So by now you know that I went to the Clothing Fair and dumped a metric buttload of money on the Relay for Life. I thought I'd do a few posts to showcase some of my loot. First up, the gown that I have affectionately named the Nikki Ree Butthurt Dress. This dress hurts in more ways than one. Now don't get me wrong -- its a gorgeous gown. I love this gown. But it is full of butthurt.
First it cost EIGHTEEN HUNDRED LINDEN!!!!!!! $L1880 to be exact. Ouchies. But it was for a good cause and it was beautiful so I bought it. Now I'm a little hesitant to post the rest of this because I think it will hurt the sales of this dress which all go to RFL. So let me say this. This is one gorgeous dress. If you modify your shape (which you will clearly need to do given what comes below) then no one will ever see gripe number 2 except you. Its a beautiful dress that you will be happy to wear at any formal function. If you have 2K to give to the RFL and you like the first pic, then buy the dress and know that you've sacrificed for a good cause. 
Is this not a gorgeous gown? I think its a gorgeous gown.
Anyway after admiring myself from a frontal view, I turned to the side. Holy wide load Batman, lookit mah butt!
OMFG lookit mah butt!!!! I could kill people with this butt! This is like two butts in one!
So in the first pic I have toned down my butt to ZERO. Yes that's right, in the first pic my butt is nonexistent. Except that, its still a big butt with a butt of zero -- its just an acceptable will-not-crush-small-woodland-animals-if-I-sit-down big butt rather than something that needs a wide load sign.
Oh and don't get me wrong. This is not a rant about fat people. I'm a fat person with a big butt in real life but holy shit did you see that picture? LOOKIT MAH BUTT! Its SO big! Seriously. I bought another gown that did not make my butt look like that and I will showcase it later. So its clearly the design of the dress that is doing this to me.
Last but not least are the seams. Now I know that seams are hard to get perfect. But for 1800 linden, they should be better than this:
For $L1880 you can't do better than that?????
I mean I never would have looked if it had been 200L. I wouldn't care for 200L. But for 1880L -- Yeah I care.
Ok more loot posts coming up soon. Itemization of full outfit below:
Nikki Ree Butthurt dress: Nikki Ree Designs, available only at the RFL clothing fair
Hair: Tami McCoy, Sunshine bangs and flowers, Romantic Midnight updo
Necklace and Earrings: Muse Celine white pearl/silver set
Shoes: Coconut Ice Fae Jewel Midnight Slippers
Stockings: Zullay Thor ZD Pirate Grace Thigh Highs (part of an outfit)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Loot from the Clothing Fair: Nikki Ree
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13 comments:
I don't get it. Can any body tell me whyyyy people are so against seams? Real life clothing have them, so why are most SL fashion bloggers against it? I could understand it if it were the seam of a texture, but the seam of the clothing mesh? Nope, don't get it. And quite frankly, I'm sick of hearing about it.
And as far as your "huge" butt goes, change your shape. Most people have one shape for regular wear and one for the skirt mesh.
Cherry, darling, you seem to have missed the point of Vivianne's blog. She stated that she would not have cared about the side seam if the dress was prices at the reasonable L$200 but this dress is going for almost two thousand Lindens and the quality should reflect the price tag.
I think the seams look fine on a floral print dress. I can understand if the issue was on a solid color dress, which can be easily blended by simply smudging across, but prints are much less forgiving and considering that, I think Nicky did a pretty good job- if you hadn't circled around it with a red halo, I wouldn't have noticed it at all. Cherry has a point when she says that RL clothes would have visible seams too, especially on something with a pattern.
As far as the big butt problem, take the gripe to LL as this happens with all system skirts, which is why most people have dedicated skirt shape to combat it. Perhaps the print called your attention to the area more than, say, a black pencil skirt- but I guess in SL as in RL certain colors are more slimming.
If the issue is about pricing, that's fine, but Nicky tends to have higher pricing as this reflects the fact that she does have great quality in her clothing (her shading is recognizable anywhere and is wonderful) and most of her gowns have 3 or 4 ways of wearing them, so you get a few different looks in one dress. Add to the fact that this is a limited edition (I think) and a 100% charity dress and the price makes sense to me.
My two cents? With prices like that, charity or not, have the dress rezzed out so you can see workmanship etc.
My main complaint with all these so-called "one of a kind, limited editions, etc." is that you are basically buying a pig in a poke until you rez the thing out.
I've got horror stories about couture gowns 5 times this cost that were shoddy made, lousy prim construction, etc. What did I do? Not much, except have NEVER bought from that creator again.
Let's remember the proceeds are for CHARITY first ;)
Secondly...i honestly don't see huge errors with the seams? It's extremely hard to seam patterns like that flawlessly, and IMO if anyone can do that to the best, its nicky ree?
