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

Auntie Rouge Wants You

You know I had to make the title kinda corny.  Uncle Sam wants you probably would have confused you just as much and hey it's a long weekend and I don't have to go to sleep early so WOOT.  I wanted to wait a few days after the show had actually happened and then work and crazy life got the best of me so here's the delayed photo spread from the MAD Agency Casting that I was invited to participate in.  I was very surprised to make the initial cut to be honest.  Taking more risk does not equal more confidence just so you know lol.  Each casting group was given a theme for their show and mine was Military Trend/Urban Cool without being costume like.  I can't say I nailed it and you know me I had to find a way to make it comfy and vintage like.  Still have interviews to go through before there is a final yes or no but the show was great and they are a very friendly crew which is much appreciated.  So without further ado the photo is below and of course I probably wouldn't have been near this bomber but it was a fun backdrop.  Oh and in addition to the blogging duties I have had at Maniera I'm going to start a weekly column focusing on vintage pieces.  First post should be up soon.  Enjoy.

I'm Wearing:

Hair: Maitreya Piper II
Jacket: *COCO* Flight Jacket
Shirt: *COCO* BowShirt (undershirt layer only)
Scarf: Haunted Zuzu Dulcet Flower Scarf
Pants: Muism High Waist Trousers
Boots: J's Long Boots Round
Skin: Laqroki Elena
Lashes: Cake Bedroom Lashes
Earrings: Eolande's Large Pearl Studs

I love a Good Sale and Roaming SL

And sometimes I just <3 anything I find amazingly cute.  The outfit I'm wearing is from L'abel and was part of Humpday Happiness this past Wednesday.  There was a white version as well but ehhh that was way girlier than I was willing to go that day.  I found the hair at the aforementioned fab-u-lous a few weeks ago and thought it would be a nice match with this outfit.  The earrings are from glow studio--soooo adore them, they make the most interesting things sometimes--and I'm wearing a bracelet I realize now that you can't see in the photo lol from Dark Mouse.  The shoes are from Kalnins and are totally customizable and do a damn good job of matching skin tone without a whole lot of effort.  Looking at the pictures these could use a tiny bit more tweaking but after very little effort that was a great match.  The skin as always is from Laqroki--well not always but usually lol.  And an unanticipated plus of reading the Fashion Critique page was that they linked to SL's destination guide.  I have been bouncing around on that page to different sites for good backdrops for the pictures I take in world and that was fun.  The backdrop I chose for these was Eostara and it's kinda gorgeous.  And just because I am trying to do better about posting this information the poses are all from LAP. 

Oh and I did the final photo shoot for the month and that will probably be up at the end of the week so yeah.  As soon as I narrow down some outfits I MIGHT have another person lined up for September or I might just push it back to October and then just leave myself with two months to finish Project 2010.  Still waiting to hear from MAD but we got an update that a decision should come to us by tomorrow evening so we'll see how that goes too.  See ya later everyone.  Enjoy the snaps.

Feeding My Addiction: Skin Review

I realized that I demo a lot of skins and never really talk about them very much. I will harp on a new skin when I find it and like it on me but there are a lot of decent skin makers out there in the dark range that I don't personally choose to wear but still should be discussed.  So I'm going to share a few with you that I have either been gifted (thanks Rita) or stumbled across due to my rampant feed stalking.

First up is the Belleza skin Elle in Dark Mocha.  This, and most of the other skins I will talk about, are closer to the tone I was wearing when I first began using SL.  It's a basic dark tone that will of course look slightly different on everyone but in my usual inspection of the nooks and crannies didn't have anything that made me go oh no don't want to ever wear this again.  It didn't change my face in a significant way and was lacking shading issues for me.  What I noticed was that I was staring at was my stomach.  The Laqroki line tends to add great definition to the stomach area and that was missing for me here but the makeups were good, the face not overdone and had a variety of options in the way of hairbase and cleavage.  Well worth looking at if you haven't been inundated with skin posts already.

The next skin I want to show you is from Kira Ahn's [KA] Designs.  I have ventured in and out of her demos a lot and hadn't made a purchase until recently when I got a notice about a sale on soon to be retired skins.  I am almost positive I somehow skipped these skins because I think I would have bought them at the time but regardless it's another darker skin that I really liked when I sported it.  I grabbed the fatpack of Loona in Ebony and have to say I'm very impressed.  I am one of those lazy models that doesn't want to make a new shape for each skin I wear.  If a skin doesn't immediately strike me as looking great as is and may need minor tweaking I just won't buy it.  This is as close to my old skin tone and still the same facial features that I have been able to come in a very long time.  Great skin with good shading and makeups both with and without hairbase as well as three eyebrow shapes AND lashes.  Wooh, that was a mouthful but regardless good skin.  I'm showing you eyebrow option number one by the way in the following picture.  The only thing that would have made this better is that lovely glow I get with Laqroki.

