Tya Fallingbridge of Pixel Mode is one of those designers who have been around literally forever, but she’s still on top of her game and keeping up with the latest trends and techniques.  Her latest release, the Jori sandals, are absolutely stunning and well worth the heaps of praise I’ve seen all over the blogosphere during the past few weeks.

The Jori sandals come in two styles, with either black soles/heels or colour-matched ones.  You can also choose from a bunch of nailpolish colours, a dozen or so metal accent colours, and you can resize if you’re a man into ladies shoes, or you just have bigger ankles than Miss Tya (like myself).  It was remarkably easy to adjust my skintone to match one of my current favourites, the Tuli Audrey skin, and if you’re not so hot at the matching, you’ll be pleased with the included notecard that has numbers for a lot of popular skin creators.  It actually doesn’t include Audrey, but it was still easy to do myself.

I know that these feet have been slaved over, and while they’re not quite as detailed as Maitreya’s in the toe area, they’re still really good.  The heels in particular are incredibly good-looking.  I like a little realism with my prim feet, since I don’t generally wear them with entirely handdrawn skins anyhow.

So these leopard-print ones…to be fair, I don’t think they’re available.  They were a special creation for the winner of one of the Blogger category contests we held for the Shoe Fair.  But I got them too cuz, well, I put out.  And I adore them and had to put them on and show ‘em off.  Neener neener? Just kidding.

There are a billionty colours available, so you will not have any problem matching whatever you need to match.  Or not match, if that’s your thing.  These shoes are quite simply gorgeous, and in fatpack you save 50%!  Fatpack is my favourite colour, so I’m always very excited when it’s a really good deal.

I always think it’s nice to view the HUD before you buy it, because you want to know what you’re getting yourself into, right?  You see that little help button at the bottom? That’s what you click if you want the skintone preset notecard.  When you adjust the tone with the HSL buttons, it makes a little dinging noise, which is actually quite satisfying and not at all annoying.  I am acutely aware of annoying sounds in SL and do my best to make sure I don’t hear them, so this is a big thing for me.  There’s another HUD included where you can change the metal accents, and I like that it’s two separate HUDS so it’s not all cluttered onto one.

You definitely want to get yourself down to Pixel Mode where these are now available in the mainstore, after being exclusively available only at the Shoe Fair for the past couple of weeks.

Teleport to Pixel Mode!

Credits:

Hair – Truth Midori in Chocolate Streaked (with light brown) \ Skin – Tuli Audrey 01 in Tone 1 \ Top – Surf Co. Hermana tank in Beige \ Skirt – Maitreya Viento in Black Satin\ Bracelet – Zaara Ritu Painted Cuff in Gold \ Earrings – Zaara Panchali Earrings in Gold \ Ring – luc Opal Knotted Nest Ring in Gold \ Pose – Reel Expression Shoe Fair 201o #17.

Emma Gilmour is one of my favouritist creators ever.  Combining the casualness that I love with surfer chic, it’s a perfect blend that looks just as great on the beach or the boardwalk.  The Summer Stripes Skirt is gorgeous, I love that it is ever so slightly high-waisted.  I am a huge fan of the tank also, and I love ruffles on tanks, but so often the ruffles are just painted in.  While I can appreciate that chest ruffles would be difficult to fit the many varied shapes in SL, I do love love love that Emma has made one with sculpted ruffles.  It’s just more real to me!

Credits:

Hair – Truth Tilly in Streaked Chocolate \ Skin – Tuli Jade 03B in Tone 3 \ Eyes – Poetic Colors Summer Storm \ Lashes – Cake Pillow Lashes \ Shape – my own (not for sale) \ Top – Surf Co Hermana Tank in Tomato \ Skirt – Surf Co Summer of Stripes in Black \ Shoes – SLink Mikaela in Black \ Earrings – SiSSi Squarish earrings in Dark \ Bracelet (left) – Armidi Pyramid Cuff in Silver \ Bracelet (right) – Zaara Vyomini Chained Bracelet in Onyx/Silver \ Poses – LAP & Diesel Works.

Now, the shoes are my favourite part of this photo – they’re brand spankin’ new, coming out today as part of the Tableau Festival, which officially started about five minutes ago!  This particular colour is for charity (The Center for Biological Diversity), so I’m going to be going to the festival to donate some cash.  And they’re only L$200 – shoes that awesome are never that inexpensive anymore.

The shorts and the grey tank are part of Surf Co’s latest release.  I love the casual-ness of them, but eek, the top is a little too casual – my nips were showing!  So I put on an undertank for my own modesty…amazing how I can be modest about pixels, eh?

Credits:

Hair – Truth Nicola in Espresso \ Skin – Tuli Jade 01A in Tone 3 \ Eyes – Poetic Colors Summer Storm \ Lashes – Cake Pillow Lashes \ Shape – my own (not for sale) \ Top – Surf Co Coastal Tank in Dark Grey \ Undershirt – Fri.day Scoop Layering Tank in White \ Shorts – Surf Co Cafe Shorts in Yellow \ Shoes – Surf Co Nantucket Spectators in Black \ Necklace – Maitreya Coin Necklace \ Bracelet – Artilleri Wooden bracelet\ Poses – Diesel Works.