@ The huge but...LOL..just set to zero indeed, thats the slimmest butwise we can look in SL. ALL systemskirts have that same problem, some designers highlight the cheeks of the butt more, vertical seaming helps somewhat, but it stays a square weird looking butt. Blame LL? LOL
* wanna add something...
I think its important to let the designer/creator KNOW about this, they will probably appreciate it and prefer that more over public complaining. This way, the designer knows what the problem is and can either fix it or explain to you why its done like that, you avoid having a designer look publically bad plus the designer might not even read this post ;) Just my two cents!
SunShine- while I understand your points, I don't this this gown in question is anywhere near being shoddily made. I personally don't think that tiny bit on the hip is some egregious problem. It looks pretty well matched to me, and if the prims on this gown are anything like the other dresses of hers I own, they're probably pretty damned impressive.
Also, I know that many designers were using live models but were asked by the organizers to remove them as some people complained that the non-active avs were causing undue strain and lag on the sims.
Your post was pointed out to me in the context of "omg can you believe this post?" I am all for constructive criticism and pointing out flaws, but your comments are written in a way that a designer would find hurtful, not helpful, not to mention ignorant.
First of all, complaining that your butt looks big in a system skirt? Is this the first time you have ever worn a system skirt? It's unavoidable, it's an SL issue, not a designer issue. Most fashion-conscious SL residents know they need a zero butt for a system skirt.
I laugh that you mention the high price with such surprise, because if you have ever browsed Nicky's shop, you will see this is just about where she prices many of her gowns. Most people would say that with the quality and the options, it is worth it.
Lastly, I challenge you to find a floral patterned item in SL that has no visible seams. Just like RL, this is where the edges of patterned material comes together and doesn't always need to blend.(and I am a picky bish when it comes to seams and edges)
I want to end by saying that I actually do not shop at Nicky Ree. lol I hate system skirts, and her dresses are a bit out of my price range for something I don't really have the opportunity to wear. Big butts and high prices are a legitimate reason not to love this dress... but are not a legitimate reason to give it such a harsh and aggressive review.
-Elysium Eilde
Why are people always so fast to defend famous people? If this dress was made my Joe Shmoe, you'd all be OMFG'ing with the blog poster and you know it.
I agree this post could have been written in a less hurtful way, but nevertheless the message has a load o truth in it. Just because you make good stuff MOST of the time does not automatically excuse you from criticism when you make something that flops.
RL seams have stitches, puckers, and depth. Give me mismatched seams with these qualities and I will gladly take it. Make it look a bad wallpaper job and I shy away. I try to make clothes in SL and the system skirt is just a bear of project to take on anyways. A good match-up on the upper, lower, and side seams is considerably harder to achieve. Plus all the stretching of the textures.
I *think* your dress was actually a free gift. If I understand how charities work here in the U.S., you give a donation to a charity because you want to support the organization and/or cause. You may or may not receive a free gift to thank you for your donation. Whether you receive a free gift, and what type of gift you receive, may or may not depend on the amount you donate to the charity. You're not *buying* anything.
Beanie Canning
some system skirts, especially prints like florals require not only 0 size bum but also 0 size handlebags and hips and it always looks better if you also wear glitch pants under them if the designer includes them (which I think Nikki Ree does if I remember right. Between the skirt, the pants and the top it seems to trick the system into smoother lines.
Seams aren't so much of a bother since it's very hard to match up any type of print, I think she did a pretty good job. considering when you scroll out per the picture you took, I couldn't see any mismatched seams.
btw..this isn't about defending, I only shop at NR when I get gift certificates.
Hello :)
This blog was sent to me by a friend. Didn't check the blogs today been very busy.
Your concerns about seams and system skirts are taken note Viviane. I might be able to improve on seams in my future designs but alas for system skirts I have no variable options to improve it.
The system skirt is already set at 0 at the sliders and the bulk for the bottoms are at the mercy of individual AV's preference for buttock sizes.
As for the flower motif at the seams, I meant it to be like a dress pattern for the fabric so I left the slight imperfection matching at the seams as it was to reflect how a dress like these would appear IRL - but if you prefer one that is totally seamless do give me a private IM and I quickly do one up for you :).
I do try to show every angle of the dress in my posters for the product, even the sides but if you are not sure about a product do give me an IM or Mui Mukerji who has kindly offered to help me when I am busy or not online to view the item in world before buying.
As for the price, this is due to various factors, Mara being only exclusive for RFL never sold after RFL and 100% of the proceeds of the sale of Mara Floral collections are for RFL 2009. Plus Mara Floral does comes in various skirt styles and options.
But I do offer some simple 100L Satin Shine Gowns in Steel and Yellow for RFL. Perhaps that would be in the spending and donation bracket comfortable for some :).
But at the end of the day :) which ever amount you donate is up to you, I have a 0L Satin Shine Gown in Lime and Pink set up in my store and everyone is encourage to donate to the RFL kiosk for those 0L gowns.
Have a fun and nice day all :)
signs off and goes back to photoshop
Nicky Ree
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