“Out on the Town” AKA “A prude goes Linedancing”

Okay, I admit it, its rare that I go out into SL just to have fun.  More often then not when my partner is not on line with me,  I just hang out on my land, ‘sewing” new designs, improving the store or fussing with the garden. My dear Moz thinks I move things to much…but that is a story for another day.  Tonight the story is that I had a rare urge to go out on the town.  My desired entertainment for the evening…..country line dancing!

I love country music and i think i look damn fine in a cowboy hat, it was high time i got out and  indulged in both. I had not been line dancing on SL in at least a year…and tonight was the night. I put on my loudest cowboy duds….my favorite hat (yes i have more then one) and hit search to find a country bar. Dozens came up and several sounded good. One toted itself as “SL”s Best Country Hot Spot”  Can’t be bad right?   Off I went all dressed up and ready to Boot Scoot boogie.

“Welcome Lexi!” I get greeted with at the bar….followed instantly by “Take your clothes off and stay awhile!”  Then the club rezzed and there they were, naked people in cowboy hats. Some had chaps on….just chaps, no jeans….just cheek framing chaps. “My eyes! Holy Mother of Gaga!” I covered my eyes and slowly backed out of the club.  That was so not what i had in mind.

 He’s just as proud as he can be
Of his anatomy
He goin’ give us a peek!

I teleported to the next club on the list and found myself rezzed outside a little clapboard  saloon with a horse and a hitch post beside the swinging saloon style doors.  This looked promising. The sounds of Big and Rich  boomed from the speakers, sounded promising too. I pushed open those doors and wandered on inside…..and…”Holy Crap! My Eyes!”  This time everyone was only nearly naked. It seemed I had come upon Thong Night at the  saloon.

I have to admit, i had no idea nudity had gotten so prevalent in country and western bars. Clearly a lot had changed over the past year. At least I am starting to understand why my SL clothing lines sell so slowly but the new mesh boobs are all the rage.  It turns out Second life is full of nudists.

Daunted but determined, i kept on. This time when i went thru search i looked for a club that was not even remotely near SL’s Hottest.  Maybe  even someplace cold….so they would have to be dressed for the warmth.  The next club I picked looked nice, well decorated and it had a big sign full of rules by the door. Rule  #1 was “No NUDITY – Bits and parts must be covered.”  Quasar Country Saloon!  Yes! At last I had found a place where i could dance without having to avert my eyes.

I did mention that it was a loud outfit?

They played new country, they played old county. They even played some disco. I was in line dance paradise!  The dances were great, the people friendly and I only got mistaken for a girl once. (It happens to me  a lot, must be something abut the name Lexi.. It can’t be the red sequin top. )  Then suddenly , as if  the universe was needing to keep up with what seemed to have become the naked theme of the evening, the club was raided by a Streaker. However….he kept in at least the spirit of the saloon rules as he dashed  around the club in fashionable red tartan sneakers and a mint hat.

You just can’t make this stuff up. Maybe I need to get out more so that all the weirdness the universe has lined up for me doesn’t  have to be delivered all in one night. On the other hand, it did make for one heck of a fun and laugh worthy evening.  If you can stand country music, stop by the Quasar Country Saloon, I suspect you might find me there again soon.

Lex out.

Introverted Style

I am an introvert.

It is commonly felt that a person should want  to have lots of friends and make these friendships easily, you should greet new experiences enthusiastically and quickly and brag about yourself and your skills to any who will listen.  Anyone who doesn’t fit this pattern is often looked at with concern or worse,  just overlooked entirely. I get overlooked fairly often and I can’t blame people  for doing so really. It takes time to get to know me and meanwhile the  extroverts sparkle so bright and talk so well that a quiet man will nearly always get lost in their din. Besides, I am in love with an extrovert and I know how much fun they can be.

