Illusions @ Fantasy Faire 2024

 

 I have to say it's nice to be back at the faire again. This year I actually made it.  Of course, I still didn't finish all of the things I wanted to, but I have one new thing!

 

Agatha is a whimsical yet refined witch's hat in sophisticated wool felt.  It's accessorized by a grosgrain ribbon bow that can be changed to white, grey or black, and tints beautifully.  I actually experimented with making this hat with the same BOM options I did with the Ladro mask, but found the grey and white texture options to tint so well there was no point.  The hat itself comes with my usual flight of rainbow colors, and is an excellent addition to any witch's wardrobe.

However, if that isn't enough colors for you, I put together this special rainbow coloration as my RFL gift.  100% of the proceeds for this item will go to Relay for Life.

Illusions can be found on the ethereal and beautiful Avalon sim, yet another stunning build by the talented Mr. Alia Baroque.

Illusions @ Fantasy Faire 2024

"Roberts" Leather Tricorn

I was looking through some of my project folders recently and realized that I had very nearly finished another hat for Fantasy Faire, but had never gotten around to releasing it! So in this long sea of inactivity, here's a little island of distraction for you to enjoy.

The "Roberts" leather tricorn is a hat for the most dreaded of pirates.  Or those that simply want a durable and utilitarian hat that's stylish and rugged.  It comes in a variety of tones, from raw leather to dark tanned and of course the usual black and white, and it also works with the Octopoda pin.

You can find it out now at my (not so temporary at this point) store on The Twilight


And on the marketplace:
"Roberts" Tricorn: 250L

Pirate's Regalia

When I look at my store I realize there are themes that I always revisit. I love masks, I love hats, I love jewelry and I love piratey things. Most of these things have seen some love from me in mesh, but as you well know, one of these things has seen a glaring omission. It was about time for another round of awesome pirate hats.

"Chauncey" is a highly customizable felt tricorner hat with elegant ruffled trim and cording.  Both the ruffles and the cording can be set to invisible, so you can have just the plain felt hat, or a felt hat with cording and no ruffles or whatever configuration you like.  There are twelve felt hat colors, as well as eleven satin ruffle colors that match the felt and four trim colors (gold, silver, black, and white).

However, I think it needs a bit more flair...

Octopoda is the perfect pirate's accessory.  It's the result of many hours of delicate detail work which was honestly really fun.  I loved modeling the curling tentacles, the delicate baroque frame, all of the designing and modeling went really smoothly for it and it's been a very long time since something was this fun to work on.  I think you can see it in just how detailed it is, if you scale it up to some ridiculous size only then do you see all of the work I put into it.  Even small, though, it makes a perfect pendant for a pirate.  It also comes with a brooch option, which by default fits to your tricorn, but you can put on your chest if you'd rather have it there.  It comes in my usual selection of six different metal textures (bronze, gold, copper, and sterling, antiqued, and tarnished silver).

Out now at the Fantasy Faire

Olokun Helm

Now that I'm finished with the Mystic Chains, I can finally shake off some of that frustration and get back to working through commissions.  Next one up is one designed by Darlingmonster Ember, who sent me a sketch of a concept she had in mind, and let me run with it.  She described a dark Mer helmet, a sort of unseelie headdress with tendrils and scales.

When she said Mer, my mind went to iridescence and the colors of abalone.  I wanted the tendrils to be a part of the helm, and while I tried the stone in the center, it didn't seem right with a half-mask. I added my own flare to it, giving it a polished, armor-like definition. 

Darlingmonster suggested we name it Olokun, for the West African goddess of the deep sea.  She's associated with the underworld, as the ruler of the sea floor where all dead sea creatures eventually lie, and rebirth and renewal, for those dead sea creatures become food for others.  She's depicted as a beautiful, black mermaid, and is known as the guardian of secrets.  For what was originally dreamt of as a mer helm, it seemed the perfect name.