These tops are also part of the Tableau Festival.  The top on the left, the Canvas Garden top is so gorgeous!  I love the flowers at the shoulder, it’s a perfect touch for summer.  And if you want to be a bit more casual, but still not look like you rolled out of bed in the tank you were wearing, you can pick up the Sundrop V-tanks with the spaghetti straps.  Is anyone else as excited for this festival as I am?!

Surf Couture Mainstore

Surf Couture at the Tableau Festival

Credits:

Hair (left) – Truth Sylvia in Streaked Chocolate \ Hair (right) – Truth Bethany in Chocolate \ Skin – Tuli Jade 01A in Tone 3 \ Eyes – Poetic Colors Summer Storm \ Lashes – Cake Pillow Lashes \ Shape – my own (not for sale) \ Top (left) – Surf Co Canvas Garden tank in Palm \ Top (right) - Surf Co Sundrop V-tank in Ocean Blues \ Shorts – Surf Co Shack Shorts in Original \ Poses – Diesel Works.

It comes in eleven colours at an insanely reasonable price for each (L$125 each!) or you can get the fatpack for L$700.  I don’t know why they’re so inexpensive but I’m not complaining!  Added to that, the champagne colour is only L$50 until midnight tonight for Fifty Linden Friday!  I don’t think I’m going to be changing out of this dress anytime soon!

Go get yours at Tiny Bird!

Credits:

Hair – lamb Soma in Kit Kat \ Skin – Fashionably Dead Bird Skin in Faded 4 \ Shoes – Surf Co Shoelace Sandals (Hey Emma…..please can we have the rest of the colours now?) \ Earrings – Sigma Saturn earrings in Silver/Rust \ Pose – Long Awkward Pose \ Location – Ode.

Last Friday, Reek released a bunch of new beachwear options, and yay it’s love!  We always need new cute boardshorts and bikini tops to match, and if there’s a third option in cute bikini bottoms, so much the better.

There are several different styles of tops, including floral, tops with a pretty bird on one boob and then just gradiant solid colours.  They can all be mixed and matched with the boardshorts, and then if you like, there are solidly coloured bikini bottoms, with very cute sculpted ties on each side.  This is a can’t-miss for the summer months coming upon us (sorry, Southern Hemisphere).

In keeping with the Summer Is Upon Us theme, Glitterati has released some new pose sets, including this set with wearable Beach Balls.  With poses ranging from simply holding the beach balls to laying on them, it’s a fantastic prop set for the season.

P.S. I know it’s only April, but it’s damn sunny where I live!

Visit Reek’s mainstore

Visit Glitterati’s mainstore

Credits:

1st Photo: Hair – Fri.day Carrie in Timid Brown \ Skin – Belleza Elle 04 in Pale \ Earrings – Mandala Takayama in Turquoise \ Pose – Long Awkward Pose (Sweetheart Pose Set).

2nd Photo: Hair – Maitreya Green in Coffee \ Skin – Belleza Elle 04 in Dark Mocha \ Sandals – Surf Co. Freedom Flops in Black.

But when I saw today the new exclusive Pose Sets for men and women, I think that was the most excited I’ve been!  I’m a sucker for exclusive stuff.  I still love my RFL 2008 poses from LAP and use them all the time, and I would cut off my prim feet before I’d give up the Maitreya special edition shoes I’ve managed to snag.

These are poses representative of the 104 pose creators at the fair, and I liked virtually every one of the thirty-six! poses included. But I’m not going to bore you all with the photos of every one of them, especially since you can see the poster here (and buy it before it disappears!)

From left to right, we have Baffle, ComPOSEure & Don’t Freak Out.  The casual poses from Baffle & ComPOSEure are definitely appropriate for my casual outfit, which I haven’t taken off now for nearly 3 days!

Juxtapose made the pose on the left, which I love (and I’ll have to go check out the rest of the store now, since I don’t recall seeing it at the fair during one of my *many* visits), Long Awkward Pose made the centre pose and Miamai’s to credit for the pose on the right.

On the left is a pose from Oh My Stars, the centre pose is from Sassafras and the pose on the right is from Slash Me Poses, which is a store name I love so hard I can’t even describe it.

And for my final pose montage, I’ve showcased poses from (L-R) doll, Storin & aDorkable Poses.

It’s worth mentioning that every Linden raised from the sale of this exclusive pose set goes directly to the fair’s chosen charity, Motivation, which helps those with mobility problems in low-income countries.  It’s L$500 well worth spending.

Make sure you check out XStreet to buy these poses before they’re gone and unavailable!

