the notebook/fashion diary with an identity crisis.
Merveilleuse. [Fr. merveilleux, marvelous, exquisite] A fashionable woman under the Directory in France at the close of the 18th century, at which time ultra-fashionable people affected extraordinary innovations in costume. Hence, any new style in female costume.
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/
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
in sl, as in rl, i have a terrible love of boots and shoes. maybe it's not an addiction of say, imelda marcos magnitude. (that poor woman, will we be joking about her hundreds of years from now) It is somewhat pronounced though, this shoe mania that afflicts me.
and so i have decided to confess my unholy love of all things boot and shoes....while wearing an impossibly cute and tough pair that i found at an interesting shop that i like. and i am very lazy, wearing a dress i bought last friday for 50 linden at katatonik.
bored and boot mania juana (like barbie parody, no?) wears:
dark pink s & s dress by katatonik cyberpunk combat boots by self expressions necromantic bloomers and opheliac skin by violent seduction skulls and roses tattoo by otaku designs trophy hat and necklace (the name eludes me) by i <3 thirteen alice hair by deviant kitties antie loud brown eyes by artilleri bloodybones bracelets by retox
i went to wait on a friend in the amusingly named "happy mood" sim.....there are bunnies there. gigantic happy ones. i couldn't resist. as far as my ensemble goes, i am still in the throes of a queen queen addiction......so sue me. :)
happy mood purple juana wears:
dark dress by queenqueen magnolia bracelets and necklace by loulou hyasynth shoes by shiny things yanzi wave hair by DrL glam chin stripe skin by nomine kunstkammer sugar skull necklace and roma style earrings (also malice set by tekeli'li) antie eyes loud purple by artilleri
at happy mood sim, an anonymous rice paddy, and the grande odalisque statue at black swan.....
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
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
i was bored and went to the alice in wonderland ride. it was odd but not creepy.
i was bad and jumped off the ride and wandered in the display. while there i met an avatar named avril bosshart. she was nice, and gave me a radioactive cookie. this is the first time in recorded history that i have worn a cookie like that. but it seemed fitting.
there were other very interesting displays. i wished though that you could be shrunk or be turned into a giant, when you passed the "eat me" and "drink me" signs. it reminded me too much of the disney cartoon version, in the end.
juana in wonderland wears:
sade dress set & carpe noctem boots by nightshade designs dream hair by red queen forbidden 14 skin by lionskins
it seemed the sort of place to wear this outfit. it reminds me a little of the RL alice and the pirates label that i see often in the gothloli bible.
and then this is where it gets a bit odder. i found a big top circus stage set up. it seemed the thing to do, to put on a saloon outfit, and do a little dance. i was in the middle of something and then i realized that avril was there. she'd found me, and so i asked her if she wanted to be in the machinima. she changed into a really lovely deadly clown outfit, and then we did our little strange girls thing in the big top.
the strange girls wear: on juana:
midnight victorian and amaya kimono cuffs by Gauze rose suede hairpin (wine) by G Field black coffin ring by Schadenfreude goth hat by unknown aDiva couture temptress hat by aDiva platform dia de los muertos shoes by Grim Bros susie leather choker june hair style by Catwa forbidden 14 by LionSkins
on avril bosshart:
shoes, dress, hat, parasol, and skin from Carnival of Doom Machette hair by Deviant Kitties
i am always the last person in the world to find out things.
i found a sl visual kei fashion blog i loved, and zeroed into a store i hadn't been to yet. and pretty much went crazy in there. then i took myself to club baby seals and saw dancien and momo. momo was wearing the dogwitch set from nomine. i didn't recognize what dancien wore save the burnt bones skin from Nomine. it was funny because momo naturally knew all about the store i had visited, and even chided me very gently, with her astounding encyclopedic knowledge of sl fashion. i also had no idea either about the hair boycott, and got a rundown on it. it was a really interesting hour or so visit--i tried out my new computer, and dancien and momo talked a little about the things they did when they make their poems in the language of images. it was really fascinating to hear, like having the curtain drawn back and seeing the gears moving behind the scenes.
stats:
skin: dark jester; latex top, skirt, leg bands: isis silks; boots: black widow; all by Nightshade Designs skulls chest ornament, gloves, stockings, and underpants: Dogwitch by Nomine tattoos: Mayan Dream by Garden of Ku bracelets: Bloody rawbones by Retox skull nose ring: AVZ Jolly roger armband: Grim Bros hair: Riddle by Magika wings: Cobweb by Material Squirrel badass obsidian sword: Cortech cyber Macahuitl by Beezle Warburton
it was interesting, and i left soon after. i wanted to try on the rest of the things i had bought, and bored, went to odaesan house. i tried on one of the dresses i had found, a black EGL, and to amuse myself listened to malice mizer's song "baroque" while i wandered around. i am curious if since it is all black, that means it qualifies as a kuro loli dress?
stats:
skin: dark jester; dress, stockings, gloves: Sade; leg bands: isis silks; boots: black widow; by Nightshade Designs tattoos: Mayan Dream by Garden of Ku parasol: Reien set by Sweetaholic skull nose ring: AVZ Immaculate heart necklace: Tekel'li hair: Lucy by Magika Skull Ear Spikes: Mad About Raven Pennyfeather hat: Nonna Hedges
i got some more dresses and boots but i will have to wait for another day to fiddle with them.
Heavens! it is amazing what happens when you are just busy being a librarian. i was standing at the second life librarian reference desk when one of my acquaintances arrived in the most splendid outfit........i had to find out what it was and where it was from, and she spoke the three words that have now become so powerful as to put me under a spell.....The Black Canary. When i visited it amused me much because while i was binging i was given a cup of tea and company by the sweet salesgirl.
Of course i don't take things straight up and so i added a collar and cuffs from different places, and a cigarette holder too. I wore this to Troy's second fundraising party, because his house just screamed out for it. And it amuses me to as this is probably one of my more librarianish gowns.
the stats for miss juana:
hair rose: GF suede Black rose hairpin dress: TBC Lady Marra collar: Crimson Shadows White Shadow collar cuffs: Ookami Ningen Remains of the Night cuffs hair: Magika Lucy necklace: Tekel'li Immaculate heart skin: Nomine ultralight vamp blood red cigarette holder: Mika elegant animated cigarette holder shoes: bax boots
it was the second to last night of hanukkah, and in the spirit of mostly boredom i went on a crime spree with my dear little Breach MP5. First i stopped at Hangars Liquides, but shootings are so depressingly pedestrian there. then i went to a German bank. I thought to hold them up for Hanukkah gelt. Seeing as there was nobody there to terrorize, i just posed like Patty Hearst. so call me "Tania" from now on.
gimme all the gelt. MACH SCHNELL bitches.
"tania" is wearing:
skin: Nomine vamp Red hair: Zero Style "Tita" hair doodle: Sweetaholic Hair Accessorie hair rose: GF Rose hairpin Red dress & gloves: katatonik hanukkah dress (group freebie) armlets & choker: Susie Bone-Shirt Set earring and necklace: Violet Voltaire Glitterati set tattoo: Mia Snow Candy stockings: katatonik striped stockings teal/black boots: SiniStyle Deception boots plus platform add-on machine gun: Breach MP5
