Solas NaCrealai, the proprietor of the BlueMoon Enterprises store in Second Life (SLURL), is well known for her wonderful fantasy and historical outfits for both female and male avatars (she is also the co-owner of Silvan Moon Designs with Bee Dumpling). Solas is a master at her craft, as can be seen by her latest creation, this whimsical and romantic Librarian Gown!
The Librarian Gown in Teal
This beautifully-draped gown comes with an optional corset made from the spines of old library tomes, decorated at the back with accordion fans of book pages, and laced up the back. The fabric of the skirt is adorned with beautiful handwriting in gold.
The Librarian gown comes in five colours: teal (as shown above), plus olive, plum, rust, and a steel grey colour called “dark”. You can remove the book-spine corset for a simpler look.
The Librarian Gown in Rust
The Librarian Gown in Olive
The Librarian Gown in Plum
The Librarian Gown in Dark
The Librarian Gown will be available at the Engine Room shopping event, which runs from tomorrow, September 20th, to October 20th, 2022. The Librarian Gown is for sale at a 25% discount at the event, at a price of L$338 per colour, or L$1,350 for the entire fatpack of five colours. Snap it up at the sale price before the Engine Room event ends!
Solas NaGealai (a.k.a Solas Enchantment) is the proprietor of the fantasy and historical clothing store BlueMoon Enterprise, as well as collaborating with Bee Dumpling in Silvan Moon Designs. I have known Solas for years (we first met in Sansar), and I absolutely love her work, which is beautifully detailed and well-textured.
But what I really wanted to show you today is the outfit Vanity Fair is wearing: the glorious Mid Summer Dreams gown. Recently, Solas has begun a creative collaboration with artist and sculptor Silas Merlin (the two met via Sansar as well), and this has led to some delightful surprises, including the sculpted, winged mask which is a part of this outfit!
First, a couple of suitably dreamlike shots taken in the enchanted forest of the Lost Unicorn sim:
Here’s a well-lit picture so you can appreciate all the wonderful details of this outfit—I just adore these rich, jeweled tones!
Flats (not shown): Amy flats fatpack from KC Couture (L$199)
Choker: Jade star necklace fatpack by Miu (I picked this up as a free gift long ago)
Wings: these are a free gift from BlueMoon Enterprise! Just click on the gift panel shown below. These animated wings come in two versions: a rigged set, and an animesh set which you can reposition as you like (e.g. for a tiny or child avatar):
for hair, I selected the simple, pulled-back bun hairstyle already in your default Second Life inventory. Just open your inventory, and scroll down to the very bottom of your inventory window to find the Library folder. It’s in Library / Accessories / Hair Design Options / Pulled Back Bun folder. It’s free, completely adjustable, tintable, and uncomplicated, and it fits well under hats and hoods, too! I use it all the time.
The Lost Refuge is partly a puzzle to solve, and partly a tribute to Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg, who passed away recently. It’s a collaboration between Silas Merlin and Solas Enchantment (a.k.a Solas NaGealai), built for the Second Life 18th birthday celebrations, which you can find on the sprawling virtual fairgrounds here.
You start off in a rocky glen, on a central space with four rushing rivers flowing in all four directions:
There is a magic spell book lying open on the ground, giving you instructions you must follow and items you must collect to obtain prizes.
According to a notecard provided by Solas and Silas:
Step within the looming rock walls, amongst the statues upon the 5 giant pillars that guard the elements. Your first task will be to find the book to learn the lore of the land. It will help guide you to find the 5 stones that house the gifts and a hidden world beneath you.
The lore within the book: “The fairy, the mole the phoenix and the fish were pouring elements into the magic pool in hope of opening the way to the lost refuge for so, so very long that in the end they turned into statues. They were missing a fifth element for the spell to operate. Spirit was missing.
On the eve of the birthday of the world that shelters us all, the overseer crossed over to the other side. In the beyond, he remembered his flock, and visited this land to infuse spirit into the magic waters, to open the way to new wonders to come. Find the elemental rune stones to find your gifts. Hint: always follow the way.
