So the petite powerhouse of creativity and dj "itgirlness", Alicia Chenaux, had the nerve to tag me. How dare she?
*giggles*
Here are the rules!
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.
"I am not enamoured but carry on."
They cleared away the last of the impedimenta. Phryne picked up a case-opener, which bore a distinct resemblance to a jemmy, and inserted it under the lip of the tomb.
The book is Urn Burial by Kerry Greenwood, an Australian mystery writer. It's very good but if you start with the Phryne Fisher stories, start with Cocaine Blues.
I shall tag, Quaint, Icy, Whimsy, Caliah and anyone who has not been tagged and would like to be. (Despite the rules, no one is under any compulsion to participate.)
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
A Brief Mention of RL Because of SL
One of the blogs I read as often as I can, is the Michami.Net Blog written and conceived by a pixel girl of outstanding style and fashion sense. This isn't just my opinion but the opinion of lots and lots of ladies on the grid and probably gents too. Her name is Milla Michinaga.
As I was getting ready to wend my weary way to bed tonight, I took a peek at her blog as I had not had time to look the last few days.
I love the latest look but, what I liked even more was the video she was linking to by Jennifer Lopez. Whether you like or hate the music doesn't matter. What does matter, to me, is that Jennifer was taking the idea that singers, actresses and spokespersons must be rail thin to succeed and kicking it in the crotch.
Since I *Do* live under a rock in real life, a brief google informed me that Ms Lopez has just given birth to twins. And yet in this video, Hold It, Don't Drop It, she manages to look stylish, sexy and cool. I don't think we can ask any more of any woman, of any size, at any time in her life.
Being that the issue of size is one that impacts me in RL through no fault of my own, i.e. I don't eat chocolate bars or potato chips every day for every meal despite the assumption by even my friends that I do - it is very, very nice to see such a positive image of a woman over a size 2 no matter what the reason.
If you don't want any RL with your SL blogging, please scroll on by!
As I was getting ready to wend my weary way to bed tonight, I took a peek at her blog as I had not had time to look the last few days.
I love the latest look but, what I liked even more was the video she was linking to by Jennifer Lopez. Whether you like or hate the music doesn't matter. What does matter, to me, is that Jennifer was taking the idea that singers, actresses and spokespersons must be rail thin to succeed and kicking it in the crotch.
Since I *Do* live under a rock in real life, a brief google informed me that Ms Lopez has just given birth to twins. And yet in this video, Hold It, Don't Drop It, she manages to look stylish, sexy and cool. I don't think we can ask any more of any woman, of any size, at any time in her life.
Being that the issue of size is one that impacts me in RL through no fault of my own, i.e. I don't eat chocolate bars or potato chips every day for every meal despite the assumption by even my friends that I do - it is very, very nice to see such a positive image of a woman over a size 2 no matter what the reason.
If you don't want any RL with your SL blogging, please scroll on by!
Skin Fair! and Rue D'Antibes
This is an incomplete list and I do not have slurls because SL mapping has decided to be borked. However, the Skin Fair is being held at Vanity Universe and can be found there if you just log in to that region.
These are the gifts and bargains and tips which I know from personally finding them or being told about them directly by the designer. They are there so please don't im me that you can't find them. Be patient, go wash dishes or something and wait for stuff to rez, I dunno.
Adam n Eve. This is a stellar box which contains demos, free skins for both male and female, manicures, pedicures and I don't know what all. It is FREE. In the center of the stall is a cute pedestal with an apple on it. The floating text above it says "Buy me for 0L for a taste of Adam n Eve". You can't miss it.
Chai Skins. Chai is selling their skin gift cards for 18percent off the regular price. In other words get their skin for 1k rather than 1200 or whatever it usually is or get three for 3k etc. The more you buy the more you save. If you are a fan of this skin this is a great time to buy them. They are also right next to Adam n Eve and you can walk right through.
Darkes Sisters Skins. This kiosk or stall is almost directly across the main concourse from Adam n Eve. Just walk across and you will see it. Once you are inside, you will see a little pink sign on the bottom left corner of the back wall which reads 1L and the box itself is an adorable hat box/powder puff box right there. I don't know if this is the same gift as the member gift given over the weekend and haven't had time to check.
