Eye Weekly talks digital dress up

I had the pleasure of meeting Rea McNamara at the March Toronto Fashion Bloggers’ Brunch. Last week she interviewed me about Second Life for a story she covered for Toronto’s Eye Weekly. You can read Digital dress up here.

With Mark Kingdon, former CEO of Organic, appointed as the new head of Linden Lab, Second Life’s creator, I think we’ll be hearing a lot more about this virtual world in the days and months to come. Thanks to Kate Trgovac for the heads-up.

TFBB 15 - Recap

After a lengthy absence, it was great getting together with the Toronto Fashion Bloggers Brunch crowd. I enjoyed catching up with friends and seeing several new faces around the table.

Everyone was so geared up for L’Oreal’s Toronto Fashion Week which starts tomorrow. I probably won’t be making it to any of the shows or parties so I’ll have to follow the adventures of my TFBB friends who do a great job of reporting. You can do the same! Check out where to find attendees below...

Sonja Andic - PR rep for L’Oreal

Henna Singh - Canadian Beauty

Gail McInnes - The Style Box and Toronto Fashion Incubator news editor

Anita Clarke - I want - I got and blogTO fashion writer

Danielle Meder - Final Fashion and Rags and Mags illustrator

Rea McNamara - Eye Weekly style writer

Rina Grosman - She Does the City “Sew What”

Alison-Violet Mount - FashionTelevision videocaster

Adrian Corsin - Fashion Verbatim

Carolyn Rohaly - Toronto Fashion Incubator diarist and Rags and Mags writer

Brooklyn Brownstone - Designer Relations for the FDCC

Rebecca Leung - photographer and PR for Too Magazine

Sarah Nicole Prickett - Torontoist fashion editor

Unfortunately, I had another commitment and had to leave early and didn’t have a chance to speak to everyone. It was so nice to hear from Rea McNamara after brunch. She wants to learn more about my shopping adventures in Second Life.

Thanks Danielle for the photo!

After a Fashion meets PodCamp Toronto

You didn’t think I’d spend a whole weekend at PodCamp without sharing, did you?

If you’ve been following the adventures of After a Fashion, you’ll be pleased to know Jenny Bullough aka Chloe Barbosa and Paradise Wunderland (that’s me) gave a presentation: “Everything You Need To Know About Second Life”.

Of course we talked about shopping. ;) Jenny also shared her wonderful case study about eHarlequin’s book launches in Second Life. I’m leaving a copy of the slides here so you can have a look:

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There were many fascinating sessions at PodCamp. Check out the media archive you can catch up on the latest in social media and podcasting. See, sometimes the best things in life are free! Thanks to all our sponsors.

Personal note: You may know I was on the PodCamp Toronto 2008 organizing team. I want to give a big shout out the other team members: Connie Crosby, Dave Fleet, Rob Lee, Katherine Matthews, Sean McGaughey, Jay Moonah, and Tommy Vallier. You’re amazing!

Weekly Wish ....

After a Fashion: third time lucky

Our third After a Fashion excursion in Second Life (SL) was on Monday, April 9.

There were 11 of us: Catherine, Connie, Jenny, Joy, June L., Kate, Kathryn, Mish, Sonja, Tamara and me.

We have a great new meeting place we can almost call our own: Katicus Sparrow’s Hideaway. Us gals had such a good time chatting, we almost forgot about our shopping trip. NOT!

Luxury items were on the jam-packed agenda.

First stop: House of Nyla. Nyla is a real life Canadian fashion designer based in Vancouver. Her shop in SL is incredible. She offers everything from a host of uniquely designed accessories including footwear (personally, I’m loving the thigh-high black boots in the entrance way), masks and hats to spectacular evening gowns.

Mish bought an awesome mask - it included a beautiful shopping bag, tissue paper and all!

Nyla’s signature is her wonderful use of bright colours, quality and richness of her work. Real photographers have a hand in her displays. Outstanding!

Next we ventured to RICX Fine Jewelry - the SL version of Tiffany’s. I bought my gold and diamond necklace there a couple weeks ago. In addition to the regular collection, RICX offers custom work and a limited edition boutique - Chloe and Paradise had a great time uncovering rare gems there.

Designer Lucas Lamath’s EARTHTONES boutique is another jewelry store not to be missed. Organic shapes and colours make their way into the designs. I bought the dangling earrings in the “bandana” head shot below. EARTHTONES offers lots of demos and prices are lower than RICX. Several of us wanted to buy a couple of the dresses worn by the models too.

Our final stop was Hair Fair ’07 (a Locks of Love fundraiser). It was so busy that many of our computers crashed and members had to leave without saying proper good-byes. For those of us who persevered, there were lots of freebies and L$1 gift packs to be had. Paradise can’t wait to try on all her new goodies.

I scored a ton of stuff so next time you see Paradise, she'll probably be wearing one of her a new doos. Doesn’t she look devine sporting “Casual” in chestnut from Elika Tiramisu Designs (ETD)? (It’s the one she’s sporting in the picture.)

Note: April 14 is Bandana Day for Locks of Love in SL. If you’re visiting, buy your Bandana at the Hair Fair and be sure to put it on.

See you soon at our next “After a Fashion” event. Stay tuned!

photo credit of Katicus’ Hideaway: Kathryn Lagden

Technorati tags: After a Fashion, Catherine Winters, Connie Crosby, Eden Spodek, Jenny Bullough, Joy Boyson, June Li, Kate Trgovac, Katicus Sparrow, Kathryn Lagden, Locks of Love, Michelle Tampoya, Paradise Wunderland, Second Life, shopping, Tamara Paton

After a Fashion, second excursion: the metamorphosis

Our second After a Fashion excursion in Second Life (SL) was on Monday, March 12.

