Friday Focus: Layer Challenges and Smart Designers.

Or "How I made my brain explode and still couldn’t wear my tattoos"

Warning: Long post.  Grab a coffee, or a beer, depending on your time of day. Settle in, and hope you enjoy it.

I didn’t realize that this week would be such a challenge until I started getting dressed in the outfit I had mentally put together.  In my tiny mind, it was a wrap already.  Cool stockings, shorts, tank, cropped jacket, tattoos. Simple, right?  Oh, no. Not simple. No no no. 

This issue has nothing to do with the great designers that I chose, because each and every one of the pieces came in every layer known to mankind.  The issue was that each item was comprised of many layers, and they overlapped and cancelled each other out.  Making it work and not giving in.. that was the challenge.   Have I ever mentioned that I am stubborn?

I put on the High Waist Shorts from Artilleri, and was already aware that they were 2 layers for the high waist. Ok, no worries there.  The panic started with the Garter Stockings from League.  I opened the folder, looked in, and went.. oh..crap.

The stockings were 2 layers. Sock layer did the leg up to the knee. Thigh and garter was either pant or underpant.  But.. the shorts were pant, underpant…both needed. ..Oh! look what Anty did. *also jacket, shirt, undershirt*. Ok.  Needed jacket layer for the Jacket… shirt for the cami, undershirt for the tattoos.

My head was starting to hurt.  Needed the stockings for this look. And the high waist shorts.  I think I ended up dropping the tattoo undershirt layer, using that for the cami. Shirt layer for the jacket, because I needed the jacket layer for the top of the shorts, cause I used the underwear layer for the socks? and the pants for…the.. pants?

I eventually got it sorted, but as you can see, had to ditch my precious tattoo layer.  As a tattooed person in RL, I did not like to have to do this.  Can I get a HELL YEAH for a tattoo layer please??

I must mention certain items one at a time, they deserve special attention. I will work from the top down.

The hair, by Truth.  I know people get sick of seeing Truth on the feeds, but the plain truth (hah) is that his hair just keeps getting better.  The mix of sculpt and flex is excellent.  Too much flex looks like transparent cloud against some things, and too much sculpt looks solidly fake. This just works.  Look at the blend of sculpt and flex in the close up at the end for a side view.  Oh and yeah, mod. WIN.  When will I learn to buy fatpacks instead of colorpacking myself to death? 5 packs is kinda dumb.

The glasses, by primOptic.  I bought these glasses a year ago, and it was one of my best purchases.  They are totally customizable, frame color, glass color, opacity and more.  They can be worn on the nose, or clicked and worn on the head.  (I changed them to chin attach so I could still have eyelashes, ’cause I am vain that way) These glasses also have gadgets.  A proximity scanner, online monitor and flight enhancer.

The Belt, by Maitreya.  Yes, I use these belts constantly, and so do many of you.  This is a new one, faded red.  The reason I mention it is for its versatility and modability.  I made a copy, renamed it to suit the outfit, then I edited it.  Stretch only took it down so far, so I hit "edit linked parts" and shrunk the leather and messed about until it worked.  You can copy and edit these belts to suit every outfit you have.

The Shorts, by Artilleri.  As I mentioned, it does take 2 layers for these high waisted shorts.. (but even the regular waist one layer looks good.)  Antie offers every damned layer option possible in order to make high waist doable, and for the price, you really need to fatpack these.  I bought the fatpack of all 4 colours and think it was only $400L??  Look at the detail on these.  Fantastic textures, and they make my ass look awesome. Ty Antie.

The Stockings, by League.  I first saw these on xstreet, and fell in love with them.  They come in 2 color packs, bolds with red, blue, green and purple (red I have on, not so bold to put your eye out, more a distressed rich color) and naturals with black, light grey/brown, light brown and faded blue.  Each color pack also comes in either brown leather garters, or black garters.  I bought all 4 fatpacks.  *IN* the fatpacks, you also get garter options of height. You can have the garter waist strap actually peeking over your shorts if they are lower waisted.  These are huge packs. Detail is awesome. Yes, I planned my outfit around these stockings.

The Boots, by Pixel Mode.  Tya Fallingbridge goes above and beyond the call of ‘footwear selling duty’ with her shoes and boots.  I am very happy that I found Pixel Mode.  When I went to buy these boots, the black was not clickable in the vendor.. why, you ask?  Because with every color you bought, you got the black boots FREE. Yes, Free.  Funny, because I loved the black, and the brown. I bought the brown, and yes, these were free.  Her prices are very low as well.

I also bought 2 beautiful pairs of ankle boots that also came with a free pair each.  One of the styles also came with the option of wearing the boot as one piece, or as 2, lower and upper, so the ankle prims don’t embed into your foot when your AO moves you.  These are excellent quality boots, some of the best I have seen, bar none. Super low prices, and free pairs?  No Brainer. Go there.

The Necklace, by Cailyn.  It isn’t seen very close up, but the shine and quality is great.  This brings me to another issue.. more attachment points.  I wore the black, but also bought the red. if I had worn both of them, it would have really popped this outfit… but I needed the spine for the jacket prim.  ‘Nother attachment point please?

The Cami, by Dark Eden.  This is another fatpack worth your while.  Each cami comes on all top layers, and are offered in see thru and solid, so you can play with them in many ways.  A great staple for when you are trying to match stubborn stocking colors.

The Jacket, MichaMi.  The nice thing about this jacket, the sleeve prims and jacket body prim come in 3 sizes and a modable mid size.  Of course I had to use the mod size, since mine was between the small and medium. I love CHOICES. Ty.

My overall message this week is "We Love Choices!" Many layers, many options, modifiable, YES!  Thanks to all the designers who get this, and to LL: please look into another layer for tattoos, and a few more attachment points, please and thank you. 

Cheers, and enjoy shopping, 

Isle.

Credits:  (aka Shopping List!)

Hair, Truth Grazia - sangria

Skin, *League* Medium -Misty- Greenglade

Glasses, primOptic Arach

Necklace, *Cailyn’s* Polished Beaded Necklace (Black)

Jacket, MichaMi Noomi jacket in Black

Cami, Dark Eden [DE] Blood Shorty Solid

Belt, Maitreya Faded red Leather belt.

Shorts, Artilleri  Johanna highwaist shorts

Boots, Pixel Mode PM Beebs Suede Flat Boot -  Black

Stockings, *League* Ella Stockings Red-Low waist-Black Garter

Photography, Raven Haalan