Heatwave...

...has our CPU's sweating, which means we're behind in our work.  So, instead of posting the reviews we've been trying to work on, with our CPU temperature gauges beeping warnings at us, we're instead posting a nice song about how we feel right now.

Thank you Ms. Ronstadt!  We'll hopefully get more done soon.  Until then, we're grabbing the shih-chi's, a couple of books, and heading to the cooling shelter.

Special Friday Review... GRAVES

 Gravity to the Dictatress of Alpha Omega Epsilon Colony, Gravity to the Dictatress... Dictatress Justice, do you read?   

Access code Gamma 369 to the Dictatress of Alpha Omega Epsilon Colony reporting on activities of the past week.  Atmospheric compressors continue to pump pollutants out from Gemini Corporation's accident four years ago.  There is sightings of new vegetation growing again, and a return of birds of prey, indicating there is sufficient support of possible return of life, rendering the operation a failure.  I recommend increasing pumping capacity to counteract the phenomena.  Sightings of wildflowers not indigenous to the region however have peaked agent curiosity and there is a possibility that the return of favorable environmental conditions is the work of rogue agents. We have recent confirmation of the whereabouts of former agent Gamma 190, code name Viper and former agent Gamma 361, code name Hive.  The photographic confirmation is included.  Requesting additional field agents to investigate, over...

Yes agent, Dictatress Justice here, I read you loud and clear.  Holo me into the city.  Birds, wildflowers, I may have to investigate this myself.  The Corporation has not been pleased with your work and fear that you have gone, soft.  An expert's touch is needed.  Transfer your case files to me, these rogue agents will be mine.  Surrender your holoband, and I will be at your base of operations in one hour.

Dictatress Justice to Agent Gravity, Justice to Gravity, do you come in?  Access code Gamma 386.  The rogue agents have been harder to capture than I first thought, requesting additional field support.  Rogue agent Viper has escaped, but I am in pursuit of the rogue agent Hive.  Both have been harder to capture as they seem to possess advanced psychic abilities, perhaps a side effect of the extended time in the pollutants.  I may have injured Hive as she is now limping.

Dictatress, perhaps it is a trap?

I fall prey to no trap...

...but the city...

...it used to be so beautiful...

...trees...

...children playing and singing in the streets...

...Hive told me so.

Dictatress do you copy?  Dictatress do you copy?  Are you still there Dictatress?  Justice?  Are you stil there?

Justice has always been here. 

Dictatress Gravity giving report to the Corporation.  We continue to lose our stronghold on the city.  The rogue agents Viper, Hive, and Justice have been seen committing acts of violence against the state. New trees have been planted, land terraformed, and there are reports of decreased air and water pollution.  I regret to inform the board that our mission has failed.  Life is viable again in the city.  Life is viable again in the city. 

Special thanks to Jackie Graves

Without your tremendous contributions to the leather, latex, and fetish scene, SL would be at a loss.

You've inspired many of us in SL to go above and beyond the standard,

and create a new SL for everyone.

GRAVES can be found on the Oxymoron Sim or on the Marketplace.

Overall:  10/10

Pros:  Jackie Graves equals Perfection

Cons:  None

Stylings:  

Syrelis (red hair, updo):  Graves G190 Viper with Graves G101 Alpha Boots

Sonja (red hair, long):  Graves G361 Hive with Graves G101 Alpha Boots

Arizona (white hair, short):  Graves G386 Justice with Graves G388 Vertigo Boots

Correction and Update...

Hello, a quick update for you all, as we basque in the glory of our current heatwave.  105 degrees Fahrenheit and still rising.  First the update - because of our heat, we've been taking it a little slower today in preparing our special  Friday post.

The second is a brief correction to last night's special late-night review on [Anara] Customeyes.  Though we first stated that the item was mesh, which it is, it is designed in a way that people who cannot normally see mesh can see these eyes.  We don't know Anara Aeon's secret, but we do know that the people we showed today were just as enthusiastic about her eyes as we were, especially as those people were on older viewers/computers that could not normally render mesh.  We have a couple of theories, one of which involves moonshine and unicorns, but we won't say what they are so as to keep Ms. Aeon's secret a secret for now.

Late Night Special Review: [Anara] Customeyes - Best Eye in SL

So the team and I are sitting around, sipping some sweet tea here in the smoldering East Coast (87 degrees Fahrenheit at 12:30 at night in our house!), when Santa's Little Helper made a special delivery to my avatar in SL.  A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a curious item on the Marketplace.  I loved it but held off on getting it, as at the time I was doing a lot of modeling at a store where we were not allowed to wear mesh items.  I still loved the item, wanted to get it regardless, so I saved it.  I showed it to Mom and she loved it as well, but because she was modeling with me at the same time, she held off on getting them.

