W magazine's Second Life : NPIRL and the Fashion Institute of Technology get a Second Chance

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

I was beyond excitement when my copy of the April 2009 issue of W magazine arrived this week. The cover reads, "Second Life: Designers Revive Their Greatest Hits." Alas, the article is not about fashion in our Second Life®, but reissues of old classics - marvelous though they may be - in Real Life. Sigh. Mark my words... the day will come.

Not long ago, I was scheming with NPIRLer Max Newbold (aka Beth Harris in RL) on a mixed realities project in New York/Second Life that was to feature fashions that are Not Possible in Real Life. At the time, she was working at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, but the blueprint for our happy plan got tossed in the dust bin when Beth was snatched up as director of digital learning at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Talk about mixed blessings...

The good news is that a scholarly hero has stepped in to rescue the FIT/NPIRL project. Dr. Steven Zucker, dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, has rallied the troops and has informed me that it is still a "go!" Meanwhile, the real world fashion industry will just have to wait to learn about the hottest names in virtual fashion, and in particular about NPIRL fashion.

Eshi Otawara, creator of the most expensive dress in virtual worlds, just unveiled this new POPI outfit with a skirt that reminds me of rich, creamy icing and comes with a bonus: a finger jewel of a bee that is sticking its tongue out at you :P. The hat! Eshi Otawara couture is available here.






I haven't retouched these, other than to crop

Cutea Benelli and her shop Grim Bros, continue to issue surreal and/or humorous outfits for men and women and every possible mood (teleport directly from here).


Artemis


Lalala


Virulent

Alpha Auer has already blogged about Pandora Wrigglesworth's colossal "Rococo" hairstyle, but I still can't get over it. Literally. This all brings to mind that Texan expression... "the bigger the hair, the closer to God." Available at Pandora's fantastical Curio Obscura shop (teleport directly from here).


Rococo Fantastico