Mix and Match with Meli

A long time Second Life staple is Meli Imako, a purveyor of full perm clothing items. Most often their products are used as the base for other creators to produce ensemble outfits, adding and changing textures. While that is still their strong suit, recently Meli has been including some pretty decent textures in some of the models as well, allowing them to be used as-is for those so inclined. A very good example of the latter is the Vixen dress, a wonderfully frilly confection:

Vixen is available in five mesh sizes as well as Fit Mesh for all the major mesh bodies, with the hat available separately. Note the Meli Imako does not have an in-world store so all of their products can be found on the Marketplace.

Another good outfit right out of the box is the High Seas Pirate Corset, which is equally at home as a Gothic style Lolita dress. Here is an example of the dress with one of the three included textures, the black:

To add to the atmosphere on this one, I mixed in a chiffon dress held aloft by ravens, from The Dark Swamp. The Meli corset dress is available in five Fitmesh Sizes plus fits for all major mesh bodies and three included textures. And true to the premise that Meli supplies meshes for other creators to adapt, I know that this dress is available in pre-made sets from at least two other vendors: Sn@ocks in five separate colors; and Adris King Designer in an eleven-color HUD. Both use the same basic pattern that comes with the texture set with a few modifications.

Now just because other vendors mod these items doesn’t mean you can’t as well. Here is the same dress with colors I changed using Photoshop and uploading the texture back into Second Life, this time on the happy side of the Disney aisle as Snow White. I added some mesh bows, one for the front and one in my hair, and found nice boots and stockings to go with.

And finally, to show that sometimes just a little bit of modification can give you just what you are looking for, here is the Women’s Cravat Blouse and Corset skirt. I wanted a librarian sort of outfit but one with a little sexy appeal; so I was able to adjust the transparency on the top and add a lacy bra underneath. The outfit is available in five mesh model sizes (not Fit Mesh).

Ready to do a little custom modifications, my sweet friends? Cheers!


A’a i ka hula!

Happy Aloha Friday, my friends!  I get to share a beautiful new ti pa’u with you, a traditional hula skirt made from ti leaves.  It’s all in mesh from Island Style Designs!  Leave the grass skirts behind, and please please please let’s not talk about the abomination of coconut bras.  (although you may want to see the note on coconut bras at the end of this older post).   

  • Island Style Designs — Hula Girl mesh hula outfit (Maitreya/Physique fitmesh/standard 5 rigged mesh sizes) (includes mesh ti skirt, white top, hibiscus haku lei with ferns, kukui necklace, plumeria lei, and hibiscus flowers for your ear — all of the items that you see here except for the kupe’e and kakau, the anklets/bracelets and tattoo!)
  • ::*) Charmed (*:: —  plumeria kupe’e (anklet and bracelet) (from Ti-Leaf skirt, 30cm, Pearl)
  • Juna Artistic TattooHaka tattoo woman
  • BellePoses — Hula Baby 6 (mirror) pose (marketplace link) exclusive for the The Avenue

And yes, I know that the haka is Maori in origin, but the tattoo has many common themes across Polynesia… besides,  like it.

Also, that lovely traditional canoe behind me?  It’s a wa’a kaukahi, a single-hulled canoe with an outrigger.  This lovely one came from Tiki Tattoopurveyor of lovely island decor.  This is a really lovely piece, and was a gift to me from a dear friend.

This is such a lovely hula outfit.  Nickki at Island Style Designs has really outdone herself!  You’ll definitely see me in this at summer dance events.

A’a i ka hula, waiho i ka maka’u i ka hale!  Dare to dance, leave your shame at home!

Aloha kākou, my friends!  A hui hou!


Have a shiny Aloha Friday!

I shared a beautiful new reflective swimsuit and pareo from Island Style Designs a few weeks ago.  Nickki’s been hard at work, and created new textures for the suit, packaging it with a long sarong and matching shoes, and it’s perfect for your Aloha Friday!

I’m not generally a fan of platforms, but these are perfect with this outfit, having the same metallic texture, so I thought I’d show them off.  They come in sizes for SLink, Maitreya, and TMP feet.

The suit and sarong are sized for Maitreya, SLink Physique, and all three Belleza bodies.  Yay!

This uses the same basic mesh as the Metal Resort Wear from the previous post.  It’s a fairly modest cut at the legs (modest for SL!).  The texture really is quite lovely with advanced lighting and reflections turned on, and has to be seen in action to really be appreciated.  So, take a look at the video!

I took a bit of a selfie here for a friend, but it shows off the beautiful purple agate and silver Sea Turtle jewelry from Luminesse.

Nickki is working hard on new styles and new textures, please visit the all-new Island Style Designs and take a look today!  Mahalo!  A hui hou!


Reflections

I am so excited to share the latest offering from Nickki at  Island Style Designs with you!  Nickki has created a gorgeous swimsuit and pareo combo with a fantastic shiny metallic texture.

In the daylight, it looks like this: (note: advanced lighting and materials must be enabled!)

The outfit is fitmesh, and comes rigged for Maitreya, both SLink, all three Belleza bodies, both EVE bodies, TMP, and Altamura.    The strapless suit features some lovely pink lacing in the back, and a subtle green/red/yellow shading for the floral pattern.

Where this suit and pareo really shine (so to speak) is in the dark with some interesting lighting effects.  I waded into the water with my pareo still on, and added a little extra lighting to make the suit really shine.  You can see the lights really reflected in the suit.

I really loved the pareo, but did finally take it off to just show the suit on its own.   It’s somewhat lower cut at the hips, giving a lovely slightly retro feel and look.

We’ve seen body-specific fitmesh explode into SL, and while there has been a lot of materials-enabled textures, we haven’t seen lots of reflective clothing.  This is gorgeous, and is sure to be an attention-getter at parties.

Stop on by the new Island Style Designs and take a look today!  Mahalo!  A hui hou!

 

 


wandering on the moor

Bee and Solas at Silvan Moon Designs have created a lovely outfit for the June We Love Role Play event: Rohanna of the Moors, a one-piece corset-and-skirt combo in fitmesh for Maitreya Lara and both SLink bodies.

There are six lovely colours, and I think it works as well as a casual fun outfit as it does for a medieval-type skirt.

Rohanna is currently available only at We Love Role Play, and is 25% off for the event.  Stop by and see the other four lovely colours!  Don’t let this slip you by!

Mahalo!  A hui hou!