A Week of Top-Fives: Day Three, Long Boots

My ode to the long boot could last for days. I love them, revere them and have a real problem with restraining myself from buying them whenever I see them, even if I already have a pair that's pretty similar. They're all just so awesome!

I had a hell of a time picking boots out for this post. I wanted to show a lot more, but I limited myself to stiletto-heeled long boots only.

J's is a master when it comes to working the prims, and the texturing is always amazingly well-done. He told me not so long ago that he doesn't like to advertise himself, he only likes to make shoes. So besides his own update group, his only real form of advertisement is his amazing workmanship and killer options, like colour-change menus on the fatpacks, so you only have to have one pair in your inventory, not 12.

When the new incarnation of the Bax Prestige boots came out, I was in heaven, and they were my introductory post on this very blog. The best thing about these boots, besides the gorgeous texturing and amazing sculpty work, is the awesome features. When you buy them, they come boxed. You can unbox them in the store, and then either fit them yourself (because they are designed to fit very tightly to your leg) or have one of the very friendly store staff help you with the cool remote script system. Once you have one pair fitted perfectly to your shape, you can unbox any others you may have purchased and the store will automatically recognize you and ask if you'd like to use the last settings! Once you say yes, your boots will automatically fit to you like a glove. That, and the tonal colour change menu makes every Linden spent well worth it.

SLink's Sydney boots are beautiful works of architectural wonderment. I tried to imagine how I could ever wear these in real life, and I decided I can't. I'd love to, but I'd fall flat on my face. Luckily, my avatar doesn't have the same problem and she can happily prance around in these all day, and dance around all night.

YourSkin & YourShape is a store that's fairly new to me, never having heard of them before hosting them at the shoe fair this year. I can't imagine how I ever lived without them though, because their stock is absolutely amazing. The Big Sur boots come in lots of colours, and they'll go with anything from your favourite pair of jeans (hello Decoy, my ass loves you!) to a cute little dress.

Tesla is a big name in footwear, and there's little reason to wonder why. The Angelina boots were one of those purchases that I absolutely had to make, even though I have other boots that are similar (except for the fun laces detail at the back). Of course they're resizable and you can find a colour and look to suit whatever you're wearing.

Stick with me for heels tomorrow!

Shoe Shopping: Then & Now

Just a quick post in response to Sophia Harlow's challenge to take a look at our avatars when we were younglings and compare that to how we look now. Naturally I was always a stylish chick from day one! My RL big sister (by 3 minutes) Ketsy, rescued me from Orientation Island and had me made over within 2 hours.

Some of my first shoes in SL were from Sylphie's Prim Seduction, and lo and behold, here I am in early 2007 shopping in style at Sylphie's wearing a great dress from Ivalde. Gotta love that retro girl look! Fast forward to present day, still hanging out in the shoe stores, this time it's Stiletto Moody. Gotta love how far shoes have come since then... and skins, and hair, etc. Thanks Sophia, this was a fun one!

Hello Heavy Heels!

New, or soon to be released at Periquita, the Hello Heavy Heels by Erpla Prieto. Funny story about Erpla, when her avatar was very new to designing in SL, she stopped me while I was wandering around Fashion Mode 2 (Anyone remember that place?) and asked if I would look at a shoe she had sculpted. She had no clue who I was, and I told her I would be happy to look at them. They were a bit rough, but even back then I loved the playful quality and color so much that I encouraged her to try selling them, and sent her off to Retrology to get a very small stall in the Obscure Finds Flea Market. I then sat back and watched her creations get better and better, and I am so glad to be able to share her latest with you.

OK, so about these Hello Heavy Heels, another very quirky and cute pump, this one with a very distinct curled heel. The shoes are scripted to let you mix and match heel and main body shades, or even wear them as a full black pump. And yeah my hair is a bit out there, it's a new one from booN, but that one hanging curl felt so right with these fun shoes.

Visit Periquita here or at her big fancy Retrology Shop!

The stuff; Shoes - Periquita Hello Happy Heels, Skin - LeLutka Estelle, Hair - booN WAW635, Dress - !DADA! Vinyl Dress, Socks - Corduroy Knee highs, Ring - Donna Flora, Bracelets - Mezzo.

A Week of Top-Fives: Day Two, Ankle Boots

I used to not really be a fan of ankle boots. I don't know why exactly, but if I couldn't wear it up to my knees or under trousers, they weren't for me. I don't know what I was thinking though! I love them. I love that ankle boots can be anything from ankle skimming impossibly high-heeled wonders of modern shoe architecture to the most casual laid-back comfy sock extensions (though those will be featured on a different day!)

LeLutka's Shavon boots were released very recently, along with their Ultra fashion collection. A platform boot available in many many colours, these are amazingly gorgeously textured and executed. I hope they come out with similar under-knee boots ;)

Kookie came out with the Athena ankle boots at the start of the shoe fair, and they quickly took the grid by storm, or at least the blogging community. Every detail, from the seam down the front centre of the boot to the small chain holding the dangling K (for Kookie!) is perfection.

The Kalnins Fall ankle boots are really well-detailed with tons of cool features, one being that they are a flat rate price, and colour scripted with around a dozen textures, and the main body, the sole and the straps can all be different. So there are endless possibilities there. The texturing is really good as well, though you'd probably have to be into metallics to love them.

I'd never been to G-Field before the shoe fair this year, and omg I was totally missing out! The Ribbon Boots are so so cute with the contrasting colour behind the ribbon and bow, and the texturing is sublime. These are obviously not meant to be worn under pants, so show them off!

Coco's fast becoming one of my favourite places to shop, with so many different looks and styles that anyone could find their new favourite in. The Zipper Booties are but just one of the many kinds of shoes. These are definitely meant to show off too, and not just hide under pants.

