Happy Hallowe'en all

Deirdre:
You missed...


lelo:
Just a quick reminder of the Kayliwulf kingdom fashion show tomorrow at 1 PM at Playboy.

Meanwhile, we'll be partying the night away at the Kayliwulf Kingdom Hallowe'en party 2008.

Have a great Hallowe'en weekend and normal service will be resumed next week.

Deirdre & lelo

Bax Coen Design - Ankle boots, black patent

Deirdre:

I'm a big fan of Bax's boots. The shape is terrific, the heel is a true classic stiletto, and there's a lot to love in the menus and so on. More details about those in lelo's post - jeez, you'd think she owns them, not me ;)

I was very happy to see this new patent leather texture, because others (like "black suede") left me a little cold. Black has a way of fading in the background, as we said before about other items with black-on-black designs.

This boot has reflections. It has lacing. It has stitching like you imagine devoted european shoemakers put on expensive fashion boots. The prim eyelets and laces all say this boot is a labor of love by someone who had : a pair sitting on their desk in real life, a magnifying glass, and good lighting ;)

I'll tell tales out of school and give you faithful readers a bit of advance notice on a version in *red* patent coming soon... if poor Bax is swamped in orders.. oh, wait, this isn't real life. Go ahead and get a pair, and tell her Deirdre sent you!

lelo:
Great looking boot, the texture is amazing, giving the boots its wonderful look, the stitching is very realistic, best I've seen yet.

The thing that makes these boots really special is the way you can personalize the boots, you can change the color of the heel, sole, tip, eyelets, laces and add a lace top, only problem with this is the length of the options menu.

The boots come with a good AO and adjustable sound, guess.. yep you are right, more options *winks*

The only little thing i don't like about the boots is the pointy toe, not really my taste, but the rest of the boots make more than up for that.

A final thing about the boots, i like the small details Bax has put into the boots, like the size 0 on the sole of the boot, or the look of the box they come in, both show her eye for detail, Minx look out for this one....

Name : Bax Coen Designs

Owner : Bax Coen

The SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Boots/163/125/29

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	9	9
Price	8	8
Service	9	7
Store	8	7

Scorpion Gas Mask

Deirdre:

I already have the reputation of being the cruelest, evilest bondage bitch in Second Life for the way I keep lelo hooded and covered in latex and restrained all the time.. one more strict rubber bondage toy on her can't make me seem any more evil, so here we go ;)

This gas mask is terrific over a hood... really gives that heavy rubber effect with the thick straps and detailed prims... and since it's color-change, it goes with everything.

So if you like your sub in heavy rubber.. and you don't mind an evil reputation.. this toy is for you. Well, for him or her, to wear for you. You know what I mean ;)

lelo:
another of my favorite toys, the scorpion gas mask, the first good looking, scripted gas mask i found in SL.

The mask has a great look, it takes some time to get the straps on the back of the head right, but if you do you really get a wonderful looking addition to a rubber hood.

The look is great and pretty realistic i love the way the lenses sit over your eyes and the cloud coming from the filter is a nice touch.

The sound, which is very realistic, starts to get on your nerve after about 10 minutes, but it can be turned of.

The mask offers the option of garbling the speech and giving you another name when you uses the right channel, so you get: "Deirdre's rubber doll mumbles....."

The scripting is very good, only little thing i don't like it the fact that the menu shuts down after about 15 seconds but i guess that helps to keep lag down.

The use of the HUD is great, it can restrict vision to two nicely made lenses or it can make the screen go totally black.

Finally there is the option to color the mask to match your outfit, a very important addition for the fashion conscious rubber doll *winks*

Name : scientific revolution

Owner : Aeon Dyrssen

The SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Havena/200/75/21

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	8
Price	-	8
Service	-	8
Store	7	7

Hypnodolls

Deirdre:

This is the place for hypnosis, mind-control, and doll/mannequin/gynoid enthusiasts of all kinds.

Floating in mid-air, a huge red and gold geometric construct... you'll have to zoom way out to see it all at once.

At the heart of the central platform, a sphere of glowing, soothing lights catches your eye.. and holds it, if you're a hypnosis fan.

