The Big Reveal

I told you I was doing something quietly and now I can show you the latest issue of ManeriaSL magazine (cause yes there is a RL version too) with yours truly on the cover. 

Open publication - Free publishing - More corsets

I feel Pretty oh so Pretty

Hey everyone,

I am chilling a bit right now.  Trying to get my mind wrapped around something that is happening in RL but it's not going to ruin my life.  Just pissing me off right now.  I'm waiting for the 2nd set of photos to come back from the song styling photo sets I'm doing right now.  The first set was done by Leah McCullough who is a gorgeous redhead wunderkind that made me look smexy and got the photos back to me really quickly.  I highly recommend her if you are in need of shots.  They are already on my flickr page but I'm going to share them here too.  I took set two with Julie Hastings who was one of the nicest humans I've ever met and I must say I adore her.  Whenever I get my French back up to par I'm so gonna girl crush on her and chat her up.  I need to edit the outfit I put together for the Avant Garde master styling course for Maniera and then share that photo as well.  It was a fun challenge and  I did better than I thought I would but still needs a tiny bit of tweaking.  Have a good holiday weekend for those that are celebrating.  I'm going to relax if I can start putting stupid people out of my brain.

Updates and Stuff

Hey everyone,

not sure how long this will be but there are things to update.  Thankfully it feels like I'm finally come out of the I'm kinda disinterested in things funk that I had been experiencing.  I need to get some photos together of outfits I've purchased recently and/or styled for castings that have made me go I can still do this.  Asymetrique is rebooting as well as Maniera both things are making me reengage a bit as well as actually reading Fashion Feed lately cause after 50L Friday stopped I'll admit the feeds weren't as interesting to me.  Oh and for those of you that love a good sale head over to Kalnins before they permanently close their doors at the end of the month.  I hate when I forget about stores and then boom they are closing.  Run, I got a ton of cute shades and shoes.  Ok now I have to run.  Weather is finally moving into the area and it's gotten upgraded to tornado watch soooo I'm gonna go hide.  Oh yeah Maniera is hiding new instructors--click HERE if you are interested.

Love ya,
Rouge

Does my breath smell?

Before  I begin let me say that some people might see this as kinda snarky lol so I'm sorry but it's really just something that came up again this weekend as I was watching another competition.  You all know about my contest experiences and normally it's not something I invest heavily in because well much like in real life I don't like losing.  That isn't to say I MUST win but not winning isn't as much fun lol.  After MEI wrapped I was exhausted and this summer/fall was kinda dead as far as booking shows or that kind of thing for me.  Partially I was out of the loop and partially I think the show count was down for my available time zones.  No harm no foul because I was still teaching and it's still fun for me to do so.

Fast forward to Saturday when the Miss Essence of Ebony competition started.  You should remember, if you were reading then, I tried out twice didn't make it either time and after some reflection decided I needed a break from being evaluated for a while.  As a contestant you never know what the observer is looking for and that became apparent in several conversations I had offline about what is considered attractive, talent, inspirational or entertaining over the last several weeks.  From knock down drag outs about why I think Jay Z looks like Joe Camel to why Jennifer Hudson doesn't appeal to me to how someone else can sing a song I don't like by the original artist and I'm in love with it.  I was all over the place and subjectivity was all that kept running through the conversations in total.  The same kind of thing is present in the messiness of Agency Report when model A isn't selected but someone that is disliked by another group is.  Of course we want to support our friends and sometimes it does look like there is some favoritism going on from our vantage point but there's that whole subjectiveness thing again.  Their friends, and yes they have them no matter how much you don't like them, are  thrilled for them.  As I was on Saturday for my student. 

So I'm in the audience to support a student, see several models I know well that were fierce--as was my student~big congrats to Lieffie Ruby for doing a stellar job--and then the other thing that always happens when I'm at events like these happened.  Questionable styling, crazy poses, and just utter foolishness in some cases.  I'll admit that some of it could be caused by lag and it was definitely laggy--show had to be moved and started nearly 2 hours later because of the lag.  However, other stuff could not be attributed to lag and it made me wonder well dang what exactly did I do during casting that I didn't make the cut.  Don't get me wrong I'm not the styling diva extraordinaire that expects to be picked at all times but I thought I did a good job at the time.  And that reminded me about the subjective thing again as well as my dislike of losing lol.  If I enter something I'm doing it with the desire to do my best.  If you don't make it past step one then it's hard to do that.  Last year I was intent on putting myself out there more and I did but I realized why I can't just do the contest thing for the sake of doing it.  It's a lot of work and time commitment to apply, compete and really work as hard as you can to perform well.  From perpetual pose checks, prim checks, finding the just right shoes/skin/hair/nails/lashes, making a look work from disparate pieces, etc.  And even though I talk a lot with my job, I'm actually pretty shy and reserved unless we are pretty good friends.  All that to say that some of the other things that people find enjoyable about contests just tire me out for some reason lol.  It's good experience, it does test you and your adaptability, but all in all I am not sure where my curvy booty fits into the typical contest :-)

Ahh well this is not a gripe just some realizations I'm sharing.  Please go the to Essence of Ebony site and check out Ms. Ruby and the other standouts from Saturday's show.