At a couple intervals along the concourse there are pass through areas to even more skins. There are changing rooms in these pass through areas and seating areas for resting those pixel tootsies.
If you go through one of them, you will see on the left as you come out a circular display which has three different skin makers on it. One of them is giving away a free oil layer. The name is Dreamy something. Another skin maker, Wax Poetic, has a free skin box. (dollarbie actually)
BiancaF has a free skin which she may change each week. Her little kiosk is to be found right before Ars Nova so look for it!
Fleur had a great skin called Marni which I believe is released especially for SKIN FAIR when I was there. It was regular price though.
Celestial Studios was displaying the entire seasonal Vogue series so if you like these skins which I do, and missed them, which I did, you should grab them. And I will!.
Switching over to the Rue D'Antibes Sim opening. As of this writing, La Sylphide's sim opening gift is still there as are the gifts from Silent Sparrow (in a cute blue bottle on the table outside) and Mimikri. No idea how long they will be there, so go go go.
Silent Sparrow also has a very nice outfit reduce to 100L for the event and there are other freebies in the area.
Edit: The Fleur outlet at Rue D'Antibes is selling the boutique line for half price. This will continue until Roslin logs on and has time to change them.
These are the gifts and bargains and tips which I know from personally finding them or being told about them directly by the designer. They are there so please don't im me that you can't find them. Be patient, go wash dishes or something and wait for stuff to rez, I dunno.
Adam n Eve. This is a stellar box which contains demos, free skins for both male and female, manicures, pedicures and I don't know what all. It is FREE. In the center of the stall is a cute pedestal with an apple on it. The floating text above it says "Buy me for 0L for a taste of Adam n Eve". You can't miss it.
Chai Skins. Chai is selling their skin gift cards for 18percent off the regular price. In other words get their skin for 1k rather than 1200 or whatever it usually is or get three for 3k etc. The more you buy the more you save. If you are a fan of this skin this is a great time to buy them. They are also right next to Adam n Eve and you can walk right through.
Darkes Sisters Skins. This kiosk or stall is almost directly across the main concourse from Adam n Eve. Just walk across and you will see it. Once you are inside, you will see a little pink sign on the bottom left corner of the back wall which reads 1L and the box itself is an adorable hat box/powder puff box right there. I don't know if this is the same gift as the member gift given over the weekend and haven't had time to check.
At a couple intervals along the concourse there are pass through areas to even more skins. There are changing rooms in these pass through areas and seating areas for resting those pixel tootsies.
If you go through one of them, you will see on the left as you come out a circular display which has three different skin makers on it. One of them is giving away a free oil layer. The name is Dreamy something. Another skin maker, Wax Poetic, has a free skin box. (dollarbie actually)
BiancaF has a free skin which she may change each week. Her little kiosk is to be found right before Ars Nova so look for it!
Fleur had a great skin called Marni which I believe is released especially for SKIN FAIR when I was there. It was regular price though.
Celestial Studios was displaying the entire seasonal Vogue series so if you like these skins which I do, and missed them, which I did, you should grab them. And I will!.
Switching over to the Rue D'Antibes Sim opening. As of this writing, La Sylphide's sim opening gift is still there as are the gifts from Silent Sparrow (in a cute blue bottle on the table outside) and Mimikri. No idea how long they will be there, so go go go.
Silent Sparrow also has a very nice outfit reduce to 100L for the event and there are other freebies in the area.
Edit: The Fleur outlet at Rue D'Antibes is selling the boutique line for half price. This will continue until Roslin logs on and has time to change them.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Meh
I deleted my previous ranty mcranty pants post. I was very pissed off and I'm still angry. Nevertheless, just doesn't feel good to lay it out and if you're gonna rant, it should feel good.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
So Busy, Oh My! Luxury Skyhome Rentals Open!
Addendum - it seems as if grid.iheartsl.com is down while the servers update. I would appreciate it therefore, if any of my blogging buds read this, if they would be willing to at least refer to it. With Skin Fair going on, we have tons of competition!
Yes, I definitely fail at this regular blogging gig. But I have an excellent excuse which I am about to show you all right here. This is gonna be a bit long and rather picture heavy so I apologize if it offends anyone for length and simply exhort them to please scroll past!