This is a community center. A board points to groups, web sites, and all sorts of related information. You can meet people who share your interests, and if they're not lost in the ball of lights yet, you can chat with them ;)

lelo:

Hmmm Hypnodolls.... where to begin on this one, well first of all it's the shop for the hypnotron and it's scripts, though this is craftily hidden by the way the place is build.

The ever growing collection of hypno scripts is located on the lower floor and the hypnotron's are located on razed platforms in the corners of the main floor, some demo machines are located on the upper floor.

The hypnotron works with a whirling graphic occupying your whole screen, that focuses you on the center of the screen, there you will see a text that guides you into a trance, programs you and takes you back out of the trance. Some scripts all so have some great pictures in them.

The idea behind the machine is quite good, and judging by the ever growing amount of scripts, there is quite a market for it. I won't go into the discussion if it really works, i leave that to you, there are a couple of demo machines so give them a go.

Have a look at the scripts on the lower floor, you'll be amazed by the selection they have, something for most fetishes.

Name : Hypnodolls

Owner : Liriel Saarinen

The SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eden%20Valley/197/48/303

Kayliwulf Kingdom Hallowe'en : Bipolar Disorder

Deirdre:

A fun spooky orange and black number for Hallowe'en, I'm telling you about it in advance, so you can run to the store, buy it, and win all the "best fetish Hallowe'en outfit" contests!

The bipolar part is of course the comedy and tragedy masks, humorously drawn on each boobie. If you have pumpkins there instead of itty-bitty-titty-committee entries like mine, I suppose the faces look better.

The corset is the recent "chrome" design, and the detail is as good as it gets, on both the front straps with chrome side panels and the back lacing.

The outfit comes with contrasting orange straps on the black gloves and boots. I think they look terrific on the legs, but you may find them a bit overwhelming on the arms.

Every bit of chrome on this outfit will bling if you let it ;) A menu is available by clicking the foot of the boot, to turn off bling and turn on heel sound and sexy walk. Um, that's what *I* do with it. You turn everything on or off that you want.

And to stay with the festivities, I'm also showing you the Latex Witches' Hat, from Kayliwulf's Black Magic ensemble. Once again, bling in the hat buckle is controlled from the boots - took a moment to figure that one out.

Happy Hallowe'en!

lelo:

As i'm from Europe this whole Hallowe'en thing is a bit over my head, not sure where this obsession with pumpkins, spiders and witches comes from. So i'll keep to the basics.

Being Dutch the color choice is great, orange is our national color, so that's a great start. *smiles*

The corset looks good, the lacing is great and i love the little prim tie. The reflection on the top of the corset gives it some depth, only pity is they didn't repeat that depth effect on the bottom of the corset.

The catsuit is the standard high quality latex you would expect from KK, the two "face" on the breasts are nice and i'm amazed Laz didn't make them see trough which would be more in line with his nipple obsession *winks*

The witches hat is a pritty amazing piece of prim controle as the main part of the hat is made of one prim, bend into an amazing shape. The belt finishes an amazing piece of clothing.

i wish all of you in the Americas a wonderful Hallowe'en, and i hope to party along with you. *smiles*

Name : Kayliwulf Kingdom

Owner : Lazarus Luan & Daphne Goodnight

The SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kayliwulf%20West/115/98/39

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	7
Price	7	7
Service	9	9
Store	7	6

DXD : freebie Mistress heels

Deirdre:

A very nice shoe, with detailed prim work. It's free, the best advertising possible.

This said, the texture is black on light black, with some black highlights.

See the end of this post for a Photoshop-lightened version to show the admirable work that went into this shoe, which you might otherwise miss.

The astute (and regular) reader of this blog may have noticed that I'm not wild about platforms. Well, there you go. If you noticed, you're astute. But this shoe does look pretty wicked, and will make you a foot or so taller, never a bad thing.

The spurs on the Mistress version are awesome. You'd kill any poor slave you stabbed with these in real life, but in Second Life, there's no such thing as excess.

The slave version has heel rings instead of the spurs, which I've only seen in fifties bondage drawings (Stanton and friends). Instant classic!

So there you go. Get the shoes, be the envy of your friends, and drop casually in conversation that they were free... and Deirdre and lelo told you about them ;)

lelo:

Simply the best looking freebies shoes in SL, it's hard to believe they give them away.