See ya on the grid,
Rouge

It's all over now, whew

Okay so I've been MIA a lot between classes, RL and Miss Ebony International.  As of yesterday, two of those things have been taken care of a bit lol and this weekend will see another great crop of graduates leave MIOS before we take a break for a few weeks.  Yesterday, the Miss Ebony International finals were held and four hours or so after it all started it was over.  Congratulations are due to all the girls because it was a long grueling experience from start to finish in that the challenges were more time intensive than I could have ever thought and waiting patiently through 3 hours of questioning was slightly traumatic.  However, I made it all the way through my first contest that was at least partially based on my own skill set and appearance.  I mean I did Miss Fashion last year but that was mostly based on the ability of my designer and my styling of those designs.  I came in third then, I did not do as well with MEI.  Crashing as I'm answering a question probably didn't help and I'm not sure that I totally answered my next question from Frolic Mills but I did make the top ten and was happy and slightly stunned by that.  My designer in this contest, the always great Kimmera Madison, was happy with how I presented her work so I can't really ask for more than that.  I'll take photos and plaster the blog with them in a few days and then both dresses will be up for sale at her shop.  Thanks to all that came to support me yesterday--I seriously appreciate you all waiting it out with me.  I get the grind of what a major contest is like now and while I am SOOOO not ready for another right now I might sign up again for one in the future.  I'm glad I had this experience and will continue to try to push myself every chance I get but for now, I'm enjoying the nap I have had for the last 24 hours. 

Updates and all that

So I just got through eating dinner and trying to recover from a week of being on emergency call which always makes me more tired than I imagine even when I don't get calls.  I just went through week two of our challenges for Miss Ebony International as well.  Week one was a runway challenge taking our lovely Hucci asymmetric swimsuits but with a Lion King theme as the unifying thread.  So we had to choose a character from the story to portray.  For some reason my brain leaped to Scar and I did everything I could to pull it off.  I have pictures below so you can tell me how I did.  They haven't been touched up at all because I wanted to get these up before I came up with a reason not to do so.  Week two's challenge was a photo one in which we display our style and what we are comfortable wearing. I did a vintage look circa Amelia Earhart because I didn't to recycle anything in my vintage folders and also didn't want to stray too far away from who I really am as a model or SL resident.  You can see it on my flickr page if you want to check it out but I didn't snap any new ones specifically for the blog.  And great big shout out to Kimmera Madison and her totally kick ass store for 1) providing me the lovely furry type collar from a dress at her store and 2) agreeing to help me with the outfits for Miss Ebony International.  She's such a treat and friendly and for some reason we're on the same page with the design thoughts so yeah Kimmera and Tres Beau.

Let's see, what else do I need to tell you?  Maniera's academy is still great and I love being able to teach with them as it does keep pushing me to reach beyond my normal boundaries and be creative in how information is relayed.  And they are just a great group so it's easy to go to work.  I submitted again for Miss Essence of Ebony, I think I may have mentioned that last post, and was notified yesterday that I made the cut for the next casting and will be searching the grid for a look that screams this month's country.  Thankfully I get a few weeks to pull it together since the holiday will make me more likely to just forget about everything.  That weekend is the third challenge for MEI too so it will be busy busy.

Without further adieu, here are the photos and you guys have a great day. 

Swimsuit: hucci
Collar: Milea from Tres Beau
Boots: J's Long Boots
Jewelry: Miel
Hair: Iconic emkay
Face Tattoo: Coca and Wolf
Scarification: >>Adrenaline Rush<< heqet
Lashes: Glow Hollywood lashes Black Dahlia

I got bubkiss so no title

There's plenty to say but really got nothing in the way of smart catchy title tonight.  Sorry for the gap in posting.  I was working on some posts for the Maniera blog and got super distracted then RL work kicked my cute little butt and let's just say if the people we interviewed don't take the job I'm gonna hunt them down and kill them for disrupting my life so much and making me have to do it again in the near future.  Anyhoo, SL has been interesting to say the least. 

I've been doing classes with Sabine at Asymetrique which have been very interesting, especially since it's mostly been one on one due to the schedule.  This last week we covered a ton of information and what she mentioned during the class was true.  It helps to teach someone else because you never know what tricks you might pick up from them and it helps you focus on what you do in a different way.  It's a good learning experience all around so that is becoming a very enriching experience. 

