Today's Randomness... (is that even a word?)

I don't really have a theme for this post, the only unification is that they are all freebies that I received or won on May 26, 2010. That... and the fact that I am wearing them. ;)

First off is the lovely and sexy Isn't it Romantic lingerie set from my favorite store in all of SL, Dare Designs on Dark Eternity Island.


This beautiful gift was won from the lucky chairs at Dare Designs. I wrote about the amazing outfits that can be won from these chairs in a previous post. Designer Dare Munro is amazingly talented, and his generosity is nothing short of astounding!

Being a fan of vintage style lingerie both in rl and sl, I love the bygone era feel of this set. Dare has been in a bit of a retro mood lately, with many of his new designs reflecting the romantic styles from the 30's, 40's, & 50's to the mod styles of the late 1960's- early 1970's. But he is always true to his vampiric roots, and somehow manages to put a goth feeling into all his creations.

This set is also available for purchase in a number of different colors. Currently, the vendors to buy this set are near the landing point with the other new releases.


The Skulldancer Boots are another lucky chair win from Dare Designs. Look at the cute little rows of skulls adorning and forming the heel! They remind me of The Nightmare Before Christmas. :) Like the lingerie set shown above, these boots are also available for purchase in a variety of colors. This is the teal color.

Another lucky chair/board win was this pretty green chinese inspired dress from Lika*Ruby.



The board was being very contrary when I was there, and I had to stalk it for a couple of hours before it finally decided to land on a U. The dress comes with two length options (I am wearing the shorter of the two), and I am really loving the tiny flower print of the fabric.

Did it suddenly get cold in here... or is it just me? lol Anyway, these next two items have a little something in common. Can you see what it is? ;)

I got a note card from G & G that they had a new freebie out called Alice in Wonderland. It is a cute little white mini dress with green shrug sweater with... umm... "enhancements".


I've really enjoyed the free outfits that this designer puts out from time to time... they are fun, girly, and well made. Though you don't have to be a group member to claim the gifts, joining will keep you updated when new ones are available... which is good thing, because they tend to only be out for a day or two at most. Update... I was just at the store, and remember how I said the freebie items are out for only a short time? That's right, this dress is already gone! I apologize for any disappointment, but it does demonstrate the value of being in the group! ;)

I must still be cold, since here is another "enhanced" item, a tank top from Prodigal. I must admit, I am a bit perplexed about this item... it was just sitting in my inbox when I logged on, marked as a group gift. I suspect that I must have hit the subscribo board at Prodigal at sometime or another. lol



The cut of this shirt is a bit different, more elegant from most of the tank tops. The orange/red color is certainly eye-catching,...and once it catches their eye, it gives them something to ogle, too! Plus it makes my abs look great! Update... I visited this store also, and the tank is the subscribo group gift for May. And if you check the subscribo history, it looks like there are still a few other past months gifts available. I found at least two more, and they were delivered, but I haven't had a chance to check them out yet.

And finally... a couple of skins won from lucky chairs at two different stores...

Estyle

And like most of Estyle's lucky chair skins, it is just a single skin packaged with a shape and an eyebrow shaper (neither shown here). It is also the skin I am wearing in all the pix shown above.

And Cupcakes!

This one came as a fatpack of skins with a turtleneck sweater.

Other items shown:

Eyes- Poetic Colors (free, but will be of a different color)
Eyelashes- Symphony Skins (free- look on dressing table on back wall)
Hair- Maitreya (not free)
Jeans- Peer- (past hunt prize)

Poses by:
Amaris (past gift)
Vivaposes Stair Unit (past gift)
Animate This- Free at Fab Free HQ
Everglow (past gift)

Welcome to My Home!

Blackthorn in cyan

Ok... this isn't really my home. This is a crypt at Event Horizon, which is the "garden store" of an amazing three part sim created by designer Dare Munro.

Dark Eternity is the main section of the sim, and is dominated by the huge and brooding castle of Dare Designs. Walk inside, and you will find an amazing selection of gothic and vamp inspired clothing for men and women. I've purchased a number of outfits here, and am always impressed with the care and detailing that Dare puts into each and every one. While his men's clothing line is of very high quality, this a designer who obviously loves to clothe the female form. On his profile he states that his creative motto is this..."You're already beautiful - I'm just helping you see it."

I'd say about half my wardrobe inventory comes from Dare Designs, and this is why...


Dare Munro has generously set out four Lucky Chairs, and loads them with high quality items. Often, when he releases a new design, he will place one or two colors of that design in the chairs. The chairs are set at 30 minutes, but usually change much faster than that due to the fact that there is almost always a crowd around the chairs, and a in-world chat group that often has someone calling the letters to the group. So, the chairs can change pretty fast!

What I said earlier about Event Horizon not being my home... well that is true, because Dark Eternity is my home, and I mean that in all sincerity.

When I first landed in SL, like most everyone else, I wandered from sim to sim. When I logged in and out, it was wherever I happened to be at the time.

Then I came across a hunt blog, and they showed some of the hunt items from DD. I liked what I saw, so I hot-footed it over there. I remember seeing a big crowd of people standing around staring at the chairs. Not knowing exactly what they were doing, I shook my head, thought "How silly!", and continued with my hunt.

I can't remember what drew me back to DD exactly, but soon I found myself taking a closer look at what the crowd was doing. I started hanging out more and more at the chairs, winning all these wonderful goth outfits... and then I started paying attention to the local chat while I was there. It wasn't long before I was completely hooked, and enjoying the camaraderie of the regulars just as much as I enjoyed winning the outfits. I've missed more than a few chairs because I was just too deeply involved with chat! lol

I don't hang out as much at Dare's as I once did (RL has gotten a bit more demanding), but since I don't own or rent my own home in SL (and have no plans to do so for the foreseeable future), I almost always return to Dare's castle when I am about to log out of SL. That way I know exactly what to expect when I next log in... familiar surroundings, familiar faces. In other words... I'm home.

Here are selection of outfits that I've won from the Dare Chairs over the past months. Some may no longer be in the chairs, but may have been replaced by new items.

One of my all-time favorite outfits... Blood Doll (shown in wine)


Muse in purple


Dominar in blood

And finally...

STFU in dark bubblegum

This is just a small sample of the items that I've won from the lucky chairs here. I'll show you more later on. :) Being one of my favorite places in SL, you better believe I'm going to blog again on Dare Designs in Dark Eternity!

Other items worn:
Hair-
Webbed from Darkerside (not free) shown with Blackthorn outfit
Brat from Diversity (dollarbie fat pack) worn with Blood Doll & STFU
Jess from Diversity (dollarbie fat pack) worn with Muse & Dominar

Skin-
Goth Whites #1 from [42] (not free, but a cheapie if I recall) [42] seems to no longer exist... my apologies

Eyes-
Deep Jungle from Poetic Colors (not free but may have different gift eyes in store)

Boots-
Vic 6-Laces Knee-Boots V.2 with color change laces from VvB Stiletto Heels (not free)