In addition to the iridescent peacock colors shown in the picture, it also includes my usual palette of metal colors: copper, bronze, gold, and sterling, antiqued and tarnished silver.  You can also set the tendrils or the helm itself to be invisible, so if you'd like to simplify it you're free to do so.  There's also made a male version fit for classically masculine features, with a thicker brow and harsher cheekbones.  It's made to be worn with "half shaved" styles of hair,  such as Wasabi Pills' "Morgan" style, or no hair at all. 

Out now at the store: 150L
On the marketplace: 175L

French Hoods

Terry Toland approached me during my commission drive with a request for something more on the historical side than the fantastical.  She's been a long time customer and had a hankering to accessorize the look of Tudor nobility.

 

The Anna French Hood is inspired by the fashion that the young queen Anne Boleyn brought to England from France.  A veil or coif worn with a decorative clip to hold it in place became far more fashionable than the square "gable hoods" that were all the rage.  Despite her unfortunate fate, the hood caught on and was worn by most noble young ladies.  Pearls and ruffles and rich fabrics were typical decor for them, and some were even ornamented enough to be fit for a queen.

Katarin is the "deluxe" version, with dramatic stones set in the center and an outer trim with delicate pearl droplets at the ends.  Both hoods have full customization of course, and allow you to change the base color of the crown to twelve different colors, the ruffles have three options, and the inner and outer trim have six options each.  The stones come with the same selection of twelve colors as Nevina jewelry. 

Hopefully these will be the perfect addition to your historical garb or roleplay!

Out now at the store

And on the marketplace:

Anna French Hood: 195L
Katarin French Hood: 415L

Illusions @ GIA Accessory Fair 2011

I'm a bit late, but that's what I get for wanting to do things right rather than quickly. Firstly, Accessory Fair is benefiting The American Cancer Society, and so here is my item devoting its profit to RFL

This beautiful Scarab medallion is a way to take a piece of Egypt with you. With detailed hieroglyphs and a beautifully rendered scarab in the center. That was certainly "fun" putting my new tablet to the test! I admit I cheated though, tracing a traditional scarab cabuchon with my own design. There's a male version as well for the gentlemen who are jealous.

The hieroglyphs around it are a font I found (Meroitic - Hieroglyphs) and they actually contain a little clue for something special I'm still working on.

Really what's been hanging me up so much though is finally giving the men a fair share of my attention. With Semeret and Khepra, they must have been feeling left out. So, sorry gentlemen, please consider this my making it up to you!

The Nemes Headdress was the headgear of the noblemen of Egypt. You can wear it without the shoulders for the look of the Khat headdress, a simpler version which was worn more commonly among the upper class. If you're wondering where the snake on the forehead you're so familiar with is, I'm sorry but you're being presumptuous! The Uraeus was the symbol of Wadjet, the patron goddess of Egypt, and if you weren't royalty you didn't have any business wearing it. My aim it not to make everyone a pharoah! Women aren't missing out on this one either, I made sure to include a female version with a special fit for the shoulders.

What's that peeking out beneath the nemes though?

A version for men! If you gentlemen tried to get the Semeret collar working for you, please let me know and I will send you a copy of this one as an upgrade. It's especially made for that quirky male mesh and should fit on your masculine shoulders like a dream. For your noble chin, a plaited beard like those that can be found on so many sarcophagi.

What are you going to wear with all of these manly authentic accessories?

Almost nothing of course! Just kidding... sort of. The Scots weren't the only ones who enjoyed a nice cool breeze up the leg. The Semer loin cloth is an excellent companion to the Semeret silks, featuring the same gathered cloth around the hips with a loose tie in the front. The belt is scripted to offer you those same fun options of changing metals, gems, and stripe colors and also comes with a separate option if you want to wear it with a more ordinary outfit. But why would you?


These amazing items can be found at my booth at the Accessory Fair until June 26th, where they will be moved to the main store. The Scarab Medallion in it's current incarnation is only available until then.