The shoes have a very high platform and some killer heels, 3 buckles and some good looking laces, the Mistress version has some nice spurs and the slave version some d-rings.

As these are the freebie versions the texture is very plain, the retail version offers a somewhat better texture, but the are pretty much black on black low contrast.

The slave version comes with a simple RLV locking script, but the retail version has a more elaborate menu driven control system. But i'll go into the workings of those when i get my hands on a pair of them.

The store has a nice lay out in a slight Japanese style, it's small but the rezzing displays of the shoes are great, much better than those static pictures on most vendors.

Name : The Dominatrix shop of DXD

Owner : Xene Demina

The SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Evil%20Grins/194/130/315

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	8
Price	10	10
Service	-	-
Store	8	8

Cipher : Riders Jacket Busta - Black

Deirdre:

A leather jacket should not be a coat of paint. Leather jackets have bulk, mass, solidity. They creak, squeak, and stand between you and the elements. Such is the case with the Cipher jacket.

I think a prim jacket must be a difficult project, because you don't see so many around.

The cut is bolero-like, short-ish.. and I love the straps everywhere. The perfect jacket to wear over a catsuit, it has become a mix and match staple of my wardrobe.

There are other colors, and the price is quite reasonable.. I may get the white one, just for a change :)

If I could wish for something, it would be a slightly shinier leather texture, with fold effects and so on.. maybe next season?

The store is well laid-out, easy to browse and cool-looking.

lelo:

First full prim jacket i've seen and it looks great, i guess it's a huge prim load, but it's worth it.

Bending all those prims to get them in this shape must have been quite some work, but prim wise there isn't one placed wrong.

Only little point of critique is the difference in texture on some of the prims, this shows the most on the shoulders.

Even with this very small "fault" the best looking leather jacket in SL, at least as far as i have seen, if you have a better one please let us know or even better send us one *winks*

Name : .+*Cipher*+.

Owner : Cipher Ivory

The SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/MoonCat%20Izumo/118/165/26

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	9	9
Price	9	8
Service	-	-
Store	8	8

Bound and Determined

Deirdre:

One of those rare fetish / bdsm social spots like Bondage Ranch. You see the occasional naked newbie, but eh, they're everywhere ;)

A good number of play areas scattered around, a mall or two. Lots of room to sit, a few good snuggle poses on the sofas.

Not that much to say, one of those good spots to know and visit for socializing or people watching.

lelo:

a second great place brought to you by Kailani from Twisted Orchid, it services the opposite side of the bdsm lovers. There are no managers, no paid dancers or big events.

It's more like the bondage ranch, a meeting place for like minded people, and where the ranch is mostly quiet, bound is full of chatter.

the place sits in the center of a mall with the usual stores, the real center is an open yard with seats and sofas, there are also a couple of dance poles with free for all tip jars.

But the real fun are the numerous little rooms for all kinds of play, from a barn with a dog and horse, a kitchen, an alley... and loads more, most filled with all kinds of fun toys.

We mostly visit this place just to relax, chat and watch people go by.. you never know what catches your eye

Name : Bound and Determined

Owner : Kailani Ling

The SLURL : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spherion/214/145/22

WarDooM Shoes : Fetish Lack Ballet Boots

Deirdre:
Lovely ballet boots, could be a little tighter on the leg, but very good prim work.

Decent texture, good detail.. once again, I'll let my expert speak.

The store is great, a must-visit. See the giant versions of the thigh boots, and mind the sea-serpent! ;)

lelo:
A very nice alternative for the fairlight balletboots, the heel is amazing, as are the locks, which sadly don't work. I love the way the locks look, with the abus logo written on them, most realistic lock i have seen yet.

The lack or better latex look is nicely done, not the deep gloss you get from POC or KK but the way the reflections seem to follow the form of the boot is very good. Not a big fan of the dragons on the boots.

The lacing looks good, though the toe box could use a flatter (more walkable) bottom, i don't hate it but it somehow seems wrong.

I hope there will be a lockable version of these boots, just as the thigh high boots are, as much as a love the look of the thigh-highs, those are more for the Dommes, but then i don't understand Dommes who wear ballet boots, but hey, to each their own.

