the mirage

Electroclash Fashion

This layout was inspired by a scarf I recently made for my store Adjunct. I’ve also been working on another collection of scarves that will be released through another new girls clothes store I’m opening soon called Lucy In Disguise. I love a bright colored scarf to give you that pop of color. It’s an essential in any man’s wardrobe. I can see my electro scarf worn on a cold winter day or even with swim trunks for when the chilly night falls on the beach. So this scarf will serve you well all year.

The Lone Wolf

The lone wolf, the man who walks alone in life. Mark Everett of Eels sings in his song, Lone Wolf, “I am a lone wolf, nobody needs to get too close to me, you’ll only see this truth, I am a lone wolf…”  This song as well as Fresh Blood by the Eels were inspirations I drew from for this layout.

My personal challenge was to create 3 looks that gave subtle hints and nods to wolves and werewolves without literally putting on a werewolf or wolf avatar. Not an easy task! I had to dig in some pretty seedy places to find some of my pieces.

New Blogger Alert

I want to welcome aboard Myvegancookbook Bolissima.  He has joined the ranks here at Phantom’s Republic as our new male fashion blogger.  Vegan is the owner of Adjunct and maintains his shop blog at http://www.adjunctsl.com/blog/ If you’ve not been to Adjunct….it’s a fun male fashion shop with a smattering of furniture thrown in.  It’s not for those of you looking to be Big Man on Campus but more for the nerds with bow ties and suspenders and the like.  But it’s all good fun.

In RL, Vegan works as a Graphics Designer, is a twin, is an actual vegan as his name suggests, and runs font/typeface foundry:  bvfonts.com

Vegan will now strut his stuff and show us his stylish side here on PR.  Thanks for joining, Vegan!

-Fi

Cha Cha Changes….

I want to thank Phan for allowing me to take over as admin on the blog and carry on without him.  He’s missed everyday by me and several others.  I wish him well and if the addiction ever takes him again we’re here with the doors open to welcome him back.

The more things change the more they stay the same.  Harper has agreed to write this with me as I really do want to keep it open to all the good things in SLife….and I’m no fashionista…ask anyone.     So Harper is taking the fashion beat and doing her thing.

Additionally, we are lacking a male blogger.  Please feel free to drop me a notecard or an email if you are interested.  I will ask for writing and photo samples so be prepared for that.

Well I’m not all that prolific on administrivia…..so over and out.  -Fi

Blog Transition

I have yet had a chance to publicly thank those who were a part of Phantom’s Republic team while I was online, but before I do that, I am pleased to announce that Fiona Haworth, owner of PrimPads furniture and our Home and Gardens coorespondent will be continuing this blog as owner and blogger.  Her posts on prefabs, unique furniture, and just fun items you could find around SL were a breath of fresh air … considering that most SL blogs have to do with clothing and fashion.  The bulk of her contributions made her one of our top producers, and among all of the latest posts on the blog, hers generally outperformed everyone else’s … including mine.

So, for those of you who relied on Phantom’s Republic for the latest and best in House and Home … Phantom’s Republic blog will still meet that need, and I’m more than proud to hand over the reins to a person I trust, admire, and respect … Fiona Haworth.

Before I go, I want to thank all who have been involved with Phantom’s Republic over the last year.  About this time last year, Fiona agreed to jump on board, and she’s contributed consistently since then.  Not too much later, Aristoteles Allen – manager of Cheerno (formerly a.C Store) joined our team, and became our lead men’s stylist – giving our presence in men’s fashion a much needed lift.  Since then, several have joined the team — some have stayed or gone their own way:  Italiyia, Coldfusion, Xavier, Laya, Autumn, and Jenniferr.

I would also like to thank Giancarlo Takacs for our time as part of his team at Costa Rica Sims.  I really enjoyed my time there, and wish him – and all of the residents of CRS – more years of fun and sun in SL!

Thanks to all of you for our wonderful time together!  It was a great ride

My Brand of Heroin

I don’t believe in destiny.  I don’t believe in a lot of things, actually … and that’s always made me a little different than a lot of people around me.  I believe in things I can hold, see, hear, smell, grab, taste, hold on to …

I don’t know what it was about Second Life that drew me in so deeply.  The fantasy aspect?  A premature mid-life crisis?  I’m amused by those snobs in SL that say they’re nothing like the losers who become so immersed that they don’t know reality from a blip on a screen, yet – like these so-called losers – they can be found logged on and intertwined like the rest of us … for hours, days, weeks, months … logged on and obsessed like the rest of us, mesmerized not only by the seemingly flawless recreation of the physical world, but also in the beauty that this world brings out in the rest of us … a world where our noses, our handicaps, our weight problems, our ages, our skin blemishes, our speech impediments, our social hang-ups, and our pasts no longer hold us back.  In Second Life, we’re all beautiful – in and out – just like we want to be in the Real.

Although blind faith has never been anything I subscribed to, hope has always been a friend of mine:  hope for a life different than the one I had; for a different future; for a resurrecting, transforming love … something different than the shut doors, the “not-good-enoughs”, and the superficiality of today’s consumer culture.  How I ever thought I would find something different in a world where superficiality is the base component of its very existence will always allude me – but, hope was what I had in this world not seen before, the world that made us all more alive than we are in our Real.

But, even though emotions seemed stronger, love seemed more real, and where things seemed more possible than they ever could otherwise … it never amounted to more than grasping at empty pixels.  For those that claim this is the new economy, fortunes have been won (and lost) by the stroke of a pen at a computer lab somewhere in Silicon Valley when economy or real estate has been adjusted for the benefit of the many, or for the corporate image.  It is all elusive, all unreal, all grasping at phantoms who seem so real … so beautiful at first.

