I know there's been a lot of bitterness and hurt feelings this week in the blogosphere because of a series of rather scathing and sometimes crass reviews of 50L Friday and Humpday Happiness items. We all know that not all items will appeal to everyone and that designers would love to have constructive criticism. It is possible to review things in a positive way while remaining completely honest. So, I thought I would attempt to demonstrate how to do such a review, and prove it can be done without being mean or condescending. This is my very first 50L Friday blog post (I rarely do 50L Friday for reasons you will see below).
Let me first note that I am very closed minded about fashion. I have narrow tastes and rarely branch out into other looks. I'm probably more goth than anything else and am sort of stuck in my ways, but I have to be true to me.
Below are the items available for this week's 50L Friday,
I started at
Schadenfreude, one of my favorite shops:
Allegory is offering a harlequin vest and a bra and undies set this week. Yes, she's offering a vest again. I like her vests but haven't bought any of them because I just felt like I had nothing to wear with them. I bought this one, though. I've been sort of obsessed with the black/white thing ever since I saw
this picture on flickr. I didn't buy the undies, and here's why. Allegory gave me a nightmare about skunks. It's all her fault! Really. I hadn't thought about skunks for ages, and then she made that cute little skunk dress for the Alt Fair. The next night, I dreamt that a my dog wanted to play with a skunk and I fell on my ass and got sprayed trying to get away. So, I won't buy your skunk stuff, Allegory! :-P
Next stop was the
Turquoise Unicorn Studios. I hadn't heard of this shop. It's very small and the designer seems to specialize in unusual eyes. I thought she had some beautiful eyes in her shop, but I'm not a neko, so I didn't buy this item. She had other colors laid out besides her 50L offering, and some of them are stunning, I mean, really eye-catching. I think if you're a neko, this would be a great place to get some eyes.
Lamb was the next shop. I wear Lamb hair a lot because it is quality stuff. But, I almost always wear either black, white, or funky colored hair, so the blonde and brown colors didn't perk my interest. Remember, I'm narrow minded (LOL). I have the style on the left already in black, and I know there are a lot of people who will love these, especially the cute little blonde hairdo. I like the dark roots.
Next up was
Callie Cline's shop. Wow! She had a lot of stuff out. I was, honestly, overwhelmed by it all. I didn't buy anything when I was there, but I do reserve the right to return, after I see someone more creative than I am put together a cool looking outfit. I don't have enough imagination for all these choices. It's like standing in the cereal aisle at the grocery store trying to decide which one to buy.
The official item, the little glitter dress, is very cute, but it's white. *sniff* *sniff* That's just a few shades away from pink.
Glow studio was next. I was hoping for some more eyelashes, but instead found this rose necklace/collar. I think if you paired it with Callie's white dress, it would be really cute. But, since I'm a little goth, I don't do white so much. If it were black, it would be mine! I love the picture in the ad. It's very chic and classy. I really like this item, but it's just not me.
Luck is offering this pink skull tank top. I came really close to getting this item, but *ugh* if only it weren't pink. I wear pink sometimes, but in my own, very personal and warped opinion, I don't think pink should be mixed with skulls. It sets it into the emo category for me. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my emo friends, but I'm sure there's some kind of rule somewhere that prohibits me from wearing this, even though it's cute. It would look nice with Lamb's blonde hair - cute little blonde emo girl! *hugs*
On a side note, while I was in Luck, I saw this not-fully-rezzed outfit. I HAD to wait until it rezzed to see what in the world it could be.
Wow! It was leaves! I should have inspected it to see who the designer was. If anyone knows, please leave the info as a comment! I bet whomever made it has some really interesting things in his/her shop. Let's have something like that on 50L Friday!
Scribble was up next. Scribble offered a paper airplane and a hat. I wish there had been more information about the paper airplane, like the size, and what you can do with it. Can you throw it? It is big enough to ride on?
The hat is very cute, and I almost bought it, too, but fitting a hat to hair in SL is such a pain in the bottom that I just decided to pass on this. I think Scribble often has some unique and very creative items for sale on 50L Friday. The lack of info on the airplane is unusual.
5th and Oxford set out this lovely slip, but *grrrr* it's pink! Ahhhhh! I know that everyone else in the known universe loves pink, except for me, but this is so cute! Why? Why can I not have this in violet, or emerald green, or deep red for 50L? I love the wrinkling on the fabric and the drawn on garter belts. It's very smexy. And if you thought redheads couldn't wear pink, they just proved you wrong - lovely model.
Oh, you know what the top would look cute with? One of Callie Cline's skirts!
Deco set out a pair of glasses and a necklace. OMG! I love that necklace - it is a broken mannequin leg. How cool is that? And I think very man on the grid should have those glasses. They are swoon-worthy. Definitely a win!
Hoot offered a pair of lace patterned panties. I'm just not a big buyer of underwear in SL, so I passed on this. The vendor ad is really cute and the model is pretty. I like her smile and the poses in the ad.
I just don't know what people wear underwear for in SL. I guess if someone forgot to include glitch pants with an outfit? Maybe? Maybe it's good for sexy times, of which I know nothing about?
Arcade set out this really cute bench with a telephone. I think this is amazing. Just look at the textures. Wow! But, I have one problem. I don't actually have a house in SL. I was living in Elderglen, but gave it up. It's not that I'm homeless, I just live in a big moon skybox with a photo studio and space to build stuff. There's not actually any furniture in there. This would go perfect in one of the Elderglen homes. I have to say that I love Arcade, and when I do get a home, I'm getting the Arcade fireplace!
Miel has a necklace out for 50L Friday. I know it's black, but I didn't buy it. It's just not me. If there were skulls on it....
Again, lovely vendor ad and the back of the necklace looks really nice. The textures are beautiful. I think it's a bit too high fashion for me. It's fancy, fancy, and I have no place to wear fancy, fancy things.
Pig set out a cute romper and shorts. But, you guessed it, PINKI! AAAHHHHH! It's a pretty item and looks very well drawn. The shorts are cute, too, and I know these items will appeal to a lot of people.
I can't wait to see what some of the bloggers do with mixing and matching these items.
Artilleri is offering this cute little bar. OMG, Antie, how do you do that? Look at these textures? If you can look at the drinks and not get thirsty, you're weird. They look so realistic!
Now, I'm going to have to go have a strawberry daiquiri today because of this.
I love everything Artilleri does, without a doubt. But, since I have no place to put a bar, sadly, I didn't get it. It would just sit in my inventory, and something like this deserves to be placed out and admired by everyone that stops by.
Well, that was the end of my 50L Friday shopping experience. What did I get? The Schadenfreude vest and the Deco necklace. I spent a total of 100L. I'll probably later regret not buying some of these items, and I may go back later and pick up some more things. If someone were to break me out of my goth clothing rut, it would be good and bad - good because I'll have many more options in terms of style, and bad because I'll be a lot poorer. But, I do want to thank the organizers and designers of 50L Friday for giving me something to look forward to each week. All in all, these are great shops, talented designers, and wonderful selections.
Here is my 50L Friday look. I love my new vest and necklace!
Credits:
Top -
Sn@tch - Short Sweater Top (Black) (McLovin)
Skirt -
Sn@tch - Plaid Ruffle Skirt (McLovin)
Stockings -
Blowpop - Seamed Fishnet Tights - Black
Necklace -
Deco - Mannequin Necklace
Skin -
Sn@tch Plush Skin (Tone 1 - Bruise 2/FR)
Boots -
HOC - Knee Boots Female - Plain Colors
