Walk Around The Grid: Jason and the Argonauts

 

By Netera Landar

On July 25, the notice said Drama Libre was featuring Jason and the Argonauts. 

 

Who doesn’t love a 3rd-century BC Greek epic poem coming to life? 

 

With Drama Libre, you’re never too sure who you’ll find on the dance floor. In this case, the beach. 

 

So, you approach with caution and watch for signs of mythical beasts surfacing from the depths of the ocean, or land creatures of magical form coming closer. For heaven’s sake, not Medusa.

Scanning the beach, I noticed an ancient Greek army, a few levitating mermaids, a hybrid griffin, a black lamb with yellow fur, a Greek warrior DJ ...

 

 

...  and a few more creatures I wasn’t sure what they were. But you don’t ask questions.

 

Iceman Merlin handled the music and greeted those teleporting onto the long boat.

 

 Everyone enjoyed the party and couldn’t wait until the next themed event.

On Saturday, Aug. 1, they had an “Interdimensional Flea Market featuring DJ Noctoon Edelweiss. This week (Saturday, Aug. 8, 7-10 p.m.) features DJ Zathras Afarensis at a Sasquatch Beauty Pageant. Not sure how you dress for that one.
 

Netera Landar

 

Bellisseria's Fourth Anniversary

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

 

What a marvelous busy weekend I had along with so many others! At 10:00 am Saturday Patch Linden opened the Bellisseria 4th Anniversary celebration with a short to the point speech thanking everyone who has been involved over the preparation and building of the new continent. He said also it was the residents who made it a community. He also promised more big things in the planning and to come. One thing he did mention specifically was Welcome Hubs for new residents of the continent which sounds great. There were 85 residents and visitors at Patch’s speech . Strawberry Linden and Chronos Mole were present also.

Pruudence Anton , who was the main collaborator said, “Thank you today to Patch Linden for opening the celebration and our 3 Amazing DJs, & all our Wonderful Guests!

"Dj Gio, who you can find 2 days a week at Bellis Blues Cafe. - TY!
"DJ Hammie, find her with BEE and at Zoo-Palooza this month. - TY!
"DJ Stephanie, find her at BEE events and Bellis Blues Cafe. - TY!
"Thank you to the Hostesses, Brooke, Vari and Kizzie.

"And a special thank you to Kalia and Riot Hax for their help with this event and build.”

 

The party went on all day with visitors coming and going.

For those who do not know the whole history of the continent I asked Teresa Firelight who wrote a marvelous article for The Gazette, Journal of record of the Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy and the Continental Passport Control Board in Second Life® if I could include her article here.

"I caught up with Bellisseria's head builder Abnor Mole, and he had this to say;

'When we started building Bellisseria, we figured it was going to be a few hundred regions and we thought that was HUGE. We wanted to incorporate what we always loved about mainland --its ‘connectedness.’ This is a feeling of continual space that you can't get on just a few regions. It is the perception of community that Second Life started out with, a feeling that many of us remember from so long ago. If fact, that feeling of community is what made us fall in love with this platform in the first place. 

People responded to that idea. Four years later it has ballooned to a few THOUSAND regions. When we moles step back and look at what we've built over those years, it gives us a reverent pause. We think, ‘Wow, we started building some homes and some land, and we ended up building a CONTINENT, and it is full of people!’ It cannot not make one smile.

So let me give you a quick history about Bellisseria and how it was built. Bellisseria was born on April 15, 2019 with an initial release of 136 regions. This included two house styles: Traditional and Houseboats. The user community’s response surprised and overwhelmed Linden Lab (LL). Every single house sold out in less than 48 hours. There were many additional requests for homes that LL could not fill because there were no more left. The moles were kept very busy building more homes as soon as possible. On May 15, 2019, LL released another 709 houseboats, which were again snatched up quickly.

By June 24, 2019, Linden Lab was ready to release more Traditional homes, and elected to go with a new strategy. They released one region at a time, rather than all at once. The attempt was to release a new region every day or two, except for obvious gaps on the weekends. The homes remained very popular and tended to “sell out” just about as fast as they were released.

