...is now the two hours' traffic of our stage...

how does the saying go? all the world is a stage? i like to think so. i was in a re-enactment society for about 10ish years in my previous existence, and i have been lucky enough to have visited the reproduction elizabethan theater in austin at castleton. i loved the contrast of the simplicity of it with the garb people were wearing. and so when i put on this most theatrical of outfits i immediately thought of my old real life garb, and of the absence of scenery that would distract from the magnificence of juana's attire. i like the illusory nature of it all. that and cross-dressing boys. it is kind of like second life, no?



ok, that's a stretch. but i do have a bit of an affinity or a soft spot at least for that sort of thing.  when i was ain the SCA i wore ruffs and an awful lot of black. which is why when i saw this outfit from grim bros/cutea benelli i flipped out. 

it is most definitely a gothic lolita dress but when i first saw it, especially the way she styled it, the delicate looking filigree-like collar immediately reminded of a ruff supportasse, along with the general spanish saya alta looking high neck and the cage crinoline skirt.  And the incredibly detailed optional spine attachment reminded me very much of a standing wired veil.  i was in raging mad love with this dress just based on the sheer deathly exuberance of the details and the decidedly elizabethan flavor.  every item on the gown is incredible.  and as always there are optional pieces to mix and match. the spine attachment and bustle skirt were my favorites. i did modify the gown a little with other pieces from different designers for the first look.

juana dramatica wears:
pensees noires gown set by grim bros/cutea benelli
steampunk'd cloisonne corset, bone collector collar, and mourna skin by nomine
gloves by sweetest goodbye
mad lilly hair ebony by i love 13
lucy hair by magika
37 hair by W&Y
thigh high boots by j's
aura parasol by violent seduction
to live and to die tattoos by bakersfield kidd
skull nose ring by avz
hair rose by gfield

at blackfriars theater http://slurl.com/secondlife/Shakespeare/20/63/45 listening to too much sand on headphones by mobster download at: http://www.jamendo.com/

at siyu suen's masque of the dead.....

....a special merveilleuse report. :)

Siyu Suen has the most insanely fabulous parties.  not only does she dj divinely but she also has hit on a very brilliant method to keep lag down--when you attend one of her parties (masked and in formal clothes) you must keep your prim count at 200 prims or less.  it sounds mad, but i do believe it causes unbelievable creativity in the ensembles that are worn.  and trust me, the people who go (myself not included) are fierce slfashion titans!




i tried to get a few little films in of the remarkable scene--every single person looked unique and distinctive.  truly there were too many to count. but at the end of the fray, the ball had its king in carthalis rossini, who did a splendid interpretation of baron samedi in a nomine sugar skull skin, and also the three queens, who were mabb dilwegg, who looked amazing carrying her decapitated head as a zombie marie antoinette, and the incredible twin duo of mourna biziou and achariya maktoum, who were twin creepy broken dolls.




i think the brilliance of the company speaks for itself, i only hope i was able to catch a bit of the amazing scene that unfolded last night.....

i only wish to add here at the end, what i wore.  i found a somewhat expensive but really innovative store, called violator.  i suspect people already know about it, but when i saw this dress i knew i must have it.  and so i must show it to you, because i love it.....




juana's masquerade gown:
(abridged) @192 prims:
death of the black swan dress by violator
aztec gold bracelets by otaku designs
skull mask
hair rose by gfield
mary jane shoes by violent seduction
burnt bones skin by nomine
skull ear spikes by mad about
visions of death eyes by rotten toe
hair by deviant kitties

(unabridged version, which what is pictured above):
death of the black swan dress by violator
aztec gold bracelets by otaku designs
hair rose by gfield
bonus cruelty skin by cutea benelli
mayan dream tats by garden of kuu (tinted red)
skull ear spikes by mad about
visions of death eyes by rotten toe
bax boots
hair by deviant kitties

when mythologies collide.....

occasionally it makes me laugh to imagine juana as being a dark and sinister fashionista follower of the old gods, prowling the landscapes of second life looking for noobs to sacrifice, to keep up her outfit juju.  hey, stranger things have happened. so juana got dressed to kill in one of the new nomine sugar skull skins (throws self on ground in manic abasement and worship of the divine munchflower z.) and went out to look for sacrificial victims for her obscene and deadly fashion rites.




