Grey tones

After a break away from SL I've been having a good deal of freebie fun. The main haul was from the much-blogged opening of Innovations, and the new (to me) freebie-fest that is Free Dove.

At Innovations there were two sumptuous gowns (in black and champagne), plus a treasure hunt where you had to spot the spider and then buy it. There were 21 spiders, and I bagged 6. Part of this haul was a set of really useful jacket-layer one-button cardigans. In the picture I'm wearing the cardigan in grey. This is teamed with a whole outfit (including boots) from Sogo at Free Dove. The top (just seen) is a cropped tank and the tights have a nice metallic sheen.

I'm wearing free bangles from Amaretto and the necklace is by Alienbear: one of the freebies available at Calla to celebrate their anniversay. In the first pic it's hidden by my hair, but you can see it in the 2nd photo - a nice tribute in the form of the Calla logo, and seen here in black.

Innovations: Fine Fashion 94, 127, 31

Free Dove: Gallii 105, 61, 32

Sogo: Sokri 96, 96, 74

Amaretto: Boracay Island 115, 112, 21

Calla: Callatropia 125, 194, 24

Bossa Nova

A short entry to blog about a simply lovely free dress: from Bossa Nova. It comes in black (with white bow) or white (with black bow). With my colouring it's the black that looks best and the first pic shows off the attractive back detailing.

What you can't see are the frothy ruffles on the skirt, which look particularly good in flight. Altogether a classy outfit.

You don't want to over-accessorise something like this, so I've simply added a string of red beads, picked up at the Gnubie store, by Shiny things. This freebie necklace also comes in mother of pearl, and I'm sure that will feature here soon. The Miriel earrings complete the ensemble.

Bossa Nova: Amour 184, 59, 27
Gnubie store: Indigo 229, 59, 31
Miriel: Nouveau 114, 201, 23

Ivalde and Ingenue

Today I'll feature two designers: Ingenue and Ivalde. Firstly Ingenue: you get three nice freebie outfits there.

In the first photo you can see the back detailing of a top from the Pink Hawaiian outfit with the capri pants of Ingenuette.

In the next photo the same top is being worn with the skirt from the Marzipan Closet free Monica suit mentioned in the last post. Very sweet!

The bangle (just seen in the first photo) is from Caroline's Jewelry - free Boho bangles - and the shoes are from the Sugarcube freebie set.

The Ivalde freebies are probably even better. You have to hunt for them - up the stairs and turn left - then you should be able to spot a couple of boxes on the floor.

Two nice outfits with short prim skirts and glitch pants. I accessorised them with the same bangle and shoes. The first pic (Agnetha Giraffe dress) shows me scrubbing the floor outside a shop in one of the more upmarket districts - but I soon stopped when I realised I wasn't getting paid!

The second (Lovise Zebra dress) is actually taken inside the Bossa Nova shop where I was about to make my next purchase. You can see someone grabbing their Bossa Nova freebie in the background!

Ivalde: Vintage Heaven 92, 162, 35

Ingenue: Mangakino 224, 111, 21

Sugarcube: Blumfield 208, 65, 27

Caroline's Jewelry: Lo Lo 103, 232, 23

Making or buying? Buying

Hi from Dimitrova. You may be thinking: for low cost living, why not just make your own clothes? For simple things like black tights or a high necked dark t-shirt, you have a point.

However, it takes time and skill to make something like the Marzipan Closet top featured in the last entry: you may not have the skills or have the time to develop them. Given the wealth of talent out there already, it makes more sense to discover your own niche in gifts in creating and building. In the meantime: why not enjoy what there is to offer?

On this theme, though, I'm irritated by freebies which frankly are not worth the clicking. For example, a shirt that simply looked like someone had created a standard shirt and coloured it black. That isn't going to entice you to spend Lindens on that person's priced clothes.

If you're making, then one of the easiest things is to customise an existing garment with a logo. There are lots and lots of logo items out there. Some are worth collecting, and I'd say that this Princeton University women's jacket is one of them.

To be honest, the craftsmanship isn't that great, but Princeton has a certain cachet and the orange insert contrasts nicely. It's worn with $1 Linden sunglasses - available in several colours - and $1 Linden rainbow armband (from Oasis for Eriko Koba). The earrings are Miriel, as before.

Eriko Koba shop: poco Japan 89, 150, 25

Princeton University shop: Princeton South 135, 205, 27

The 2nd free outfit from Yurema Designs is another example of rather slapdash finishing, however it is certainly bold. I' m wearing the green version of the sunglasses. The fun earrings are $25 from Paula (in the same mall as Yurema), and the shoes are free Japanese Geta from D&D. I'm pictured in front of one of the distinctive buildings on the Princeton campus.

In the 3rd pic, I'm wearing the "Ugly duckling" set free from Sugarcube - available for free separately outside their store and also as part of their newbie pack. This is in another class altogether, with fine detailing and I'll be featuring some more of Sugarcube's free stuff. Geta, sunglasses, armring and earrings as before.

Paula; and Yurema Designs: Paektu 119, 139, 102

Sugarcube: Shimakitozaka 209, 191, 27

Dharmaya and Dharmaya: Japan 02 174, 157, 26