The item in question?  What made me start up the big hot computer when we're already sweltering in this heat (and because Mom was using hers to edit tomorrow's special post - we can't wait to show you!!!)?

This...

...is by far the best eye in Second Life at this time.  It is a completely customizable mesh eye that is mod/copy that comes with a very low-lag hud, which when minimized ran for me at 64 kb, with each eye also running 64 kb.  In comparison to a standard AO running at 880 kb or more, this will not cause you lag at all.  The HUD itself is no mod/copy/no trans,  but you really don't need to edit the HUD at all.  We flipped when we first found them on the Marketplace, which will only set you back for L$350, and I was absolutely ecstatic when the creator messaged me and gave me a pair for review here on the blog. 

Anara Aeon, creator of the Customeyes, also has a free demo available on the marketplace in case you decide you want to try them first.  Ms. Aeon has also made a variety of other phenomenal things over the years.  Mom has been a fan of the winter skybox during this heatwave; I think she has her avatar sitting in it right now in a bikini while she's helping edit photos.  We've been following Ms. Aeon for awhile now.  In addition to these eyes, she makes textured eyes (which are just as beautiful), hair (which I haven't tried yet), a few skyboxes which have been featured items in the past on the Marketplace,  and has made one of the most detailed snowflake texture packs in SL that we've seen.

If you want eyes that you can change on the fly to match any outfit, setting, or mood, these are the eyes you want.  You will want to wear the included alpha layer to prevent a texture flicker with your own system eye though.  And if you are generally hesitant of mesh but are still able to see it:  try the free demo as soon as you can!

Now, a few last words and back to my steamy romance novel...

Overall:  10/10

Pros:  Best eye in SL

Cons:  Mesh if you're a mesh-o-phobe

Review: Beauty Code, Upcoming Skin and Jewelry

Ok folks, so here's the deal - up until this point we as a team had been doing reviews of things we wanted to compliment and show off.   That's fine to do, but you and I both know that there's always something that we've seen that just doesn't work.  Just look at the Marketplace.  We've been talking about it, and getting our own critiques of this blog from other bloggers and we've decided that we can't always review only the really super good stuff, we have to start to review everything that we can. This blog just wouldn't be redneck if we didn't.  So, that in mind, we are imposing one rule on ourselves for this:  use this blog as a way to teach content creators to look at details they might have otherwise missed. 

With that in mind, we bring you the items given to us in our bloggers pack by CrusHer Mills of BeautyCode.  BeautyCode is a smaller boutique focusing more on low-price, high-desing earrings.  They recently seem to have expanded into making skins and full avatars as well; they are available in world and on the marketplace.  We were given a skin and a set of jewelry to review.  As we did not want to alter the look of the skin, we only cropped the photos and did not alter the tone, color, or blending.

For the skin, the texture is relatively well laid.  You can tell that it was done in a graphics program however, with the edges of the airbrushing being a little heavy handed compared to our usual skin choices around these parts.  Perhaps using a layer of gaussian blur in a graphics program such as Gimp or Photoshop would have helped.  The lipstick is also too dark for the skin itself; the color can be toned down by wearing other makeup over it though.  My personal preference also is that the skin is a little darker than this; I am used to seeing a nougat or cocoa color rather than vanilla or lighter.  I'd like to have been able to see more color options to really judge and get a good feel for what she has to offer.  She has two full avatars available on the marketplace which seem to have a darker skin tone to them.

I liked the jewelry better than the skin.  The earrings and necklace aren't bad, however they could have done somewhat better with the textures.  If you have any cleavage, I found it was hard to adjust the necklace though without it sinking in and some work to resize it. 

Overall, the skin and jewelry aren't bad, good for someone on a budget, but I think there could have been more attention paid to the finer detail work, and especially the textures in general.  For the jewelry, the textures just need to be refined if the chain were to stay like it is currently built.  The skin needs to have softer airbrushing and softening in general with some gaussian blur. 

Our photographer did however beg and plead to do one photo with his basic Photoshopping work:

Overall:  6/10

Pros:  Works well for a fashionista on a budget, and if you prefer lighter skins; pretty design on the jewelry

Cons:   Need more detail and softening on the skin, better attention to jewelry design and possibly a resize script.