"Sidonie, what have you been doing instead of blogging faithfully?"
Mr Coolname, whose real sl name is about to be revealed made a suggestion one day that was very attractive. Namely, why not open some rentals. Many people seem to do it and do very well at it, why not us? We found some highly unique and imo original builds to use for our business, top quality. We then enclosed these in a privacy sort of affair. A guest can see out but others cannot see in unless they are deliberately camming in. There is also no access to these from the ground except through locked tps or direct landmark and guests must join our group in order to place objects and then they can also set home in their particular unit.
Next we also developed the grounds above which our skyhomes float for the pleasure of our guests.
The scripting, arranging, investigating of rental devices etc, has consumed a large part of our time. Landscaping and building also took up a lot of mostly my time. We are now officially open, however, and I'm very proud of it. Now all we need is some people!
If anyone reading this is in need of a skyhome with a unique flair that also includes grounds amenities please feel free to instant message myself (Sidonie Larkham) or Mr Coolname, aka Erasmus Weatherwax. (See, cool name!) Or, they can simply tp right over to look around, the landmark is in my picks.
Here is a bunch of pictures of how things look. Please do click through to my flickr to see larger 1024 x 1024 versions of these.
Upon arrival, a prospective guest (a word I prefer over tenant) lands with this view before them with an arrow pointing helpfully towards the office.
If the guest turns around, this view is presented.
Proceeding around the lagoon, yields this view.
And in yet another direction is the Greenhouse which does duty as a mini ballroom.
Upon entering a guest's rental unit, behind them will be this view.
The hedge texture is customizable and the rent box automatically resizes to a tiny box upon renting. The other prim there is a direct tp to a landing which in turn leads to the ground without having to resort to landmarks. Naturally these items do not count towards the guest's prim count.
A guest has the choice of five builds every time they rez. They may choose a favorite or they may alternate as they prefer. We also have plans to add more builds to the choices as time goes by.
Here are a couple of the five choices:
Asian Retreat
You can see a tiny glimpse of a neighboring skybox in the interior shot but these have all been carefully placed to be completely outside of earshot from one to the other. That little bit of plywood has since been edited also, lol.
Loft Retreat
I have seen rentals both for skyhomes and ground rentals of a similar price with nothing like these amenities. In my honest judgement I think these are some of the best skyhomes in SL, I hope if you visit, you will agree.
Even more great news coming up but I think this is enough "spam" for now.
Mr. Coolname wanted to do a clothing optional area on our grounds lol, but we don't really have enough land for that, just yet.
Yes, I definitely fail at this regular blogging gig. But I have an excellent excuse which I am about to show you all right here. This is gonna be a bit long and rather picture heavy so I apologize if it offends anyone for length and simply exhort them to please scroll past!
"Sidonie, what have you been doing instead of blogging faithfully?"
Mr Coolname, whose real sl name is about to be revealed made a suggestion one day that was very attractive. Namely, why not open some rentals. Many people seem to do it and do very well at it, why not us? We found some highly unique and imo original builds to use for our business, top quality. We then enclosed these in a privacy sort of affair. A guest can see out but others cannot see in unless they are deliberately camming in. There is also no access to these from the ground except through locked tps or direct landmark and guests must join our group in order to place objects and then they can also set home in their particular unit.
Next we also developed the grounds above which our skyhomes float for the pleasure of our guests.
The scripting, arranging, investigating of rental devices etc, has consumed a large part of our time. Landscaping and building also took up a lot of mostly my time. We are now officially open, however, and I'm very proud of it. Now all we need is some people!
If anyone reading this is in need of a skyhome with a unique flair that also includes grounds amenities please feel free to instant message myself (Sidonie Larkham) or Mr Coolname, aka Erasmus Weatherwax. (See, cool name!) Or, they can simply tp right over to look around, the landmark is in my picks.
Here is a bunch of pictures of how things look. Please do click through to my flickr to see larger 1024 x 1024 versions of these.
Upon arrival, a prospective guest (a word I prefer over tenant) lands with this view before them with an arrow pointing helpfully towards the office.
If the guest turns around, this view is presented.