You can’t always tell that I am one of these solitary minded souls. When writing in my blog I can share.  One on one in conversation on a topic I care about, I can be dazzling and quick. My wit is sharp, my humor bright. Get me into a group  however,  or ask me to talk about myself and pfff….it all just melts away. Even though I know I am very intelligent,  I just murmur what ever inane thing  it takes to get the spotlight back off of me.

Its not that I am shy or lack in confidence, in fact just the opposite is true. I know I am talented, I am proud of my keen mind and sarcastic wit, confident of my artistic skills and I am _very sure_ my avatar is drop dead sexy. I also know I am one of the best male clothing designers on Second life. Just don’t ask me to say that in front of people, it feels like bragging and it makes me uncomfortable.

All this comes up today because of something I did recently that pushed me several steps out of my comfort zone. I joined one of those “Men of the Year” contests. I must stress that was not my idea. A friend i respect a great deal showed me the contest and thought I would be a great fit for it. It was so flattering to be noticed like that…..that well…. i took the leap and I entered. The first step was easy….take a photo of yourself and try to get your very best sexy side, I aced that part. I am good at photography. Writing the paragraph explaining why you thought you were worthy to take part, now that was a lot harder to do. I have not real desire to try and sound better then anyone else. I know I babbled something about red hair, introverts and not paying much mind to who is who the fashion world. I figured it was like the blog, nobody ever reads that stuff anyway right?

Much to my surprise, I made it into the top ten!  Really?! Me??!  I am fairly sure that a possible “Man of the Year” is not suppose to squeal like that, so lets just say when i got the news i did a 15 minute, very restrained happy dance around my workshop. Then i realized……i had to do a live on the spot interview. No idea what the questions were going to be and I would have to answer them right away, no think time. Oh. Crap. So much for the happy dance, this was the stuff i dread.

Lets just say the interview was not great. I did not sparkle once….at least as far as I could tell. What could i do for the company?  What makes me different from the other guys? What would you do with a time machine? (really?)  ect.  I gave answers but I just felt weird and exposed as i sat there and tried to get something good to come out. I had Nothing.  For the next two days  after the interview I was playing the “What I should have said was….” game and you know that never makes you feel any better.

What I could have said…if I had the time I needed to ponder, think and observe as we introverts like…..would be this.

What makes me stand out is the fact that I am just uniquely and perfectly me, with my flaws, my talents and my rough blatant honesty. I am slow to choose, slow to speak and slow to love, but when i do make up my mind about something or someone I am steadfast and loyal to the end.  When I care, i do it with all my heart and all my energy. Your company could do no better then to have me represent it, because if you could make me believe in it and what it stands for, then i would be with you and that company thru good and bad times. All the while the slow burning creative fire and redheaded tenacity that is my core personality would slowly but surely light an equal belief in anyone that came in contact with me. One person at a time, Introvert style.

I don’t know if I have won or lost. I suspect I lost….but either way I doubt i will change my life much. My own extrovert entered too and as always, he charmed them with his sparkling conversation. I suspect he will place top five, maybe even win and I really hope he does.  I don’t mind staying behind and watching him shine because to at least one guy, I am already man of the year.

Fashion Icon?! Me?

Three times this week three different people have called me a fashion Icon. The first time i brushed it off as a random flattery. The second time i asked “Icon?! Me? Why?” and got the slightly less then reverent reply of  “Well Duh! You have been modeling and designing forever. Everybody knows you.” The third time….i started to wonder if maybe the world was trying to tell me something.

Maybe I am a fashion Icon and just was not aware of it?

If I am truly an Icon of Fashion then i am at the very least not a typical one. I don’t care about shoes for one thing, if i buy more then 2 pair in a year its an event worth of news. I am also a hermit introvert that has no real interest in knowing Who is Who in the world of virtual fashion. I can’t tell you the names of more then three top designers and perhaps if you gave me time to think about it, i might know for or five top models.

