I finally barged my way into the new Stiletto Moody Boutique yesterday. The harder it was to get in, the more obsessed I got with getting through the door, until it finally had NOTHING to do with the shoes at all. NOTHING! By the time I got in, they could have been selling fish heads in there for all I cared.
IT'S A GAME! YES! IT IS A GAME! AND THE PERSON WITH SHOES WINS!
Sorry.
Way to push my competitive buttons, Stiletto Moody marketing team.
I was shocked at how freegin' expensive these shoes are, and then later, more shocked that I actually bought them. (*reads that sentence again and hates it*)
Behold my double-jointed ankle! Those are the Marlene shoes in Sand. You like those little charms dangling off them? If so, they'll cost you $1,295L extra. Yep, that was what boggled my mind about the BAREfoot collection the most. The shoes on their own cost $2,195 . . . plain. If you want more toenail polish options and a toe ring, you'll have to buy the BAREfoot1 Upgrade for $495L. If you want the whole shebang - toenail polish, toe ring, shoe charms, foot tattoos and maybe I'm missing something else, you'll have to buy the BAREfoot2 Upgrade for an additional $1, 295.
So basically I paid $3,490L for a pair of shoes yesterday.
*throws up and passes out*
I did it for the sake of journalism.
Wow, for that amount of money in real life, I could actually buy a real pair of shoes, albeit really cheap ones on sale at Target or something.
If it helps ease the pain, the upgrade comes packaged in this cute little table:
Letters from Stiletto? How nice! If only next month's Visa bill would come in a beautiful envelope like that, maybe I'd feel better about dropping almost $15 U.S. bucks on pixelated shoes.
Sorry.
Way to push my competitive buttons, Stiletto Moody marketing team.
I was shocked at how freegin' expensive these shoes are, and then later, more shocked that I actually bought them. (*reads that sentence again and hates it*)
Behold my double-jointed ankle! Those are the Marlene shoes in Sand. You like those little charms dangling off them? If so, they'll cost you $1,295L extra. Yep, that was what boggled my mind about the BAREfoot collection the most. The shoes on their own cost $2,195 . . . plain. If you want more toenail polish options and a toe ring, you'll have to buy the BAREfoot1 Upgrade for $495L. If you want the whole shebang - toenail polish, toe ring, shoe charms, foot tattoos and maybe I'm missing something else, you'll have to buy the BAREfoot2 Upgrade for an additional $1, 295.
So basically I paid $3,490L for a pair of shoes yesterday.
*throws up and passes out*
I did it for the sake of journalism.
Wow, for that amount of money in real life, I could actually buy a real pair of shoes, albeit really cheap ones on sale at Target or something.
If it helps ease the pain, the upgrade comes packaged in this cute little table:
Letters from Stiletto? How nice! If only next month's Visa bill would come in a beautiful envelope like that, maybe I'd feel better about dropping almost $15 U.S. bucks on pixelated shoes.
With your shoes, you also get a free catwalk shape (not shown) and this classy SM Backup Bag:
OOPS!
Yes my friends, that's one reason why I've been so grumpy lately. Nothing rezzes for me anymore. I take a simple thing like a purse out of my inventory and it stays in the form of a grey lump unless I log out and log back in. It's so damn annoying, I can hardly stand it.
Please hold for a second . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
*logs off; logs back on*
OK:
Pretty!
OOPS!
Yes my friends, that's one reason why I've been so grumpy lately. Nothing rezzes for me anymore. I take a simple thing like a purse out of my inventory and it stays in the form of a grey lump unless I log out and log back in. It's so damn annoying, I can hardly stand it.
Please hold for a second . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
*logs off; logs back on*
OK:
Pretty!
Once you set your skin tone and other shoe preferences, you can store them in this bag and transfer them to another shoe. At least I think you can. I'm probably never buying another pair of these shoes again so I can't test-drive it for you.
By the way, someone asked me for my butt dimensions the other day, which was the most awesome question I've ever been asked in Second Life.
Hell yeah, it's fabulous! My real one is too! *smacks it*
So yesterday was a shocking day for me in terms of lindens. I had completely forgotten that I had bid a total of $7,000L on some rare Random Calliope jewelry in a Relay for Life auction. After spending almost $4K on one pair of shoes, it was really fun to get the news that I won two out of my four bids.
Yay. :\
*Emerald runs to the Second Life Web site and puts her hand over her eyes as she blindly pushes "Buy Lindens"*
By the way, someone asked me for my butt dimensions the other day, which was the most awesome question I've ever been asked in Second Life.
Hell yeah, it's fabulous! My real one is too! *smacks it*
So yesterday was a shocking day for me in terms of lindens. I had completely forgotten that I had bid a total of $7,000L on some rare Random Calliope jewelry in a Relay for Life auction. After spending almost $4K on one pair of shoes, it was really fun to get the news that I won two out of my four bids.