Proceeding around the lagoon, yields this view.
And in yet another direction is the Greenhouse which does duty as a mini ballroom.
Upon entering a guest's rental unit, behind them will be this view.
The hedge texture is customizable and the rent box automatically resizes to a tiny box upon renting. The other prim there is a direct tp to a landing which in turn leads to the ground without having to resort to landmarks. Naturally these items do not count towards the guest's prim count.
A guest has the choice of five builds every time they rez. They may choose a favorite or they may alternate as they prefer. We also have plans to add more builds to the choices as time goes by.
Here are a couple of the five choices:
Asian Retreat
You can see a tiny glimpse of a neighboring skybox in the interior shot but these have all been carefully placed to be completely outside of earshot from one to the other. That little bit of plywood has since been edited also, lol.
Loft Retreat
I have seen rentals both for skyhomes and ground rentals of a similar price with nothing like these amenities. In my honest judgement I think these are some of the best skyhomes in SL, I hope if you visit, you will agree.
Even more great news coming up but I think this is enough "spam" for now.
Mr. Coolname wanted to do a clothing optional area on our grounds lol, but we don't really have enough land for that, just yet.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Friday Five - On Monday
I admit it, I'm a slacker. Too much to do and say and not enough time to do and say it! Big announcement in the next post. Meanwhile, here are my answers to the Friday Five, posted by Alicia over here.
1. If you could do one thing in SL, what would you do?
This is a toughie, cause there are many "one things" I'd like to do in SL. I think the biggest one is learn how to make animations. I keep thinking of ideas for animations that just aren't around.
2. If you could be anyone else in SL for a day, who would it be and why?
The lovely and cool Miss Babyhoney Bailey, SL Miss Universe. She runs a sim and a business, makes jewelry, models and a lot more. Plus, she's Miss Universe! I read about her on a blog and if I could remember which one I would note it here.
3. If you could change one thing in SL, what would it be?
LAG
4. If you could hop on a naughty poseball with one person of the same sex, who would it be?
You know? I have no idea.
5. If you could hop on a naughty poseball with one person of the opposite sex, who would it be?
You mean, other than Mr. Coolname? Probably one of those hawt guys featured over on the Mean Girls blog. Eenie, Meenie, Miney...you get the idea.
And that wraps this up.
1. If you could do one thing in SL, what would you do?
This is a toughie, cause there are many "one things" I'd like to do in SL. I think the biggest one is learn how to make animations. I keep thinking of ideas for animations that just aren't around.
2. If you could be anyone else in SL for a day, who would it be and why?
The lovely and cool Miss Babyhoney Bailey, SL Miss Universe. She runs a sim and a business, makes jewelry, models and a lot more. Plus, she's Miss Universe! I read about her on a blog and if I could remember which one I would note it here.
3. If you could change one thing in SL, what would it be?
LAG
4. If you could hop on a naughty poseball with one person of the same sex, who would it be?
You know? I have no idea.
5. If you could hop on a naughty poseball with one person of the opposite sex, who would it be?
You mean, other than Mr. Coolname? Probably one of those hawt guys featured over on the Mean Girls blog. Eenie, Meenie, Miney...you get the idea.
And that wraps this up.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
In Defense of Stiletto Moody Shoes
This is an Opinion. It is only an Opinion. Your Mileage May Vary, Please Drive On.
"Opinion," says Wikipedia, "An opinion is a person's ideas and thoughts towards something. It is an assessment, judgment or evaluation of something. An opinion is not a fact, because opinions are either not falsifiable, or the opinion has not been proven or verified. If it later becomes proven or verified, it is no longer an opinion, but a fact. Accordingly, all information on the web, from a surfer's perspective, is better described as opinion rather than fact."
Comments are welcome, but rudeness will be deleted and since it's my blog, I'll decide what's rude, mkay?
I love to read other people's blogs. I am an avid reader of several, some of which you can see listed on my blog roll to the right. I discovered GogoLita at some point in the last few weeks and I spent some time reading not only the current posts but the previous ones and I stumbled upon one there about Stiletto Moody Shoes. After careful consideration of not only the post but of the comments, I decided I have some things to say about this "issue" if it is an issue.