Next up we have a skin Bare Skins from Rita Freese.  I love the dare to go bare part of the store tag by the way.  When I was in the Best of SL chat the other day we were having yet another skin discussion and I mentioned I happily blog good skins and I was quickly gifted with Naomi in Peacock, Citrus and Smoke.  Tone was a little darker than the first two but not dramatically so.  The lips are a bit fuller than the others but the makeup was done quite well.  I particularly loved the Peacock (one shown in the picture) as it successfully pulled off a very interesting palate on a darker skin that others seem to just overlook for fear of failing miserably.  It would be great for a show if for no other reason than it was good and dramatic.  The stomach was lacking a little definition but had a very adorable belly button and great shading around the body.  It's another keeper for those seeking out a dark skin.

And finally the last skin I will show you is the latest from Laqroki.  Elena was released a few weeks ago at this point and I was thrilled to have another dark option.  The tone is the same Ebony that she normally uses which is more a mid range chocolatey candy bar kind of complexion.  The makeup is more subtle to me than a few of the more recent ones but skillfully done and having another 10 makeups to play with, with and without hairbase, is always good if you are as focused on coordinating skin and clothing.  Laqroki always does a good job of trying to put out a dark tone and then experimenting with makeups.  It's one of the first places I always send friends and models but as I pointed out earlier I should pay attention to the fact that everyone doesn't want to be my shade of brown lmao.  It's another great release and my tummy looks fabulous ha!

And for those wondering what the outfit was about in the photos lol, I was in a casting for an African inspired/themed show and just hadn't changed when I decided to do this set of photos.  Full outfit details will be below the photo.  Please go check out the skin designers and have a fantastic weekend.

Outfit: Boom Rhapsody in Picnic (no sash skirt option)
Jewelry: Miel Cue Set (from 50L Friday)
Headwrap: CE Cubic Effect Bohemian Glow Red
Shoes: Maitreya Gold Shanti in Champagne
Skin: Laqroki Tasha 2 in Ebony
Poses: Reel Expression *Luth* Party Dress 4, 9
Background: Tuft Dreamy Field Photobox

Take Another Trip with me to Opa's Boutique

Okay Topaz was busy over the last few days. In addition to my lovely dress, and the Veronica which came out the same time and another fantastic dress named Keira, she released Shanghai Surprise. Now please don't let me skip over the aforementioned dresses because really they are well made and much attention was paid the the right parts of each dress. The textures fit the time period the dress was inspired by, the skirts weren't god awful too small for any normal sized avatar lol and there were no quick prim attachments that as unskilled as I am would notice and be cranky about for eternity. Opa's Boutique puts out lovely high quality dresses and you should hurry down and check out what it has to offer. Back to the purpose of this post though ha!

Shanghai Surprise actually may come as a surprise to you. The texture is very much Asian inspired but it's more of a subtle touch than you might expect on the grid. The pattern is simple and light against the black fabric which gives it a great contrast against skin tone. The top provides another set of details that have to be fully examined as well. The plunging neckline is complimented wonderfully with the bare shoulders all leading to the black band covering the midriff and joining the top to the skirt. The prim attachment gives the dress more structure and pop all without losing the texture or becoming overwhelming. Gathered at the hips but not covering the front of the dress it reminds me of the Claire Huxtable dress I lusted after as a child loving the Cosby Show as it gives definition without making a trouble spot for most women even more obvious. The other thing I love about this dress, as well as Opa's Boutique in general, is that it can be dressed up or down or made vintage or contemporary all based on what you choose to pair with it. I wanted to go more Shanghai than vintage this time and with pieces I didn't have to search farther than my inventory for I think it came together well. Let me know what you think. And big thanks to the boyfriend for helping me get that icky prim box from around the shoes I was wearing.

Items Worn:

Dress: Shanghai Surprise from Opa's Boutique
Hair: Na Young in Ebony from Tukinowaguma
Jewelry: Ahi Set from Miel
Skin: Tasha2 in Ebony from Laqroki
Shoes: Shanti in Black from Maitreya Gold
Lashes: Cake Bedroom Lashes

What's in a Name part two...