Review: Voluptia, Coerce Mesh Corset and Flaunt Lingerie

Ever have an article of clothing that you could not live without?  Like your favorite jeans but, not jeans?  Yesterday I had a great treat from a great lady.  Lady V (Ladyvanir Dragovar) of Voluptia - House of Glamour contacted me saying that she had seen my blog.  After talking, she handed me a few items and asked me to take a look at them.  Once I was able to round up the Redneck Fashionista team, we finally had a looksie at what we all were given.  Lets just say my poor male photographer had a very hard time keeping his attention on his photos.  Thankfully, a few girly strengths later, he was back on track and editing. 

The first item I pulled out could have, for all intents and purposes, been the last item anyone in SL could have given me because, wow, oh my gaud, it is PHENOMENAL!!!  Everyone at the team here had a fashiongasm!  The Coerce Mesh Corset is Lady V's newest item at her store and is part of a line of mesh items available at her store.  This is great mesh done supurb!  Ladies, if you need an oufit to get any sort of way with your significant other, then you NEED this corset.  The outfit itself features a mesh corset that comes in seven different sizes, from XXS to XXL, a matching merkin (the little panty thing on the bottom - we had to look it up too), and flexi-prim ruffle sleeves.  The outfit comes in a selection of five different colors:  black (mostly shown), jade, berry, red, and purple.  The composite photo of the corset below shows the other colors. 

We all love this outfit!!!!!  It is absolutely gorgeous.  It is an old-era style brought into modern times, including using the detailed touch of making and including the matching merkin (fyi - a merkin is a pubic wig dating back from 1617 and is traditionally held in place with gum paste or other makeup glues used for holding wigs in place.  they're still used in Hollywood and are still made to this day). Burlesque is always a glamorous and timeless style, and this ensemble holds true.  It is appealing to the eye, feminine, and powerful; it allows you to bring out the romantic and naughty side.  This look will always be in fashion, especially as this ensemble is so well crafted.  It's just timeless. 

The only thing we found is that you really do need to use the included alpha layer.  Like all corsets, this one will bring in your waist a bit, and works against some of the natural measurements induced by Linden Labs.


Overall, for the Coerce corset, I'd love to see more of this style, or even addons such as a skirts, stockings, shoes, gloves, and hats.  Lady V may have completely defined a clothing line with this one outfit, and I'd really like to see what else can be done to expand that line.  I do have to apologize though -we were so stricken and in love with the corset that we just wanted to keep looking at it.  Plus, my photographer got a new toy.  Those factors combined together led to a rather long photoshoot and not as much time paid attention to the other item we were given...

Flaunt Lingerie is another ensemble given to me by Lady V.  Flaught features a  1950's style lingerie set in 4 colors (blue, violet, peach, pink) that includes a bra, panties, stockings, garter, and frills for the panties and bra.  Flaunt has a cute polka dot style texture to it that adds a classic yet girly touch to this sexy lingerie.  Plus, a little bit of the girls peeking out just make you want to flaunt it all in front of your significant other.  This is another timeless design.  The only thing I noticed is that you might need to adjust the frills a bit depending on your avatar size.

Overall: 10/10

Pros:  Great recreations of timeless designs, great design, great attention paid to details

Cons:  None

Review: Danika New Release, Kawai!

Dani Knelstrom of Danika Designs has just released her newest partial-mesh outfit.  Based on her popular schoolgirl designs, her new outfit is a cute and naughty little pink schoolgirl uniform.  The outfit comes with mesh blazer and skirt in three sizes compatible with standard sizing, sneakers with matching legwarmers, three versions of panties including a dripping aftersex mess, shirt base, bow tie, braw, socks, star-shaped face tattoos, and a matching sex-engine backpack.  The outfit comes in both X-rated and G-rated, so if you need a nice schoolgirl outfit that's just a little bit naughty, you can have your calorie-free cake and eat it too. The G-rated version comes with the same items, except the backpack is not scripted and there is only a clean non-naughty version of the panties included. The G-rated version of the outfit will set you back only L$399 while the full naughty X-rated version sells for L$599.

I have always loved Danika's outfits, and especially loved her school girl uniforms.   Her line in general is sheer brilliance, and this outfit is another example of her great designs.  The mesh looks right, it's cut right, and it's fit to the standard sizing so that most people are able to wear it with only some very minor adjustments.  Her textures look very realistic and the outfit looks great.

The sex-genned backpack is genius and comes with 36 animations, perfect for any role play you may need.  The panties as well are a great bonus, and the after-sex mess is just another little touch of perfection.  Overall, this is an outfit done right.