but there is a slight problem with this ho-hum rummaging for sacrificial noobs. this creepy little town......is inhabited by an inescapable horrendous terrible horror the likes of which nobody has ever seen! (and if they did see it they'd go mad!) now, at this point i am thinking that if this little scenario wasn't ever made as a santo film, then it really should have been.  (i did google santo vs. the great old ones just to be sure) though actually i would rather have masked takenouchi from cromartie high school in the movie. or at least dress poor juana like him.

apart from these little technical difficulties, now is the time on merveilleuse where we gush about the fashion. and i admit to falling in love with sangre noir, though i first was introduced to this designer when i bought the most adorable dia de los muertos neko set from subtle submission.  i love the way this outfit moves.  also i can't say enough how much i adore bakersfield kidd's tattoos (they aren't for sale anymore which is why i love them even more).  also, cutea benelli, in her infinite goddesslike wisdom has made the most perfect set of sacrificial shoes ever. they are literally stiletto blades impaling severed hearts. <3<3<3!

sugar skull in innsmouth juana wears:

sugar skull skin 3 by nomine
to live and to die tattoos by bakersfield kidd
sangre noir 2 by sangre noir
skull choker and earrings by mad about
bloody bonehead bracelets by retox
obsidian blade by cortech
heartsnatcher stillettos by grim bros/cutea benelli
anzu kuromame hair by ay.line
hair rose wine by gfield
visions of death eyes by rotten toe

in innsmouth sim
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Innsmouth/128/130/25
listening to
Krios- Illa Tiðandi (Burzum cover)

the undead quinceanera

it's october....and therefore the obsession with the dead continues. as i was trying on the new Skinny Winnie Zombie Bride dress by Grim Bros/Cutea Benelli, i started laughing for a moment. i didn't laugh at the dress--far from it. this dress is by far my favorite of the bone dresses Cutea Benelli makes--i love how it is bony but also very gauzy and light looking too. what made me laugh was it reminded me very much of the dress i wore for my quinceanera.

the idea of a pre hispanic death goddess as a quinceanera struck me as insanely funny, and i thought it might be hilarious to go to one of those romantic smooth jazz ballrooms and hang out. and so i did.  the people there at the ballroom were actually quite kind, and didn't seem to notice my attire. i was wondering if i was being teased because someone was addressing another person as "skull" but that ended up being one of the avatars' first name.




even so, nobody wanted to dance with me. *sniffs*. 

skinny winnie the zombie's bride & belle morte shoes by grim bros/cutea benelli
wild woman hair by miasnow
mayan dream (tinted) by garden of kuu
crossed out clown skin
skull ear spikes by mad about
hair rose wine by gfield
necromantic crown by violent seduction

at sweethearts jazz club

listening to smooth jazz all stars "heart of a woman (r. kelly cover and tribute)" *snicker*

mi novia

it is the first day of october. and it begins my most favorite time of the year.....that lasts till nov 3rd.   by now  you all know that i am obsessed with pre-hispanic culture, and at this time of year i am even more obsessed by la catrina, the female dandy skeleton and symbol of the day of the dead.  to me she is more than just a symbol, but also in my opinion a living link to ancient mesoamerican death goddesses.  she has been called many names, this "lady of the land of the dead," and i strongly suspect that she is still being worshiped in the modern cult of santa muerte.

it made me wonder....if jose guadalupe posada improbably came back from the dead and managed to break into the dreamworld of second life, (maybe as a skeleton avatar), he'd probably have a ton of things to lampoon.   and in this same spirit i thought to myself, if la catrina was going to be in second life and ultra fashionable, she might very well come back incarnated as a goth loli.

 i was aided in this little exercise in vanity and clothes-madness by the *cue screaming fangirls* ever magnificent munchflower zaius, who made this incredible skin and gave it to me as a gift (stops typing to throw myself to the ground grovelling).  i also went mad when i saw this incredible dress, the Aura dress from Violent Seduction.  likewise the shoes from Cutea Benelli/Grim bros are freaking amazing....

gothloli la catrina juana wears:


Sugar Skulls & Roses Upper & Lower Body tattoos (black and white)
Aura set by Violent Seduction
Charmant Raven sleeves, top, and pantaloons by Nightshade Blacklist
lollo estremista ballet heels by Grim Bros
Alice black hair by Deviant Kitties
Trophy hat no. 2- The SkullCake by i love 13
Gypsy hoop earrings and Sugar Skull necklace by Kunstkammer
fascinator paris 1 hat by Nonna Hedges
Sylvan China White sugar skull skin (custom--a gift from munchflower <3 *fangirl* ) by Nomine

bona lolita drag

i <3 drag queens. i mean, really. i respect and admire them tons, and cherish the fond thought that if i had been born male, with my same personality, then i'd actually try to be a drag queen.
that being said...





...i'd been shopping and stopped by one of my fave places, nightshade designs. they had the Charmant/Charmante set, a girl and a boy outfit. being the perverse person i am i thought to put girl juana in the boy outfit and boy juana in the girl dress. besides which, the girl's outfit is lolita, and who is the most uber lolita of them all? mana of course.....so i just ended up getting sidetracked with leandro in drag, so juana's debut in man drag will have to be in another post. :)

charmante juana wears: charmante set raven by nightshade designs trophy hat by i <3 thirteen opheliac skin & necromantic bloomers by violent seduction alice hair by deviant kitties lollo estremista ballet heels by grim bros sugar skulls & roses tattoos by otaku designs loud brown eyes by artilleri	charmant leandro wears: charmante set raven by nightshade designs scorpio revelation skin by lower lip spike punk by PopFuzz buddy glasses by Gudshu glasses trophy hat by i <3 thirteen necromantic bloomers by violent seduction alice hair by deviant kitties sugar skulls & roses tattoos by otaku designs gothico boots by grim bros loud brown eyes by artilleri

graveyard heart

ah, cutea benelli...she just totally makes the most amazing things...

now perhaps if i can bribe her to make a tiny one to put in the forehead? a la frida kahlo?

the bereaved juana wears:

dollarbie pet cemetery hat by split pea (in the new elliott sim)
peppa hair by diversity hair
cruelty skin and inner graveyard heart by cutea benelli/grim bros
avalost dress by nomine
corded neck corset by ru
murder ballet gloves by snatch
skull ear spikes by mad about
hair rose wine by gfield
mayan dream tattoos (tinted red) by garden of ku
creepy eyes by negriposi

violent seduction

this little industrious fit is due to my unaccustomed leisure....while bored and circling flickr i came across the proprietress of a place called violent seduction. naturally i am like the last person to know about it. but still.

she was wearing an outfit featuring a version of an anatomical cameo corset. this of course is a quite famously done piece, with examples in real life, and in mourna biziou's iconic blog post. but i like it precisely because it is a different spin, and the bone cage crinoline skirt is really a fabulous idea.

i was also sold on the bone tiara as well. and oddly enough when i changed the red tinted tattoos and cutea benelli's cruelty skin carried over, and they seemed to look just fine. so i just left it like that.

anatomical juana wears:

necromantic dress (tiara too) by violent seduction
cruelty skin and dia de los muertos platforms by cutea benelli/grim bros
peppa hair black by diversity hair
skull nose piercing by avz
his embrace gloves by self expressions
bloody rawbones bracelets by retox
mayan dream tattoos by garden of ku (tinted red)

the sim where the store is located is absolutely adorable. its creepy yes, but lolita creepy. which means childishly bloodthirstily kawaii.

it is made to shop, with inviting little areas full of gorgeous stuff. i wanted to buy everything of course but i restrained myself. i did get a different outfit, and a skin.

i am very fond of cage crinolines. i have worn hoopskirts many a time in my earlier SCA days, and to me the caged ones are like the skeletons of hoopskirts. and so it makes me giggle to be wearing their remains.

i did however pass on the top. and while fiddling around for accessories stumbled on a cool outfit by un jour that seemed to go pretty well with this ensemble. another plus--the skin came with a notecard that had a preset specifically for the skin. oooo. chichi.

