Fashion Showcase: Lissa Maertens

Wicked in the Dunes was the title of the exciting show organized by the talented team at the Atlantis Modelling Agency. Held at Zatzai Asturias’ Artificial Isle sim, this was an opportunity to show the creative talent of designer Lissa Maertens, owner of the Cattiva e Cattivo clothing line. Lissa has been a part of the Second Life couture scene for less than two years but during that time established a range of fashions for both men and women, and also spent a period working alongside another well-known designer, Simone Stern.

The Mistress of Ceremonies was Qualsha Nordberg, dressed in one of Maerten’s outfits; the Simply Satin Formal, a figure-hugging gown in gold, along with a pair of similarly colored Simply Satin Pumps.

First up was model Sasha Blitz wearing a lingerie ensemble. The outfit featured the Peek-a-Boo Corset, a silk textured tops tied up the front with matching lace and prim flexi bow, along with some small double drawstring panties and black stockings. Sasha finished the outfit off with a pair of Black Cherry Stilettos.

Jaydei Benmergui modeled an eye-catching, jaw-dropping, and neckline-plunging dress; the Liquid Metal Formal gown in teal.

Jaydei Benmergui in the Liquid Metal Formal

The off-the-shoulder design is complemented by prim lace trim, and there’s also a translucent skirt element that drops to the floor when resting but swings seductively when moving. The dress is also a showpiece for Lissa’s technique of hand-painting her fabrics rather than use photo textures. This technique is used to great effect to provide shading to her creations.

Another delicious piece of formal wear was worn by Maru Marquette – the black Gothique Formal Gown along with a pair of Onyx Steelettos.

Maru Marquette in the Gothique Formal Gown in black

Lissa’s attention to detail can be seen in the way that she includes a small crafted rose just under the cleavage and adds similar delicate roses to the hem of the full-length gloves that are included as part of the outfit. She follows through by adding this motif to the skirt element, which is narrow and shaded to maintain the sleek, tight look overall.

The Cattiva e Cattivo range also includes a business outfit for women. In the show, Jaydei wore the Strictly Business suit in a juicy merlot.

Jaydei in Strictly Business suit in merlot

There are shades of the 80’s with the primmy squared-off shoulders but overall the look is very classy. The pencil skirt ends just above the knees and the jacket comes in two lengths. The package also includes a prim turtle neck and dress blouse.

Model Cape Harbour took to the runway to show some of the menswear available. His casual outfit included the Winged Skull Hoodie in maroon along with a pair of dark blue jeans.

Cape Harbour in Winged Skull Hoodie in maroon

The hood is a prim attachment so you have the option to go without it. Once again, it’s worth noting the details – the scrunched deep creasing at the elbows; the shading of the pouch pocket; and the ribbing at the waist. Cape wore a pair of Rockstar Halfboots in Red Hot to match the color of the hoodie.

The Phillip is set consisting of a Brown Leather Jacket and other items. Modeled by Takeshi Kiama, the combination he used included a pair of Stompers Lace-up Boots, a Wife-beater Tee, gloves, beanie, and the Urban Ops Dungarees.

Takeshi Kiama in the Phillip

The show included over 20 different outfits, which is just a sample of the host of items available from Cattiva e Cattivo. Lissa’s new store is well worth the visit, and for those folks worried about price, although all her items are competitively priced, some of the packs are superb value. Her men’s suits are priced at $250 and contain lots of options AND can be used as a mix-and-match with other items.

The show was interesting, well run, and not too long – which is not a bad thing considering that many people find they have limited time. On this occasion, Atlantis’s CEO, Valerie McDunnough can be proud of her team, who not only put on an excellent show in 30 minutes but hung around afterward to let a poor writer take some pictures.

Information
Cattiva e Cattivo SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/OpenOcean/14/184/21

Cattiva e Cattivo on Xstreet: https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=83955

Welcome Back Cattiva e Cattivo

One of the first designers I met in Second Life was Lissa Martens. I remember first meeting her in her store, Cattiva e Cattivo, when I was in my early days of shopping for clothes. In fact, one of the first outfits I bought was something called The Englishman, an ensemble of bits and pieces that I could mix and match.

We chatted for a short time but enough to get a sense of her sense of humor. And oh does she have one!

The next time I got a real chance to interact was when she went into business with Simone Stern, another fashion icon in Second Life. Cattiva e Cattivo would be no more and Lissa would be creating new things under the Simone! banner. Interviewing them for FreeLife magazine was like working with a double act. Simone was the straight man and Lissa the comic.

And announced today, Lissa is dissolving the Simone relationship and bringing back Cattiva e Cattivo as her personal flagship. I couldn't resist making a flying visit to see what the place was like. In truth, it hasn't changed ;) We poor guys still have to walk upstairs and currently she is showing her old CeC items and those that she has been selling under the Simone! name.


