• Refuge - Freebie Halloween tee and Radiant Ruthie costume
• The Body Politik - Freebie Sculptie Witches Hat
• Little Rebel - Freebie Halloween tee
• Skin 2.0 - Freebie skin
• Canimal - Free Halloween HUD frames. To get them, join the Canimal group and it will be in the notices.
• Stellar Designs - Free Halloween layered tee
• AQUA - Free Pumpkin Pie Schoolgirl costume as part of a pumpkin hunt.
• Violet Voltaire - Free Spider Cameo Set
• Battered Boudoir - Free Halloween Lingerie
• Sae Luan - 12 Limited Edition freebies in Haunted House
• DEKA Designs - Free Halloween Outfit
• Sinistyle - Undead Inside tee
• Adam n Eve - Free Halloween eyes
• Port Seraphine - Pumpkins stuffed with goodies are hidden around the sim.
• Minnu Model Skins - Free male and female Halloween-themed skins

• Nicky Ree - 50L Halloween Web Dress
• Alienbear Gupte - 25L per pumpkin, each containing a piece of jewelry, with 20 pumpkins in all. This is a scavenger hunt.
• Here Comes Trouble - 50% off of all costumes today.
• Catalyst - 10L Ribbed Vertigo dress in orange.
• Caliente Express - Halloween sale
• Total Betty's - 1L Trick or Treat Nightie Set
• Gritty Kitty - 1L Witch Hat & Scarf
  
• Tete a Pied - 50% off of the Drow, Gothique, and Marie skins
• Corduroy - 1L each Halloween leggings (Haver, Sera, and Mina)
• Lico Lico - There's an entire section with kickass freebies and cheapies!
• artilleri - Halloween Hunt - Each skull is 1L and contains a variety of artilleri items in orange.

Not irreversably. Not irredeemably, certainly. However, their first step seems to have been a stumble. Make a mental list of the things they could get wrong in establishing a Second Life presence. It appears that Armani have managed to check-off most of the high-points there. And it's a damn shame, because people expected better. Hallmark of quality and all that, right? That tallies up to another black mark.

Iris Ophelia takes a critical look at Armani's efforts, and both that and the comments that follow are worth the read, particularly the comment from Tenshi Vielle.

Second Style's Grazia Horwitz also weighs in on the matter, among others.

If this was Wal-Mart, or Joe's Hamster Hut, or even Seven-Eleven, I don't think that there would be such a problem. This is however, Armani, and the expectations of people insofar as the brand reputation just have not been met. It's not classy, or innovative. It's basically pedestrian, and fails to meet basic cost versus quality expectations.

It's not wretched. It's not awful. It's not bad. It's merely mediocre, demonstrating a lack of imagination, a lack of flair, and a lack of willingness to make the most of the tools.

That's not the image we associate with Armani - yet, there it is, for the world to see. It doesn't appear to have been a matter of cost, so much as a shortage of excellence.

I hope Armani will reevaluate their approach and attempt to improve. Few will hold it against them if they do.

Depo are a group we've featured a time or two over the last few months.

Their latest venture is a fashion show which will run on Friday 26th October 2007, 8 am SLT time at depo Business Hub and Park. There will be an impressive range of SL names (I'm far from a fashonista, but even I've heard of, and own clothes by most of these people) and no size 0 models.

Full details after the fold.

• Best Womens Business suit
• Best Mans Jacket
• Best Shoes

Under the motto of "social engine for Second Life", Robbie Kiama has recently launched a new and interesting product - MetaHUD. This new gadget is a neat combination between a Digg/StumbleUpon network for SL and an in-world, easy-to-search marketplace. The interface is very friendly and reminds users of a regular web browser. The buttons are nicely designed, with graphics that cut across language barriers. You can access the Digg/StumbleUpon feature under the Travel tab at the top and the marketplace under Items.