One final little thing that make these boots a good buy, you get a knee high and a ankle high pair for one price.

The owner : WarDooM Voom
The NEW (updated Dec 2008) SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/WarDooM%20Voom/78/71/26

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	9
Price	-	7
Service	-	-
Store	9	8

Kayliwulf Kingdom : Red Kitty

A little note before I begin : November First, One PM SL time Kayliwulf fashion show at Playboy, more news soon as I get them!

Deirdre:

Kayliwulf is famous for assembling parts into good outfits. This is a freebie I got, made up of the following :

- FetishDoll 3-Buckle Thigh Boots

- FetishDoll Buckled Corset

- FetishDoll Catsuit Top

- FetishDoll Garter Belt

- FetishDoll Panty

- FetishDoll Thigh Stockings (in black)

- FetishEars Kitty

That's right, FetishEars ;) What it adds up to is a fun, complete outfit that you can mix and match endlessly with other clothing, be it Kayliwulf or not - latex or not, for that matter.

Good "reflections" on the latex, and a nice bright color.. and the ears just make the outfit. They were quite huge when I got them, but resizing them was easy.

lelo:

fun looking outfit from KK, this one was in the Easter hunt eggs. I can't help myself i just love a cute little kitty and it's even better when it's in red latex. *smiles*

Just shows you that it's always worth to take a look at the freebies Laz and Daphne give away.

the boots are of an earlier design and it shows how much the design has grown, still these boots beat all the freebies i have seen till now.

The owner : Lazarus Luan & Daphne Goodnight

The SLURL : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kayliwulf%20West/115/98/39

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	7
Price	10	10
Service	9	9
Store	7	6 (lag)

Maison Broceliande - The Isolation Harness

Deirdre:

A lovely harness made of slender leather straps, the kind which is sometimes called a "trainer". Exquisite detail, O-rings and rivets in all the realistic places... since we got this thing, lelo spends more time in it than out of it.

We had a bit of a bad time with the Restrained Life isolation scripts at first - even with me as owner, lelo couldn't receive my IM or local chat messages. This was solved in simple and somewhat barbaric fashion - I ripped out the scripts ;)

I'm sure it was impatience on my part; but when you test these features, keep another way to communicate with your slave handy (like an instant messenger of some kind)... just in case.

The gag is very good.. one of those which make the av mouth open, not a stupid ball that just sits there.

Yhis is a friend and a devoted trainer who has often praised my lovely rubber pony. Buy with full confidence.

lelo:

As usual the attention to detail Yhis pays to her designs is clear, good leather texture, realistic fit. But the really good thing about the harness is the way it shows the how the wearer is restricted when using the Restrained Life viewer.

The gag shows that sending chat is not allowed, the ear mufflers that receiving chat isn't allowed and the blindfold show that the wearer isn't seeing anything.

The nose hook is a fun addition but the breath play gag is a bit much for my taste. A fun extra is the option of a plug in, in the kit is a ring gag that can be used like that.

Nice toy to have, perfect addition to a rubber hood.

Scripting is improving at MB, i can't wait to see what she will do next.

The owner : Yhis Khorana

The SLURL : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Broceliande/68/136/30

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	8
Price	8	7
Service	9	8
Store	9	8

Zorena's Black Sable Cloak

Deirdre:

What is it about a cape? I just love them, couldn't tell you why. This is another of those accessories I saw on someone and had to have.

Following the designer's name to the store (Ookami Ningen), I discovered a rustic wood-paneled house near a Japanese garden... an unexpected mix.

The store is large, and well laid-out. Cloaks are on the right from the door, and the work is very good. Zorena Deckard figured out how to make a good fluffy-looking fur, good prim cloaks, and churned out a wide variety of items with those two elements. Among many other things, I should add.

The price was low enough to decide me to buy immediately. I think that's a good strategy for designers. Better to sell ten items at 150L$ than one at 1500$, folks. If your work is good, the more people wearing it, the more people will see it... and peek, jump to your store, and go buy one ;)

lelo:

a lovely cloak, with a very realistic looking fur collar, the cloak is rightly called Russian as it has a very Russian feel to it, you can just imagine wearing it while riding a pony drawn sled through the snowy Russian steppes.