The only drawbacks to the outfit at this time are the limitations imposed on mesh still by Linden Labs.  Though there is standard sizing now, you may still have to tweak your shape a bit to fit; Mom found that she had to bring down her muscle size and bust size to make it fit right.  Though my own alpha layer fit correctly, Mom found that the alpha was still visible slightly on her legs near the hem.  A little bit of adjusting later and she had it fixed.  Most of Danika's outfits are designed to fit a teen shape, and her mesh comes standard for both the Danika Teen shapes and Standard Sizing which is becoming more popular across the grid.  

I'd also like to add that the customer service at Danika is top notch.  There have been a few times where I've had to contact them, and every time not only have they been very helpful, but it has always been a great experience and a great outcome.  I cannot rate their customer service high enough; I'd give that alone higher than a 10/10 if possible.  Exceptional design, exceptional service, all around great environment on the sim and great experience. 

More on Danika's outfits later this week with our up and coming "Mesh vs. Mesh" special, due out this Friday.

Overall:  10/10

Pros:  Sheer brilliance, love the genned backpack, mesh and textures look great.

Cons:  May need to tweak shape for standard sizing and alpha; more based on limitations of Linden Labs at this point.

Review: Indyra Originals, Marquise II

We're bringing you something today to help make your Monday a little more fanciful.  This gem is a gorgeous creation by Indyra Seigo of Indyra Originals.  We did a post on a minidress from her Boutique collection a couple of days back and wanted to show some other amazing designs from this store.  This outfit is called Marquise II and sells for L$425.  The outfit includes the shirt, pants, pant cuffs, gloves, corset, and ruffled shoulders and is only available in-world at her store.  This is one of several outfits featuring this style as well, though they are not a formal collection.  

This outfit is great and very striking for any dramatic event you may wish to attend.  The pants that came with happen to be a particular favorite; they are long and drape well at the bottom.  The larger flared pant leg creates a delicate touch giving it a more formal feel.  In fact you could probably wear this for a very striking stylish evening wear.  The top is a quilted fabric that looks great as well, the texture is very detailed and contrasts the pants enough that you could easily wear the two together without the other components. 

The thing that really caught my attention with this outfit is the ruffles.  One of the earliest things that caught my eye in SL was the use of ruffles in everything, thanks to the overly gratuitous application of flexi-prims in freebie outfits.  Ruffles are generally something I avoid, and I beg and plead to my readers that you generally avoid them as well if at all possible.  I am sure we all remember rezzing in on our first day in SL and immediately discovering freebies filled with gawdy poorly textured ruffles that we wouldn't dare wear in our real lives let alone Second Life but we all did because... guess what... it was free and looked better than what we rezzed in with.  This is what I call the SL Ruffle Theory.

I could write an entire essay about the difference between a newbie at a freebie store and some of these top designers, who were all there as newbies as well (I do say "newbie" and not "noobie," which has a big difference).  However, and this is a big however, Ms. Seigo has cracked the SL Ruffle Theory.

Take a look at this photo.  What do you see?  There ruffles, and they are done exceptionally well.  Not too many, not too few.  And where they are in the outfit work well.  Even better, this is not the only outfit from Indyra that has ruffles that work.  In addition to this outfit, Mom owns Jessamine (a black high-waisted skirt with a white sleeveless ruffled blouse) and Sia (a Victorian-aviator inspired outfit with similar ruffles).  All three outfits look great and demonstrate one thing:  while there are a million wrong ways to do ruffles in Second Life, it took the talent of Indrya Seigo to find the right way to do it.  Thank you Ms. Seigo, thank you. 


Now to be forewarned - the ruffles come in two separate pieces; one piece with the ruffles and another shoulder-guard type piece that serves as the collar as well.  Depending on your AO the black collar can move above the ruffles.   Mom there found that if she attached the collar at the same point as the ruffles she was able to mostly remedy this problem as the two pieces then moved together with the poses and animations.  She also found the corset to be a little big, but that means that it will fit almost anyone that tries it on; her avatar is sized on the slimmer side for business, design, and fashion. 


Overall:  10/10

Pros:  The right way to do ruffles, striking design

Cons:  Corset was a little large at first, collar needed to be attached to same point as ruffles with "Add" and moved to place.