Classes at Maniera will be on hiatus for the Easter holiday but have been intriguing for the same reasons my own classes have been.  Remembering what it's like to be at the beginning of the career, trying to sort out your style and your skills as a model, being desperate to learn but not wanting to appear overeager.  The students I've had have been a great delight to work with and it still feels a little weird that I would be a go to person for information but at the same time I enjoy the sharing of knowledge so it's great.  And joy of joys I get paid to do it too.  It's another of those good experiences I hadn't planned on having. 

In my last post I mentioned Miss Ebony International, and the fact that I hadn't made the casting cut in my love Serafina gown from Purple Moon.  I though the next round was on the 24th but it was moved to today which in the middle of styling two outfits for my class seemed like an impossibility.  Due to some unforeseen things, class styling was delayed and that let me pull together not one or two but three different potential looks for this month's theme of Pop Star.  I'll admit that seemed a little nebulous to me so it took a while to pull a solid look together that I was enjoying because skin tight and super short is not something I pull off well--mostly because even in SL I made myself thicker than most prim shorts enjoy lol.  Instead I went to all my favorite edgy stores to look for something new and came up empty.  I hit the feeds and through a random stroke of luck found about 6 things that could work for different looks which started from my Dressing Room exploration (if you don't go there often you should).  Anyway, I created a boho hippie/Erykah Badu kind of look, a club hopping diva kinda of look and a chilled out dance queen pop star look just in case someone was in any of them that I could switch to something else.  Which turned out to be a good idea because there were a few people in the same general outfit which is just awkward because you're all shaped differently with a different sense of style all of which is reflected when you do your strut.  There were a ton of strong looks throughout the assembled women so I wasn't feeling super confident that I had done something that stood out from the rest.  I had a clean walk this time and took my time to show off what I had put together.  After that, it's just a waiting game.  I will say they don't make us wait very long and much to my surprise I made the cut.  All I can say is I think I was much more relaxed today and accepted all I could control was what I did on the runway.  Oh and thanks to Sabine I was able to find a few new walks, one of which I used today because it didn't distort my outfit when I walked.  I have a questionnaire that I need to complete but we have a week to fill it out and I want to take a few days to appreciate what has happened.  But because I normally do this for big castings, here's what I was wearing without editing because I'm on call and want to try to get some sleep before the random I am just having a moment phone call happens.

Top: Baiastice One Shoulder Sweater @ LeLook
Tights: Emery Roxe Slash #2
Shoes: Slink Mia Wedges
Hair: lamb DIY cut
Skin: LAQ Claudia in Ebony
Lashes: glow studio
Gloves: Emery

Spring Thaws & Out Pops Rouge

Sorry everyone.  I really have no good reason to have not blogged in nearly three months.  Especially when I was laughing at the ridiculous amounts of snow we got this winter and all the time I was getting off work as a result.  As is often the case, when one disappears for an extended period of time lol, there is lots of stuff to update on.  I've been doing my normal work in bursts thing but that again keeps me from burning out.  Thanks to JM's CEO Jewell for allowing me to to keep working in different ways.  I'm in the upcoming show with Bella Donna (and I've already started working on those six outfits I  promise) and should be in the next issue of Opulent Magazine as well so yippee.  It feels good to be thought of well and to keep working.

It wasn't a conscious New Year's resolution, but I decided again that I have to start taking more risks in all regards BUT you really only care about SL lol (not true I'm sure) so I'll tell you what pertains to that.  I have done lots of different things as a model but some only for a short term as agencies have had shift in focus or management changes or what not.  Maniera posted a notice several weeks ago that they were looking for new instructors and while I think I debated it longer than I probably should have I finally filled out the application in total and sent it in.  I didn't really think that it would go much further because there are TONS of great instructors out there and Maniera is a great agency/academy to work for.  Surprise on me because I got hired as one of the new runway instructors and it's helping me remember what it was like to be that nervous and remember how to do the basics in detail while showing them to someone else.  I'm excited about this new adventure more than you can believe.

And in a bit of a surprise for me much in the same reason that the Maniera gig was a surprise, I was invited to the first round of casting for Miss Ebony International.  We just had our walk today and lag bit me firmly in the ass but I worked my butt off in the styling and feel I couldn't have done that much better.  It was a challenge that I enjoyed in truth because I wanted something that was as close to flawless as I could get it in a glam context.  Tweaking that hair took absolutely FOREVER however when I was done I was pretty satisfied with the end result.  Gonna leave you photos of that in a second.   I shouldn't be MIA too much more this year and if so I'll at least try to pop in from time to time either in person or by proxy.  For now it's back to tennis.  Rafa vs Novak---yeah tennis and congrats Caroline and Marion you put on a stellar and slightly distracting during my walk match.