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl....I won't kill your ears with my ummm tone transient singing.  I'll let Barry handle that himself when I'm all done showing you the original duo that had me going wooooo I wanna blog same name wardrobe.  As you all know I LOVE vintage shops and support them as much as I can.  The big ones probably don't need my gushing but some of the out of the way spots could potentially.  I was doing my normal notecard sorting when I saw a message from Vita Bella.  There is a great assortment of vintage dresses, swimsuits, lingerie and what not there but there hadn't been a new release in a while.  Until about a week ago when Lola hit the store.  Lola reminds me of a typical receptionist wardrobe in one of the higher end firms---kinda Mad Men esque.  I am showing you the Ruby Red/Sultry Black version but it's also available in Cream/Magenta which is equally lovely and the one that I didn't stop wearing for a few days originally.  The texture is wonderfully detailed, down to the crinkle that would likely form at the back of the skirt after a day of wear.  LOVE IT.  Also featured in this post is the Lola lingerie set from Seldom Blue in Sheer Nude.  I love the way the color looks on my skin and the fact that the fatpack version of Lola gives you about ninety million ways to mix and match the ensemble.  I'm wearing the bra, thong, suspenders/garters and the waist ruffle which was entirely too dainty not to wear.  There are also hip and bra frills as well as a body suit version that is tres sexy.  Check them both out here for the dress and here for the lingerie.  Featured in both posts are photo boxes from Tuft which I just stumbled upon yesterday thanks to fashion feed.  If you want a few they are all under 50L as well as having a midnight mania board with 3 up for grabs.  And I realize I haven't done a style card for either of the name posts.  If you see something you just have to have let me know and I'll gladly tell you where I got it.

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.

What is Rouge Wearing Episode 3

I much to my chagrin have been shopping my little, well not so little, butt off. When I saw these skirts on a blog or two I wasn't sure I'd love them on me because of that aforementioned backside. But really the flow so nicely that it's hard not to be totally enamored of them. Very girly and flirty and flattering. I bought the fatpack and I'm glad as I was amazed by the number of shoes I had to go with them. I paired the skirt with a very basic black top from W&B which gave me the casual vibe I was going for without being unflattering to the skirt. Hair from fri.day and shoes from Maitreya. The toe cap fatpack has been working it's way through my wardrobe quickly. I LOVE them. The other packs are equally adorable but these screamed out to my inner vintage diva and I couldn't help myself. For complete credits read below.

Hair: fri.day Jasmine2 in Thoughtful Brown
Skin: laqroki Imani in Ebony
Top: W&B Cole Boatneck Top in Black
Skirt: Zaara Larin Skirt in Ash
Shoes: Maitreya Neyya Toe Cap in Caramel

Combo Post

Okay so on Monday I was telling you about changes I was making in the push to be a more proactive model and all that jazz. I did end up getting cast in the show and that rehearsal starts next week which rocks. There is nothing like being in a live runway show. I'll be sure to post that info in case you're interested in seeing it but right now keeping that mum lol. I had my interview/evaluation with Maniera on Tuesday afternoon as well and that went great. I'll start the Advanced classes in a few weeks so I'm happy about that. I ended up chatting up one of the execs during the interview without my knowledge. He's great though and I appreciate that he took time to speak with me when it was probably clear I had no idea who he was. If it wasn't clear yippee for me but I hate doing stuff like that. In my defense I don't often do stuff like that though lol. Anyway, I'm concluding this post with a What Was Rouge Wearing from my interview. I liked the outfit and felt like I managed to accessorize it well. Feel free to tell me what you think.



Hair: Zoe by Maitreya in Chocolate
Earrings: Dela by JCNY
Eyes: Chocolate by Prismatic
Outfit: Jacket and Pants: Stella in Black by MichaMi
Shirt: White Shirt from Celeste set by Ivalde
Purse: Coco Clutch in Silver by CoCo Designs
Shoes: Coco Spangles Stiletto Heels in Black by Coco Designs

updates woot

Okay I didn't mean to totally bounce for nearly two weeks. Like with all things in my life I keep meaning to do something and yeah don't quite get around to doing them. I still need to write a letter to one of my friends in RL but between work, being slightly sick again and my ever more disturbed mother I just haven't had the patience. But I haven't been completely dormant. After really just forgetting to send in an entry for a few weeks for JCNY I got off my touchie and sent one in for week three and got in for my 5th time and then surprised myself with the 6th selection this last week. They have introduced something new as part of being a showcase model too. Sunday fashion shows that feature our own wardrobe and a pretty cute walk down the runway. If you want to see my first go round check out the link to the JCNY blog. Sparkie was nice enough to take pictures of it and post them.