Stylings:
Outfit:  Indyra Originals, Marquise II in Rosedust for L$425
Shoes:  Similar Italian Footwear, Venezia in Black for L$750
Choker:  Chop Zuey, Death in Mantua for L$599
Earrings:  Indyra Originals,  Briolette Earrings in Noir for L$150
Hair:  Truth Hair, Kalia Blacks, for L$250
Skin:  Chaisuki, Vienna 14 in Nougat for L$1389

Review: Zaara, Best of Denim

We've all been there... the perfect pair of jeans... the ones where you cried when you realized that it was finally time to get rid of them... the ones where you made a million memories of dates and boyfriends and times at the beach... the ones you'll never be able to replace once they're gone.  The same search happens in SL on a regular basis, the search for the perfect pair of jeans.  I brought Mom in on this post to help because, with her help, we may have just found them...

Zaara is a store that has been around SL for awhile now and specializes in Indian and ethnic couture.  It also happens to be a store that Mom will make the weekly pilgrimage to for fashion, which is why a post on anything from here was inevitable.  I'll admit, at first, I did not care for the store, but that is more because the ethnic style was not my favorite.  Mom though is a bit of a hippie at heart and quickly introduced me to a few items that made me easily change my opinion.  Zaara Kohime is the lead designer, and has a blog as well as a store on the Marketplace.  She recently held a bit of a clearance sale to make room for her new up and coming mesh creations.

But, back to the quest of the perfect pair of jeans.  When we look for a perfect pair of jeans we look for a soft fabric but thicker fabric, one that moves with you, shapes you, and makes you feel both sexy and at home at the same time.  The perfect jean can be great for a club or concert, or just relaxing watching a movie on the couch.  Jeans are a fashion icon to many, whether it be for work or play, and Zaara has the best ones that we've found in SL so far. 

Zaara jeans have the perfect cut; the waist height is always just right, especially when accompanied by anything from there store (we each chose a tank top to pair it with).  There are also six different denim styles available to choose from.  For our pictures we chose the Classic Jean in Black for L$275 and the Distressed Jean in Moss for L$300.  If you want something for a warmer occasion, the jeans also come in a capri style, two styles of shorts, and a mini skirt as well.  Mom happens to own a pair from each of them and has made them her go-to item for anything denim.

We love the look of the fabric too; somehow Ms. Kohime managed to make the texture look like it was just perfectly broken in.  The distressed jeans too have a cute detail of a pocket watch in the left pocket as well that we love.  We will both wear this jeans with almost anything and for almost any occasion.  Pair them with a pair of heels from Similar Italian Footwear and your favorite blouse or sweater and you're ready to go anywhere in SL. 

There are a great variety of colors and styles as well, with the jeans, capris, and knee shorts all coming with a variety of cuff options.  The black jeans in our photo feature the wide cut while the distressed moss jeans feature the straight cut.  A single item costs anywhere between L$225 to L$300 while a fat pack of all eight colors ranges from L$1,250 to L$2,000.  Well worth the Linden for something of this quality.

Overall:  10/10

Pros:  Great fit, many options, great detail, versatile, easy to mod if needed, look great with anything

Cons:  None

Stylings:

Jeans: Zaara, Classic Jean in Black for L$275 and Distressed Jean in Moss for L$300
Shirt:  Zaara, Indian summer tank in Gold-Black for L$120 and Bandhni Hanky top in Beige for L$95
Shoes:  Similar Italian Footwear, Barletta in Brown for L$750
Skin:  Chaisuki, Vienna 18 Nougat for L$1389 and Al Vulo, Matilde Cocoa for L$800
Hair:  Truth Hair, Kalia Blacks for L$250 and Janice Reds for L$250

Sale: LoveCats Designs, L$100 Random Outfit Sale

Today's special feature at LoveCats Designs is the LoveCats Random Outfit Sale.  10 Women's outfits and 3 Men's outfits are randomly marked down to L$100 each. To help customers find these special sales items, look for the purple dots. 

After hunting through the store, I can personally attest that the outfits that are up for sale are some of Ms. Thei's newer and more popular outfits.  Mom was frantically hunting for something to buy only to discover that many of what she already owned was up for sale (she's still looking for an outfit to buy).  While I cannot tell you the exact outfits here, doing so would ruin the fun, I can at least guarantee that everything we've found so far is well worth the L$100 and would all get good reviews on this blog.  And because we have to keep in the fashion of this blog...

Overall:  10/10

Pros:  It's a sale!  L$500 outfits for L$100 each!!!

Cons:  We still haven't found all the items yet. 