Dress: Exclusive Fashion for Life Purple Moon Serafina in Teal
Hair: La Madame from Vanity Hair (tinted)
Jewelry: Mix of sets from Dark Mouse and Phoenix Rising
Skin: Laqroki Susan in Ebony
Pose: Manifeste

And the beat goes on

This will probably be a two pronged post so I'll do the less introspective piece first. Project2010 had a slight delay because our intrepid photographer needed a little break.  That's perfectly fine as the picture Barney delivered was fantastic and just what I asked for.  In case you were wondering what I asked for it was something quirky but appropriate given the outfit.  The picture is adorable and regardless of how it does with the contest I'm happy that I had a chance to work with Mr. Roundel and can say he does amazing things.  Not that he needs me blowing smoke up his butt.  Those of you that know his work know how great he is.  So without further adieu here's the photo in question.

The next wave of Project Rouge (Project 2010 whatever lol) was done by someone who has taken fantastic photos of me before.  Skip Staheli was given the task of doing completely different images.  I wanted one sexy vintage kind of shot and the other just edgy and not my typical kind of shot.  While the second shot isn't quite ready I couldn't hesitate to share the ones that are.  I think I look great and especially the 1st image just conveys something stunning to me.  I love what Skip does to photos and the two shots below are just beautiful.  Some of you will recognize the outfit from the shots that Ludwig Prinz did earlier this year.  This was not because I was dissatisfied with what Ludwig did at all.  My original thought was have all the photographers snap me in the same outfit but that wouldn't really work.  This was mostly because I couldn't totally style the way I wanted to for the Phoenix Rising contest as they only wanted jewelry from the brand or associated brands used.  What was available didn't really work with what I wanted to display so I scrapped the pearls you see here and honestly didn't find this hair until Hair Fair at boon. 

Now if you are still reading and not staring or trying to find Barney and Skip in world to set up a shoot(highly recommend doing that sooner as opposed to alter if you wanted to as they are both incredibly busy men) then you can stick around for the last part of my daily blurb.  I love what I do in SL.  I have made great friends and think I do good work when I'm in a show or have to style myself for a shoot.  What continues to intrigue and periodically frustrate me is how that is perceived by others.  Sometimes the works is roundly supported and appreciated which feels great.  I don't want to let anyone down or disappoint them of course but being acknowledged rocks.  However, and this is more often the case, there is no reaction at all which I guess could be better than being slammed and saying what I do sucks.  But without feedback of any kind how do you improve what you do?  Now I doubt the random lack of information is going to make me slow down at all.  I'm enjoying it as a I mentioned before but it would be helpful I think to hear something every now and then.  Thanks to everyone that have already commented on the photo that is up on Skip's stream, it's much appreciated. 

Oh and for those of you that stuck it out to this part lol.  I did get an interview with the MAD Agency so I'm into round three of selection.  I was a bit surprised I'll admit it but I'm thrilled at the same time.  Have another practice in a few hours for SE but it should be pretty easy.  Only one change and it wasn't too bad.  Well that's it for now.  I'll be back whenever lol ohhh and go read the Maniera blog.  Some of my vintage wear posts will be there from now on.  See ya later.

Tiny Bit Frustrated

It's totally my fault because I waited into July to look for my July photographer for Project Rouge lol but almost all of the photographers I was looking into are all booked up for the month.  I have reached out to two of them for sometime in August and might need to go ahead and set up September while I'm at it.  Well one of the photographers I contacted MIGHT have some July openings but I hate scrambling.  I could always revisit one of the previous two photographers from Project 2010 but that defeats the purpose of me exploring the grid even though both ladies gave me absolute fantastic photos.  Ahh well, I'll beg in world and see what happens.

Speaking of photos, Miss Azul was also a no for the kid but it is what it is.  I crashed during my last walk today in the Fashion Police show which SUCKS but the show went well and I had fun with the Maniera crew as normal.  It doubly sucks cause I was LOVING that outfit.  Felt very edgy gogo dancer smexy kind of look.  It's nice to be with people who can joke and be silly and still pull off a great show.  I'm glad to be a part of Maniera and all the other agencies I call home now.  I'm only in a few but I can dedicate myself to them and work my butt off when I get an assignment.  Okay just wanted to give a brief update.


UPDATE: Woot thanks Model's Workshop photography lists.  I found someone to do photos next week so yippee.  Well I found lots of people but again some were busy others just aren't taking photos anymore for a variety of reasons and others ehh just didn't like.  We'll be adding to Project 2010 yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Project Rouge 2010

Wow, two posts this month I'm sure you're shocked ha ha.  Well this post is going to cover one thing mostly.  I have decided to do a photo project for the rest of this year.  I often end up taking photos of myself at the last minute because I'm not sure which photographers I want to use or why I might want to use them.  For the next six months of the year I'm going to set up a shoot with at least one photographer a month for either contests, castings or just cause I want to because you know I don't really do a whole lot of contests.  Of course it adds to my portfolio so it's a win for me regardless but I also like to see what other people do with my image and their creativity because I can have a billion ideas but implementing them requires much more brain matter than I have to spare some days.  For anyone that visits my flikr page they would have already seen the first two photos in Project 2010.  They were done by Shae Sixpence for the AVENUE casting.  I didn't make the shortlist but I liked the photo so much I sent it in for the Miss Virtual World July casting.  Not holding my breath on that one but heck I was beautiful damn it lol.