So, what does that make all of us … those who have been spending the better part of our lives day in and day out, hours and weeks … pretending in a world of make believe?  Is SL really the next economy, the future of social networking, or has the whole holodeck nature of it turned it into something more tragic?  What do we gain in the world – in life – spending hour after hour in front of a wide plasma screen emoting in a chat box?  Even when we fall in love – as so many say they do here – how does it benefit our lives when that life “together” can only be imagined … never shared, or enjoyed with another sitting beside you?  Is it really the same sitting in a fake hot-air balloon and floating over virtual Venezia … or to hold the one of a very real lover while traveling down the canals of the very real one?  Can it replace seeing the smile of surprise when giving a gift to your husband or wife, feeling their lips against your ear as they whisper sweet-nothings?  And, for those who are here because they have had the real and lost … does it really replace what you had before?  Or does it just keep you from ever having it again?

I came to Second Life on New Year’s Eve one year (the first time) … looking for something.  And, although the ensuing months brought plenty of laughter, smiles, tears, and joy … one thing it never brought me was anything real.  It felt real – absolutely – and in many of my virtual relationships, things still feel very real.

But, it isn’t … and it can’t be … not as long as it keeps us from reaching out and making things real; not as long as it prevents us from enjoying our own real lives; not as long as it robs us of the courage to make those real lives better.  In that sense, SL isn’t an adventure … it is emotional heroine.

And, today … I’m pulling the needle out of my arm.

Those who know and love me know how to contact me … and I hope they will continue to do so.  But, I can’t live in Pleasantville anymore.  It isn’t real.  I’m not throwing anything away … I’m casting my bread on the water … and what comes back (as the book of fables says) … was real all along.

Here’s to Real Life!

Unplugging …

A Change in the Atmosphere

Atmosphere Works has recently moved out to a new location in order to expand their ever growing line of fabulous furniture.  If you are unfamiliar with their work, you are in for a real treat.  It’s beautifully sculpted and textured complete with nice shadowing and a good bit of realism.  Not only that, the prim usage is phenomenal.  A full living room group for the same prim cost as a sofa anywhere else.   They have a really wide variety of styles that will fit in most homes.  Complete with tons of sit options you really can’t choose not to put this place on your shopping list.

This first piece is a Deck Chair set.  Comes with two loungers, the umbrella, the table and the shadows so basically all shown except for the daiquiris I made.  The loungers and umbrella are color changing with the choice of 5 vibrant colors.  Ready for the real steal on this….17 animations per lounger.  Oh and prims for the entire set are 25 plus 4 for shadows if you wish.

This next pic is of a few Rattan Chair Sets they have.  The chairs have 15 animations each and are only 4 prims each.  The table is 3 prims.  Each set includes two chairs and a table.  The textures on these are just amazing and the animations are really nice.

The Orchids of Costa Rica

Orchids proliferate in Costa Rica. Warm-weather-loving, humidity-seeking, exotic, colorful and graceful, orchids are the perfect flower to represent the beauty of the Costa Rican sims.

It’s entirely appropriate, then, for me to point you to the wonderful work of Miko Omegamu, sold on the Laguna Arenal sim. Miko has perfected the fine art of making orchids in SL and she has used them to embellish this gorgeous dress. But a Miko creation is never a quick prim assemblage. Miko has considered the dress from top to bottom, from the beautifully textured prim orchids to the excellently rendered stem running across the elegantly shaped dress to the prim drape with bow on the other side.

I chose an updo from KateForester Akina to accompany this beautiful dress. KateForster has a huge collection of hair—from the every day to the truly fantastic. The color change flower adorning the hair matched the dress perfectly. A beautiful skin that Monicuzza Babenco made specially for this year’s Vanity Skin fair to benefit Care suits the elegance of the ensemble. Finally, I donned beautiful orchid earrings from Caliah Lyon and stylish pumps from Onyx LeShelle, and I am a flower in bloom.

The beauty of an orchid’s perfume:

Hair: Tukinowaguma Deborah ebony by KateForster Akina for Tukinowaguma

Skin: *YS & YS* Kelly “Care” Eb Dark by Monicuzza Babenco for YS & YS

Dress: *ICING* Orchid Delight by Miko Omegamu for *ICING* at the Costa Rica Sims

Earrings: ~Muse~ Elle Orchid Earring by Caliah Lyon for ~Muse~

Shoes: Maitreya Verve Pumps – Black by Onyx LeShelle for Maitreya

The Nardcotix Man

After last month’s fashion show, I took my guy to shop at Nardcotix … he likes plaid shirts, and designer Nardya Rousselot has a truck full … not to mention a nice assortment and variety of other items in her new but growing men’s line.  Needless to say, we had to leave quickly … we were tempted to buy everything in her store!

Last week, she asked me to look at some new items … and let me tell you … like her women’s line, Nardya is becoming a force to be reckoned with in SL fashion.  Her clothes are more than just paint on prims or sculpties … they’re dynamic, they show personality — they capture the wind!  Didn’t take long to take these shots in my crib … these clothes are awesome for events or just posing!

Stop by her store in either the Costa Rica Sims or her homestore in Einstein … and if you see something you can’t live without, grab what you like, and tell her Phantom sent ya!

TOP – Coat – NX Fielding Wool Coat Khaki| Vest – NX Gordon Leather Vest Brown| Denims – -WMD-”Ronin”Pepper Jeans | Boots – Black Leather Sculpties *REDGRAVE*| Sunglasses – KR Sunglasses M6 Gold| Necklace – *Cobrahive* Kousa Necklace | MIDDLE – Shirt – NX Devon Striped Shirt Blue| BOTTOM – Suit – NX Pierson Formal Suit Brown|