Review: Flawless Skins & Shapes, New Collection

Today's post is a special request from Analy Amat, owner of Flawless Skins & Shapes, who gave me a special sneak peak at her newest shape lineup that will be released at her store during her special Flawless Summer Lovin' event which runs June 22nd to July 8th at her store.  We were given 4 shapes to review, two of which have several variations.

Overall, the shapes are pretty well done.  We like the face, which is almost the same between the four, but there are some subtle variations.  While there are many nice shapes in SL, there are also plenty that look too compressed or to swollen in the face.  These shapes manage to avoid that problem, giving a happy medium between a French runway look and an American farmgirl look.  The eyes are particularly detailed and subtle, they really catch your attention when you look at them.

Overall the price is not bad for the shapes.  The Larissa and Iris shape will retail for L$50 and the Jasmin and Raissa shapes will retail for L$500 for all three shapes.  Many of the better shape stores in SL retail for much higher than that, and this allows anyone on a budget to purchase a well-designed shape. 

There are a couple of details that I do not like as much.  While I like the look of the longer torso and hips, and the overall look is pretty well proportioned, the shape is a little overdone to the point where it can distort the textures on clothing and make it difficult to line up primmed items appropriately.  It also makes me question whether or not mesh will fit with the shapes well or if you'll have to break down and use standard sizing.

The other thing that I do not like, and this could be just for the press releases sent to blogger, is that it came as No Mod.  While you're able to copy this shape, which is nice for some people for saving to their outfits, you are unable to mod it at all.  There have been plenty of times where I've had to, in a pinch, alter my shape for clothing to fit better.  If the final release is in fact no mod, then you will not be able to do that.

Styles:

Swim Suit:  Sas-It-Up, Animalistic Print Strapless Thong Bikini Fat Pack for L$349
(note: I'm wearing the tiger print)
Earrings:  Chop Zuey, Soul Infusion Earrings in Diamond for L$199
Shoes:   PixelFashion, Eve Temptations in Black for L$550
Skin:  Al Vulo, Matilda Cocoa for L$800
Hair:  Truth Hair, Janice Reds for L$250

Overall:  8/10

Pros:  Well done, pretty well proportioned

Cons:  Shorten the hips and torso a little, shape released to the bloggers is no-mod

Review: Indyra Originals, Vida in Cantelope

Today's special item is from a designer that I at first did not like.  But, soon I noticed that my RL mother and my RL aunt could not get enough of the clothing from here so I thought I'd take another look.  The designer is Indyra Seigo from Indyra Originals, with the dress being in the Budoir fashion line and is available for L$325.  The dress comes on its own in clothing layers with a prim skirt.  The version in white is available on the Marketplace for a 33% discount, totaling L$200. The outfit comes as no mod/copy/no trans.

This is a gorgeous little dress, available in several colors from the store.  It fits well, and my aunt found that she did not have to adjust it.  The coloring fit her avatar's own coloring well and she just looked gorgeous in it.  There was a slight variation in the lace of the dress which gave a nice subtle detail to it as well.  Everything about it was easy to photograph, easy to look at, and looked great in any setting we tried it in. 


We also found that the dress moved well.  All of the ladies associated with this blog have mocap AO's from several sources in SL, and we find that there are many times where we have problems with the movement of prims in clothing because of it.  This is one of those dresses where the movement works well.

There are two small flaws we have found with this dress, but both are debatable.  The first is that I prefer to have some sort of shaddowing to the edges of the cloth.  In real life, no matter the lighting, you will have some shadowing on the skin from clothing.  This shadowing is missing here.  It's not noticable unless you look, and you don't miss it that much on someone with a tan, but on a lighter skinned avatar it could be noticed.  It's also not noticeable unless you look, but the edges of the texture do not line up at the seams on the sides.  Though it also is not needed, the available clothing templates all take into consideration where and how to line up textures.  Plus, some of the newer graphics programs now allow you to look at the clothing in three dimensions, which allow for this problem to be fixed.

We were all debating too on the skirt.  While I thought the way the flexi-prims fell did not work, Mom thought it flowed well with the AO.  Indeed it did flow well, and the mocap AO happened to hide the fact that the buttocks tend to stick out.  If you do purchase this and have a little "junk in the trunk," then you will find yourself needing to modify it to make it look like it hangs more naturally.  I also did not care for the fact that the edges of the prims just do not match up well enough.  Mom then noticed as well that the top edges of the prims, where it meets the avatar, had faded to an alpha texture.  While the alpha trick helps to smooth the edge of the prim, from the side, it looks unnatural and makes you remember that you are in a virtual world and not some paradise of your dreams. 