WILD.Released Stamp Hunt

Have you heard about WILD.Released yet? If not, allow me to illuminate you. I've just gone through my store and included stamp cards in some of my vendors. If you buy one of the marked items, you'll be able to redeem the card you get for an item only available as a prize for this event. All you need to do is go around to the stores that are participating and collect their store stamps. You can even do a bunch of cards at once! There are twelve of us participating, including my fabulous friends from TRAP, silent sparrow, Evie's Closet, Schadenfreude... the list goes on. Every prize is worth it, and you won't want to miss them. Here's a peek at mine :D


This item won't be available in the store, you can only get it through redeeming a fully stamped WILD.Released card at Moonsong. And if you think your mind is already made up, you haven't seen the other prizes.

The cards are available now, but stamping begins on March 20th. Hold on to them until then! And if you're still a little unclear about how the whole thing works, there's more information on the WILD.Released blog :)

STEAM Hunt #110 (Illusions)

In the interest of keeping you guys updated, I'm sick and down for the count with the nastiest son of a bitch cold I've had in a while. I was awake for all of five hours yesterday, so that's something me and a hibernating bear might have in common. However I did need to log on last night because the STEAM hunt starts today.

STEAM is a completely steampunk themed grid-wide hunt that includes over a hundred stores. It's also probably going to be my last grid-wide hunt. I prefer to let the deadlines I live my life by to be my own, not someone else's. I'd much rather live on my own schedule unless it really pays off, and so far it hasn't. I might be expecting too much from them, but I haven't seen any real increase in traffic or notoriety or e-fame or had someone show up at my door with five million Internetz, so clearly they're not worth my time!

Maybe I'm just sour about giving away something as awesome as this hat.

For free. That's right, you guys are spoiled. Spoiled like the pedigree showdog of a has-been TV sitcom star. And you can nab it for free from a golden gear somewhere in my store. I think I heard something ticking when I was lounging around.

I'm particularly proud of myself for not giving in and buying gear sculpts. I hate doing geometric sculpting but I forced myself to give it a try and success! I'll be using these on something else in the future, you can be sure of that ;)

See How High She Flies!

I've just completed some fabulous new witchy hats just in time for Halloween! I released them last night, but some technical issues with blogger had me hung up, posting-wise. They shouldn't have taken me so long, my RL has been so darned eventful (in a good way!) I haven't been able to focus on buckling down and just working on these. This week I forcefully made some time, and finally finished these troublesome chapeaus.


I like the name my witchy hats after famous witches, and in this case I've named them after the infamous trio in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.

Agnes is a rather plain girl, very sensible but she longs for a mystical life with candles and seances and love potions. This hat has an eldrytch sense of age to it, maybe a bit musty, and is certainly perfect for witches and wizards alike. If you're thinking of going for a costume from the Harry Potter-verse, this would be perfect.

Like pretty much everything I make these days, it's scripted to change texture on touch to twelve different colors. Included are black, gray, white, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple and a soft pink.

If it's a little simple for you, this one is my favorite of the three:
Gytha is playful, wise, charming and drunkenly hilarious. The name might not fit so well, considering the Tim Burtonesque curl and the stylized shape, but when I thought about it Gytha would certainly be fabulous enough to wear this hat. She would also be able to fit a good sized kitten under it, as she often does.

Also, I just wanted to mention that I'm well aware that my friend Allegory just released a similar hat, and before anyone tries to call foul I think we'd both just like to say that great minds think alike :) We both worked independently on them and we're quite okay with our respective hats peacefully coexisting. Hers have some very playful colorations too, so if you're in the mood for orange and green stripes or something you're welcome to take a look.


The last hat was named after my favorite witch, Esme Weatherwax.

An utterly practical witch, Granny Weatherwax is a clever and no-nonsense force of nature. She won't give people what they want, she'll give them what they need. She has a commanding presence and seems taller than she actually is... could it be the hat?