The next few photos that will be added come from Temperance Moonites for the Miss Azul contest and two extra for my portfolio.  I couldn't decide which dress to choose so I had two outfits and the one that pops the most is off to the contest.  The other will just be new pretty pictures of me.  And will give me the chance to see what I look like in another photographers eyes.  For any photog that might read this, sorry if I get quiet during the shoot.  I try not to do too much to disturb my eye lock and just start drifting off in my brain to think of how fantabulous you are going to make me look.  So I need to set up the next few months of photographers and would love recommendations.  There is at least one old favorite I'll be revisiting but that takes one of six months.  And December might be overload since it's my RL birth month.

I swear I was gonna mention something else in this post but now I so don't remember what it is.  So instead I'll say what just popped into my head.  Congratulations to all the lovely Black female avatars for making the short list of AVENUE models and those that have been chosen to represent the country of their choice in the Miss Virtual World 2011.  There were way more than I expected and it gives me hope that working in darker skin isn't always an impediment.  And a special congratulations to a blog friend, EmeraldEyes Honi, who is on a fantastic role with being chosen to be a Modavia Supermodel, AVENUE shortlist and Miss UK in Miss Virtual World 2011.  She's a great inspiration and fantastic model.  Good luck to all of you ladies.

Ok it's way past dinner time let me go eat---Rouge

Duh remembered what it was lol.  Wrapped the longest show I've been in for a while this weekend and it was great lag battle.  And I found out that the theme I chose won an internal Maniera contest with two other models providing the accompanying statement.  Yippee for Keira Tyles and Imani Enzo for the joint win.  Can't wait for the shoot.  Bye for real this time

I think I'm a Fair Hater

How can you hate a fair you may ask?  Well I love the ones with turkey legs and funnel cake but so far in SL I find myself a little blah with fair offerings.  It took me forever to get over to the Pose Fair even though I was super exited when I heard about it, like I am with all fairs.  Granted real life was so kicking my pixelated booty the last few weeks but eh no excuse for a certified poser like myself.  I roamed the whole fair barefooted and missing as many prims as my vain self can tolerate.  I bought lindens when I started JUST because I didn't want to be broke by the end of my perusing.  It was nice to see new stores and I picked up something at This is a Fawn's shop and swear didn't know poses were among the offerings at the main store.  After that and another stop at another new store to me, don't freak out!, I swore no more than one purchase at each store.  At that point it was kinda not an issue.  I roamed all the stores and can't say I bought too much after that as I still had most of my lindens lol.  The problem with poses for me is no matter how well made they are there are only so many ways my body can pose to the left with my hand on my thigh.  And because I am a pose whore I tend to hit the bigger spots as the poses are released so there weren't a whole lot of new items in LAP, Behavior Body or the like that I hadn't seen already.  And the picture frames I had been so excited about from the feed seemed way too bright to be cute against my skin tone.  I did grab poses at LAP and found another cute luggage set at StoRin called globetrotter but I seem to never go broke at any fair even if I do luck upon a few new places to roam.  That's a good thing I guess lol more money for hair and pencil skirts.  And it did give me a chance to go to Veschi and pick up some truly funky things so all in all I guess my fair snobbery isn't a bad thing.

And because I wasn't distraught about my interview for Maniera which had wrapped up shortly before my perusal I guess I wasn't prone to impulse buys.  For those of you wondering what interview well I applied to be one of the agency bloggers and found out yesterday that I was selected so you'll get to see much more restrained input from me on the My Maniera blog that I'm hoping blogger quits trying to direct to a feed and lets the link go through.  If not the address for those that need it is http://manierainc.com

Toodles for now
Rouge

What's in a Name part one

Okay so I'm a bit of a literary nerd and was going to be super corny with the whole would a Rouge by any other name smell as sweet thing but figured that would be above and beyond with the silly. Anyway, I told you that during the Miss Fashion Pageant that Ginevra Lancaster was nice enough to name an outfit for me. Well a few days ago she sent me the absolute final version of the outfit that had some influences from my styling in the contest. The first picture is what I did for the contest in the initial version of Miss Rouge.  The second is a rough image of the final outfit.  I'm going to have a better shot taken and send it to her for the vendor to use if she wants--she said I could YIPPEE!  The last image that I took after perusing for a good locale is from Opa's Boutique (Topaz Joubert's shop which you should most definitely check out) also entitled Rouge.  I told her and will tell you that when I saw it I did a little dance in the bed for which I was roundly made fun of by my partner.  Good thing I think he's cute and the snoring isn't too bad at night lol.  Anyway it sent me on a vintage flutter and I had to take my time to piece it together with the right hair and jewelry.  And I didn't want to use my photo props so I had to go find a good in world location to snap a few that also didn't interfere with the skirt. Anyhoo there are two snaps of my lovely dress and thanks to Topaz and Ginevra for thinking of me.  Stay tuned for What's in a Name part two with designs from Vita Bella and Seldom Blue.