Outfit Worn:

Hair – Truth Hannah in Espresso \ Skin – Belleza Elle Dark Mocha 2 \ Top – Fri.day Traveler’s Tank in Leaf \ Pants – Miel Mo Linen Pants in Driftwood \ Shoes – Surf Co Freedom Flops in Dark Brown \ Jewelry – Mandala Soul Bracelet & Necklace.

The latest release is Emma’s way of saying she’s sick to death of winter, and bring on the summer already!  I can’t blame her really, though my winter on the west coast has been far better than what I’ve heard it’s like on the east coast.

My favourite of the bunch is the mid-thigh length jeans Shack jeans shorts with rolled up cuffs and in eight incredible denim washes.  These are so worn in and comfy looking, exactly what you’d want to wear over your brand new Moana Surf Co. bikini when you’re at the beach.  They are cut *very* low in the back, so if you are a fan of the hint of plumber crack, these are for you!

The shoes I’m wearing are the excellent Boardwalk shoes, also from Surf Co.  All these shoes coming out, I’m loving like a two dollar shoe whore!

Photo Credits: Hair – (L) Carrie in Jealous Red, (C) Maitreya Malou in Cocoa, (R) Truth Peta in Chocolate \ Skin – (L) Dutch Touch Roos in Cotton, (C) Dutch Touch Amber in Ebony, (R) Dutch Touch MaAn in Cocoa \ Bikinis – Surf Co Moana Bikinis \ Shorts - Surf Co Shack Shorts \ Shoes – Surf Co Boardwalk shoes \ Purse – YS&YS Espalmador Bag in Pink \ Jewelry – Mandala PearlRain in White.

Some of my other favourite releases, though it came out while I was on sabbatical from SL last year.  I’m a little bit Country is the name of this top, and it goes oh-so-perfectly with the Straw Cowboy Hat, my favourite feature of which is how it comes in both a regular shade and the faded version of that shade.  And the hat comes with a wheat shaft to chew on!

Photo Credits: Skin – Belleza Alyson in Pale \ Hair – (L) Truth Candice in Cocoa,  (R) Fri.day Jennifer 3 in Timid Brown \ Top – Surf Co I’m A Little Bit Country \ Jeans – Surf Co Belmar \ Shorts – Surf Co Shack Shorts \ Boots – J’s Western Boots \ Poses – Long Awkward Pose.

Finally, at my friend Bethy’s house lounging (cuz I’m too lazy to rez anything at my house) and reading a book, I slip into my comfy Courtyard slippers and Elma sweatpants.  I love comfy casual clothes in SL, and more often than not when I’m madly scrambling for something, anything, to wear cuz I don’t want to be naked, it’s these or the yummy yoga pants, both from Surf Co.

Photo credits: Furniture – The Loft \ Skin – Dutch Touch Roos City in Caramel \ Hair – Truth Audrey in Cocoa \ Shirt – Surf Co Rendezvous V-Neck in Light Grey \ Pants – Surf Co Elma in Dark Grey \ Slippers – Surf Co Courtyard Slippers in Red.

Check the SLURL’s page for in-world shopping locations!

So you can imagine how incredibly difficult it was to narrow it down to just five.  And especially when you consider all the categories of sweatshirts and sweaters I have.  But here they are!

Nyte’N'Day has some of the cutest sweaters around, and I very nearly picked the newest cropped sweater cuz it’s so pretty, but in the end I had to stick with my old standby, the Snug sweater.  I really really like argyle patterns, and this one is so perfectly done in the spirit of the sweater’s style.  It comes in some great bold colours too.

Ahhh, the hoodie.  The classic casual wear for ultimate comfort.  Sand Shack Surf Co‘s Vintage Fall Hoodie comes in two styles for every colour, with the graphic and without.  I’m not really a big fan of logo items in either life (unless it’s Vuitton, not that I can afford that!), so I’m appreciative of designers who offer non-logo versions.  This logo isn’t actually too bad though, it’s faded and weathered just right in keeping with the hoodie’s style.

LeLutka has been making a lot of my top five posts!  It’s not without good reason though, I really love most of what they create.  This sweater was released sometime during my SL hiatus, but it’s a classic style that could be worn forever and still look interesting.  I adore the drape over the front.  My boobs are too big for it, but it was easy peasy to adjust it.

My friend Phemie is seriously stylish.  Every time I see her, I have to inspect something she’s got on, then immediately go buy it.  I first saw her wearing this Kiitos Lentotahti sweater and I fell in love with the fantastic texturing and casual coolness of it.

And finally, the Fri.day short cardi.  With three different sleeve styles and eleventy billion colours to choose from, it’s a wardrobe staple that is so versatile it can be worn with anything.  I tend to layer it over a top and sometimes under a jacket, but as you can see it’s very sexy and cool worn all by itself too.

Alrighty, down to one more post in my Top Five series wooooo!  Stay tuned for gowns later on today!

Other items worn:  All skins are Ife by LeLutka.  All hair is by Truth.  All jeans are Dana 76 by Decoy.