ero loli juana wears:

ero loli outfit and the rise of lolita ophelia skin by violent seduction
la vie n'es qu'une comedie hat, gloves, stockings, and choker by un jour
murder ballet top by snatch
autumn chignon by bp
mayan dream tattoos (tinted red) by garden of ku
skull nose piercing by avz
boots by j's boots

perhaps next time i will pay more attention and actually accessorize a little better. :)

cruelty

i am on vacation....and of course this means i am just doing what i want...all day :)



and so today i indulged myself a little. not to mention the fact that one of my fave designers had this amazing dress and skin out. its so freaking majestic....she had quoted les liaisons dangereuses as captions to her images of the dress. it reminded me of what a medici queen might wear...that and coupled with the amusing conversation i had with m. lippmann about a village of homicidal hungarian wives made me die laughing. and so i looked for a palace, because although its bone, it is a very regal outfit.

to my amusement the palace i found had a wedding chapel. i won't go off what i think of SL "marriage" but suffice to say i was in a very entertained state the whole time i was there.

the remorseful juana borgia wears:

cruelty set (and skin) & belle mort shoes by cutea benelli/grim bros
his embrace burgundy gloves and stockings by self expressions
dreads purple by bp
skull nose piercing by avz
mayan dream tattoos (tinted red) by garden of ku

in an unknown french wedding chapel sim listening to
"hildegarde on ice" from the secret garden project

fortuitous steampunk cinderella

it is amazing when a series of perfectly timed coincidences happen in a series...i suppose technically the word for this is synchronicity...



right now its my mania, and i have just gotten tickets to see abney park in dallas. and how eerily the sim seemed to match, though it was mostly brazilians there, and unfortunately i could only very faintly understand the outrageous flirting that seemed to be taking place.

steampunk cinderjuana wears:

eyepiece and shoulder piece from the
cuprum copperbot avatar set, copper rose tophat,
fusty rusty bangles, archaic choker,
& ironspine steampunk
by cutea benelli/grim bros
dreadlock purple hair by BP
rusted caged dress, coffin ring,
& boots by schadenfreude
egyptian black dress by fumi
doll house skin 25 by lionskins
mayan dream tatoos by garden of ku
apneatic embrace stockings by blacklist

at tepura sim
listening to Wieniawski Mazurka
by Eugene Ysaye
using the chouchou hud

we'll make castanets out of your testicles already

if i had half a brain i would have busted out the flamenco dance instead. mais non.



my excuse is that i was too overcome by the hilarity of the scene to be witty. i didn't really expect to be pirouetting with the bloody remains of discarded meat puppets.

music box dismembered meat puppet ballet dancer juana wears:

cuprum copperbot avatar, copper rose tophat,
singing saw pants, ironspine steampunk by
cutea benelli/grim bros
stoli nekomi hair nekomi &
rusted caged dress by schadenfreude

at mismera county sim
listening to delayed motet from
secretgardenproject.com
using the chouchou hud

asylum street spanker

i swear to god that is the name of a real band in austin. and funny too because yesterday as i drove up to the sex shop where i take my pole dancing lessons i noticed the scraggly little graveyard alongside the road. if i am correct in my suspicion, it is the (state hospital) aka. asylum graveyard....

...the same grounds where roses bloom, and that sheltered a friend of mine for a short period of time. but i digress.

i was bored and exploring and tonight felt like going to an SL asylum. for the most part they are sort of boring. this one place i landed "the rubberdoll asylum" sounded weird and then i realized it was a fetish club for people who like their slaves encased in layers of latex.

i can't help myself. it makes me laugh. and i don't mean to offend the lovers of saran-wrapped slaves-american community, but it just cracks me up.

this place was so interesting because it was done up all scary white and black and shiny, and there were these odd little padded latex cells on one floor.

the most hilarious part was the "slave gymnasium" area...they had the most hilariously bizarre contraptions there...they pretty much put me in mind of extreme versions of pilates machines. and said machines were amply equipped with wonderfully stupid facial expressions....

ooh! those shoes make me so happy! juana wears:

bird's nest outfit by un jour
amaya posture collar, fetish stockings, and arm belts by gauze
graphite skin by cutea benelli
triple ice hair by bp
dragonfly gloves by i totally can't figure it out.
carpe noctem boots by blacklist
zydratic complication eyes by aura falta

psychokiller...qu'est-ce que c'est?

i am always so late. i saw the coolest machinima i have ever seen today, and the even cooler part is that the person who made it, posted his settings on flickr.

