I don't give a damn what you're wearing

Woo!

So I logged on yesterday to find 30 comments on my last blog post. I thought some kind of frightening Blogger error had occurred . . . until a friend of mine told me that blogger Luna Jubilee had Plurked it.

Wow. Thank you, Luna! <3

A friend of mine once told me that the problem with SL blogs is that once an SL blog gets popular, sometimes that blogger starts getting a little preachy, and then the blog becomes kind of a drag.

I don't know anything about that. I do know that I planned this post way before a bunch of wonderful people came and dropped all those comments on yesterday's blog. And that aside, I'd never call this blog popular. Dorky, sure. Not for the delicate and easily offended, yeah. But popular, not in a long shot.

So that said, let's talk about fashion, and let's talk about body oil, and let's talk about pizza and let's talk about not taking everything so gawd-damn seriously.

When I see an outfit in SL, particularly if it's one that many people might label "fugly," I often think about the person who made it. Like, maybe that person spent hours toiling away in Photoshop trying to make this one tiny skirt. And maybe it's not anything that would knock your socks off, but that person put love and time and hard work into making that skirt. And they rent a little store space and they try to sell their little skirt, and they're really proud of it . . . and then some A-hole comes along and laughs at it.

Go ahead and slap me across the face and call me a preachy sap right here. I'll polish my holier-than-thou halo and wait . . . . .

[insert face-slapping theme music here]

I only think this way because I have some real-life fashion designer friends whom I'm always hounding to make some Second Life versions of their clothes. And they always respond with, "How the hell do I do that?" And I always respond with, "To hell if I know!" 

So see, the whole SL clothing phenomenon seems like an awe-inspiring and complicated process to us. 

But if they ever actually did figure it out and try to sell something in SL, well, for me those outfits would have real faces behind them. And that hypothetical scenario makes me realize that behind every article of clothing, there actually IS a real face, and that person probably really cares about that piece of clothing.

And no, I'm not smoking weed right now.

So I'm trying not to rant, and I'm trying not to preach, but a couple of recent incidents sort of struck a nerve with me, and that's why I've been thinking about this stuff lately. And you know "incident" sounds a little ominous, like part of a crime report. I'm changing that word to "instances."

Let's take Instance No. 1:

A couple of days ago, a chatty fashion group was mocking the group Fashion Consolidated. The underlying theme of the mock was that "FashCon has gotten oh-so-ghetto lately." The FashCon announcement that sparked this lively chat-bash was the store Morbid's limited-time offer of a gothy dress for 29L.

As I was reading the chat, during which several people were gagging and hee-hawing over the outfit in question, I pulled up the notice and looked at the pic of the "offensive" outfit.

And you know what? I'm not a fashion connoisseur, but it really didn't look that bad to me. I mean, it's not gonna evoke a standing ovation at a runway show anytime soon but sheeeeeeeeh, I've seen much worse. I shared this observation in the chat and was bombarded with "Are you kidding me? Look at the butt-ugly textures!!!"

OK

I zipped over to the store and dropped a whopping 29 lindens on the gown. Let's look at it, shall we?



Chest detail:



Back detail (tattoo undershirt included):



Short version (stockings are included):



(Please pardon the duck.)

OMG, THEY'RE RIGHT! IT'S SO DAMN HIDEOUS, MY EYES ARE BURNING!!!!!!!!! MY EYYYYYYYYYES!!!!!!!

(that was sarcasm)

OK. So it's a whole lotta pattern that's a wee bit in your face. And it's not hanging on the racks of Tres Jolie or Baiastice. But it moves beautifully, a lot of thought obviously went into the detail and, FOR GAWD'S SAKE, I realize we're all entitled to our opinions, but when did we all get so flippin' snobby that we're calling something like this dress "ghetto"????

Somewhere out there, there's a person on a tight budget who likes this style of clothing and is going to love this dress. And if you happen to fall in that category, it's called Morrigan and I think you can still buy it for 29L here.