The store is a strange collection of styles, old 20th's jazz, Japanese garden, clothes which are Russian, Japanese and some ballet clothes.

Still the quality looks good and prices are low, the best combination in SL and RL *winks*

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	8
Price	9	9
Service	-	-
Store	8	7

Kas corset

lelo:


As you might have noticed i do love restrictive clothing and things that lock, well this corset does both and as you might expect i almost sleep in it.

The first impression of the corset it good, the closers on the front of the corset look very good and the lacing at the back must have taken quite some time to get it looking as good as it does.

The invisi-prims that hide the restricted waist show against some backgrounds but that's something you should already know from most boots in SL and not something you can expect a designer to get rid off (winks to the Lindens, hoping some of them read this blog).


the corset is menu controlled and trough it you can set the owner of the corset, restricting the control the wearer has over it.

As with a real corset you have to wear it a while to get used to it and lace it tighter and tighter, when there is an owner set only he/she can change the lacing settings.

another option of the menu is the possibility to change the colors of the corset, the lacing and the contrast color of the corset, making it possible to wear the corset with almost every outfit.


Finally the corset offers a nice AO, only problem is finding good animations that work with the corset, and this is the only downside to the corset, it makes using pose balls almost impossible, which at the same time makes it more realistic, it's not easy to sit down with a tightly laced corset in RL as well.

A nice solution to this problem came with the V1.1 corset, cloth layer corsets to wear under the real thing making it possible to hide the prim corset with the movement restrictions but still having it show, in a way.

i want to close with a final word about the service of KaS, the first time i tried to upgrade the corset something was wrong with the server and i didn't get an upgrade, the same day i got a IM from Salid that she had seen that i had tried to update and she told me she had fixed the server and i was able to update now, that's the way to keep your customers comming back.

The owner : Salid Sewell
The SLURL : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sandor/97/187/36

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	9
Price	-	7
Service	-	8
Store	7	7

Redgrave : Boots, Black Leather Sculpties

Deirdre:

I privately refer to these as my "business" boots, as they're what I wear with a business suit to look serious ;)

The fit is perfect, and I love the heel, it's just a ladylike height. The boots come in a slim and medium size: this is *not* footwear for BBW avatars. Classy, elegant, excellent quality... stop me if I'm gushing too much? ;)

The store is lovely too - it looks more like an art gallery than a skin and clothing store.

The boots are at the very end women's section. I gave you the SLURL to the exact spot but this is another of those places with a fixed teleport point. Just keep walking and look at the right wall.

lelo:

These boots have a very simple look, but when you look closely you can see the work that has been put into them.

The texture has a great leather look, some well placed stitching's and folds give the boots a realistic look.

The heels have a good look with a nice everyday height, a leather lace around the top of the boot finishes the design.

All in all a great looking boot, perfect for a nice pony ride or just worn under a pair of jeans in on PG sim.

The owner : Veronica Skjellerup

The SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/REDGRAVE%20Womens%20Fashion/159/212/22

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	9	9
Price	8	8
Service	8	7
Store	9	8

Kayliwulf Kingdom, Saturday Night Party

Deirdre:

Kayliwulf Saturday night parties are more than a tradition in SL, they're an institution.

Lazarus and Daphne have been throwing these weekly parties for quite a while, and we've been attending them almost religiously for nearly a year.

Fun people, great music... the beach location is just wonderful. You must try different lights to believe how good everyone looks.. sunset, midnight, all gorgeous. I spend a lot of time at mid-day light just cause I love to see the outfit details.

The sploder is the last tolerated "gambling" in SL.. a fun, harmless way to redistribute wealth. One Saturday night, just as the countdown was nearing zero, I called out "Deirdre needs new boots", in the old crap-shooter style.. damned if I didn't win the pot :)

The dance is where Lazarus hands out free copies of his new designs.. in "fun" colors like heliotrope, sunset, rainbow and ultramarine.

You get a good idea of what the item looks like, and if you're like me, you can inflict those fun colors on newbies looking for clothes ;)

lelo:

The place to be for latex-loving people on Saturday nights, you always get a warm feeling when you are at one of their parties, and it's not because of the latex you are wearing.