I typically use the gadget to tag favorite places as I encounter them, but MetaHUD also has a system for people to buy items (without needing to teleport to a store). Simply search under "Items" for things you wish to buy or do the search "/8 meta mart" and grab the partner kit to learn about advertising here.

Much like SLExchange, this MetaHUD does charge a percentage/commission of sales. The other similar service is OnRez, which has free listings for shop owners. It features both in-world and on the web purchasing options. (Thanks for that clarification, Forseti).

MetaHUD's search method seems to be more more efficient than the classifieds and it does allow sellers to input a picture and tags for specific objects (much like SL browser). If you're a fan of digg or del.icio.us, you'll definitely love this. Get your own free copy here and let us know what you think!

It's been a while since we did any Japanese shopping. Well, it's that time again! The intricate, the cute, the detailed, the visually appealing and the cheap. I decided to start in Ginza, and wound up as far away as Vari.

While touring Ginza, I thought I'd take a look at Cecile's and I ran into a show by Cecile Yoshikawa. Yoshikawa (pictured here, in the center) runs the Second Life end of the Cecile catalog retailer, and the suit and dresses you see in the gallery image are available for free. Those are some nice suits, boys. Go get them.

Nearby is Emily Freund's K@E, a skin and shape store for child avatars, though they also stock eyes (and some lovely ones at that), kitty-hats (yay! Kitty hats!), shoes, prim hair, some pretty kimonos, and - for no particular reason that I can determine - Rolex watches and ... err a black Les Paul Gibson guitar and a trombone, both of which are multifunction weapons.

I'm not sure what these three products have to do with the rest of the kid-oriented goodies, but the guitar is a very nice piece of work. K@E skins come in three ethnic varieties, and shapes are available in 6, 9, 12 and 15 year olds. Only one set of male skin, shape and hair is available at present.

There are several freebies on the counter, including two tiny avatars.

ElleAir Plasma, a Japanese designer, has a fascinatingly eclectic mix of things. From a car that Penelope Pitstop would be proud of, through fairy clothes, maid outfits, nurses uniforms (and assorted patient props and smocks) Yukata, Kimono and more. Plasma-san is a skilled designer with visual flair, and like most Japanese creators, very reasonably priced! Yum! Go see for yourself!

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If you missed last week's sampling of menswear and fashions, you can find it here.

Two big ones today! This week, we're looking at Blaze Fine Fashions, and Magellan House - both recommended by a number of SLI readers. We're still looking for places to review, so if you have a favorite men's store which has clothing, accessories, shoes, skins, hair, gadgets, or anything else you can think of, let us know. If our test audience buys something, we'll write it up the store here.

Blaze Fine Fashions - Blaze Columbia

With her concise range of menswear, Blaze Columbia has ensured that she has not substituted quality for quantity. She has produced a selection of business, smart casual and formal outfits for men, all with elegant, understated and attractive handrawn detailing. Unlike with photorealistically detailed clothing, Blaze's garments hint at folds and creases rather than fleshing them out in full, giving a streamlined look more appropriate to Second Life. Blaze's businesses suits are especially popular, with satiny welt pockets in opposition to the matt button holes and a sheen on the lapels for the jacket, and crisp creases permanently pressed into the pants.

Something I especially liked was the layering of the shirts and ties. The shirt is on the undershirt layer, the tie knot on the shirt layer, and the tie itself is a flexi-prim layered over the top. This gives the whole system a great flexibility for combinations of color within the label, and assists with compatibility with other Second Life garments.

If I were to desire any changes to Blaze's work, it would be these: extra cuff detailing on the shirt, and a slightly different effect for the crotch creases on the pants. Nonetheless, I accept that altering the cuffs might make them less compatible with other Second Life clothing, and that considering the way that pants wrap around the avatar mesh, that crotch creases can be quite difficult.