I had to stretch the demo frame on this one higher than ever, you'll be tickling the rafters on this one! Like the other hats the band and hat have the same 12 colors, but on this one the buckle changes as well, to your choice of silver, gold, or tarnished black.

Now please excuse me, I must attune my Botanical crystals to the leylines of the sim. The sun is coming into trine with the Star of Neko and the constellation Freenis.

Varda

Do you remember back in mid-June, I posted that I had a lot of big projects in the works and I couldn't really talk about them?

Well, Hedera was one of them, but the other... I have only just finished.

My teaser in August really didn't do them justice. This is a project that has been almost three years in the making, through slow and steady evolution and a fanatical desire to achieve perfection. Cutting to the chase, MY ROSES ARE FRICKIN' DONE!
I wanted them done back during the summer... I wanted them done at least in time for Jewelry Fair... but at least I've got them done in time to honor my rez day. I say three years because first thing I ever made was a rose made out of cylinder slivers, textured with that satin texture from the library! What better way to celebrate my third year in SL.

Each rose is painstakingly sculpted (I do mean pained, this took me ages) out of unique sculpts. Each petal is a different sculpt, each rose is a slightly different rose, each leaf, each stem, each petal, each and every damn thing placed as close to perfect as my sanity would allow. So please, do adorn yourself with them.

There are thirty six different colors for the rose petals, 20 of which were carefully matched to real rose colors that actually exist. Natural roses range from deep reds to brighter vermillions, into soft mauves and pinks and then more vibrant apricots and corals. I did my best to capture every color as faithfully as I could, so that everyone's favorite rose could be represented. I played with the leaves and stem textures too, and came up with six that were both beautiful and fun to combine with the petals. My favorite is the "red branch", I have no idea what it is called but it's very common for roses to have burgundy stems and branches with red tinged leaves, and I tried to capture that. There's also brown dead leaves, two shades of green, and the omnipresent black and white.




The mask has unique colors too, and has a range pretty close to the natural roses. I tried to make sure there was a match for most of the rose colors, and I even included a specific coloring for the red branches, which is shown up in the jewelry picture. The mask is my first attempt at a torus mask with no middle bridge... so please forgive the seam. I did my best to conceal it but sculpts are only so precise.


If having a mask, necklace, and earrings made of roses isn't enough for you, I've made a range of hair accessories so you can really load yourself down. People won't be able to get near you unless they want to be near a perfumerie.

A modest hair clip, and a possible blast from the past for anyone who still has the old hair rose. I wanted to add a bit of something so that the bloom had some context, so I added leaves and sepals (the petals that cup the bud). But the single hair rose is so small and modest, it'd be fun to go a bit bigger.

This is perfect for dressing up an updo a bit, or clipping to the back of a long hair to give a splash of color. I can imagine it being positioned on a bun with the roses set to white for a wedding and being stunning. But even that isn't necessarily big enough to really show up on some long hairs, so I made a larger barrette with stems coming down:
And just so you can have your options, because the cascading blooms is such a lovely effect, if you want them closer to your face there's always this...

Yes, it's a "hair adornment", after using up "clip" and "barrette" my limited lexicon of decorative hair terminology was spent. This is the piece shown up in that first picture though, which makes a beautiful frame for a beautiful face.

Each of these hair ornaments comes with three different attachment points, so you have your choice to work around your lashes, piercings etc. This is only with the copiable choice though, so if you choose transfer you will only end up with one fit.

For the purists, and those who love to tango, you can also have your rose on the side, as god intended (just genetically mutilated all to hell through generations of careful breeding)

Changes texture as well, comes on the hand and mouth, geezus this is a long post... I'll just finish up quick. I'm also making available the long stem roses in red at a discount rate, unscripted and transferable so you can buy a pack to pass flirtatiously to fancy ladies or as part of your roleplay. This is only available in red at the store, but any of the other colors is available at the same prices upon request.

And this post doesn't need any more pictures, but the boutonniere is back. Oh, yes, and "Varda" means rose in hebrew, it was much more creative than just calling them "rose" and much less evocative of skin conditions than "rosacea".