DJ Laz is one of the best DJ in SL, no request is a problem and he seems to be able to find the most unique songs, and he'll play them. The mix is mostly modern pop but has a tendency to drift of with the requests, ending in Rammstein & co one week and the 70's the other.

The parties are held at the sky lounge or the beach, but they both offer the same things, a nicely filled sploder, great free latex and a nice gift card for the KK store.

The dance floor is slightly hypnotic and when the place fills up the lag is killing, still one of the best parties in SL, personally i hope they are planning another great New Years party, just like last year.

The owners : Lazarus Luan (DJ Laz), Daphne Goodnight

The beach party SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kayliwulf%20East/67/66/22

The Latex lounge SLURL :
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kayliwulf%20West/140/121/616

Maison Broceliande: Deluxe Hooves

Deirdre:

I'll let the expert take this one.. me, I just like the clippy-clop sound ;)

Just a quick note : the store is airy, big, and a joy to visit.

lelo:
The pony hooves are a great example of the love Yhis has for pony play, the attention to detail is amazing and gives the hooves a wonderful look.

When you buy the set you get a wonderful collection of hooves, for your hands and feet, ankle high and knee-high, black and color-able, with and without sound and AO.

The AO works very well, giving you a realistic pony stance and walk, and the sound enhances the pony play.

I myself wear the knee-high black version with AO and sound, and we both love the look of them. One word of advice: take your time to adjust them just right, it takes a bit of effort, but the results are great.

The store is on Broceliande where Yhis has her stable, a friendly place for every pony, if you are there take a ride in the hot air balloon, it shows you all the island offers.


The store : Maison Broceliande

The owner : Yhis Khorana

The SLURL : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Broceliande/39/143/25

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	9	9
Price	-	8
Service	9	8
Store	9	9

Twisted Orchid

Deirdre:

A friendly fetish club, awesome people, great dance music : it all adds up to terrific ambiance.

Orchid is one of the most famous fetish clubs, and one of the oldest.

We see clubs come and go in Second Life, dying like mayflies after opening, languishing semi-empty for a few weeks, and land being re-sold at a loss... and one more entrepreneur swearing bitterly that he didn't get the help he needed, or luck was against her; whatever.

What makes a good club? Does Twisted Orchid have amazing toys? Psychedelic decoration? No, no.

People.

Kailani's genius seems to be hiring good managers, promoting them from dancers that prove they are dependable, smart, and nice, night after night after night. (This is totally my theory - calling her up and asking for the secret of her success didn't seem à propos.)

There's a live DJ now and then, which sure makes the ambiance different. Hey, Cheribomb Vavoom, I mean you, sweetie!

The music is 1.fm the rest of the time. As a special bonus just cause I like you, here's where you can see what's playing, in almost real time :

http://www.1.fm/stations/Dance/ViewLastPlayed.aspx

There's a small dance floor, but it really doesn't see much use. To sum up : a happy place to sit, snuggle, yak, and watch the guests and the lovely, friendly dancers.


lelo:
Nice place to just relax, watch people and see the occasional newbie fly to the ceiling when they climb on the dance stage.

As Mistress says the place isn't special, the look is straightforward and the ceiling tiles seem upside down, still it has something.

It has a certain feel or mood, i guess it's true what they say: people make a place.

The Name : Twisted Orchid
The owners : Kailani Ling
The SLURL : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pattaya%20Island/38/248/22

	Deirdre	lelo
Looks	7	6
Staff	9	8
Music	8	8
Events	6	6

Amethyst : Collar, slim

Deirdre:

Collars are great fun. Aside from the visible mark of ownership, the leash and the rest of the controls really add to the experience of D/s in Second Life.

The "yank" on a leash to rapidly bring a slave to heel just *has* to be done once.. boom, you'll be addicted ;)

lelo:
In my humble opinion, the Amethyst collar is the standard collar in SL. i have been wearing this collar since day one and i never regretted it.

The design is simple and not overdone, which i like; the scripting is the same and that's something i truly love.

You can control the color, the text on the collar and the little bell through the menu, or with voice commands. The newer designs come in a variety of models - something for every one.