Before I even talk about the shoes, I want to bring up a few points around the whole argument.
Very few of us, in Second Life, are seeing ONLY brand new never before seen, totally came from the mind of the designer, designs. Photo sourcing is an everyday part of SL, for example. You see it in skins, clothing, hair, shoes, houses, everything. One of the most popular and expensive stores in SL, which shall remain nameless, is exclusively photosourced content.
Let's look at what photosurced means. It means that the creator either bought copyright free photos or found them through google search or some variety of the two, and then pieced the content of those photos together along with perhaps some hand drawing and heavy photoshop work to create a garment in Second Life.
Where did those photos come from? They came from real life. Whatever route they took on the way, they came from real life. And chances are they came from someone's copyrighted work.
99% of gestures, a very popular item in Second Life, are sound clips from songs, movies and tv shows. Do you suppose the people who made those gestures paid a fee to the creators of those songs, moves and tv shows in order to use that copyrighted material? I'm thinking that answer is no.
Furthermore, the idea of knock offs is very prevalent in the real world. Most department stores and certainly lower end stores like Target are carrying copies of copies of copies of that designer item that maybe was on the runway a couple seasons ago. Shoe and handbag designs in particular are usually knocked off almost as a matter of course.
These are a few examples of "copying" a designer's work from real life for use in sl and from real life to other items in real life, and doing so is taken as a matter of course. There are probably dozens more but I'm not willing to dig that hard. Please note, I'm not pointing the finger of blame or guilt or anything like that at anybody when I mention these examples. I'm simply saying, it's okay over here; why should it then not be okay somewhere else?
I know that there's a group of people who say rather loudly, nothing should be copied from real life. I wonder if those people have any photosourced items when they say that.
Then there's a group of people who say, does it really matter? To some extent, I don't think it does, depending largely on my own feelings of how much material harm it may or may not be doing and sense of fair play.
There also seems to be a school of thought in SL that a designer's work must be entirely his or her own work. Well, photosourcing, clearly by definition, is not the designer's own work and yet that's okay. Yes, I know that photosourcing takes a lot of work from the designer, even though I don't really understand it. I'm taking that part on faith.
What about furniture or prefab makers who buy textures from someone else. Surely the item they make is still the item made by them? What about gestures, surely a song clip and chat line from "The Simpsons" is not their own work? Sure, they made the gesture, took the time to make the song clip, but that's not their voice. That's the voice of Lisa Simpson. What about shoe makers who buy shoe parts, or even learned how to make shoes at a class. Does this somehow change the fact they took the time to assemble the parts, texture it, etc?
I am not so sure that I'm convinced that this school of thought, that the designer's work on a sold item should be theirs and only theirs, particularly when so much of what is sold is not really any designer's total work, is correct. Only people who can claim that are hand drawn artists who then make the clothes or furniture or whatever themselves. The number of people who do that, compared to the total number of reputable designers, is fairly small. Hand drawn meaning no photosourcing of any kind.
Now, let's talk about Stiletto Moody shoes.
One of the "complaints" I've seen is that Stiletto didn't make every single prim herself. My response is, so? As I've already shown, lots of things in Second Life are not made exclusively by the person whose name is on it. And how do you even know that the designer who made that dress actually drew it? You don't. Anybody can upload a texture and apply it to a prim. We take that part on faith. I don't really see all that much difference. Another very lovely designer's partner made some sculpties that she then applied to an item she had for sale. What's wrong with that?
That's really all Stiletto has done except she has paid someone, probably very handsomely, to create sculpties for her. Considering that I doubt I could understand the dynamics of sculpties, I might have to do that too. Understanding our limitations is the first step towards greatness, after all. Or at least, that's what my Mom says, lol. Obviously, Stiletto has not tried to hide the fact that someone else made the sculpties when it would be very easy for her to do so. All she would have to do is apply the sculpty map to the prim herself.