I didn't make the cut for a few castings and contests but again if a model can't handle rejection no need to be doing what she's doing. I'm still having fun and really that's all that matters. I'm looking for a new place still but I'm difficult. I want more privacy than I have now but I really need like 600 prims or less and those tend to be plots were neighbors are VERY nearby. I might have found a place but I'm gonna look tomorrow too and then just go for it. It's time for a change in scenery. I'm going to post a picture of me from last week on the runway and tell you what I'm wearing and then I'm gonna actually pay attention to being on the runway now. Love ya lol.

Rouge

Dress: Phoenix from Dangerous Lace---great store found out about it from BOSL group
Hair: Lua in Black from Analog Dog
Jewelry: Young Hollywood Bracelets from JCNY
Skin: Imani in Ebony from Lakroqi

This dress is just gorgeous to me. It's very feminine and a unique pattern. It's available in several colors too. I did longer hair cause really I like long hair and this seemed to be a great complimentary style. No jewels around my neck because it just seemed to much but the bracelets--especially with the ability to change colors--felt like a nice island match.

Just Keep Swimming

newstand3
Originally uploaded by Rouge Anthony

Well it's been a few days since I've even thought about posting. I was busy with rl job until Friday and then this weekend my brain was just kinda on the fried side. In the middle of my fourth week at JCNY, I'm probably busier than ever. The runway is still kind to me which is good, we have been exchanging note cards about sales, castings, agency applications and workshop notes which have been good to have and exchange. I'm a big believer in spreading the good karma around even though it may not come back to me initially, it probably will sooner or later.

I've put out a few more agency applications lately and have heard back from one of them and was hired. Another one has said they were swamped with apps but would get back to us ASAP and well the other hasn't said much but hey that is the nature of the business. Not everyone will love what they see in my portfolio or will feel I'm a good fit for their agency. Miss Virtual World for the month has now closed and here lies the not so painful wait for them to announce who made it to the live callbacks. I say not so painful because honestly I was just glad to get it out because I wasn't sitting quietly at home wishing I had done it. I'm so not anticipating leapfrogging over the plethora of models (for example 8 rows or so of 17 pictures and another 10 rows of probably 10 pictures) to be in consideration for the actual contest. Would it rock? Only totally and completely. Am I holding my breath? Well not so much. I also entered the Next Top Model Competition and expect to hear something I guess this week about if I'm a yay or a nay and then what to do if I made it.

The picture above in this post is for the DCNY contest. I chose the Farrah in red and thought it would look cute with the sort of page boy hat and hair from ETD. That made me think Newsies (the old movie) and thus a news stand was sought out to take the photos. You can't really see it in that picture but in a few others on Flikr you can read the whole sign behind me and you should cause it's funny. For someone reason the picture overall is looking much darker on this computer than it did when i was tweaking it on my laptop. May have to adjust it later. All the fashion details are attached with the photo. Now I'm going to try to stay awake until it's time for my last client of the day and then try not to yell at people as I speed down the highway.

Have a good one,
Rouge

What is Rouge Wearing Episode 1

I couldn't come up with a good title today so you are getting the not random tag after I came up with something and changed it just then lol. I totally and I do mean totally forgot that today was Wednesday and thus a new group of fabulous girls would be chosen for JCNY's MODEL'FEST. When I logged on and saw that I had been ejected from the group that the models work in I figured my streak had come to an end but then I got to moving through my messages and started getting im's and thanks to Ireland's congrats and Sparkie reinviting me to the group I found out that I was back in for another week before I got to read the message itself from JCNY. The saddest part is I was getting dressed and preparing to go down to the runway as I was doing all that because once again I forgot that I more than likely was getting replaced this week. Because of that I figured I'd do my first What is Rouge Wearing picture posts too so everyone can see what I almost strutted myself down to JCNY full of embarrasment in.






Skin: Laqroki Imani Ebony Skin Makeup 4
Eyes: Prismatic Brown Sugar
Hair: House of Heart Una in Mahogany
Dress: PixelMode Godiva
Shoes: Shiny Things Sugar Pumps in Black
Jewelry: JCNY Queen's Diamond Collection
Location: The Renaissance

I know I mentioned before that I was entering more contests and I am. I'm going to show you the photo I submitted for Miss Virtual World 2010. I doubt that I will make the cut but it was a chance to work on my own photos and get my foot out there some more. I also plan on applying for more agencies after a spate of applications went no where fast. Till next time, toodles.