First Show Down

Okay so New York Fashion Week as sponsored by Maniera (yeah) and IMAGE has officially started today with the Eden Freese show of which yours truly was the first one out and the ONLY one to crash at the end of her first walk lol. I rebounded quickly and made it back before the model after me finished her walk. Short of lag no glitches to report after that. The runway was a bit different than the one we rehearsed on so that was slightly disjointing but nothing major. Some of my old Maniera and superElite classmates were there too and that was good. I am also featured on the IMAGE flikr page for the show which is nice as the photographer didn't seem to catch everyone. That happens a LOT during shows though, people aren't fully rezzed or don't stop moving long enough to get a good snap or your computer decides to throw a tantrum as you snap. I can't say that happened today but it was fun seeing myself.

The graduation show is still planned for Saturday at 1PM SL. We'll see how realistic that is after the final dress rehearsal tonight but I have to say the girls did well tonight and apparently did so for Keeley this afternoon so we'll just go with that for now and keep fingers crossed. Still need to finish the script and get the walk order together but those should come together quickly tomorrow. I have my other two shows after that one as well. I'll be in the Wicked Fashions show Saturday @ 6PM SL and the JSE Fall Into Romance Show at 1:30PM on Sunday. I think it's 1:30 it could be 1 exactly. I'll let ya know if I'm wrong. If you want to come just shoot me an IM when I'm online and I'll happily give you whatever landmark I have or invite I have.

I'll post pictures if I can figure out how to scroll them all instead of having 10 or so pics just splattered in a post. Talk to ya soon.

When it Rains it Pours

I go through slumps with modeling for lack of a better phrase. There are moments when I want to conquer the world and just show everyone what I'm made of. There are other moments when my brain hurts and I just want SL to be fun and entertaining. I haven't done much runway work lately. I think my last show was in December early or late November but I tend to veg out in December as it's my birthday and this year I got to spend time with the family so I just wasn't hard pressed to be working. Over the last few weeks, I've put my name and skills back into the pool to see what would come of it. As you know, I was selected for Miss Fashion several weeks back which is good and interesting and thus far has been very enjoyable. The designer I'm assigned to rocks. Since then, I was happy to get into one of the NY Fashion Week shows with Maniera (woot go Eden) and at the last minute decided to attend a casting at the Model's Workshop and got selected for the Wicked show and after submitting for the next JSE show (and honestly not thinking I had a chance in hell cause I rarely make castings these days) got picked for it too. I'm also trying to wrap up coordinating another graduation show for MPI which will be several hours before the Wicked show and the day before the JSE show. I went from having basically nothing to do on SL to having three shows and another to coordinate all of which will happen between Thursday and Sunday lol. I'll probably go back into turtle mode (hiding out but observing) again till I feel like I'm just the bees knees and want back into the fray. I need to take some pictures for Angel Dessous too and maybe will get back into the Royal Princess contest as well. I think I have a look that would work if I can just get it together ha. Gotta do it soon though. See ya boys and girls.

Rouge

Cha cha changes

So here were are and I should spank my hand again. It's been a few weeks since I've posted but please forgive me. I've been busy with RL work and shopping for Christmas and birthday and anniversary and baby gifts. Yeah there's a lot going on RL for me right now. It's just that time of year and for the people in my life I'm truly grateful. That includes all the nifty folks that I've met in SL too especially as I'm nearing my 2nd rez day which is not too long after my RL birthday. There are too many to properly thank but to the folks that have reinforced my love of fashion and friendships across the grid a special shout out to Maniera, Model's Workshop, Miramar, JCNY and my good friends who keep telling my pictures are cute and they love what I'm wearing and come to the shows to support me. As well as to Skip and Maddy for taking really great pictures of me lately that win or fail work with the strange ideas I've got in the way of styling or daydreaming.

For those of you that actually read and pay attention to the blog rolls on the right side of the page you'll notice a slight shuffle. I readded SL Fashion Critique because well I still read it and it's easy to get to when it's linked on the page and I do believe that someone has been causing unnecessary grief in their name on Agency Report. Whether you believe the recent post from the blogger using Fifth Avenue as a handle or not, it seems to make more sense than the whole disjointed thing did in the first place. I have removed from the blog, and myself from the agency groups, all links to ModelPages International. I apologize to the wonderful women who were chosen to participate in the Miss Refined International Pageant. The former staff/staff of MPI have not a clue where things stand with that or if it will be revived. You all did an amazing amount of work of which you should be proud. We were left in the dark with you so I can't provide any insight as to what has happened with the owner but if I hear anything substantial I'll be sure to at least attempt to post it.