Another complaint was that someone didn't get their shoes during the sale. From personal experience, I can tell you that there *was* a problem with a number of the vendors caused by Linden Labs breaking a script protocol. If you wish you can check the Linden Blog for the week prior and find the post concerning the same. I believe the broken script protocol was later repaired. However, if the person or persons who did not receive their shoes, did not bother to follow up with Stiletto and her staff, then that's their fault. That person is the one who knows she didn't get her items. Not the staff. It took me a couple of extra days to get my shoes but I did get them and I don't blame Stiletto and her staff at all for something that was unavoidable. I, however, did not expect anyone to have their mind reading glasses on and followed up assiduously and had the privilege of talking to the scripter involved as well as with other members of the staff. In all, I bought five pair of shoes at the sale and I love all of them.
Yet another complaint was that the shoes bling or they make walk sounds. Okay, people, this complaint is pure and simple bs. The notecard which comes with every pair of shoes specifically tells you how to manage your bling and walk sounds with a simple click on your shoe. The left one I believe. If a buyer doesn't bother to read the notecard, this is not the fault of the designer or her staff. That's that person's laziness. (Incidentally, Zhao shoes uses a similar system only it's the RIGHT shoe)
One more complaint was that some of the designs are reproductions of real world styles. In the first, place get real. Every pointy toed pump in SL is a reproduction of a pointy toed pump in real life. Every sandal, every ankle strap, every sneaker, are reproductions. For that matter, to some extent, every pair of jeans, every halter top, is a reproduction. Why? Cause we make what we know. As someone famous once said, Shakespear I think, "There's nothing new under the sun." Paraphrased heavily, of course.
True, a few of Moody's styles are closer to real world shoes than others. My response is, So? I have boots in SL that look very similar to boots I have in RL. So? In fact many people *Try* to imitate their RL wardrobes in SL by looking for Doc Maarten style shoes or chucks or converse or whatever the thing is they want. I think this complaint is simply something to complain about.
Someone said that all the shoes were just for strippers, and blinging disasters. I don't recall the exact quote but it was along that line. It is true that some of the shoes do look as though they were made for dancers or with dancers in mind. Even the advertising mentions a pole. ;) However, this is not, by any means, the sum total of the styles within the walls of the store and to dismiss a store based on one assumption is pretty hard judgement. The strippery ones were not for me, but I found plenty of others to like.
Someone else said that the shoes don't fit well. I have to say, that when I first put mine on, I was severely disappointed because I thought that too. It turned out, though, that my shoes had not rezzed totally. Once they were rezzed completely they fit fine. I did adjust the ankle strap, according to personal taste but that's it. Otherwise I wear them straight out of the box and if they fit me they will fit anybody with size 0 feet.
Finally, the price. It's true. $900L or $1000L for one pair of shoes is a lot. It's more than I can pay without a sale. It's more than I can justify to myself to pay without a sale. I'm sure there are many of you in that same boat. Judging by the crowd that was at the sale the first day when I and Mr Coolname went, that was the case for many shoppers. And/or, they, like one lovely woman at the sale have a partner in a position to spare no expense for her to be well shod. ;)
There are a few considerations however when one thinks of the price. For one, you have a lifetime right to updates and or replacements for every pair of shoes you buy from Stiletto Moody shoes. That's right, all you have to do is go back to the vendor and click it to get a whole new copy of the pair you bought. This means if your inventory goes nuts, you still have shoes without even having to ask the store. Plus, any time the shoes are updated, you get a new copy. That's some extra service that has to get paid for somehow and to me it's worth the probably extra 150 or so linden I pay above what I'd pay for other sculpty shoes at a sale.
True, I wish Stiletto's shoes were priced closer to 600L than to 1000L but I am willing to wait for a sale to buy them. I think they are pretty, well made, and make me feel special. That's all I ask of any garment.
Incidentally, here's my pink moc croc elegant slingbacks. The designer gave them to me in honor of my buying so many pairs in spite of the difficulties with the vendors. I also bought the red elegant slingbacks that were on valentine special bringing my total up to seven pairs.
"Opinion," says Wikipedia, "An opinion is a person's ideas and thoughts towards something. It is an assessment, judgment or evaluation of something. An opinion is not a fact, because opinions are either not falsifiable, or the opinion has not been proven or verified. If it later becomes proven or verified, it is no longer an opinion, but a fact. Accordingly, all information on the web, from a surfer's perspective, is better described as opinion rather than fact."