Instance 2:

Some friends of mine whom, don't get me wrong, I love dearly were having a "dress as fugly as you can" party. Somewhere in the conversation when people were discussing what to wear, someone mentioned that everyone need look no further than hO wEAr for all their fugly fashion needs.

I feebly tried to defend that store then and I'm going to feebly try again now.

Yes, the majority of hO wEAr's selections isn't my preferred style of clothing. But as with many stores, I've found a few diamonds in the booty-shorts rough there. And that aside, HeidiHo Huet is one of the most generous designers I've seen in Second Life. Every day she offers a new $1L outfit. And yeah, they might not all be your cup of tea, but they're somebody's cup of tea and I bet if you checked it out every day, you'd eventually find something you like. Try it! I dare you!

Case in point, let's take a recent almost-free outfit that I deemed worthy of my one linden, called Gothly Night (sunglasses, hat, gloves and tats included):



EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! THE FUG IS GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!

Here's the long-gown version, which includes a separate lace underskirt (and yes, it all needs a little adjusting):

(Please pardon the duck.)

OH MY FRIGGIN' GAWD, COVER YOUR EYES!!!!!!

And here's the ad, since I was too damn lazy to model and shoot the outfit's many options (yes, stockings, jewelry and garter belt undies were included):



OH LAWDY, I SEE BLING! SOMEBODY CALL THE PHRIGGIN' FASHION POLICE!!!!!

No - I'm not going to wear it often (or even again, considering that my inventory is now at 83K), but obviously a lot of thought, work and love went into this outfit and I appreciate the vision. I also appreciate the details. The corset top, hat and shades might even get paired with other things in my inventory. And yep, a few of the accessories have bling, but I dropped a scrubber script in them and, voila (thanks, Eevie!), problem solved. 

I don't know. This place is supposed to be all about fun. God bless the people who make gorgeous clothes and God bless the people who at least give it a shot. When did we all get so critical? When did we all become a bunch of . . . pixel-bashers?

WHERE IS THE LOVE, PEOPLE? THE LOVE! LOVE IS ALL WE NEED!

Sorry.

I will admit that my Ambien is sort of kicking in right now.

As some of you know, I recently reunited with my friend Jon. After about a year of not talking, we're trying to get to know each other again. But the other day he said to me, "You've changed. You're way more concerned about clothes now." And it made me sad. 

We used to laugh a lot and run around like this:



YES. That was a bikini made out of PIZZA and -- OMG!!! -- I was also wearing BODY OIL! And SYSTEM SHOES! And Jon has some kind of a . . . a . . . duck head coming out of his crotch! Or maybe it's a goose. Regardless, it has a BEAK!

We looked a mess. But on that particular day, I laughed so hard in real life that I cried.

Now I just drag him around to stores and we spend way too much time talking about hunts and furniture and what we're wearing to parties and ridiculous gossip and . . . where the hell has the joy gone?

We've all created this so-called Utopian virtual world, but then we've put the same superficial petty pressures on ourselves that we do in real life. (Look fashionable! Buy the latest hairstyle! Flaunt your stellar skin! Does this system skirt make my butt look huge???)

My mother always says, "It's not the clothes that make the woman; it's the woman that makes the clothes." . . . or something along those lines.

(Of course she also always says, "If you're having a bad hair day, stuff your bra and no one will look at your head.")

And by God, I am a woman who can make a pizza bikini look FULL OF RADIANT JOY!

So I don't know. I'm glad I've found some Second Life designers that I truly love, and I love the artistry and creativity that so many others bring to the grid. I love reading good fashion bloggers because of the pictures they create with their words, not their poses or Photoshop. And I love the fact that I can wear things in Second Life that I'll never be able to wear in real life.

That little girl inside me who loves dressing up Barbies probably isn't gonna go anywhere anytime soon. But I think I'm done worshipping the SL fashion gods and killing myself (and usually failing anyway) trying to be some kind of a fashion plate.

And I don't give a damn what you're wearing either.

So rock your bling, if that's your thing. And I'll put my pizza bikini on and we'll hang out.

*flashes a peace sign and runs off*