While we did have some technical critiques on this dress, we still love it and would wear it anywhere in SL.  It's perfect for any occasion, plus it comes in such a great array of colors that it will match any skin, hair, or event that you may need.  You might even find yourself picking it up in a few extra colors just in case.  We also found that the men on the sim we run our businesses on could not stop looking at it either.

Stylings used:
Dress:  Indyra Originals, Vida in Cantelope for L$325
Jewelry:  Chop Zuey, Soul's Horizon Set for L$0 if a group member
(note:  group membership for Chop Zuey is L$350, but comes with minimum three monthly free gifts)
Hair:  Truth Hair, Jolie Reds for L$250
Shoes:  Similar Italian Footwear, Grosseto in White Leather for L$795
(note:  free demo available in store)
Skin: Al Zulo, Vero in Cocoa for L$800
Makeup:  NOYA

Overall:  8/10

Pros:  Great design, looked great, very versatile

Cons:  Needs some slight adjustments with the skirt and edges of the textures.

Special Review: T&C Designs, LoveCats Designs, Indyra Originals

Today we at The Redneck Fashionista have decided to forgo our usual posts to bring you something a little extra special instead.  Today we have decided that we are going to split from our usual fashion feed and instead feature an item from an old-school SL designer who has been on the grid for almost five years.  We have the privilege of presenting to you all a very special item by the designer Iga Clawtooth of T&C Designs.  In addition to that, we have three minute-reviews of outfits by LoveCat Thei of LoveCats Designs and one by Indyra Seigo of Indyra Originals that we will be featuring more in-depth tomorrow.

Mr. Clawtooth is a well-known builder and creator within the SL Community and has been here many years.  He has been a part of the SL community for almost five years and in the past has had many of his building creations featured by the Lindens themselves, including one in a CSI-SL feature a few years ago.  When he was still taking commissions, he was considered by many the go-to builder.  He is part of a real-life company represented in SL that features a team of scripters, designers, and graphic artists, bringing you a wide array of products.  He is the creator of the Auction Master Pro with his colleagues TranquilMoonDancer Timeless and Jer Straaf, which set the industry standard for SL auctions at the height of the breedables era.  In addition, T&C Designs is known across the grid for its high level of personal customer support and content creation in general.  Mr. Clawtooth is above the curve here, and represents the highest degree of professionalism we have seen in SL. 

What is not really known to many is that Mr. Clawtooth has a bit of an affiity for motorcycles, and he has created one a few months back that should be considered the industry standard.  My parents both are a bit of gearheads, enjoying cars and bikes with the best of them and try to collect them when they can in SL.  They were introduced to this bike by a very proud Mr. Clawtooth himself shortly before its release. 

The bike itself is the Bullet Lowrider Bike, which is currently only available in-world at the store for L$500.  While most bikes come with a men's and women's sizes, the Bullet Lowrider fits one size.  It is however copyable and able to be locked and unlocked so that you and your friends can ride together. 

The bike is perfection at its finest and is by far its price, the best buy you will find for any motorcycle within SL.  In my opinion, this is the best bike on the grid for looks, style, ride, function, and class A personal customer support.  You will not find better. 

Mr. Clawtooth's bikes all come with the same standard features - what sets this one above the rest is its design, which is based on prototypes from the RL European market.  Advertised features are as follows: 

"Mouse Wheel Controlled Camera View
(zoom in/out with angle control).
Drive / Fly Mode.
Burnout and Rev function.
Skids when turning or breaking at high speed.
Manual / Automatic 5 Gears with adjustable speed (Menu Driven).
Adjustable poses for driver (3) and 1 for passenger (Menu Driven).
Authentic Horn Sound.
Working Speedometer on the HUD. 

"Menu controlled Color changer.
Menu controlled Texture changer.
Parking Mode for the bike with auto switch of the driver pose.
Lights on / off.
Built in Break light.
Exhaust on / off (particle smoke).
Locked / Unlocked mode making it possible for friends or the public to ride your bike.
Group Access mode for members of your group wearing the tag.
Easy to use HUD for quick controls.
Very easy to drive and control."

While the bike is listed as no-mod, we did notice that the items that needed to be modded were all adjustable via a menu, easily accessible from clicking on the bike. You really don't need the HUD to operate it at all, but you can always get a copy of it from the menu if needed  The bike drives with the same key commands as walking, so you do not need to learn a lot to operate it successfully.  Even though the default paint job is silver, there are 20 custom hand-painted paint options created by Mr. Clawtooth himself, two of which are shown in this article.  Two people are also able to ride on the bike at the same time.  The driver can click on the seat to "Ride out," and your passenger on the back fender.  