Magellan House - Apparel by Mako - Mako Magellan

Mako Magellan's clothing range has just expanded by quite a large extent, so even if you are already familiar with Mr. Magellan's work, now is an excellent time to check out his garments. The gallery contains snaps taken during the Grand Opening of his flagship store in Caledon, Victoria City. I had the privilege of hobnobbing with the man himself as the excessively polite and refined people of Caledon and surrounds, and other admirers of Mr. Magellan's designs, came together to celebrate the opening. The opening was decidedly well attended, with people coming and going throughout the period between 3pm and 5pm on 11 August, for an average of 20 people, with quite a number sticking around after the stated time.

Mr. Magellan's designs are interesting. Not necessarily historically correct (by design), but certainly with more than a nod in that direction, and with a taste of his own style in addition. From a distance, and even from his own advertising, his clothing may look a little plain, perhaps even severe; however, this misapprehension is soon cleared up from a more usual distance - in fact the clothing has been carefully textured, in some cases delicately, in others, more boldly.

With the introduction of several new pieces, we witness the development of Mr. Magellan's style, as he breaks out into more colorful and dramatic designs intended for everyday wear, as opposed to his previous dramatic "dress-up" garments. Even though the execution is not quite right, in that the stripes do not match up across seams (though, to be granted, RL clothing doesn't match designs across seams either), one of my favorite pieces is the red pinstripe double-breasted suit, a bold and glamorous choice and an excellent concept. The "Sergeant Pepper" outfit I am also very fond of, particularly the detailing on the front of the jacket, although the collar color dos not quite match that of the jacket. Our test audience did not find either of these flaws sufficient cause to not buy these outfits.

A listing of new garments and outfit available, from Mr. Magellan's invitation to the Grand Opening:

Several garments will be on display for the first time:

• A complete riding outfit: black helmet and crop, red 'hunting pink' jacket, and cream jodhpurs
• A plain navy three-piece single-breasted suit
• A brown tweed two-piece single-breasted suit
• A charcoal silk two-piece double-breasted suit
• A red pinstripe double-breasted suit
• A replica of George Harrison's outfit from the Sergeant Pepper album
• A 3/4-length belted double-breasted trenchcoat
• A detailed red patchwork silk double-breasted waistcoat
• A flamboyant purple top hat and tails combination
• An open-necked collarless shirt
• A buttoned collarless shirt
• A creamy white shirt with prim collar and blue tie

And even something for the ladies:

• Four pairs of ladies' pearl earrings

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All Fashion Plates:
Skin: Nora Entice - David Almond Stubble
Shape: Nora Entice - David Shape
Hair: Sirena Brad Black - Blackberry
Goggles: Techpanty - Glasses Collection 3
Hat: 7 Deadly Prims - Skull Tophat Twisted collection

Fashion Plates 1-4:
Blaze* Ultimate Wool Suit - Black
Fashion Plates 5-6:
Blaze* Safari Cavalier - Leopard

Fashion Plates 7-8:
Apparel by Mako - Red Patchwork Waistcoat
Apparel by Mako - Buttoned Collarless Shirt
Fashion Plate 9:
Apparel by Mako - Red Pinstriped Double-breasted Suit
Fashion Plate 10:
Apparel by Mako - Sgt Pepper Outfit
Fashion Plates 11-12:
Apparel by Mako - Morning Coat Jacket and Tails - Blue Double-breasted
Apparel by Mako - Morning Wear Trousers

If you missed last week's sampling of menswear and fashions, you can find it here.

Again, both of the stores we looked at this week came to us highly recommended by the discerning readers of SLI - and we thank you for your suggestions! We're still looking for places to review, so if you have a favorite men's store which has clothing, accessories, shoes, skins, hair, gadgets, or anything else you can think of, let us know. If our test audience buys something, we'll write it up the store here.

Jeepers Creepers - Eponymous Trenchmouth

Boots and Shoes(Both), Industrial, Smart casual, Formal.