The collar offers the option of one primary owner and several secondary owners. (Owners are the people who can give the wearer commands) It also comes with a wide variety of poses and a couple of animations.

The leash holder has a nice special option (aside from making the leash end up in the owner's hand, and not somewhere in their stomach.) It also gives you the option to control your subs movement, which can be great fun.

Another great feature is the fact that you can put third party scripts into the collar. We only use the couples plug-in, but i have seen some very nice tracking and speech control options.

The collar has an option for setting the commands to a channel, rather than main chat. i wish more people used it, as hearing everyone give their slaves orders really is chat spam.

Take it from me, using a channel is easy and makes it more exciting for the sub.

PS: while preparing for this story, the collar developed a malfunction. i just contacted the people at Sensations for help. i'll keep you posted!

The store name : Sensations
The owner : Amethyst Rosencrans
The SLURL : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sensations/121/208/49

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	9	9
Price	7	7
Service	7	6
Store	6	6 (lag)

Bobbysocks boots: Wrapped & Strapped

Deirdre:

A very good leather texture, shines and reflections in just the right places. These boots caught my eye when I saw someone wearing them at a club. There's no envy in SL.. I jumped right to the store and bought myself a pair.

An important note : Bobbysocks does not design for the slim girl. The pair I bought first were the normal ones, and I only saw the (slightly slimmer) *petite* version after buying :(

The owners were quite good about the exchange. I even got a fitting of sorts by giving my shape - which I wasn't especially thrilled about, but understood. The boots came back unchanged as far as I could tell, and I was told they would need to be re-done for my shape.

This being said, I'm not unhappy with them. If they were mod and copy (and no transfer, natch), I might experiment with sizing... hint hint, designers! ;)

So. Gorgeous straps all over, down to the heels, which are way cool. Great boot shape for a curvier girl. Definitely a part of your wardrobe if you like good leather. Totally suitable for bike babes. Hey, Motor Loon, make a deal with these folks!

The store is something of a maze, but I'm starting to see that it takes extraordinary efforts to avoid that. There is a fixed TP point, a new development, I believe.

I don't care for that, personally. Landmarks let you find things again in a store. The Wrapped & Strapped thigh boots in *petite* size are at 143,177,28 and the normal (I say, large) size are at 143,196,28.

lelo:

These boots have a great look. The folds on the foot give a very realistic look, the heels are simple but fit the boot well and they are covered by the strap. The strap and the fold-down top really give these boots their unique look.

Like Mistress already pointed out, the boots are quite large, look for the *petite* version if your shape is normal to small - you can always try the free demo boot to see how it looks on you. And ask the owners about their fitting service.

A final nice thing about these boots it that they are transferable: good for gifts, sharing between friends and between alts. A great extra you don't get with many designers these days.

They offer a great selection of leather wear at the shop, finding it is another thing, and the theme of the store will not be to every ones taste.

The store name : The Bobbysocks Shoppe
The owners : Bad Bobbysocks, Beyond Bobbysocks.

The SLURL : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Demented%20Isle/202/146/29

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	8
Price	7	8
Service	9	9
Store	6	6

Kayliwulf Kingdom, Trinity Black/Obsidian

Deirdre:

"Now go out and get yourself some big black frames
"With the glass so dark they won't even know your name
"And the choice is up to you cause they come in two classes:
"Rhinestone shades or cheap sunglasses

I just had to do that ;) I love my Trinity shades, and while it's true they're one of the less expensive items at KK, I think they look terrific.

Bling.. I'm not big on bling. Eh, it's easy enough to say "bling off" (in public channel) to stop flashing like a strobe... or, just edit the lenses (don't forget to check "Edit linked parts") and throw away the pesky script as I did.

lelo:
it's amazing to see what these simple glasses add to the look of my Mistress, you can just make out her eyes behind them and the nice little highlights on the lenses add a certain extra to the simple design. As she says: cheap sunglasses, but a real must-have.