While the scripts are from KCP, the current leader in motorcycle scripts in SL, these somehow are the smoothest running scripts of any KCP Scripts.  We tested side by side this bike to some of Mr. Clawtooth's older models and bikes form other stores that listed the same scripts and found the Bullet Lowrider to run more smoothly and efficiently than other bikes, even those made by Mr. Clawtooth as well.  Mr. Clawtooth works with a few scripters with his real life company, NCraft Republic, so things may have been optimized a bit there.  This bike also has some great smooth engine sounds that other bikes in SL are lacking.

The design of every aspect of this bike is perfection.  It features an elegant yet powerful stretched out body, wheels seen in prototypes of European and racing motorcycles only, intricate detail of side exhaust, front brake caliper, and down to the details in the various paint jobs included in the bike.  Detail has been shown to every part of this bike, down to the licesne plate, speedometer, and even the tank is authentic.  The bike is not lacking in detail either, nor is any other bike offered by Mr. Clawtooth.  It has very finely detailed timing, scripting, workmanship, and sounds and just looks and works great.  It also features working lights, horn, and a flight mode.  We have talked to many in SL who have purchased his bikes, and everyone agrees that his are by far the best. 


T&C Designs is also the only company in SL that we have found that will build child-sized avatar bikes that the child can sit on and it looks correct.  While other companies do have some bikes for child-sized avatars, the poses in Mr. Clawtooth's child-sized bikes are anatomically correct. Most of his bikes have child versions available for L$300, however, as this is his newest, it is not available at this time. Speaking of animations, all of the adult animations are spot on and have been created by Mr. Clawtooth himself. 

One other detail that Mr. Clawtooth has paid attention to, and this is where his dedication to the craft becomes apparent, is that, unlike many of his SL design counterparts, Mr. Clawtooth seeks real life licensing of the textures, sculpts, and other aspects of his designs that he creates in SL.  While we've seen a lot of motorcycle designers pick and choose pieces, often crossing styles, Mr. Clawtooth will seek permission from the real world companies to recreate the product in SL.  Mr. Clawtooth is the head of a group in SL called "PBACAT" which specializes in the prevention of copyright and intellectual property theft. 

Iga Clawtooth is a sheer genius when it comes to what he builds in general and has set the industry standard in motorcycles in SL with this bike.  The only person, in my opinion that could do better, is Mr. Clawtooth himself.   Mr. Clawtooth has as well set the industry standard in anything he has made for SL at that time. 



Overall:  10/10, we'd give higher if we could

Pros:  Perfection

Cons:  None




Styling Guides:

Med:  LoveCats Designs, Gunshy for Men

This is an excellent outfit for men.  While it is
hard to find good clothes for men, everything from LoveCats is great.  We love the tattoos, shirt, jeans, and boots.  All around a great outfit and perfect for any men's wardrobe.  (note:  sunglasses separate)

Overall:  10/10
Pros:  Great outfit
Cons:  None

Arizona:  LoveCats Designs, Snakebite for Women

This by far another great outfit with a versatile jacket that comes in two sizes that are easy to fit.
We had to adjust her avatar size a little, but the avatar looked even better after she did.  While the boots are styled for a neko, we prefer the boots from gunshy with the outfit.  This outfit can also work well for the neko readers out there.  This outfit also pairs well with components of other outfits.  (note:  sunglasses separate)


Overall:  9/10
Pros:  Versatile, jacket looks great, fits easily
Cons:  Boots are neko


Sonja:   LoveCats Designs, Wanted for Women

Thhis outfit gives you the rocker chic look.  Available for men and women it features a denim shirt, jeans, boots, gloves, and a belt complete with accessories such as drum sticks and a keychain.  Looks good, feels good, and is versatile.  An all around favorite.

Overall:  10/10
Pros:  Great outfit, versatile, great details
Cons:  None

Syr (left):  Indyra Originals, Vida in Cantelope - special to come tomorrow








Credits:
Special Thanks to: Iga Clawtooth and TranquilMoonDancer Timeless of T&C Design
Special Thanks to: LoveCat Thei of LoveCats Design
Written by: Sonja Mistwallow and Arizona Navarathna
Edited by:  Arizona Navarathna
Photography by:  Philip Belgold
Models:  Sonja Mistwallow, Arizona Navarathna, Syrelis, Medavac Renfold