On Sept 17, 2019 the 512 m2 campers were released. Roughly three months later, the Victorians were released (on Dec 16, 2019). Demand still exceeded supply and Linden Lab and the moles kept working hard to make more homes available. They released an additional 2,330 new homes (spanning all 4 house styles) on December 18, 2019.

In short, they released over 10,000 Linden homes in 2019, and there was still demand for more! On April 1, 2020, less than a year after the initial release, Linden Lab made Log Homes available – 4,828 of them. The good news is that by this time, there were usually some Linden Homes available for those who wanted them. They might not be able to get the theme they wanted, but there was usually something available. There would be occasional times where all homes on the Land Page were sold out, but if a person tried back a little later, they could find a Linden Home.

Linden Lab hoped to release the Stilt Homes shortly after that, but the 'uplift' project caused a long delay. This was a project where LL moved their code from their own (somewhat aged) computers to the AWS Cloud. That was a complex project that preempted most others. People kept asking Patch when the Stilts would be available. In response, he ended up Trade Marking the term Soon™
Roughly eight months went by. On December 21, 2020, the Stilts were finally released. The initial release was 3900 Stilt homes, plus another 552 House Boats. There were a few bumps in the road with this release, but were sorted out before year end.

About four months later, the Chalets were released, along with a massive community center – Die Betrunkene Maus – located in Muehlenbach. This happened on March 30, 2021. Four and a half months after that, on August 12, 2021, the Fantasy homes were released. The fantasy regions introduced new technology. They had trees and plants that glowed at night, and the foliage colours changed as the seasons passed. Next came the Newbrooke container homes on March 3, 2022, followed by scenic Sakura (Japanese) homes on May 16, 2022.

In November 2022, they released an update to the Traditional homes and a new Traditional community center on Chippewa Junction. Then in December, 4 new houseboat styles were released.

Of course, Bellisseria is much more than just the houses that people live in. Several community groups sprang up, such as Bellisseria Citizens, Bellisseria Entertainers and Events, etc. These have really fostered community and organised many parties. There have also been volunteer groups who work to create fun activities such as The BBB (Bellisseria Bureau of Bureaucracy) who issue passports, passport stamp machines, licences, etc. Other service groups included the Parade of Homes to showcase nicely-decorated homes owners open to the public, Belli Bin to playfully collect our trash, in-home clubs open to the public such as the Bellis Blues Cafe, etc. And there have been publications to keep people informed of what is going on, such as The Gazette. There are so many others that I did not list who contribute to making Bellisseria a great place to live. It is not just the place; it is the community.

Happy Birthday Bellisseria!”

Many thanks to Teresa for saving me hours of work! I know she put in many to get this all together and The Gazette~

Sunday after I had recovered a bit I spent the morning traveling all over the grid on The Nature Collective hunt which goes on until the end of the month. Many of the members of the Collective had lovely gifts hidden at their nature regions.

If you have an affinty with nature and want to see the lovely builds visit the Nature Collective and get their Hud that will help you visit the sites of all the members. Some are massive some quaint and small by the side of a road. Each has its own charm and they are all well worth visiting. There is also a photo contest involved. Check that out too!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Erazor/35/89/66

After belli party that the Bellihub is open and so is the belli demo homes ... and Abnor Mole did a great job with the tutorials!!!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/BelliHub/75/186/22

 

Source: The Gazette

 

Gemma Cleanslate

 

The Story of Second Life, 1999 - 2017, At The LEA

By Gemma Cleanslate

Hi all. I am on my way back from a health hiatus, slowly. I got a chance to get over to LEA 25 to visit the spectacular exhibit put together by گиіρєя (Sniper Siemens). If you love to reminisce about the early days of second life and all the fun of learning , visiting the Ivory Tower, camping, crashing, this is the place to go. If you just got here and would like to find out about the early days and the massive changes since the beginning, who is who and where , this is the place to go. 

The installation is fun and interesting. When I arrived, after greeting Philip Linden, I took the train car, which wound all around, showing you historical parts of Second Life and when and how they came to be.

 

 

The history of the Ivory Tower is there.  That is where anyone can go and learn about prims and what to do with them to build. It is still relevant today regardless of mesh. Do you know the first name for Second Life? Do you know what 'primatars are’? I always wonder who the first resident was....now I know. The very first years were fraught with problems including financial being the most but to see what came out of it all amazes me still.