Comments are welcome, but rudeness will be deleted and since it's my blog, I'll decide what's rude, mkay?
I love to read other people's blogs. I am an avid reader of several, some of which you can see listed on my blog roll to the right. I discovered GogoLita at some point in the last few weeks and I spent some time reading not only the current posts but the previous ones and I stumbled upon one there about Stiletto Moody Shoes. After careful consideration of not only the post but of the comments, I decided I have some things to say about this "issue" if it is an issue.
Before I even talk about the shoes, I want to bring up a few points around the whole argument.
Very few of us, in Second Life, are seeing ONLY brand new never before seen, totally came from the mind of the designer, designs. Photo sourcing is an everyday part of SL, for example. You see it in skins, clothing, hair, shoes, houses, everything. One of the most popular and expensive stores in SL, which shall remain nameless, is exclusively photosourced content.
Let's look at what photosurced means. It means that the creator either bought copyright free photos or found them through google search or some variety of the two, and then pieced the content of those photos together along with perhaps some hand drawing and heavy photoshop work to create a garment in Second Life.
Where did those photos come from? They came from real life. Whatever route they took on the way, they came from real life. And chances are they came from someone's copyrighted work.
99% of gestures, a very popular item in Second Life, are sound clips from songs, movies and tv shows. Do you suppose the people who made those gestures paid a fee to the creators of those songs, moves and tv shows in order to use that copyrighted material? I'm thinking that answer is no.
Furthermore, the idea of knock offs is very prevalent in the real world. Most department stores and certainly lower end stores like Target are carrying copies of copies of copies of that designer item that maybe was on the runway a couple seasons ago. Shoe and handbag designs in particular are usually knocked off almost as a matter of course.
These are a few examples of "copying" a designer's work from real life for use in sl and from real life to other items in real life, and doing so is taken as a matter of course. There are probably dozens more but I'm not willing to dig that hard. Please note, I'm not pointing the finger of blame or guilt or anything like that at anybody when I mention these examples. I'm simply saying, it's okay over here; why should it then not be okay somewhere else?
I know that there's a group of people who say rather loudly, nothing should be copied from real life. I wonder if those people have any photosourced items when they say that.
Then there's a group of people who say, does it really matter? To some extent, I don't think it does, depending largely on my own feelings of how much material harm it may or may not be doing and sense of fair play.
There also seems to be a school of thought in SL that a designer's work must be entirely his or her own work. Well, photosourcing, clearly by definition, is not the designer's own work and yet that's okay. Yes, I know that photosourcing takes a lot of work from the designer, even though I don't really understand it. I'm taking that part on faith.
What about furniture or prefab makers who buy textures from someone else. Surely the item they make is still the item made by them? What about gestures, surely a song clip and chat line from "The Simpsons" is not their own work? Sure, they made the gesture, took the time to make the song clip, but that's not their voice. That's the voice of Lisa Simpson. What about shoe makers who buy shoe parts, or even learned how to make shoes at a class. Does this somehow change the fact they took the time to assemble the parts, texture it, etc?
I am not so sure that I'm convinced that this school of thought, that the designer's work on a sold item should be theirs and only theirs, particularly when so much of what is sold is not really any designer's total work, is correct. Only people who can claim that are hand drawn artists who then make the clothes or furniture or whatever themselves. The number of people who do that, compared to the total number of reputable designers, is fairly small. Hand drawn meaning no photosourcing of any kind.
Now, let's talk about Stiletto Moody shoes.
One of the "complaints" I've seen is that Stiletto didn't make every single prim herself. My response is, so? As I've already shown, lots of things in Second Life are not made exclusively by the person whose name is on it. And how do you even know that the designer who made that dress actually drew it? You don't. Anybody can upload a texture and apply it to a prim. We take that part on faith. I don't really see all that much difference. Another very lovely designer's partner made some sculpties that she then applied to an item she had for sale. What's wrong with that?
That's really all Stiletto has done except she has paid someone, probably very handsomely, to create sculpties for her. Considering that I doubt I could understand the dynamics of sculpties, I might have to do that too. Understanding our limitations is the first step towards greatness, after all. Or at least, that's what my Mom says, lol. Obviously, Stiletto has not tried to hide the fact that someone else made the sculpties when it would be very easy for her to do so. All she would have to do is apply the sculpty map to the prim herself.