The overseer is a tribute to Ebbe Altberg:
Here are a couple more shots of the Lost Refuge, to entice you to pay a visit!
Have you joined the RyanSchultz.com Steals, Deals & Freebies group yet? I will be posting EVEN MORE news and tips on finding fabulous freebies and bargains in Second Life than I now post here on the blog! More information on this brand new SL group here.
Bee Dumpling and Solas NaGealai, the owners of Silvan Moon Designs, do such amazing work that I wanted to once again showcase three of their most recent releases. Silvan Moon Designs (SLURL to their in-world store, SL Marketplace, Flickr) specializes in historical, fantasy, and role play outfits, consistently beautiful and detailed virtual dresses, gowns, and outfits that I have enjoyed over many years!
Afternoon Tea Gown
The Afternoon Tea gown set comes in the Maitreya Lara size only (although you should be able to make it work with other brands of mesh bodies by using the alpha sections on their HUDs). This delightful period gown comes in six different colours:
Blooming (light blue and white)
Brew (monochrome gray and white)
Jam (a deep violet and white)
Matcha (a lovely green and white)
Merlot (deep red and white)
Oolong (a darker blue and white)
Here Vanity Fair is wearing the Oolong version of this wonderful, evocative Victorian gown:
The detail on this gown is wonderful, both front and back!
These Afternoon Tea gown pictures were taken at the Mieville Doyle sim
The Afternoon Tea gown is available at the Silvan Moon Designs main store (exact SLURL), for L$400 per colour.
Daughter of Olaf Tunic Set
This wonderful outfit is available for sale at the Silvan Moon Designs booth at the Viking Saga round of the Enchantment shopping event in Second Life (here’s the exact SLURL of the booth at the event).
The Daughter of Olaf tunic set consists of four separate pieces which you can mix and match to a certain extent (wearing the shirt just with the girdle, with the maille, or both; wearing the outfit with or without leggings). The four pieces are:
a long shirt that could double as a dress;
a maille armour layer to wear overtop of the dress;
a girdle with an elven tree design to wear overtop the maille;
system layer/Bakes on Mesh leggings (note: no Omega or Maitreya appliers).
The Daughter of Olaf outfit comes in eight different colours: aqua, black, blue, brown, olive, purple, rose, and white:
Picture from the Silvan Moon Design booth showing the eight different colours available
The outfit shown below is the brown one (the black staff, black leggings and elven boots are not part of the original outfit):
The Daughter of Olaf outfit costs only L$400 per colour, or you can buy the entire fatpack of eight colours for L$3,000.
The Virgin Queen Gown
Now this is a gown fit for a queen (virgin or otherwise 😉 )! The outfit consists of three parts: the main gown, separate ruffled Elizabethan collar and puffed sleeves, and the final touch of separate gold-and-pearl attachments to accentuate the breast and waist. The Virgin Queen gown set comes in six jewel-tone colours: amethyst, emerald, onyx, ruby, sapphire, and turquoise. Shown below is ruby:
The Virgin Queen gown is available at the We Love Roleplay shopping event (here’s the exact SLURL of the Sylvan Moon Designs booth), where you can buy this sumptuous, bejeweled gown for only L$360 for each colour. And if you simply cannot make up your mind, why not splurge and buy the entire fatpack of six colours for only L$2,100?
Such a gown demands an appropriate animation override, and I can highly recommend the Southern Belle and Woman in Ballgown AO from Tuty Bento and Mocap Animations store (available in-world at this SLURL or via the SL Marketplace for L$650). It’s the perfect AO for full-skirted ballgowns such as this Elizabethan masterpiece!
Or, if you prefer, you can purchase a Shoulder Overrider HUD which works with your existing AO, just lifting your arms higher so they don’t poke through the voluminous skirt! The Shoulder Overrider is available on the SL Marketplace for only L$299 from Ethik Nacon and it was originally intended for fatter avatars so their hands don’t disappear into their bodies, but it also works great for gowns with wide, full skirts or oriental gowns with long, full sleeves that you want to show off!
Why not pick up a Silvan Moon Designs garment for your next adventure in Second Life?
