
I'm able to intuit your pure thought.
Purpose fulfilled, I head back down the mountain.
No need now to wait for you.
- Ch'iu Wei (8th century)
xoxo
One truly remarkable aspect about SL is how multi-cultural our community is -- and how easily we can all embrace diversity, at least in our individual style. Many creators are honoring the Year of the Dragon with adorable Chinese New Year gifties, like these paper cutout framed pictures free by bbqq; today's look also celebrates red as the traditionally lucky color, from this free cherry-striped mesh dress to the new cerise bloom earmuffs by Boom (something about this rich cherry color so reminds me of the Beats headphones I keep seeing on hipster heads around Manhattan).
In other news, if you haven't rolled around in a messy pool of spilled liquid recently -- well, you just haven't been embracing your inner video vixen. *strums air guitar, flicks more tea in hair*
It's sorta funny that after I shot this thing, I found the RL figurine (that I'm guessing this was inspired by) on flickr here, hehe.
Btw this is the free Laq skin that's been plowing the feeds; I wanted a crimson lip here, so I changed the look of it by adding a toothy gloss by Pididdle, which I paired with this $77L space cadet-rounds cherry-hued necklace, rings & nails set by Mandala that's also been making the rounds. Plus I'm not showing it here, but I also scoopied the free superluxe fur muffler (you get 3 colors) + free light red strappy boots over at Aoharu to go with this look (buy the women's gift near the landing point for $0L to get both in the same gift) + the absolutely adorables bowtie leggings by Le Poppycock that are newly free (I took a styling shot to show y'all the black bowties version, but Xmas cookies induced major food coma tonight; see the Styling Credits below for more free holiday goodies).
Needless to say, Mr. Truth Hawks is also debuting some new styles to kick off the event, including this lovely "Isla" updo, each with its own precise hairbase for a perfectly "natural" match to each shade. You can find most of the items I'm wearing here at the Truth District sale; I added an oversized buckle bag for a military touch, some $50L scallopped print leggings + this nicely textured green jacket, which you can currently scoop for free at Pink Outfitters.
I'm also showing another new Truth hairstyle available this week, this shaggy "Hadley" bob style available exclusively at the Truth District satellite store, featuring a gorges roots option that I really like. -- These chunky drop earrings are the $4L Bliensen + MaiTai vintage gift at 4.44.444 that I mentioned in yesterday's post; the tusk necklace was a $1L find at Glow Studio, which I layered with some perky owl motif jewelry by Je Suis (these gems are color-change, so they literally go with just about everything).
*AND NOW FOR THE RANT: Dear readers, as you know, I rarely (if ever) use this blog to rant about anything, but we encountered something this week that I simply can't keep mum about. It has come to our attention that another store has recently began selling a hearts feets tattoo that is nearly identical in positioning, size, shape + otherwise extremely similar to our "Hearts of Queens" tattoo that we originally created for a blog post earlier this summer on SLexy Fashionista. Whatever the reason behind this incident in fact occurring, when Gavin tried to reach out to the creator to discuss it, what followed was some name-calling and fairly obnoxious commentary thrown our way, including some strong opinions about our (apparent) lack of intelligence. -- It's rotten enough to feel as if you've been pirated (regardless of whether or not that's what actually happened!), but this kind of (overly) aggressive behavior makes me want to FedEx these girls straight to that VH1 show where they teach hopeless souls some freakin' etiquette (Charm School). -- Don'tcha just love classy people? Ugh.
The Dominion/The Vinyl Cafe always hands out such lovely freebies, and so often too. Their newest "Feather BabyDoll" fatpack caughty my eye for its spiky, fluttery "feather" skirt with tons of movement. There's one extremely ass-kicking detail that ramps up this good dress into a great one: the subtle texture contrast between the low-shine top against the flowy matte spikes of the "feather" skirt (which you can see in the pic below).