And now to just reiterate... HOMG THEY'RE DONE! THEY'RE DONE! HALLELUJAH

Fedoras!

The People cry out for fedora-ness, and who am I to argue with you guys? It certainly was a slightly different endeavor, and I had no idea when I started just how much a tiny crimp in a brim could add or subtract so much character. I actually slaved over these, giving them the proper sweep, swagger, fit, character and distinction. My fiance can attest, he says he "now knows the meaning of a perfectionist" because of the way I treated these hats!

So here are the fruits of my labor.


Sinatra was famous for wearing a "stingy brim" straw fedora set slightly back on his head, but I took a bit of liberty because I love felt... and didn't want to do a whole new set of straw textures for this. An honest to goodness Panama hat and a porkpie still might be in the works, but don't hold your breath (or hold me to it...).

One of the most famous and classic images that make me instantly think of a fedora, is Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. I only saw the film once, I'm not a big fan of romantic dramas, but I certainly had the image of him smoking a cigarette in a trenchcoat and a swanky hat full of savoir faire. But the reason for the brain stickiness was mostly the swanky hat... I can't resist a good costume accessory! But even Humphrey Bogart is not as famous or notorious or as well known for fedora-wearing as...

Indiana Jones! Man, this one was a challenge. The problem with having a hat so well known and so iconic is having to get it exactly right. But I feel I finally eliminated just the right kinks and flaws to make it really his. In any other color though? It's a versatile hat for the rough and tumble type in a gritty bar or maybe the erudite fashionista in New York. Speaking of...

From my childhood, not sure I'd even call this a fedora, but I would certainly call it a floppy hat full of win. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? used to be one of my favorite shows as a kid. I would rush home to watch it and then yell at the kids who didn't know where Madagascar was. And I think the real reason everyone wanted to track her down was to ask her about fashion tips, 'cause that lady had style. I don't know how she could hide from people so thoroughly while wearing a bright red fabulous hat and trenchcoat, but I guess that's just how awesome she was. Obviously you're not limited to red, I just couldn't resist it for the picture!

Last but not least, I was running out of fedora icons and I wanted to have the more modern, trendy short brimmed fedora honored in my collection. "Timberlake" didn't seem like a very appetizing option, so after googling a bit I found that Vince Lombardi, the legendary American football coach was never seen without one just like this. Perfect! I hope I'm not tarnishing his memory by making it bright blue and wearing it with a purple mack.

All of these delicious and delightful pieces of millinery are available at my store now for 175L (due to their serious blows to my sanity through not behaving properly when I wanted them to just look done already)

Breach the Peace

On January 15th, 1797, a man named John Hetherington was arrested and brought before the court in London for disturbing the peace. He had constructed and designed something of devious intention, something that caused women to faint, dogs to yelp and a man to be trampled by an awe-struck mob.


This malevolent creation, which was "calculated to frighten timid people" was actually quite benign. And stylish!

This haberdasher had designed the first top hat. Why it caused such a ruckus? I can't imagine, I just blame the lack of TV and very tight corsetry. But, when he wore it out in public, it got him arrested! I have to wonder what they would think of drag queens. Thankfully we live in more jaded times, where the only crowd you're likely to draw wearing this will be folks wondering where you got it.

Although the first top hats were silk and lustrous, I have to say I love the warmth and character of a wool felt hat. It has a certain richness and the possibility for many colors, which is what I've happily obliged with. It has the same variety of hat bands and felt colors as the bowler, and flexibility to be quite modern or traditional depending on your outfit needs of the day.


These are all quite simple because I felt I wanted a variety of shapes, and then move on to more complex and creative millinery using these as a base. This one especially I'd love to make into an English riding hat, with a nice scarf or a veil. Speaking of having fun with the designs, I decided to do a really fun, more modern one...


