In a Mood

Lately, I have been in a mood where I don't want to work inworld. I still love SL and being in it, but I've just been feeling a bit...tired and unmotivated. I just want quiet, to explore, to contribute my talents in a good way to the Steelhead community and to have meaningful conversations inworld with those I care about.

All commissions will be finished...thank you so much for your patience regarding them. Not shirking anything at all, but I just need this time for myself for a moment inworld and I'll be back to business as normal.

I've Got an Exhibit on Victorian Fashion! Yay!

Tomorrow is the opening of my exhibit "The Past Reimagined: Victorian Fashion and the Designs of Eladrienne Laval" at the Whitehorn Memorial Library in Caledon Victoria City from 1-3 SLT. You will get to see the process of how I work--from source images and sketches to the final product. It made me realize I've made a lot of pieces since I've started. The exhibit's just a fraction of them! With the help of head librarian JJ Drinkwater, I also put together an exhibit about Paris' first "couturier" Charles Frederick Worth, who elevated dressmaking to an art form...With library curator Siri Woodget's help, I put together an exhibit about one of Worth's patrons, Boston socialite Isabella Stewart Gardner, who was independent and bold and did things her way...
Here I am in the reproduction dress I created that uses a texture from the actual fabric. There will be a contest and a lucky winner will get to walk away with this dress tomorrow...
And yes, I did a tiny version! I don't know if most folks know that I have a history degree and was a graphic designer for years. I've found that really helps with the pieces I make and I always feel like I am still learning how to do something new. I love what I do. The exhibit runs until March 1, but I hope to see you all there tomorrow!

New Drow/Dark Elf Armor

Okay, I find being a dark elf/drow too much fun and perfect for a weapons-wielding gal with a strong personality like myself. Since I got the skin months ago it has always been one of my faves to wear. Inspired by Lunar's armor that I made for him, I thought I'd make some for myself and voila...Yes guys, there's a version for you too...

An Interview

I met publisher and agency owner Starlet Maximus for an interview for her SL magazine Black Pearls. I had a very nice time talking to her about being a designer inworld and my RL fashion influences and inspirations. She will be running a spread featuring my 1920s and '30s designs. I'll keep you posted about when it will be available...

Of Blue Skin & Moon Elves...

Anyone who truly knows me knows that when I'm not my steampunk kitty self, I shapeshift. Phin has said that he never knows which Elle he is coming inworld to. I love different skins and avatars and thanks to fellow Plurker Peter Stindberg, I am finally blue. I have always wanted a really pretty blue skin like this and I am tremendously happy with it. Even has freckles! Yay! Thank you Peter!Lunar is wonderful to me and I thought I'd repay that kindness by making a surprise for him. He had been talking about wanting elven armor. I've never made any before, but armed with RL references of Chinese, Russian, Japanese armor and medieval platemail, I decided to make a go at it. He, like I, was pretty amazed at how it turned out. It is named "Lunar Yugao" after Yoshitoshi's "100 Aspects of the Moon" woodblock engraving inspired by the Tale of Genji. A part of the engraving is embossed on the metal. I think it is one of the most beautiful things I have made in SL so far...

So Many Fashion Expos, So Little Time!

Those who really know me, know that when I shop, I shop big, so when I heard about two different fashion expos going on right now, I started twitching I was so excited! I first headed over to the SL Footwear Expo where I drooled over the offerings from Maitreya and Shiny Things and other designers. I picked up a new pair of cute wedges...The following day I went to the Beachwear & Lingerie Expo at Vanity Universe. I came inworld to an IM from Codie simply saying 'LMLMLMLMLM me!" If you love beautiful lingerie like I do, go ASAP! I really loved Carnal and Insolence. I ran into a bunch of my fellow Plurkers running around buying up stuff like crazy. I "might" post a pic in one if you ask nicely ;-)All I can say is that Hair Fair is coming up soon too. I am going to lose my mind...

So You Wanna Be...A Fashion Designer

Over a year ago, when I was a sweet innocent new resident (oh quit it with the laughter!) I took a class and made my first outfit ever (below) using the system sliders...I went from that to more sophisticated pieces in Photoshop with my own textures I created like this one...And this!My li'l sis Baube wants to create. Specifically, she wants to learn about building and fashion design. You wouldn't think the two are related, but once you start getting into making prim pieces like flexi skirts or sculpted sleeves/cuffs, yes! I build just as much as a designer as I do as a structure builder! Anyone who has seen or worn one of my Victorian bustle dresses can attest to that fact!

Of course, I'm going to be a good big sis and teach her, but for those of you out there who'd like to learn more about fashion design too, here are some really great tutorials I've found out there...

A lot of designers, like me, make their items mod/copy/no trans so that you can tweak the slider to adjust your clothes better. That especially goes for the prim pieces too! Take the time to adjust your pants for boots, or increase/decrease a prim part to fit you better.

It all starts with a template. Templates allow you to see the planes of the avatar and where the match points are, which are important. Here's an interesting tidbit: doesn't matter if you're male, female, furry or kid-sized...the templates are the same, so clothing will more or less resize to your body for you.

Robin Wood's clothing templates:
Here I am dressed in the upper and skirt ones:

Chip Midnight's clothing templates:
Some folks like using Robin's templates. Some like using Chip's. Both are fantastic.

So, how do you use them? Visit the following site and find out because Natalia Zelmanov explains the process very, very well! I can't rave enough about how helpful her blog is. She covers all aspects of creating inworld and her clothing tutorials are particularly good!

Clothes don't have to be hyper-realistic in SL, but quality touches like fine primwork, shading and texturing do count to your customers!

When you're done and you have saved your file (as a png or tga), it'd be nice to see it right? I once had it suggested to me to go to the Beta grid so I can upload pieces and see them before paying uploading fees for my pieces. Um, no. I love and use this little (free!) program that allows you to see the clothing on an "avatar" mannequin before uploading. SL doesn't even need to be open, which allows you to tweak it as much as needed beforehand: The SL Clothing Previewer by Johan Durant:

Uploads cost $10L/upload and voila! You've successfully gotten your clothing file inworld! Go to Edit > Appearance. Choose the clothing piece you want (ex. "Shirt"), choose your new file for the texture and ta-da! Play with the sliders to make sure it's what you want and save it. You just made a new outfit!

While inworld, check the search or schedules for New Citizens Inc. (NCI) for Basic Clothing classes. They're open to oldbies like us attending too! Everyone's new when they're learning something for the first time! I use Photoshop CS2 myself, although you can use other programs like Gimp for clothing creation. Be inspired, play around and have fun. Most of all, practice! You'll be cranking outfits out in no time! Good luck!

Finished the Zaghareet Ruby Version!

I tend to design in big batches, so I've been pretty productive lately. Here is the ruby version of the Zaghareet Egyptian dancer's outfit...I love a dress that flows well when I dance...