However because I am a RL + SL jewelry glutton, I just couldn't resist adding the stunning LeeZu! free jewelry gift set. This chunky gold rings + metal chain design works so beautifully, + I like all the miniature beads + texture work throughout. I'm wearing the matching earrings too which are a nicely weighty "chunky" drop style.
Here's another shot of those awesome Kalnins open-toe, color-change booties. These are not free but sooo worth the $L. See why these textures, shine, wrinkles + color combos are the smex? See?
Here I'm showing this same babydoll dress in this luscious berry color, edited this time so that the skirt sits slightly lower -- giving this dress more of a daywear look. (See what I mean about the texture contrast between the shiny top vs. the feathery skirt? Delish). I'm also wearing my new favie black feather necklace from Atelier (this necklace is not free, but do scoop the free fur-trimmed handgloves there). These adorable polka dot socks are part of the free socks fatpack gift from S@BBiA and this lovely lime/dark orange hue is yet another color option in the Kalnins shoes.
These pictures were taken in the free photo studio you can grab at Tigerclaw. (There's actually tons of freebies there, from giant striped teddy bears to motorcycle jackets. Look for the rows of boxes you can buy for free inside a large metal container). This was Gavin interrogating me about my latest outfit. Hee.
One of my favorite places in SL, Drowsy, has a new build featuring two vintage railway train cars (one of which has little stores inside). Translation: to-die cuteness everywhere. Here's the inside of one of the old-fashioned train cars. Complete with old-fashioned luggage!
The eye-popping textures and meticulous detail of this SIM are truly spectacular. (Drowsy is kinda a sprawling SIM so to get to the train cars, follow the winding trail from the landing point around the hill). You'll find one of the train cars sunken halfway into some lovely flower-dotted water. There's even deer. Hiding out near a laid-out picnic. This place is like atmospheric mood central.
I had just dragged Gavin to Multiple Personality Designs so I could grab these free fur-trimmed black thigh-high boots + matching Santa hat. While I was there, I scooped their brand-new fur-lined bikini + skirt sets for a frugal $1L per color (for $5L you get the 5-color fatpack). I luh how the shiny, latex-like finish + risque revealing-ness of these Santa's helpers outfits inspires naughty (i.e., not nice) thoughts.
See how a li'l Xmas spirit makes you f'get about any pesky Titanic water leakage issues that might be happening in the background?
All of Gavin's clothes (except his shoes) are from one of his favorite men's stores, Alphamale. (Thanks so much Yelmer!) I love this smoky blue color + Alphamale's clothes are always so classically tailored. The classic look of these pieces is like hey presto, instant polish for menz.
All these musical instruments are freebies we scooped at the Sera Korea store, where you can scoop everything from microwaves to alien heads. (Seriously. Alien heads. See final pic below). It's a little hard to tell here, but these free drums are pink! *dies*
Gavin looked so cute in this "1932" shirt above and I thought that my fur-trimmed leopard dress below was one of the glammiest looks at Zenith (both of these were free lucky board gifts). The boys are showing more free men's gift tops from the Zenith lucky boards below; in particular, Ethan's gray and black striped polo is such a classic men's look.
We tried + tried but we could not get Ethan to stop wearing around his free scholarly teddy bear backpack that he won from the Zenith lucky boards. He and that bear were like bffs. Luckily Ethan's chipmunk friends were the non-jealous type.
One of my fave Zenith lucky board gifts were these Supergirl PJ's. Gavin is wearing the current free men's Zenith group gift (above the lucky boards), this short-sleeved gray argyle sweater. His cute blonde cap hair came from one of the $50L sales at Atomic.
I remembered these free ghostie slippers I won at the W00ty B00ty MM board + slipped them on. They were super comfy.