However, those of you who haven't shopped at Cattiva e Cattivo can now start building up your Lissa Maertens folder. I already have about 1/3 of what she sells and there are some pieces I will be picking up to take me up to the half-way mark. I still wear her Acid Iron jeans as my everyday denims and still love to slip on the Perfectly Pinstriped Light Blue suit whenever I want the smart summery look.




SLurl: Cattiva e Cattivo

Sale @ Simone!

On Saturday, Simone Stern offered all her clothing for no more than L$200. With such bargain prices, it was too tempting an offer to turn down, so late in the evening, I headed for the Simone! store to see what I could find.

First up was a dark blue deep-plunge open-fronted shirt called the "Don Juan." Mony spotted it and said "buy that," so I did. Here you see it with my Muism pants and gift from Ben Vanguard - the dog tags.



My SL sister, Merry Felwitch, arrived with a giant pumpkin on her head, which was all the excuse Mony needed to don her cardboard box head. Fortunately, they left me in the men's section to go check out women's stuff. I believe Merry spent L$2000 - like Mony, she also seems to believe that God sends people to hell who have small inventories.

I found a summer suit designed by my friend Lissa Maertens. It's a pale-blue pinstripe that includes a shirt, ties, and even prim ties that flap around when you walk. It's the closest I have found to a seersucker suit and for L$200 I couldn't resist.



The suit also looks OK with a less formal open-necked shirt or T-shirt. I'm wearing it with my Redgrave black shoes but a pair of white shoes might work. Guess I have to go shopping. Again.

At Home With Sig: Balcony

The next few posts are for the fashionistas out there. I've picked a few outfits that I find interesting, and which I have bought during my travels as a fashion writer. I really do wear some of the stuff I write about, so when I say I love a designer, I'm not doing it as a way to score free clothes. Chance would be a fine thing. In fact, it would be fair to say that one of the reasons I write is so I can afford to buy the very things I write about! That's either a vicious or a virtuous circle, depending on your point of view (or level of cynicism).

I shot the pics around the house so you also get a peek at where I live. If you really like the kitchen, let me know because Mony, who designed and built it, would be happy to sell you a set!

Back to the clothes. Two basic items to mention are hair and glasses. My hair is from Armidi and came as a pack of four blond options: Blond, Pecan, Harvest, and Honey. In fact, I have become so attached to this hair both literally and stylistically that I have had no luck finding a new one. The second basic item are my glasses - a pair of Lunies from PrimOptic. you can change the frame and lens colors so I can endlessly tweak them to work with different outfits.


The jacket is Armidi's Moto Leather Jacket in yellow. It has prim sleeves, waist, and collar, so you can do a lot of adjustments to get it to fit just right. I paired it with an old pair of black jeans from Lissa Maertens' Cattiva e Cattivo range. I don't think you can get these any more so they are now officially "retro" or "limited edition."

Armidi
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Armidi/135/127/26/

PrimOptic
secondlife://Terra%20Toulouse/121/140/28

Cattiva e Cattivo
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Annapurna/121/147/295/

Fashionista News: Lissa Maertens Joins Simone Stern

Lissa Maertens is a fashion designer who owns Cattiva e Cattivo, a wonderland of both male and female clothing. I am a shameless fan of her stuff and own a number of her pieces. Simone Stern is another design icon who owns the Simone! store and Style Starts Here, where you'll find her casual wear. Again, I admit to being a buyer of her men's gear.


And now hot off the virtual presses comes the news that Lissa is going to be working as a designer for Simone, which will give her the opportunity to focus more on her passion, design, than on the business of running a store. She will be moving her products to Simone's stores, which for me alone will save a TP. Lovers of Lissa and Simone's creations will now be able to make a one-stop shopping trip to stock up on some of the nicest stuff out there.

Lissa and Simone's offerings are also priced very competitively. I bought two shirts and two vests from Lissa and spent only L$200; and a couple of shirts from Simone's Style Starts Here were similarly priced.

This is not so much the loss of Cattiva e Cattivo as the promise of a lot more new clothes from Lissa and Simone. And as far as I'm concerned, the more menswear they offer the better. Vanity, definitely my favorite sin!

Still in Pre-launch

As you read this posting and think, "Dude, this is crap, where's the beef?" you
need to know that this is still in a pre-launch state. I'm still trying frantically to complete a stack of potential articles for a variety of media outlets, while concommitantly snagging hold of the tools to let me create the podcast. Being merely mortal and fully employed in the real world, the amount of time I have left to devote to Second Life is a tad less than the attention span of a goldfish on crack.

However, I did manage to get to a fashion show last night, thanks to Lissa Maertens, designer and owner of Cattiva e Cattivo fashions. A number of designers were showcasing their latest offerings helped and assisted by the biker dudes and dudettes of
Slaytona Track and The Shark Shack, located at Saints of Hell (64, 217, 23).

The event was live so suffered from having periods of standing around waiting for stuff to happen. Still, the naked guy wearing only a sock on his meat and two veg did provided some brief relief from the lulls.

I also had some time for slow dancing with a very special friend at a deserted skybox club, the address of which escapes me for the moment - but them again maybe I don't want to share.