And final updates before I sign off and try to take care of this monster headache. I didn't place in Blacklace's contest or Agnes Finney but I loved both shots so I can't be mad at myself or the photographers. Contests are highly subjective and what works for one person just doesn't pop for another. I've reentered Angel Dessous with the outfit I won and another outfit. Imagine me staring at myself wishing for something different and you'll get that shot. I'll also enter Agnes Finney again and hope for the best. I am debating CCD and HOB even though I have great pieces for both of those already put together. You never know with me ha ha. The plane still isn't ready but it looks like that might lead to pinups in a hanger for me and several other girls. Wouldn't that be cool? All right, I'm out of here.

See ya later
Rouge

Okay wow, bad Rouge

I kept meaning to come back and post but SL and RL have been kicking my butt. Not sure what you don't know so I will try to go over as much as I remember lol. Ok since the last time I posted a few things have happened. The issue of Maniera that I was lucky enough to do the photo shoot with Sami and Mikey has come out and I love the picture. Sent the issue to as many friends as I could lol and encouraged them to go ohhh and ahhh. Not really they all seemed to like it on their own so yeah Atomic, pic was lovely. Which made me wonder again about taking my own photos all the time. Depending on the contest and timing not really a choice with my schedule but I made the choice to look for a few photographers to try to catch new images of me for three contests I wanted to enter and then ultimately a fourth I did enter.

The very nice lingerie shot Skip Staheli did for Angel Dessous garnered me fourth place for their December Angel of the month. Congrats to the winners and as I moved from no place (my first entry lol) to 4th I can't be entirely upset about that. I've entered the Blacklace Model group contest as well with a photo done by Maddy Michalski. Think bombshell on a bomber, which for those that know me know I adore vintage wear and sometimes make things vintage when they aren't really lol, and you will know know what we ended up with. I love the shot and the guys that help run the airfield we were at were beyond helpful rezzing new planes for us to use. They were actually kinda thrilled we were there and have asked Maddy and I to find a shot to put on the side of a plane they are making. So while I would also love to win the Blacklace contest (or at least place) I get to be immortalized on the size of a bomber. Woot bombshell on a bomber. Oh and he's willing to give me a copy of the plane. Isn't that cool?

Maddy also did a shot of me for Phoenix Rising in a lovely purple dress and gave me sort of a somber end of the night Blues club shot. I love it, the tones on it are fantastic. I realize as I'm rambling that I'm not posting the pics but go to my flikr page or wait for the application on the side to change randomly. If you click it you can get to the stream too. Anyway, the contest is being delayed a bit but the picture is being held until they resume. Hopefully it registers for people the same way it did for me but even if it doesn't I love the picture really. I have two sets of shots for Agnes Finney so I can enter this month and next month too. Skip did lovely vintage shots in black and white and splash of color and Maddy did more of a princess feel in a great blue dress and big blue jewels. I know we can't always afford to pay for pictures to be taken but sometimes the ideas we have in our heads can't always be translated to visuals because heck I'm not a Photoshop wizard and don't always have access to the things I need to capture a certain look. It hasn't been an inexpensive endeavor but win or lose I have great new pictures of myself and have developed new relationships with great photographers who totally rock.

The Sensations Shows were great. I saw wonderful designs from some unknown to me before the show designers. Great looks that I was wanting to buy immediately. The lag on Sunday was out of control but Monday I got to wear the favorite of my outfits from my designer, Serina Lacava, and got a very nice shot from Brock Sabra for my trouble. I need to add that to my stream too so you can see it. After all that was done I could see the light at the end of my tunnel so to speak and just had the Fashion Showdown to take care of before I could go on a focus on my hiatus. It was chaotic due to some unforeseen complications and I had to actually miss the show due to scheduling conflicts. From all reports the show went relatively well after massive lag spike at the beginning. The issues that came later are just part of the learning curve that happens when you do shows like this for the first time. I'm sure they can be ironed out if phase two happens in and 6 months I'd be good and rested lol.

Other than that things are going fine. Just waiting on contest outcomes and casting calls and the like even though I will really enjoy the calm down if it happens over the next few weeks. Plus there are a few other contests I need to decide if I want to enter and what I want to do with photos and how I can just keep moving myself forward with this whole modeling thing. Be good everyone. Have a blessed Thanksgiving if you celebrate and just a good day overall even if you don't.

