I shop, therefore I am...broke that is.

This would have to be one of my most favorite styling results of all my attempts. Possibly because I had so much fun after purchasing the gorgeous pale blue jacket from Chantkare, teleporting to all my haunts looking for just the right pieces to go with it. Well what I think are the right pieces. Lots of lovely new designs at Chantkare so go look...go...go.

I immediately had it in my mind to create something with white and was stuck on finding a mini-dress no longer than the jacket.

I was like a squirrel foraging for nuts until I hit DeLa and found 'Angela', a suede mini-dress in white. Walking around DeLa, I found these amazing shoes called 'Grace'...hehe...Amazing Grace.

This outfit is actually a Chantkare and DeLa fusion and I'm thrilled with it. That's what I love about styling an outfit using different pieces from different designers. There is an element of creativity involved in the choices that you make.

Now I would like to ask, no PLEAD, with designers to make their pant/under-pant layer modifiable. With avatar heights so varied, I am always left frustrated when I purchase something, particularly dresses, where the glitch pant layer is seen poking from the dress/skirt because they are too long. It's such a simple thing to rectify and negates the need to forage through my inventory trying to find something else that might work. Also, I'd like to see more attention given to the quality of the seams on glitch pants. How many times do you put them on and find that the length at the inner and outer thigh are markedly different or at the inner thigh the texture is all smudgy and uneven? I'm not usually a whinger but this is one part of an outfit that is often neglected but can mean the difference between looking great or throwing the whole thing in the trash.

In case you want to know:

Hair base: Vanity Hair.
Hair: Puka in Essence color by Vanity Hair.
Skin: Elena in Pale tone by LAQ.
Eyes: Icy by WAP.
Jacket: Lesley Sweater Tunic in Sky by Chantkare.
Hair flower: Kusum in Soft White by Chantkare.
Dress: Angela Suede Mini-dress in White by DeLa.
Shoes: Grace in White by DeLa.
Bag: Dudu Clutch in White from DeLa.
Earrings: From UnTone (sadly no longer operating).
Bangles: Metallic Tres in Silver by Armidi.
Poses: Exposeur Poses.
Location: Pleasure.

The Empress Butterfly by My Precious.

This stunning gown is another gem from Agnes Finney's My Precious label. I always have a slight attack of nerves before I attempt to style and capture her work because I want to do it justice. I never think I do but nonetheless, I try.

I have come to appreciate her attention to detail, amazing use of texture and her ability to make her outfits float and dance when moving. As the outfit is non-modify, you'll need to wear your little skirt shape to avoid splitting the system skirt but once on, it fits like a glove. Chalice is the tallest one can be in SL and if I don't pop on my narrow sparrow hip shape, I can split the textures of some skirts. The dress itself is simple and elegant while it is the bow and skirt attachments that bring this outfit to life.

Less was more in terms of accessories so just wore these lovely long earrings from Glow Studio that dust the shoulders. Some quality prim nails from je suis in a complimentary pink hue, the new amazing pale glow skin from LAQ and this new release do from Miamai called Kana and I'm done.

I have fallen in love with Di Hoorenbeek's poses from Di's Opera particularly her Fatale series. They come with cigarette's for that Marlene Dietrich feel but let me assure you, these are only herbal fags. Honestly officer, I'm smoking oregano.

My selection LM's:
Hair & Base: Kana in Brown by Miamai
Skin: Elena Glow in Pale tone by LAQ
Eyes: Adorable Series in Opal by PixelDolls
Dress: Butterfly Empress by Agnes Finney - My Precious
Nails: Pink range by je suis
Earrings: White Dreams by Glow Studio
Poses & Cigarette: By Di's Opera (Fatale series)

Photoshopped: Yes
Item provided by designer: Yes

Very Berry Christmas by Sascha's Designs

Finally I've had a moment to present this gorgeous number from Sascha's Designs appropriately titled Very Berry Christmas. Wear this and Santa's gonna empty his sack in your bed on Christmas night make no mistake. He won't worry about whether you've been naughty or nice, he'll just deliver.

A glorious mix of sequins and rich red material, Very Berry Christmas comes with an array of skirt styles from figure hugging to one where you can fit Santa and his reindeer underneath and still have room to hide the pressies.

Click pics for a better view.

I personally think this is one of Sascha's best ever gowns and the color, well it's stunning.

It needs nothing more than great hair, a pair of elegant earrings and of course, you. Brilliant Sascha.

Hair: Volcano in blond from LAQ.
Hair Base: Blond (Milky Glow) from LAQ (made for Glow skins)
Skin: Claudia 2 Milky Glow from LAQ.
Eyeliner: Tattoo layer from Miamai.
Lashes: Tattoo layer from Miamai.
Dress: Very Berry Christmas from Sascha's Designs.
Shoes: Cherie Xtreme Heels from NCore in Red.

I LAQ Nothing Today

I had a lovely little spend up at Laqroki last night. I thought I would try out the new Glow skins and I must say, I really liked them and purchased Claudia 2. I couldn't go past the hair bases designed specifically for the Glow range and of course, I had to have the LAQ hair attachments too. Then I meandered around the clothes shop and was compelled to buy the gorgeous white trench coat and boots. I must advise though that the boots do not have a resizing script so you will have to do this manually through edit. I did it and if I can, you can. The Laqroki hair attachments are stunning let me tell you. Only a small range in blond but their darker hairs are amazing and all are of excellent quality. I have sent a message to LAQ's designer, Miss Mallory Cowen, to see if she could make more hairs in blond...I ADORE THEM MALLORY.

The bag and scarf are gifts from Septem Essentials and are well worth the trip to pick them up. Septem have a fabulous range of bags and clutches so you might walk out with less money than when you walked in.

Now for these pics I used the shadow option in Viewer 2.2. I want to direct you to Dancien Graves' post in Shopping Cart Disco on tinkering with your video card graphic settings to improve SL's stability and performance. I swear since doing this, SL has never run better for me and I'm using 2.2. Thanks Dancien for sharing. I'm enjoying SL like I used to. The best thing I did was let go of Viewer 1.23. It was an anchor that was dragging me down and now that I've done a little research, it appears that it's no wonder...its becoming incompatible. I tend to stay with SL viewers rather than TPV's so it was important for me to find solutions and I have. Viewer 2.2 is the bomb for me and I couldn't be happier.

Here's the links to the designers:
Skin: Claudia 2 in Milky tone from LAQ
Hair Base and Eyebrows: Blond in Milky tone from LAQ
Hair Attachment: HB Updo #1 tone in Blond from LAQ (more more)
Eyes: Dazzling Ice Blue from LAQ
Lashes: LesMakeup Lashes from Miamai
Jacket: White Trench from LAQ
Boots: White Knee High Boots from LAQ
Leggings: Python designed by sayaaKa Boa
Bag and Scarf: Mono Dot by Septem Essentials (free gift)
Poses: exposeur (great poses)

Yes...this definitely is a LAQ look.