so i had to go mess around at the carnival of doom. it isn't the rides that i love there, but the creepy outbuildings. there's a barn (a real sort of non red texas-ish barn) that has blood and veves on the walls and floors....and a house that looks so ed geinish.

psycho killer juana wears:
singing saw top, graphite skin, black wireweb monocle, coffee skull bangles, bone element piercing, separate skull pendant,bullet arm band all by grim bros/cutea benelli
tribal hair 2 by avz
assassin high heels by dirty lynx
obsidian blade by cortech
antie eyes silent brown by artilleri
couture separates chaps brown/black digit darkes
corded neck corset by RU
suicide earrings by spica
fumi gset gloves by i dont remember

at carnival of doom
listening to psycho killer by the talking heads.

death and the minigolf maiden

minigolf is so stupid. i mean, it's just sort of campy anyway to begin with, sort of shabby fading chipped idiotic silly overgrown lawn ornaments strewn around. and then hordes of people with their putters, the ironic, the deadly serious, and the bored with nothing else to do.

i thought it was so hilarious that there are minigolf courses in second life. i mean, it's a bizarre place already. i was half expecting some sort of gor or bondage mini golf decor or something. sadly no.


the death goddess of mini golf wears:

black bat wing wire web set, ring, &
bone dress graphite hat & armlets by cutea benelli
apneatic collar, corset, gloves & carpe noctem shoes
by blacklist
fluff hair by jet dolls
skull ear spikes by mad about
sugar skull necklace by kunstkammer
dollskin 25 by lionskins
hair rose wine by gfield

playing mini golf in KublaConia
listening to the ABC Sports Golf theme

grande horizontale

i am so into steampunk stuff again today. i want to go to an abney park concert next month........apparently they will be in dallas. and so i am all in a tizzy, what in the world should i wear? troy says no he won't go. so i will just have to be alone.

i already ordered these cool boots: http://www.goodgoth.com/whimsey.gif and am in a bit of a happy tizzy. i have a wickedly fierce corset, so no worries there.....and am amusing myself looking at images of grandes horizontales and actresses...i love la belle otero. its interesting too, a totally different clothes language. in the SCA it was always the period police and looking a certain way, it amuses me to be looking at this other style, and how different it is, sort of the opposite. ive never worn a bustle either....hoops yes, bustles no.

i already thought how fun it might be to replicate one of my favorite skins' make up.....

its cool too in second life you can try things on, before you even bother in real life....i was messing with what i would wear on my poor guinea pig av. and then i ended up at grim bros and totally bought the black version of the wireweb dress that i love so much....

the reigning cyprian

it makes me laugh, because maybe people forget that "actress" meant also "courtesan" for most of history, and so our modern idol worship of them is sort of funny considering.

second life exists to make the impossible happen, and so for an hour or two my little alter ego was transformed into the celebrated (and most probably unwashed) mrs. juana baddeley, actress and reigning cyprian. it sounds demented but i love reading about the lives and times of these grandes horizontales and so i spent my few hours flitting from 18th century sim to 18th century sim just being mrs. baddeley.

but without the leeches, purges, bloodletting, surgery without painkillers, and useless visits to the baths. oh and without blackmailing feminine companions. mrs. baddeley of course would have to go rehearse her play, and so she did. but sadly nobody was there. it's just as well because it was getting way too histrionic i think. perhaps she'd fight about her salary or something. and avoid her pimp of an ex-husband.

being short of money she might pay a little visit to charlotte hayes' nunnery to moonlight for some pocket change. but very discreet of course....wouldn't want to end up on the list of covent garden ladies.

i must confess, one thing really confounds me. how the hell can you pursue this line of work without getting your heavily pomaded and half rotten 'do from getting irretrievably wrecked in the course of discharging your duties? (yeah i said discharge lol) i mean, it just doesn't make sense. perhaps they knew something special that we don't know anymore about having your hair did so that it lasts.

maybe having exerted herself maybe she might eat something, somewhere fashionable, and then speed off to a very august address, for a very private visit to meet one of her benefactors.