Named after Lewis Carrol, I almost called this the Mad Hatter but I definitely have bigger and wilder plans for that hat. Besides, it wouldn't be for the Mad Hatter if he didn't have his price tag left on :)~

I have grand plans for these hats, now I just hope I get around to manifesting them!

These lovely scripted hats are now available at the store for 150L each!

Ceci N'est Pas Un Chapeau

Goodness, what's this, a release?

Haha yes, I can only keep up the work on my sim for so long before my attention needs to wander to other things. The St Patty's Paddy's Day freebie got me majorly going on a bunch of gentleman's hattage, and after I felt so clever with how I made the top hat, I decided to make a hat I've been asked to do for ages.

A bowler hat has a lot of flexibility. It can be stiff and stodgy or it can be evocative of gangsters and violin cases. Or it get be quirky and funky or whatever you need it to be.


Anyone not familiar with Rene Magritte probably won't get this reference, or the title of this entry. But the whimsy of it all was irresistable to me. This vendor picture is a little homage to one of his most iconic paintings, The Son of Man. In fact, since the apple is merely a retextured version of Qarl's full perm apple, it's included with the bowler :)~

Both of these are scripted to change texture to thirty different hat bands and twelve different felt colors. There are three different band patterns to choose from (solids, checkers and vertical stripes), with nine colors for each of the patterns and twelve colors of solid bands. Hopefully that's enough for all you crazy individualists out there!

Sadly, there's an issue that I'm aware of with the pattern bands. Due to the way the texture has been made, with lots of vertical stripes making up the ribbon, Second Life has some trouble rendering those patterns properly without an option called "Anisotropic Filtering" enabled. I went through quite a few uploads and shaking my fists and ripping my hair out trying to figure out what was going wrong and ways to counter it, and I realized I couldn't fix it for everyone without sacrificing the look and the feel of it. I'm sorry if it turns out your computer can't handle it, but there are still twelve solid bands that look just fine to everyone and are just as snazzy, which is why I forgave myself for letting it go. Anisotropic filtering can be accessed through Preferences->Graphics->Hardware Settings.

These hats are just 115L each and available at the main store now :)

Piratey Goodness Part II

Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, you are a pirate!

Part two of Piratey Goodness is finally out, me scallywags. Here be the boots I labored long and hard over, enjoy 'em ye lime suckin' brigands!

Avast, check these out! These are simple, calf high yummy turned down cuff boots that look comfortable and stylish. They come with or without bootstraps, which were actually invented to help hold down the area around the top of the ankle, which had to be sewn loose in order to let the foot slide in and accommodate it. So instead of being all loose about the ankle, you could strap 'em in to make sure they wouldn't slide off lest ye find yourself overboard. These actually weren't that troublesome. A couple of tweaks for fit and to get the right look and I was set and happy. It was these that drove me madder than a hatter.

I won't ever belittle a perfect knee joint seam. Aiyeeeeeee!! Texture after texture, try after try, I simply couldn't get where the two sculpts at thigh and lower leg met up to look like a solid piece. Finally, after sculpt after sculpt and hundreds of lindens in upload fees, I managed it. Every now and then as you move it can still be seen, but from most stationary poses that don't twist the legs horribly they're fine. And dayem, they're sexy, and much more shape hugging than the old boots. Yes, despite how smoking hot they look on a woman they look fine on men, haha. Both of these boot sets are available in four different cuff styles, and three different heel heights, so you definitely have your options! You're pretty much building your own pair of boots to your own specifications.

In the original Piratey Goodness line I had a pair of matching gloves, and with this remake I took that a bit farther, and made gloves that matched the different cuff styles!

Plus, an added bonus or maybe just trivia, I actually made the glove texture for this this time and I'm proud, because of how difficult clothing textures are for me.


Wait a second... Wow, what's that hat in that picture? That looks really good...


