It was just a little over a year ago when sculpted prims made their way into SL designers’ “sewing kits” so to speak. I recall one of the first clothing designers to utilize sculpties in the most amazing ways was my friend Ginny Talamasca. Over the year, those applications have multiplied - moving from outfit accents and adornments to full skirts and even, complete outfits top to bottom (although wearing one of those to a lag-filled event doesn’t always work out the way you hope it will). It’s remarkable actually, the ways SL fashion (shoes, clothing and accessories) and beauty (hair) has evolved through the use of sculpts.

One of the designers to use sculpties in completely new ways was Maria Gherardi of MG Fashion. I recall last fall her Outono outfit utilized a completely sculpted skirt - which for the time, was quite outside the norm. It should be said though that sculpties are great but they’re not all that appealing to me unless they’re accompanied by fantastic textures. In the case with Maria’s new dresses, fortunately we have both in spades.

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I don’t do a ton of hats in SL because editing hair to fit under them (if they’re not sold together), can be a long process for me. But the hats recently released from MG Fashion are a lot easier to fit - as they come in multiple sizes that you can start from to get the best fit. For some of the hats I’m blogging, I started with the small size and fit different hairs around it. I’ll also recommend some of the hairs that worked best for me based on these hats.

One thing I will say for hats, both offline and on, is that they can inspire a whole look - from head to toe. A lot of the time I start with shoes and build upwards - in this case, it all began with a cap.

The skins I am wearing in all these snaps are new from Canimal. I love the variety in make-ups, which are both broad and wearable every day. Cani’s new “Essence” skins come in 5 tones with 9 available make-ups. The branding is also very clever - every tone is named after an “essence of femininity” (Grace, Charm, Mystery, Lust and Charisma), and the make-ups each named, “…of Roses” or “…Snow”, etc. Most of all, they are so, so beautiful - and below is my favorite (so far) “…of Roses” in the Charm tone. Each skin is only $800L!

The cap is the “Ivy Cap Plaid 1″ - scripted on touch to change colors with 12 options! I paired it with ETD Paula II, slightly edited.

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I have pictures of my mother wearing knit tunics, with patterns very similar to the most recent releases from Maria Gherardi and MG Fashion. They were particularly fashionable back in the 70s, although many cuts were shorter than the new “Zig Zag Knit” dresses you see here.

Maria Gherardi is a designer that is well known for her bold releases, packed (and I do mean packed) with options and color combinations for every style. While I tend to stick to neutrals if left to my own devices - both colors and patterns - since I started wearing Maria’s designs in SL, I have definitely acquired a taste for the more bold. However, my first picture is predictably, the charcoal

The Zig Zag dresses come in 7 color combinations, each with two choices of very cute berets. We’ve also seen that Maria is working on some sculpted hats, which have yet to be released.

Each pack comes with dress top with corduroy cinching (on all the layers), glitch pants (layer options), sculpted neck tie and cuffs, flexi skirt and coordinating tights. Nothing has been overlooked, and I particularly like the innovative color combinations - with my favorite being the eggplant and green combination (below). All the skins I am wearing are previews of Tuli’s new forthcoming S5 skins, available February 7. Incidentally, I would suggest wearing a very light prim eyelash with these skins, so as not to cover up the fantastic eyes.

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