Yay. :\
*Emerald runs to the Second Life Web site and puts her hand over her eyes as she blindly pushes "Buy Lindens"*
*croaks, "but it's for a good cause!" as she falls*
I will not be shopping for the next three months. And if I were a really diligent blogger I'd model the jewelry for you, but I'm supposed to be working right now so I'm typing really fast. Sorry.
I also made the bold decision to expand my parcel of land. Here's what it'll look like from now on:
(Sorry, too tired for artistic drawings today.)
I will not be shopping for the next three months. And if I were a really diligent blogger I'd model the jewelry for you, but I'm supposed to be working right now so I'm typing really fast. Sorry.
I also made the bold decision to expand my parcel of land. Here's what it'll look like from now on:
(Sorry, too tired for artistic drawings today.)
Get ready for your comeback, purple house.
Apparently I can stream my own music now. I have no idea how. But watch as I roll around in the luxury of almost 200 more prims.
*rolls rolls rolls rolls*
Um, so I've ticked off a few people with my blog posts during the past couple of days. That was not my intention. I'm sorry our opinions differ, but that's what makes this virtual world a beautiful place . . . right?
Another reason why I've been so grumpy is that my camera controls have been completely screwed up and I didn't realize I could fix them. I upgraded to the new SL viewer and suddenly everything looked like this:
Yeah, zoomed in tight to the back of my head. I couldn't see where I was going. It was giving me a throbbing headache. I've actually been running around like this for days.
Apparently I can stream my own music now. I have no idea how. But watch as I roll around in the luxury of almost 200 more prims.
*rolls rolls rolls rolls*
Um, so I've ticked off a few people with my blog posts during the past couple of days. That was not my intention. I'm sorry our opinions differ, but that's what makes this virtual world a beautiful place . . . right?
Another reason why I've been so grumpy is that my camera controls have been completely screwed up and I didn't realize I could fix them. I upgraded to the new SL viewer and suddenly everything looked like this:
Yeah, zoomed in tight to the back of my head. I couldn't see where I was going. It was giving me a throbbing headache. I've actually been running around like this for days.
THANK GOD I finally bitched about it to the lovely Sai Pennell of the most awesome store Imperial Elegance. She bopped me on my fat, close-up head and told me to adjust my Camera settings in Preferences.
(Preferences! What a concept!!)
BTW, I love that hair so much, I want to lick it. I got it from JE*REPUBLIC at Hair Fair. It's called Claire, in Cocoa. I'd never tried JE*REPUBLIC hair before. I'm glad I did.
I guess I'll wrap up this post by proclaiming,
"I found a new pose in Fluffy the Bunny!"
(Preferences! What a concept!!)
BTW, I love that hair so much, I want to lick it. I got it from JE*REPUBLIC at Hair Fair. It's called Claire, in Cocoa. I'd never tried JE*REPUBLIC hair before. I'm glad I did.
I guess I'll wrap up this post by proclaiming,
"I found a new pose in Fluffy the Bunny!"
That's hot. Watch for us in the next Stiletto Moody ad campaign. (Where are my eyes???)
You ain't ghetto if you're wearin' Stiletto.©
9 comments:
I wrote a very long comment on SLNN a while ago, who had a 3-page long interview (read: PR piece) on Stiletto Moody about a year ago. There were some other quite interesting comments on that thread too, claiming that the person behind SM does not actually design the shoes himself, but have it done by some sweat shop 3D artists in Asia.
Unfortunately SLNN is no more, so my comment is lost.
What SM very successfully did was create a brand. Their shoes - while good - are actually not THAT cutting edge high quality as you may think. There are quite some shoe designers who give better quality at much lower prices. What you buy at SM are not shoes, but membership of an in-group, membership in the "I can afford SM" clan.
That worked very well until the release of generation 2 shoes. The gen 2 shoes where not a big advancement over the previous model, in fact many people were disappointed. However the gen2 shoes where another BIG advancement on the pricing. The usual fangirls rushed forward and bought them and almost hysterically blogged them, but then the first critical voices started up, and soon the blogs were full of people criticizing SM and basically laughing at the early adopters.
Before that incident, SM was a "secret tip". They were known, but not mainstream, and owning SM actually DID mean you belong to an elite class in SL. Gen2 shoes changed that, with Gen2 shoes SM became mainstream, but still giving the aura of being exclusive. And all the Gossipgirls of SL who could afford a few thousand flocked to SM and bought Gen2 shoes, only to get told by influential blogs a week later that they got ripped off and that SM is boring mainstream by now. Basically, greed on behalf of SM ruined a very, very good marketing strategy. If you want to be exclusive, don't aim for mainstream. And if you aim for mainstream, look for a balance between price and product.
In my comment on SLNN I predicted that after this PR desaster SM will take a low profile for a long time, before coming out with something more reasonably priced and better quality again. Well, I was right with the "long time" part. I obviously also was right with the "better quality" part. I was not right with the "reasonably priced" part, but then again almost a year has passed and the supply of fresh exclusiveness-seekers has renewed itself.