I received a notice about a hunt at A Piece of Candy (another store which regularly gives free monthly gifts for subscribo members) + I was pleasantly surprised to see that the top floor had been converted to rows upon rows of $1L tops, pants, skirts + dresses. The rich, saturated hues of these clothes is something special. Here are just a few tops that I scooped for $1L each. (I actually got so excited about these dollarbies that I totally forgot about the hunt!)
Isn't this lace edging on these tops fabulous? The capris on the left are part of a current $1L gift at Hyper Culture and the adorable pink sherbety socks are also included in the free S@BBiA socks fatpack gift. The gray shorts + striped socks are not free, but the boots on the right are once again free from N-Core.
The knit texture on these A Piece of Candy $1L lace-edged leggings are very nice; again the smokey pink-brown color was my fave. I paired these leggings with these unique "treble clef" pasties from Nayar for $1L.
The $50L pink sale at Pink Outfitters thru 11/24 has girlie girls like me in a li'l frenzy. I heart their hand-drawn designs + previously blogged their classically tailored black chiffon blouse here. See the detailed texturing of these shorts? Love the sexy low-rise on them as well. The top + shorts here, and each of the dresses in the next photo, are all on sale for $50L each.
This belted casual dress on the left was such a find -- the print somehow manages to be both modern + retro at the same time. I love the flirtiness of this pink-and-white party dress on the right, especially with its sassy white petticoat just peeking out from underneath.
Now would be a good time to show you my newest non-free boots obsession: the new thigh-high boots from J's. (Listen, I might be a frugalista but unfortunately I also have some serious $pending control issues, so I was forced to scoop the $1600L fatpack. Sigh). The realistic texture is the usual top-notch J's quality, but there's just something about the rounded toe + sleek, long shape that is really stallion-esque. They are. The. Smex.
I recently discovered the Holli Pocket store + it is such a gem. Holli has a naughty sense of whimsy which makes her designs both playful + sexy -- my ultimate favie combination ever.
I dressed "down" this yummie "blueberry" version with my SoReal black sneaks + this fabulous back tat. Both the tattoo + these pretty hair butterflies are free from Minajunk. Aren't they cute? The scattered star socks are yet another free gift from Zenith (look for them near the base of the stairs). This gangsta necklace is also free as a profile picks gift from Apple May Designs.
I dressed "up" this lovely beige color of this dress with large black tourmaline oval jewels from House of Hucci. This lovely nude champagne color is my fave + it's 50% off ($75L) until Saturday 12 am SLT. (Be on the lookout for a special red color of this minidress that will be available exclusively as an upcoming hunt gift). Both of the hairstyles shown with this dress are more $100L finds from Salon de MA*YO.
I paired the beige dress with the Stiletto Moodys red patent leather free shoe gift that is still available for current group members (I believe thru the end of today). Their side-seamed, shiny Gladiator-styled strappiness is such a striking style + the toe shadowing is just fabby.
Finally, just wanted to show you more goodies from the everything $0L Sera Korea store where Gavin + I scooped cool housewares like this washing machine + a refrigerator that opens (fully stocked). Plus there's all kinds of cool ways you can totally go incognito. See how handy this mint-green alien head is? One of these would be so awes in RL.
My dearest fellow frugalistas, thank you so much for all your kind + supportive words on this blog + also for my weekly "Better Quality Freebies" list (if anyone wants this, just drop me a NC in-world). It truly means so much + /me hearts you all.
on Tesh:
Holiday white fur-trimmed bikini set: Multiple Personality Designs - Christmas Treats (red and black colors shown) - $1L per color or $5L for the colors fatpack
Shoes: R2 - Malama black - $50L weekends sale
on Gavin McGinnis:
on Tesh:
Pink-brown lace-edged henley top: A Piece of Candy - Shelly Pink Top - $1L
Treble clef pasties: Nayar - Musik Pasties Undershirt - $1L
Blue minidress: Holli Pocket - *HP* Cheeky Love-Blueberry
Beige minidress: Holli Pocket - *HP* Cheeky Love-Root Beer - $75L until this Saturday