There were 9 of us: Catherine, Connie, Joy, June L., June M., Kate, Kathryn, Monique and me.

As usual, we met at Crayon’s SL headquarters. We had a rough start because there were technical problems in SL. A couple of us had to log out and back in again. Some our avatars had trouble moving but all-in-all, we had another successful event. It's wonderful seeing the progress our avatars have made since the first event two weeks earlier.

When you join SL and start creating your avatar, you do have the basics but they have a very “GNubie” look and if you don’t do something about it, you’ll really stand out in the crowd (and not in a good way.) Poor Paradise, she was so homely in the beginning.

It was time for the GNubies to shed their newbie looks. Fortunately, we had the more experienced girls to mentor us and experiment with some new looks in between. It was time to shop for the essentials: shapes, skins and hair.

Full disclosure time...
With help from Katicus, I bought a couple new skins on an earlier trip (they were on sale - cheap! - and went back for a new hairdo.) I also caved and spent some Linden dollars. I’ve included my “before” and “after” pictures.

First stop, Colette’s Body Shop. We saw several groupings on sale (I think they were 11 for L$1,000). I have to admit, I didn’t get the whole shape thing until I read Kate's So-Called Second Life. Katicus and Catherine explained how out-of-the-box avatars are naturally tall and often out of proportion.

Catherine taught us how to measure our avatars. Paradise has a great body. I only wish I had one like her in real life! At 6'2", she was one of the shortest in the group. Art imitating life or what? Some people don’t want take the time figuring out how to give their avatars proper shapes. Others don’t want avatars too tall or human-like. There’s a shape for everyone.

Next stop, Panache Island. We went to Skins by Hose & Queen for skins first. We found free packs of skins high up on the wall. Some of us also practiced our flying - it was a great way to show some of the girls where the freebies were hiding.

Panache Hair was our next stop. It was also the shopping highlight of the evening. (Unfortunately, that was also the time SL crashed on my computer so I missed half the trip.) It’s a large colourful store with all kinds of great hair to choose from. I learned that some hair demos are strange colours like lavender and mauve with orange streaks. (Hair demos I tried elsewhere had funny markings across them.) While Joy had trouble keeping her hair on, Trixie and Satu had a great time finding groovy new doos.

We closed the evening with a trip to the trvia lounge at AOL Pointe Island. It was Catherine’s night - she won two rounds while I was there. Way to go!

On a related note...
I discovered a great podcast today, The Traveling Avatar’s Quick & Dirty Tips (of the Quick & Dirty Tips series). A must-listen for the SL gnubie. Short, sweet and to the point.

Plans for our next “After a Fashion” event are already underway. Stay tuned!

Technorati tags: After a Fashion, Catherine Winters, Connie Crosby, Eden Spodek, Joy Boyson, June Li, June Macdonald, Kate Trgovac, Katicus Sparrow, Kathryn Lagden, Paradise Wunderland, podcasts, Quick & Dirty Tips, Second Life, shopping, So Misguided

“After a Fashion” a “Canadian girls’ night out” in Second Life 1

Monday, Feb. 26 marked the first “After a Fashion” excursion in Second Life (SL).

Joining hosts Kate Trgovac (Katicus Sparrow) and me (Paradise Wunderland), were:
• Catherine Winters
• Joy Boyson
• June Li
• June Macdonald
• Kathryn Lagden
• Sonja Andic
• Michelle Tampoya and Tamera Kremer were missed

We started with a meet and greet at Crayon's SL headquarters. Then we got down to some serious (and some not-so-serious) business - shopping business that is.

Our first stop was Free Dove - a huge clothing store (more like a SL big-box store) where most of the goodies were free for the taking - the glitch was we didn't know exactly what we were getting until we unpacked. (In SL, just like real life, it's gauche to unpack your stuff in busy public places.)

Our last stop was the gazebo at Garden of Hope, a perfect place for unpacking and checking out our new finds. Kate and Catherine taught us how to unpack. What a blast! Everyone tried on their new clothing (my pics are on the right.) It was like playing 3-D Barbie for grown-ups. What fun!

Unfortunately, most of my new outfits were more skanky than fashion-forward. On the bright side, I didn't spend a penny (oops! I meant Linden dollar). I guess even in SL you get what you pay for. ; )

Thanks everyone for joining us on our first “After a Fashion” adventure. Special shout out to Kate and Catherine for guiding us newbies along. We became more confident and knowledgeable about SL after just one group visit.

Stay tuned for details of our next “After a Fashion” event. We have a couple new members and a few spots left. If you're interested in joining the group, send me an email!

Technorati tags: After a Fashion, Catherine Winters, Eden Spodek, Joy Boyson, June Li, June Macdonald, Kate Trgovac, Katicus Sparrow, Kathryn Lagden, Michelle Tampoya, Paradise Wunderland, Second Life, shopping, Tamera Kremer

Announcing “After a Fashion”... a Canadian “Girl’s Night Out” in Second Life

You may remember my recent shopping trip with Kathryn Lagden in Second Life. I asked if anyone was interested in joining me on my next shopping visit. I thought a night out with the girls would be much more fun than venturing out on my own in this strange but enchanting new world.

Read more...


Technorati tags: After a Fashion, Kate Trgovac, Katicus Sparrow, Kathryn Lagden, Paradise Wunderland, Second Life, shopping