Fashioncracked

Hello!

Yesterday was my third rezday. How very weird. It seems like an odd concept, to celebrate being such a huge nerd that when you tell your friends what you do for a living, they look at you funny. Or worse, think they understand! It usually goes like this:

Me: I use 3d rendering software to position avatars, it allows people to take photos of themselves in Second Life

Friend: Like, sex animations?

Me: No, not sex animations. Just normal stands, and some poses for multiple avatars, so they can take photos with their friends

Friend: What, people have friends?

Me: Of course!

Friend: And then they have sex with them? Cos that’s all people do in Second Life, right?

Me: *sigh* Right.

Anyway. Here’s my rezday outfit, and a bunch of reflection on what Second Life means to me. But you don’t have to read that. Look at the pretty outfit.

Lookit the pretty necklace. Vintage McMillan, purveyor of cute hair, shiny sunglasses (like the ones pictured) and my faaavourite necklaces on the whole grid under the brand [mpb] shared some of his loooovely new stuff with me. I’m not gonna admit I spent like an hour pawing at the screen and drooling, but let’s just say I spent like an hour pawing at the screen and drooling.

You can view Vintage’s blogs here at EPOQUE SL for the exciting store fap, and here at DA BROOKLYNITES, where he reveals his true self and does not at all parody anything AT ALL. AT ALLLLLL.

Skin; ::DUTCH TOUCH::GwEN:: Cream – SmokeyX – CL2 EBD
Hair; fri. – Mika – Moody Brown
Sunglasses; (EPOQUE) Oversized Shades – Metal
Diamond in muh mouth; [AddiCt] Diamond Cruncher
Bodysuit; !Ohmai [Silhouettes] Contour.
Jacket; AOHARU_BT_FurCoat_G2_WhiteFur
Shoes; [LeLutka]-Saffron Pumps (Soft Silver)
Necklace; [mpb] Vanity // Female Chain // Spine
Clutch; [glow] Studio Vintage clutch
Dignity; model’s own. only joking, no dignity required.

When I rezzed into the grid in January 2007, I was so excited to have found SL. For ages, I had thought about what a great idea it was to have like, a big giant chatroom thinger, where everyone has a little person they wander around as. It seemed like such an awesome idea. Apparently someone had thought of it already, four years beforehand. Damnit!

For my first month of SL, I didn’t know what AO was. I hobbled around the grid like I’d just prim pooped in my panties, shaking and juddering while I stumbled over land and explored castles and malls. I didn’t really know how to talk to people in this world, it seemed like a bit of a waste of time, I just did lots of wandering around. My flatmate at the time had an SL account first, and he was really sociable in his time on there. He was always surrounded by a gaggle of girls that he was entertaining, whereas I just walked around. I logged in to my last location every time, and just kept walking.

And then I found the search button. Back then, the highest traffic places on the grid were always listed when you opened up the search page. I tp’d to a club, Bad Girls, but felt dirty just being there. I went to the next club, Arsheba. So much nicer, albeit still with strippers, but friendly ones. I noob-hobbled inside and stood there for a while, watching some event happen, not knowing what the hell was going on but just watching.

After a few return visits to that place, eventually I applied for a job there. The person who interviewed me for it is still someone I consider a close friend in both lives, although now we mostly talk on facebook! I attended the dancer training classes, amazed by how friendly everyone was, and how welcoming they were. It seemed to run as a proper business would, which was amazing to me. Hierarchical staff, someone who was always on the ball with numbers, different departments pulling together to create a working machine.

I worked at Arsheba for ages, probably about a year. I really, really enjoyed my time there. People seem ashamed of having begun their SL rocking a pole, well pfft to that. I made so many friends there, a healthy number of them are still on my friends list today. Some moved on, and did other things, some of them still work the club scene. There was drama, there were giggles. I met the only man I’ve ever been partnered to in SL while I was there, too.

When I was thoroughly, thoroughly bored of keeping poles warm, I learned to DJ. I was a terrible DJ. I swear, accents can do wonders. I’m British, which I guess was rare amongst the sort of clubs I hung out in. But I had a lot of fun, working for almost another year at a club called The Galaxy, which is still open today. I also supplemented my income as a truly godawful photographer. This is where the name Glitterati came from – it was a photo studio long before it was a pose store, and I picked it because it sounded sparkly.

It was during this time that I lost my job. I was actually on air at The Galaxy when I found out. I faked a crash, flipped off the stream and just sat there, shellshocked. My job was everything to me, I had worked my ass off, only to get let go at 10.30pm on a Thursday like a used rubber with better hair.

It was the very next day that I bought Poser. I never intended to make a living in SL. I had two goals – primarily, to give me something to occupy my brain while I looked for work. The secondary goal was to find something I could do that would allow me to pay for my own SL. Even while I DJ’d, although I made really reasonable money doing that, my shopping habits were insane. I knew that my days of buying Ls were definitely over, at least for the time being, but I really really enjoyed the fact that in SL, we can all live a dream lifestyle and not have to check our balance before splurging on the cutest stilettos or pretty new hair.

The first few poses I made were truly horrible, but I was so proud of myself for learning something new, and I just kept going. Eventually they got a little less horrible. I hope, anyway.

Sissi String asked me yesterday – what is the greatest thing to happen to you in SL?

The store. The store, a thousand times over. Not only has it allowed me to support my real life family just as well as I did before but without having to work a 15 hour day, it has introduced me to so many amazing people, and afforded me an outlet of self expression that I value so much. I am so proud of so much, of what I can give to others because of this, of being able to employ people in SL and help them fund their own experience inworld also, and every single time anyone has ever liked, used, or bought something that I have made is an incredible validation of something I have put so much time and effort into. It is not a thankless task, it is not something I resent doing, it is something I love completely. Because of SL, I could enroll in college courses, and will be going to university in RL next September, to study something I have always wanted to study.

So, three years in SL. Weird. I don’t know if I’ll still be here in three more years, or even one more year, but I don’t regret a damn thing.

When it hit midnight yesterday, and therefore officially became my rezday, look what my lovely friends and family did for me <3

For all the people who have made my days better, at any point, over the last three years. You guys are just too great.