another incredulous modern interjection here: all this without antibiotics? and all sorts of omg disgusting venereal disease floating around everywhere? ewww. ewww. not to mention the whole pregnancy and childbirth without painkillers and aieee back alley abortions from hell. i guess these ladies were just made of sterner stuff that we pitiful cossetted modern girls.

sigh. now time to go home and drink a pint of gin and laudanum, and sleep till noon.

the notorious mrs. juana baddeley wears:

jabot, cuffs, jacket, pants (i made them breeches) and tails valerian suit, and caged bird gloves and stockings by silent sparrow
curlicue undershirt from chichi set , shoes mme renaud by cutea bennelli
black pompadour and mourning tricorne by nonna hedges
snow white skin by i forgot.
giltterati earrings by violet voltaire

death card.

sometimes when i am upset and unhappy, and find the world futile and the future uncertain, i put on my finest clothes, put on fresh makeup, and smooth my hair. sometimes i go out to dance and to drink, and to flirt.

but sometimes i just want to be alone, struggling in the grip of a strong emotion. i often find myself suddenly far from home.

then i just wander around in a daze, walking through darkened streets, staring at people.

in second life nobody sees your rumpled hair or runny nose, and the clothing that you wear can be as insane as you want it to be. and nobody notices or cares either if you wander around. you will meet all sorts of people in all sorts of conditions and it might be a fleeting thing or it might be a messenger fated to meet you in that moment.

i don't know why but to me this is a dress to be angry in. it is so very furious and standoffish, all prickly like a porcupine and sticking out on all sides like a personal force field, keeping everyone away. how lovely it looks in the dreamworld, where prickles don't sting.

the only pain you feel here is mental.

the shoes do not come with the dress, but are from the same designer. they totally feel like they are possessed with a murderous spirit, with daggers for heels and barbed wire decorations and anklestraps. in second life you can look daggers at someone with your feet.

this is the only way to meet destiny, to defy the death card and not feel that you are its slave, no?

grumpy juana wears:

chichi dress and platform dagger shoes by cutea benelli
zydratic complication eyes by tacky star
misa stockings by sugar
forbidden 19 skin by lionskins
dreams noir by red queen
rose hairpin wine by gfield
skull nose piercing by avz
candybleeding heart tat by mia
black gauze armwarmer by gauze

atonement in insilico and at tunnel of light haze club

la tour juana

it may be time for me to flee the palace. but it doesn't matter, i have my compulsions and they make me happy, even if all i have is a blank wall to sing to. and so afterwards i fled, still in my party dress, to the dreamworld eiffel, and stood there, architectural and alone.



and still later, after having been in the sun, and the air, i entered the dreaming again, to the mysterious cathedral, to find atonement. nexus is gone, and hangar liquides is gone, and yet insilico is there. and in her streets i will set my wandering soul.

la tour juana wears:

dress: a matter of truss by grim bros/cutea benelli
skin: forbidden 14 by lionskins
hair: torn noir by red queen
tattoo: artilleri
stockings: misa set by sugar
shoes: carpe noctem by nightshade designs

in sl eiffel tour and atonement cathedral in insilico,
listening to petit blonde de boulevard brune by manu chao.

mictlancihuatl

mictlancihuatl is the lady of the underworld, mictlan. she is normally depicted as a skeleton, and elements of her cult have survived in the worship of santa muerte, a skeleton "saint" who is worshipped by many of the poor and also the somewhat naughty.



i do not mean to take on her fearsome mantle but whenever i wear the bone dresses (there are several versions, with different names) by cutea benelli, i feel like her, or at least a shadow of her.

in this version:
skirt, shoes, monocle, wings, top, gloves from wireweb faerie dress by grim bros.
arm elements and hat from bone dress grim bros
hands on dress grim bros
candybleedingtat and wild woman hair by MiaSnow
Clownskin crossed out
bloody bonehead bracelets by retox

a birthday present

Juana Manuel
Originally uploaded by grady.echegaray

i have been given lots of presents today, tangible and intangible, but i count this one as a favorite. my dear friend grady made it--and it is just like getting a poem, at least it seems that way. grady is an amazing person of amazing qualities, quite unlike anybody i have ever known. it represents a happy memory too, a visit to the set of the Strange Pixels "Crime Queen" post.

and i just have to stop and squee over it, because i love it so. !!!!!! :)