StyleCard: COCO Backless Ankle Boots

So, I wanted these hot little Christian Louboutin boots for Christmas, and COCO sent them a few weeks early! The Backless Ankle Boots from Cocoro Lemon are just as yummy as their real life inspiration, and definitely worth having in Zebra, Leopard, or Black. There still seems to be some dramatics in the Second Life blogging community, attacking certain designers for replicating real life styles or photo sourcing garments, while others who are doing the same thing are overlooked or applauded for their innovation.

I am here to tell you that most, if not all, of the top footwear designers have taken heavy inspiration from the best, and it doesn't take long to find them all over google images, if you try looking. Do I have a problem with this practise? Absolutely not. Do I like being able to wear a Louboutin or Gucci look-a-like shoe in SL, one I could never afford or comfortably wear in RL? Yes I do.

I have covered the issue before, and maybe it is time to do another little show and tell with the pictures I have been collecting, until then let us try and remember... very few of the content creators of second life are actually just creating replicas of items they themselves design or hold copyright to in first life. Most designers in second life came here with a desire to make things that people would enjoy owning, and more often than not they had to learn a new skill set to do it... making sculpties, texturing, and prim construction. Even when a design resembles a real world creation, we can still appreciate what it takes to bring it to fruition in a virtual world.

This Christmas, even if your RL purse strings can't accommodate everything on your wish list, make your footwear fantasies come true, even if it is only in SL.

Visit COCO today!

The stuff;

Boots: COCO, Backless Ankle Boots, Zebra.

Skin: Curio, Sundust (Dark) June, Frex - Swan 2.

Hair: Lamb, Ghost, Kit Kat.

Outfit: COCO, Featherskirt. & Artilleri, Ah, Bella!, Zebra. & M * A * ii * K * I, High Waisted Belt, Black Patent.

Accessories: UZURI, Mkuki Earrings & Zamani Silver Bangle.

(click on images to expand.)

SLife Imitates Art

I have been collecting these photos for a little while now, my collection grew out of a wish list of shoes I would like to see in SL (more on that in a future post) - but evolved into a tribute to the amazing shoes that have been produced. I apologize in advance for the photo heavy post - and for the departure from our normal review format, but I felt it was timely to demonstrate just how beautifully done these shoes are. Obviously some are more closely related to the RL images than others, and again similarity might be purely coincidental - but it's fun to compare don't you think?

It has amazed me just how many of SL's top content creators have dipped into the RL fashion pools to bring my feet things straight off the runways of Paris and London, and I love it. Please understand, I am in no way implying that there is anything wrong with collecting inspiration for SL creation - we see it in SL architecture, vehicles, weapons and dance animations too (thriller dance anyone?). We live in a world where before the first award is handed out at the Oscars, discount fashion houses begin madly producing near duplicates of the red carpet gowns. We are also familiar with the fact that sometimes legitimate RL brands produce items so similar to other higher end brands that it can be hard to tell the difference - the result here can be very costly and cause loss of sales to designers.

In SL we are treated to endless possibilities, will having a pair of shoes that look like Manolo Blahnik or Christian Louboutin in SL cause a RL designer to lose profits? nope. Are the skills required to produce such amazing products in SL things that top RL designers have the time or patience to learn? doubtful. Instead we rely on people with technical skill and creative vision, and the ability to mold the common prim or pixel into something so much greater than we can even imagine to create footwear for second life ...or skins ...or gowns.

I thank you all for making me look and feel like a princess.

SL creators (and my heroes) from top to bottom; Digit Darkes, JCS - Jeepers Creepers, Maitreya, Stiletto Moody, Armidi, Kitties Lair, ETD, Zhao Shoes, ::69::, Minnu Model Skins & ICING.