Anyways, everybody is free to decide for themselves whether something is worth for them or not. My personal opinion is that neither the design nor the craftsmanship is worth such an outrageous price. And I personally think that membership in the "I can afford SM" clan is not worth the price either. Your mileage can (and obviously does) vary though.
I only bought SM shoes once and it was three pairs in one sitting. I came home from wine night in RL and did some drunk SL shopping. And boy I had major beer goggles cause the next day I was like wtf did I buy? LOL.
@Peter - I am with you on this. They were on their way to becoming a word of mouth brand a la Armidi but the price was too much for mainstream, IMHO. I guess also the concept of "hey I am one of the cool kids if I wear SM" also was a downer for me personally.
Lizzie had never worn SM but Elizabeth did and she was very disappointed with her purchase. See at that time SM was not offering Demos and if Elizabeth had tried the demos she probably would not have purchased. This was close to a year ago and Elizabeth still has not fallen for the prim feet rage largely because they creep her out. She did buy one pair of aohuro (or however its spelled) and was so irritated with trying to match the color to her skin she trashed them. Plus they creeped her out, LOL.
You got in!!! \o/
Tomorrow I'm posting more close-up shots of my ankles. I finally examined my shoes with bare legs and I'm having a hard time - despite the three size options in each package and the resizing scripts -- getting these "feet" to actually line up seamlessly with my legs. I'm pretty sure I'll only be wearing them with pants. :(
And if the shoes are on a fake foot, why is my fake foot still "eating" some of the "leather" wrap-around straps?
Anyway, stay tuned tomorrow.
I'm an early adopter in SL. If someone is buzzing about something and if it fits my budget, I'll buy it and check it out. I'll also give you the straight skinny on what I -- the average consumer -- thinks about it though.
I tip my hat to the many options that come with the upgraded shoes -- at least four pages of nail polish colors, charms and what foot to wear them on, a variety of toe rings, the Backup Bag, etc. I just hated the fact that you had to pay extra to take the shoes to this higher level. Because really, what's the point of paying $2,195L for some shoes if you don't even get the remarkable extras? Yes, the workmanship is gorgeous but . . . $2K? I'm not a content creator, so I don't know.
They're pretty, but I think my heart still belongs to Maitreya and Shiny Things. And when I saw the ragtag bunch of women with their thuglike sugar daddies in the store yesterday, I don't know. This statement will continue to put me in the "You suck, you snob!" category, but it looked like the Wal-Mart crowd was raiding a Louboutin sale.
Nothing against the Wal-Mart crowd. I just think the luxury market that the brand touts itself on cornering has been compromised. I don't think the brand can claim to be luxury anymore -- the workmanship is gorgeous, but yesterday I saw a lot of greased-up club rats who, yeah Peter, really didn't seem that interested in the quality -- they mainly wanted to crow that they got a pair. And they did so in open chat, which bugged me.
*said the girl who just wrote a blog post crowing that she got a pair*
I joke with that fake "it ain't ghetto" slogan because usually when I see those shoes on the grid, the women who are wearing them are dressed in the most gawd-awful outfits I've ever seen. And I try really hard to keep an open mind about fashion and have proclaimed in this blog before that people should be able to dress however they want in peace -- but sometimes, as in this case and with my Fourth of July post -- I have to open my mouth and say, "YIKES."
have you cleared your cache recently? yeah i know that's the age old LL question for anything wrong.. but i've learned that after being in severely primmy laggy stores or with my draw distance up pretty high, a good cache flush helps make sculpties pop quicker...
if that doesn't help, perhaps try one of the good thirdparty viewers.. you know there is even one called emerald :p
on the topic of SM's shoes.. i own two pair.. both were bought for me by friends for my birthday last year, and i never wear them! i have such a small (short not thin) shape that i look like a little girl wearing mummy's pumps. its rediculous and they are not resizable :/
these shoes sound like a waste of money tbh.. though i get the urge to own them, as it makes you look like you are in a high class status or something >_> i can think of better things to spend over 3k on than one pair of shoes.
I joined the group after my friends started talking about an upcoming sale. Stayed in long enough to purchase the only pair of really nice black heels I own (chain strap). Waited to see if he gave a Christmas present to his group (he didn't). And left.
They must have been Gen 1 - 400 L on a 50% off sale.
Heidi says:
Oh they do demos now? About fraking time! Still won't buy them, though. I will be damned if I help SM laugh all the way to the bank. Overpriced & a ripoff if you have to purchase stuff extra to have options. Little hint: loads of other shoe designers out there make prim feet/toes that include options with the original purchase.
I like these series too.They are essential if you have a style blog:)
I’m agree with Linsdey about trendy shoes i mean if you wanna follow budget and have limited budget like me discount stores are musts.
I haven’t buy online shoes yet but when i see those beautiful shoes on net i always want to.
Reference
http://www.treds.co.uk/manufacturer/skechers/87/1
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