Sure, i recognise a few of the BIG names like Frolic Mills, and Raven Pennyfeather, and and there are a few models who’s names stand out to me, mostly from my being in shows with them a few years back but for the most part I have no idea who anyone is or what the popular people are wearing, doing or taking photos of at any given time. That does give me a slightly unique outlook on fashion I suppose. I am free to do what I like and not care who made it or if the right people will notice me when i have it on.  I long since gave up on modeling in favor of keeping my red hair that I was always being told to change. I have realized too that while I will always keep designing, that its not likely to become a full time business for me. I am just not that into it. I like to make and wear things that please me and my partner Moz finds attractive.

So, I am a introvert fashion Icon with old shoes…and this is my blog.

 

GizzA Miami Fashion Week Preview

One of the grand things about Gizza is that its rather like a trip to a vintage clothing store. You never know what you are going to find there, but you know its going to be something interesting.

The textures are rich, the colors are vibrant and the styles are not something you are going to see on every virtual street.

Designed by Giz Seorn, Gizza fashions are a delight to fit and to photograph. Each prim attachment comes with a resizing script so even the most clumsy fashionista can easily get a perfect fit.

The GizzA show will be held Friday July 22nd at 4pm during Miami Fashion Week. If you can’t wait till then to see more, check out the Inworld Store or shop lag free at the Marketplace.

Paris on a Monday

It started out simply enough, not a date at all, only a simple work assignment. I was just taking a model out to Paris to get a vender photo for my new Rococo gown, Mozart heard what the location was and wanted to tag along.   He arrives in a lime green tee-shirt and jeans with one long leg and one short one. Sunglasses on and half shaved punk hair. Yep. That is my boyfriend. Its not like I can pick on his fashion sense to much though  for I am in Paris dressed like a goth and with a serious overdose of eyeliner on.  A local finds us more interesting as a photography subject then the lovely city itself.

So while I am busy shooting pretty miss Rissa in the gown, Moz heads off exploring, falls into the city sewers and  starts IMing me about the wonders he is seeing. The rat. I want to play too…so i take far less shots then normal. I got a good one tho.

Work done and  Rissa happily off to do what ever girl models do, i hurried off to find Mozart. Word of warning. DO NOT teleport into the sewers of Paris. You will drown. I have proof.

I also know if I am drowning in a sewer because of a bad teleport…my partner will be to busy laughing his head off to save me. Such a sad sad state. At least the sewer water was remarkably clean that day. Once I got dried off and reapplied the now running eyeliner, we were off to explore. We found a under ground library and theater, had cakes a little cafe  and saw a dragon wandering the city, calm as could be. Second life is so wonderful, everything has a bit of magic to it. However of all the wonders of the city, it was this simple, mundane antique public urinal that really got Mozart excited.

This urinal had him laughing till he wheezed, he IMed people about it. He fell about the place. He had to go try it out. He just loved it. (don’t worry…I don’t get it either but oh gods it was charming. Such enthusiasm!)

Still there were other more impressive metal structures in Paris that I wanted to see so once we had worn out the wonders of the urinal..it was off to the Eiffel Tower. I have heard that its good luck for a couple to share a slow dance under the tower so that was my plan. We managed to find a smooth bit of green lawn and music. Its always so much fun to dance with my Moz, i could have danced for hours.

The sun was fading though and soon it would be time to rest. What better place to watch the sun set them from the top of this grand tower..so reluctantly we ended our dance and made our way to the sky. Brilliant reds and yellows blended artfully with the rusty hues of the tower, again…magical.  Sometimes tho it was hard to keep my eyes on the skys.

Ugly pants and fluffy hair…and i find him utterly breathtaking. Everything becomes an adventure with the right person at your side. Second life…its a magical place.

Claim the Fame…Pound one, Part 2.

The theme for the first round of “Claim the Fame” came in at last. Formal wear. We get two weeks for this first design set because we really want to have an impressive first showing.   Crud, Formal wear. Really?!  I  am not all that good at the big filmy floaty dresses and i have not made ANYTHING for women in over a year. Still better that  my weak spot comes up now when there are  more designers to chose from as to who gets the boot.