Stay tuned for long boots tomorrow!

A Week of Top-Fives: Day One, Sneakers

I was going to do this on my blog, as part of my week of favourites, but you know what? Shoes are way too important in my SLife to only pick five pairs. I mean, I can pick five in each *category* of my shoe inventory, and I could not figure out how I'd ever narrow that down. Then I had a brainwave and I decided that instead of doing only five on my blog, I could do five in each of seven categories, every day of the week on this blog! See how the cheater of her own blogging rules will justify herself, not to mention getting around those aforementioned rules?

Anyhow....

Today we're going to look at sneakers. Before I show you any, it should be noted that most of these are a blatant ripoff of shoes found IRL. People can debate the morality and legality of that all they like, but I'm not getting into it here.


These are Akeyo's Low-Rise Chucks. I've had these forever, but I still love them so much. There's other versions, I know, and they're probably great. But even *I* try not to buy shoes from different people that are like virtually the same (when it comes to sneakers, anyhow). What I love about these is that I can have the laces open or closed. And these are scripted to colour-change as well.


Hoorenbeek Nylon Trainers are fairly obvious as to their inspiration, but it's pretty cool that I can own them in both RL and SL. These come in a bajillion colours, though sadly not in a colour-changeable fatpack variety. They are scripted for resizing though.

The Soreal Superstars were one of my favourite releases last year, and in fact I got them just before I went on hiatus, just in time to feature them for something I wrote. Though I can't actually remember where I featured them (it was on my blog or in Second Style magazine), I do remember squeeing with delight when I got them. These are fully scripted for colour-changing and sizing, and I absolutely love the slightly beat-up look they've got.


Urban Bomb Unit was for a long time *the* place to get these real life replicas, the Porn Stars, no one else really made them. While there are others now, and they're great, the Porn Stars somehow manage to stay at the top of the heap.


A new kid on the block, 2Real Okelli of 2Real has released his first pair of shoes, the aptly-named Diagonals. They come in lots of colours and designs too, and they're very well done. He's self-taught as well, which is really impressive. This is definitely an up-and-comer to watch.

Stay tuned for my post tomorrow on ankle boots!

Nardcotix for the New Year!

A couple of quick hits from Nardcotix today, hard to believe that this is my final post for 2009! Nardya Rousellot has just released a fantastic basic pump in 20 great shades and there is a special pre-release of the Nuria MaryJanes to accompany a great look from DCNY Clothing Co. too!

The Nuria MaryJanes (in Black & White) were sent to me for a peek weeks ago, and I had forgotten all about them until I was shooting some ads for DCNY, they were a perfect match with the new outfit so I contacted Nardya to release the preview pair at the DCNY Store today, to correspond with the release of the Madelene Outfit. Yay!



Also, responding to a special request from a customer, Nardya has released the Rebekah Pumps, a simple and perfect heel, in 20 gorgeous colors. You get both a colored heel and a black heeled version of the shoes in each pack, 2 pairs for the price of one, fantastic! You can find these goodies at the Nardcotix Main Store located here.


Have a fantastic New Year's Eve, and don't forget to visit DCNY to get the Nuria Shoes, additional colors will be made available soon, but for now the only place to get them is at the DCNY Main Store on Xalapa, here.

The Stuff:

Look 1 - Skin: LeLutka, Hair/Hat: Maitreya, Outfit: DCNY Clothing Co., Ring: Donna Flora.

Look 2 - Skin: LeLutka, Hair Pieces: booN (custom modified), Dress/Tights: Oyakin for Designers United, Earrings & Ring: Donna Flora.

Some LeLutka and Designers United

Today LeLutka designer, Minnu Palen, sent over the updated footwear collections first seen on the LeLutka ULTRA Runway. The Saffron Pumps and the Shavon Ankle Boots have both been seen on this blog before, but now I have the full range of colors to play with, and there are just so many, particularly in the Saffrons, that I could never really show them all... you will need to go see these for yourself.


The Saffron Pumps are those super tall stilettos with the built in platform for an extra high punch. They come in an amazing number of colors you will have a very hard time choosing between; Neutrals, Soft Colors, Two-toned and Electric brights. I even mixed and matched my brights to suit the amazing Dada Aurelia leggings from the set available for a limited time from Designers United.


Designers United was really the fashion source for much of what you see in this post, the colors and quality seemed to pair so well with this footwear. The corset of the incredible Veschi creation, Veschi-ville by Alla Ruff, pairs perfectly with the two-toned Saffrons in Terracotta and Brown. Moving on to the Shavon boots, I simply could not resist this fabulousness from Runo Runo, '5 Minutes to Curtain', and the Pearl leather boots seemed a great match.


Finally, my long romance with corsets emerged and I grabbed up this beautiful 'Dancer by Day' Dress from Twosome. Instead of the long bustled skirt it came with, I chose the ruffled pantalettes that are meant to be worn under the Vaudeville Dress by Oyakin, to go with the amazing Olive shade of the ankle boots.

Visit LeLutka for Footwear (release on 12/29) and Designers United for Fashions.

The Stuff;

All Footwear - LeLutka

All Skins - LeLutka Estelle (Sunkissed & Light)

All Hair & Hair Pieces - booN

All Poses - EverGlow

Look 1 - !DADA! 'Aurelia' for Designers United, Accessories by U&R Dogs.

Look 2 - Runo Runo '5 Minutes to Curtain' for Designers United, Ring by U&R Dogs.
Look 3 - Veschi 'Veschi-ville' for Designers United, Hosiery by Battered Boudoir.
Look 4 - Twosome 'Dancer by Day' & Oyakin 'Vaudeville Dress' both for Designers United, Earrings by Paper Couture, Garter Socks by Pig (tinted darker.)

(click on images to expand.)