I am seriously impressed with the quality of the shoes and boots created by Eponymous Trenchmouth, under the Jeepers Creepers label. Each item available under this label is clean, elegant and unimpeded by unnecessary detail. Most of the pieces are bling-free, except where bling is subtly used to enhance the look of naturally shiny adornments. A different shoe or boot is provided for each foot, making for greater verisimilitude. Many of the shoes and boots come with an optional in-built walk, appropriate to the intended gender of the wearer. Men's shoes and boots are available in various sizes; depending on the line, somewhere between a size 20 and a size 35.

There are six lines of shoes and boots currently under this label: Strike! for men's and women's bowling shoes, Clog for rugged, easy-wearing slip-ons, Rigger for tough yet good-looking boots, Trashville for massive biker boots, Hawkes & Healey for a classic and elegant appearance, and Rebel for a stylish look. There is also Giddyap, the men's horse riding boot.

Not only are all the shoes and boots available well crafted and good looking, but there has been an obvious improvement between some of the older ranges and the new Rebel line - in the Rebels, prim work can barely be seen, there is hardly even an impression that these shoes were made in a non-malleable material, and texturing has become more subtle and realistic.

The Rebel line is decidedly my favorite: the base textures are excellent, and combine with the highlighting and shadowing for an exemplary finish on each shoe. Detailing is accurate and true-to-life; the stitching is reminiscent of hand-stitched shoes I've seen in real life. It really makes you feel like you could take these shoes from the screen and wear them in the physical world.

Jeepers Creepers also has lines of shoes for solely for women.

Nocturnal Threads - Kaia Ennui

Clothing(Both), Boots(Both), Tattoos, Gothic.

Kaia Ennui of Nocturnal Threads (NT) is a excellent purveyor of goods for those customers of a Gothic bent wishing to flesh out their wardrobes. Traditional Gothic, Romantic and Horror themes are apparent throughout the range for men: lace and velvet, skulls, zombies, black, blue and red, and belts and buckles. From the delicate, detailed, and dreamy to the roughened, toughened and texture-complex, NT offers men shirts, pants, complete outfits, boots and tattoos, as well as unisex clothing and hair.

Nothing in the line struck me as being outstanding. I didn't find any signature or must-have pieces. That said, I like the clothing, and our test audience will be adding some of the pieces they bought to their regular wardrobe as staples. Determined efforts have been made to match the seams, with success. Fabric textures are life-like, looking rich and stiff or luxe and fluid as the garment requires. On the garments that I purchased, accessories often replicated in prim-work in other labels, like belts and buckles, have here been done in texture, to good effect. Prices are reasonable for the quality of work on offer, also considering that mostly complete outfits are for sale. There is also much to be said about the quantity of pieces available to choose from in the range.

NT also carries a women's line of clothing and accessories.

In the gallery...

H&H Black & White Oxfords WH
Rebel - James Dean WH

NT Whisper shirt and gloves.
NT Lithium Pants.
NT Tank Grrl belt.

and more..

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• W-Hat
• McDunnough's Relay Gang

• RFL Racers
• TOC All Stars
• Passionate Redheads
• Purple Tears the Children Cry

• The Block Party
• Transylvania 4 Felicaa Feaver
• The Dirty Dozen
• Friends Fighting Cancer

• Ubuntu
• The Guardian
• Mad Menorcans
• Relay THIS!!!

• Relay Raiders
• Team Trifecta
• Spirit Chasers 1
• Spirit Chasers 2

• City of New Babbage
• Team EROS
• Caledon
• The Shelter Cares

• Meet the FOCers
• Alternation
• Pixels in Pink
• Dixie Rebels

• Destiny's Children
• Furs for a Cure
• Casablanca
• Relay for the Cure

• Shopaholics for a Cure
• Relay Rockers
• Shopoholics for a Cause
• Health & Wellness Center

• Phat Cats
• Groovey Kinda Quest
• Creatives for the Cure
• Team Vivian

• TVCH/3 #1
• TVCH/3 #2
• Circle of Life
• Relay Roadies