I think on theme….because just doing any old formal dress and tux is boring. I stare at my Logo and think….and think… Hmmmm. STEAM PUNK FORMAL!  Suddenly i had my idea and I was off and running. I better be off and running. I have less then a week to make two new designs that will wow the judges.  Fabric swatches are found and I am off and virtual sewing for all I am worth.

The dress came pretty easy, I was really pleased with myself when I showed it to the boyfriend. Mozart, the dear thing looked at it…and went “mmmm”. He does that alot. Mmmm.  I am never sure what it means. This time it meant that the textures on the skirt were warped and distorted at the top.  Thus began my treck into the learning of “warp tool’. This proves to be very distracting… and so does Mozart. Really…an avatar should not look that good when someone is trying to work.

The dress is done at last and I have sent it off to my model, Rhonda. Now its time to get the tux going. Women’s clothing is hard for me, but men’s designs are FUN. I had so many ideas for this steam tux that it was a bit tricky to pick just one.

Claim the Fame…Round one

Not sure how many of you have heard of it, but there is a new designer’s contest on the grid. It’s based on the TV show called “Project Runway” and it pits 20  SL clothing designers in a head to head competition.  You know me…I love stress and deadlines so I had to get in on this.

I took theaptly named “Chance” suit and went to an audition.

To my great delight, I got in as one of the top 20.

The idea of the contest is simple. 20 designers are given a theme and one week. In that week they have to create two outfits on the theme. one for men and one for women. Then they have to get them onto a preselected model and styled for the runway. Then the outfits must be photographed,  boxed and ready to sell. In one week. Yes. One week.

Yes. We designers in this contest are crazy for doing this.

I can hardly wait to start.

A Redhead talks of Romance

Strawberry’s Berry blogger challenge asks us to talk about the question “What is Romance?”

There is no simple way to describe romance. Romance is so many things tangible and intangible. Its private and personal, gentle touches and sweet thoughts . Other times Romance is grinning like a loon, catching snowflakes on its tongue and screaming love songs from the rooftops. Romance weakens the strong, strengthens the weak,  makes fools become wise, and makes wise men into fools.  It enhances and humbles all that it touches.

Romance is your own soul dancing simply because someone else exists.

Its been a interesting few months for the Brocade Tiger. Circumstances have required me to give up my beloved large store and land and move to a new and more intimate (tiny) location. You can now find the entire Brocade Tiger’s men’s wear line at the Celebration Mall.

In spite of the move or perhaps to honor it,  the Brocade Tiger line brings you my lastest vision….

Bolero in Black Snake

This black snake skin men’s ensemble is fierce, With a high collared, bolero jacket and some fringe at the bottom hem. The modifiable snake skin pants are form fitting and lace sexily up one leg. Perfect with boots.

This is just one hot outfit that shows lots of skin in a unique way. The sheer shirt has a vee neck and cool snakeskin pattern as well or it can be worn with the jacket collar for a different look.
If you want something different and still want to exude sexiness, this is the outfit for it.

Drop by Brocade Tiger and see what we have for you.

So Much For Optimism

Whew. It is really amazing how fast the new year went from an optimistic “it’s going to be better” to  “Oh my god will i survive this?”.

The few that know me have noticed I am hardly ever around SL these days.  I am alive…and breathing and still in fine health so that is good. However I really can’t say my Real Life has been to good lately.

Some very drastic lifestyle changes have occurred and the past couple months have seen huge drains on my time and my creative spirit. Even when I do get a few moments to sit down at the computer I have been to tired and frazzled to do more than read email.

I have not given up yet tho. This is still the year of the Tiger and I will be working on my store and my SL. I miss my peaceful quiet home. I miss my SL muse….but I shall carry on. I will be back.