The store name : Kayliwulf Kingdom
The owner : Lazarus Luan & Daphne Goodnight
The SLURL : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kayliwulf%20West/115/97/39

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	7
Price	8	7
Service	10	9
Store	7	6

KDC : the ponygirl bridle

Deirdre:

This is lelo's entry. Personally, I love how this thing looks. The intricate straps, the bit, the feather... it all feels terribly authentic :)

lelo:
this is the KDC bridle, it is for pony play and offers next to the great look a few simple functions you might expect from a collar, like a leash option, a lock option and of course a owner option.

The great thing about this bridle is all the add-on's it offers. Personally i wear it with the forehead triple feather ornament with pony talk by SubAlice Sands, and the jointed egg butt pelham copper roller bit.

I never went for the blinkers but there is a nice selection of them as well.

All these add-on's allow you to put together you own personal bridle without having half the ponygirls you know running around with the same bridle.

i put the pony talk in the feathers to make them more interactive and offering a simple way of communicating with the world, i'll go into this fun little plug-in in a later entry.

As you might expect from a product by Kyrah Abattoir, the look is very good, most of all the feathers. Adjusting the bridle takes a bit of effort but is worth the work.

The scripting is good but can't be compared to Amethyst collars.

Then there is the shop, which is as impressive as it is confusing, but you can easily find your way around it once you have gotten used to the scenery.

The store can be found at:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eliza/55/35/25

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	9	9
Price	7	7
Service	-	-
Store	8	8

Freebies around SL : KCreations catsuits

Deirdre:

Freebies are not always wonderful. Sometimes they're first attempts; sometimes they're not quite good enough to sell. Let's face it, if an item is so terrific that people are willing to pay thousands of L$ for it, it won't usually be given away.

Sometimes, however, designers will make very good items available for free as promotional material.

This brings visitors to their stores, gets them talked about... and since being found on SL is quite a challenge, a good freebie can work wonders.

This is the case with KCreations's free latex catsuits.

A boxed set of catsuits in black, white, pink, orange and red that will let you mix and match as foundation for any number of outfits.

A simple example: say you don’t have good boots yet. You could wear black latex stockings with a decent shoe or sandal and achieve a pretty neat look, for free.

The “reflections” on the latex are suited to a male or female body – choose the one you need. The outfits are no transfer, so if a friend wants them, just send them to the store.

lelo:
Time for a new feature on our blog : we'll make a list of good freebies we've found in SL, and offer you the opportunity to participated by sending us the slurl of other great freebies.

To start we have chosen the wonderful catsuits by Kat Fetisov, of Kcreations.

The catsuits are simple but show the quality of Kat's work and in that way serve the purpose of being a great demonstrator of the rest of her products. Give them a look if you like the freebies, that's only fair.

The boxes with the free catsuits can be found at:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lineside/102/146/77 (updated 2009-08-13!)

If you've got any links to good freebies, don't hesitated and attach them as a comment.

	Deirdre	lelo
Quality	8	7
Price	10	10
Service	-	-
Store	7	7

Bondage Ranch

Bondage Ranch is hard to define. Call it a meat market, a bdsm meeting place, a see and be seen place... whatever it is, it's popular. Ranch attracts more people than most place with paid campers.

I'm not sure whats makes the ranch this popular. There is no music, no unusual toys or great conversations, still it's difficult to get in as it is filled to capacity most of the day.

We use the ranch to sit, talk and look at interesting clothes and toys. Next to that, the ranch is a great place to meet people, i guess its the place with the most profile loads in SL.

There is hardly any play on the ranch. It offers enough places to play but most people come alone and leave together after a short while, mostly due to the lag on the ranch.

A nice second feature of the ranch are the two malls next to it on damsel, these offer a wide range of clothing in the one and BDSM toys in the other.

All in all a great place for the BDSM lover, if you want to meet like-minded people, look for nice clothing or just have a look at profiles. If you're looking to meet, be sure to mention it in your profile so people reading it will know.

Ohh... and when you are there, take your time exploring the many rooms, dungeons, cinema's and the club. The ranch has many, mostly unexplored places. Look for the signs and the teleporters that can take you to them.


You can find the entrance to Bondage Ranch at:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Damsel/242/126/306
... hope you can get in ;)

PS: be careful going in, the floor at the main gate isn't as stable as it should be..... it has the nasty habit of letting people fall right through it.