MUAHAHA!!! Cap'n Jack is back. The wonderfully weather worn, beat up, eaten by a leviathan and spit back up again, lost at the bottom of the sea and resurfaced hat that can go through anything went through a remake as well. I even made the sculpt especially thin and crinkly and asymmetrical to portray the beat-up and utterly miserable feel of a hat that's been through it all. This time, it's texture changing to a dark weather worn leather (shown), a warmer brown tone, white/silvery gray and a nice roughed up black.

If you weren't so distracted by the hat in the gloves picture, you might have noticed a belt as well

Yes! A new arrival that wasn't in the original collection! It was requested quite a bit though, and before I had made an extremely simple belt that I couldn't bear to sell. This one, however, I pulled out all of the stops with. It includes a detailed flintlock pistol, a pair of dueling daggers, and a frog. No, not the amphibian, it's a leather belt doohicky used to hold one's rapier. I didn't include a rapier as I figured people would want to use their own, and it certainly doesn't appear lacking without it. Personally, I've been using Laces and Steel's "Saviolo" rapier, and it looks perfect. But for those who'd rather have the simpler things in life, I made a version of this belt without so many doohickies, that simply has the frog and a ring and is without the daggers and pistol. But for those who think that more is more, I made an "add-on" pack that includes the pouch, compass, and spyglass that you see pictured. It also has a copy of the pistol in brass and in silver so you can carry it without having to pull it off of the belt!

Yes, I'm a wicked, wicked woman who's after your lindens. I offer you this last parting shot.


If you feel yourself getting a stomach cramp, pop this on your head and strut about. On second thought, maybe not, you don't want to be sent to Elba! This has the same color change cockade as the Chapeau de Bras, and comes from an earlier period. This one is based off of a bicorn that Napoleon himself wore, hence the name.

This was obviously the bulk of my work, but depending on how my whim moves me, there might be a Piratey Goodness part trois, which will/would include even more hats.

Because I really love hats ♥

Piratey Goodness Part I

Yar har fiddlee dee, you are a pirate!

Or you certainly will be after seeing part one of the glorious, illustrious return of Piratey Goodness. This is the first installment, the boots are much closer to release and I also have a couple of hats that are almost ready, but mostly I figured they wouldn't all fit well into a blog entry.

Firstly, the open sea is a dangerous place. It's full of fish that want to eat you and mean people who want yer precious cargo, and accidents happen. Rather than show your icky scars to the world and your crew, hide them with a practical and comfortable eyepatch.

It's completely sculpted for the best fit, but does not sadly go around the whole of the head. I had trouble fitting a whole looped band, but you should be fine if you're not bald. I offered the option on this one for it to cover either your left eye or your right, depending on how your hair falls, and you can also get it fit for a male or female face.

Next up, fabulous hats:

I wanted something more refined for my Captain's Hat in the remake, something with a bit more class. The other one was certainly full of swagger but I really wanted delicate maribou or ostrich feathers along the edges of it, and I achieved the effect the best I could. I'm especially proud of the lack of alpha flicker, and it happens to change texture on touch like the other hats. But if you miss the swagger and attitude of having an enormous hat full of a waterfall of feathers, have no fear.


The Bard's Hat is an homage to the original Captain's hat, but this time much more sim friendly (less than a third of the prims used in the first), and this one also has absolutely no alpha flicker! Except sometimes with hair in the back. But it has a lovely fall to it, and nice fluffly feathers, it's quite rakish and debonair.

Speaking of debonair, I decided to push my chosen period a bit, and wander away from the 18th century a bit into the 19th with a visit to the Napoleonic.

A chapeau de bras simply translated means "hat of the arm". No, you don't wear the hat on your arm, it was actually a military adaptation of a more classic bicorn that was able to be folded underneath your arm for travel and for military ceremony. The two folds at the top were normally pinned together, and as decoration there used to be a sort of floret pin called a "cockade". The cockade could be used to show the colors of your house/heraldry, or the colors of your country, or maybe the colors of your political party. The cockade on this hat is scripted to change color to combinations of black and another color, because black really goes with everything!

As per usual, everything has a demo available in the store :) Stay tuned for part deux!