Another complaint was that someone didn't get their shoes during the sale. From personal experience, I can tell you that there *was* a problem with a number of the vendors caused by Linden Labs breaking a script protocol. If you wish you can check the Linden Blog for the week prior and find the post concerning the same. I believe the broken script protocol was later repaired. However, if the person or persons who did not receive their shoes, did not bother to follow up with Stiletto and her staff, then that's their fault. That person is the one who knows she didn't get her items. Not the staff. It took me a couple of extra days to get my shoes but I did get them and I don't blame Stiletto and her staff at all for something that was unavoidable. I, however, did not expect anyone to have their mind reading glasses on and followed up assiduously and had the privilege of talking to the scripter involved as well as with other members of the staff. In all, I bought five pair of shoes at the sale and I love all of them.
Yet another complaint was that the shoes bling or they make walk sounds. Okay, people, this complaint is pure and simple bs. The notecard which comes with every pair of shoes specifically tells you how to manage your bling and walk sounds with a simple click on your shoe. The left one I believe. If a buyer doesn't bother to read the notecard, this is not the fault of the designer or her staff. That's that person's laziness. (Incidentally, Zhao shoes uses a similar system only it's the RIGHT shoe)
One more complaint was that some of the designs are reproductions of real world styles. In the first, place get real. Every pointy toed pump in SL is a reproduction of a pointy toed pump in real life. Every sandal, every ankle strap, every sneaker, are reproductions. For that matter, to some extent, every pair of jeans, every halter top, is a reproduction. Why? Cause we make what we know. As someone famous once said, Shakespear I think, "There's nothing new under the sun." Paraphrased heavily, of course.
True, a few of Moody's styles are closer to real world shoes than others. My response is, So? I have boots in SL that look very similar to boots I have in RL. So? In fact many people *Try* to imitate their RL wardrobes in SL by looking for Doc Maarten style shoes or chucks or converse or whatever the thing is they want. I think this complaint is simply something to complain about.
Someone said that all the shoes were just for strippers, and blinging disasters. I don't recall the exact quote but it was along that line. It is true that some of the shoes do look as though they were made for dancers or with dancers in mind. Even the advertising mentions a pole. ;) However, this is not, by any means, the sum total of the styles within the walls of the store and to dismiss a store based on one assumption is pretty hard judgement. The strippery ones were not for me, but I found plenty of others to like.
Someone else said that the shoes don't fit well. I have to say, that when I first put mine on, I was severely disappointed because I thought that too. It turned out, though, that my shoes had not rezzed totally. Once they were rezzed completely they fit fine. I did adjust the ankle strap, according to personal taste but that's it. Otherwise I wear them straight out of the box and if they fit me they will fit anybody with size 0 feet.
Finally, the price. It's true. $900L or $1000L for one pair of shoes is a lot. It's more than I can pay without a sale. It's more than I can justify to myself to pay without a sale. I'm sure there are many of you in that same boat. Judging by the crowd that was at the sale the first day when I and Mr Coolname went, that was the case for many shoppers. And/or, they, like one lovely woman at the sale have a partner in a position to spare no expense for her to be well shod. ;)
There are a few considerations however when one thinks of the price. For one, you have a lifetime right to updates and or replacements for every pair of shoes you buy from Stiletto Moody shoes. That's right, all you have to do is go back to the vendor and click it to get a whole new copy of the pair you bought. This means if your inventory goes nuts, you still have shoes without even having to ask the store. Plus, any time the shoes are updated, you get a new copy. That's some extra service that has to get paid for somehow and to me it's worth the probably extra 150 or so linden I pay above what I'd pay for other sculpty shoes at a sale.
True, I wish Stiletto's shoes were priced closer to 600L than to 1000L but I am willing to wait for a sale to buy them. I think they are pretty, well made, and make me feel special. That's all I ask of any garment.
Incidentally, here's my pink moc croc elegant slingbacks. The designer gave them to me in honor of my buying so many pairs in spite of the difficulties with the vendors. I also bought the red elegant slingbacks that were on valentine special bringing my total up to seven pairs.
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