Love ya
Rouge

beginning of the onslaught

Okay I have about 10 posts ready to pop out of my brain but finding time to sit down and write instead of shopping, styling an outfit, doing rehearsal or something has been fleeting in the last few weeks. And really a LOT has happened so I have got to update you on all of that of course. The last time I wrote I was getting ready for graduation and thought I was getting ready for the Halloween shows lol. That would have been silly since Halloween was so far off but hey I was tired. Graduation went mostly smoothly. I had a slight tumble off the stage after I got my shiny cap to go with my loverly diploma. The overall experience with Maniera was great and really it hadn't dawned on me that not all of us would be hired or that any of us would be hired. Most academies aren't making promises to students anymore because they would just end up with dozens of models more than they need. So let's say I was a little surprised to put it mildly when the topic of who was going to be hired came up at all and even more surprised that only a few of us would be brought into the agency. I didn't think it would be me at all so I guess that's why I was stunned literally into a giggle when Sami contacted me a short time later about joining Maniera. I would have done a dance of joy at that precise moment but I was in the middle of another project that I have to update you about. Let me just say that I am thrilled to be apart of the Maniera team and can't thank them enough for training me and seeing something in me that they wanted to work with.

The thing I was in the middle of was a runway show only for once I wasn't the one out front hoping not to crash or fall or screw anything major up. I along with slowly Bury coordinated the Maternal Instincts runway show for MPI. Thankfully I had someone who was willing to dabble in script writing because it would have been horribly dry if I had written it all alone. For my part, I mostly handled the styling of outfits and poses and the rehearsals. Right before the show started I got the energy boost that slid me through the show with a few glitches--one was totally my fault as I had a model walk last and then in a group walk a few moments later--and the normal lag fairy that descends on shows. The girls were great and I appreciate all the hard work they put into selecting poses, styling themselves, coming to rehearsals and just going with the flow. They will always be the bestest to me cause they were my first show behind the scenes so thanks Vich, PureBeauty, sereana, Jacinta, Keeley and Rachel. Thanks to Jason and genie for allowing me to try my hand at that and EXTRA big thanks to slowly for working on the script. It was truly a pleasure working on the show.

I've also taken on a few other roles and I hope to do a good job in all of them. I am one of the new instructors for Miramar and I think from our conversations we'll have a good curriculum in place that will benefit everyone. The next runway show for Praga I'm working on the walk for the models and hope it all goes well. And I am blogging for JSE now and actually ready for the Halloween shows now as they really are approaching. Found the cutest costume a few weeks ago just gotta make sure it fits well.

And in a total different kind of shock, I made the initial cut for the SuperElite Supersearch 2010. The lag at the casting threw me for a total loop but I felt the outfits were styled well. Looking pretty and not walking well don't work together though so I'm not holding my breath to make it to the top 10 for this season and I'm not sure what happens if we're eliminated this round as far as applying in the future. Ahh well. It was nice to be called to the casting. I'll keep working on everything no matter what the results are. I'll try to get pics posted to flikr soon so you can see what I was wearing.

See ya later
Rouge

now introducing......

Okay so most of you coming here know me already so there's no need to introduce me but I'm tossing in some photos for ya of the runway shows I did the last weekend in August. Remember how I said I didn't understand how people booked multiple shows in a weekend without crashing and burning? Yeah well i still don't lol I was exhausted by Sunday night and granted the Miramar show was a total fluke in me booking it but that's what that whole networking thing played in. I've mentioned the Model's Workshop in the past. It's a great resource and I think I'll be helping out with it more now but the leader, Monica Balut-creator of the wonderful Balut huds, contacted me about filling a spot that had been vacated all of a sudden with a show three days away. I met with the agency owner and he liked me so boom I got a show on Saturday--except I guess I wasn't paying proper attention it was one routine for two shows a few hours apart. It was great honestly as I like being a part of different kinds of shows and this one was entirely in Spanish. The second show was much more crowded and thus more laggy but all was good. And I even managed to drag my partner to a show so he could see me be all adorable and cute or excuse me serious and sexy and selling my outfits.

The next day it was time for the much anticipated JSE Grand Opening show which was hit with an unusually off SL day in that nearly everything that could go wrong did and the lag got so bad the sim finally said no mas and sent us all back to RL for a bit. We made it back and had the finale and attracted new models to the crew and thoroughly impressed those who hung with us. I don't think I've been in a show that laggy ever so it was most definitely an experience. It was great and I think we did a fantastic job. So here are my outfits for that show. If you want details just visit my flikr page and you'll get all the info about them.














The shows were great and paid which was a double shock but it was also a good example of making sure that we are able to form good relationships with other models so that every now and then we can luck into another job or agency or whatever because making a name for ourselves doesn't just come from our ability to fill out an outfit or take a pretty picture. Thanks again to Monica and to Miguel who let someone he barely knew wear a bunch of pretty outfits for a big show.

Classes are going well at Maniera and I'm looking forward to our graduation show. We're focusing on things that I'm thoroughly enjoying and I think will give me more of an edge when I'm done if it comes from nothing more than confidence. We are each having a makeover refinement session with the CEO which is great because we make our avs to suit our needs but there are minor things that people observing us will see that we don't notice. Had mine and it was fantastic. I can highly recommend the courses there for anyone interested. Okay time for bed.