 

Read about Mrs Chung, the first real life millionaire from Second Life holdings. She is still here today, as you know with numerous  holdings. 

I finally got the real story behind the closing of the casinos. I have heard so many! 

 

 

The closing of camping was one of the saddest recollections of my memory. I was a huge fan of camping... sitting around in shops  or in the woods of a sim that wanted to show traffic. I met some good friends doing that and made lindens for shopping. There are many road marks along the way

  
Burning Life and Burn 2 are displayed.. so many memories as I was a Ranger there for several years. I  looked at the earliest maps and ,wow, what a difference today

 The Greenies house is depicted. What a great place that was to visit and hang out. Imagine more than a huge house where you could skitter along the floor while the cat , about 500 times your size watched with interest. We fished in the kitchen sink for prizes and Greenie avatars.I still have several  and get to wear them once in a while. The humans living there never caught on about the mischievous Greenies.

You can see the origin of the Linden Bears, and the beginning of the Linden dollar. This place will keep you busy for a few visits.It was so enlightening as to how and where Second Life really got started and the determination to keep it going. I asked Sniper why she did this region . Her answer is “ This is an old idea. I was Mentor LL in 2006. I've always helped users in SL and this sim I think is helpful to everyone.” I agree! You have until June 23 to visit and enjoy.http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA25/120/126/22

Gemma Cleanslate

LEA2 : The History of the Vehicle

By Gemma Cleanslate

I am so absolutely blown away by the exhibit that Sapphire Hotaling, Chief Exhibit Builder & Designer,  has put together in LEA2 . It is The History of the Vehicle in Second Life. According to Sapphire’s notecard, “Thank you for your interest in this 6-month long project; hoping you enjoy it and have as much fun as we all did in the build and creation of this exhibit.  Feel free to invite friends, and share the notecard through your groups.” At the entrance you will see the names of some of those involved in the project.

After taking the TP in the police box, I landed in front of the Museum building and found in there exhibits of the early forms of building vehicles , prim and texture and sculpts. Even then the vehicles were very impressive. Moving out into the parking lots you will be amazed at the cars, trucks and other forms of transportation. On one side of the museum building you will see the cute shopping cart and even Flintstones' roller car where I took a seat, and some other oddities. On the other side wonderful early trucks and cars. There is a sections of parts and shells. These are all from various companies in sl that are identified on signs near the builds. The racing section has some absolutely spectacular vehicles . The effort and work put into the cars is amazing . 

When I have gone to a race I have not really taken the time to examine and admire what I am seeing in the cars or whatever is racing. I am there for the race itself.  This exhibit is giving me time to really examine and appreciate them. The parts themselves are "wowing," (not sure that is a word but fits).  One whole section is for the Giant Snails with so many examples of the variety of the snails themselves . There are giant cutouts of all those involved in the snail racing fun. 

All along the way you will find notecards with information on what you are viewing. Go out into the grassy area too where you will find some more to see.  Those who are older in Second Life will have lots of nostalgia and laughs, and those who are new will really find so much to help understand about the background of building moving objects in sl from the early days to now. There are a few air vehicles around, but I think there might be another exhibit sometime for air and water moving objects. 

This exhibit will be open until the end of May . I will certainly be going back for several more looks. It takes time for so much to rezz . There will be events every weekend so pick up the schedule at the entrance. 

This is  the best set of history exhibits I have seen since Marianne Mccann’s build at the SL10B. Do not miss it!  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA2/129/127/1501

Gemma Cleanslate

A Visit to Linden Endowment for the Arts 17

The Greatest Story Ever Told—The History of Second Life™ 1999-2015

By DrFran Babock

Perception is Everything

Over the years there have been numerous displays that covered the history of Second Life. It’s hard to deny that SL was and is something new and different and completely different. A lot of the past has been destroyed and built over, but the facts remain, and they chronology of this virtual can be laid out. What differs in each presentation that has been created is perspective and viewpoint. Different displays have focused on different aspects of the evolution. This is perfectly understandable. At the risk of getting too philosophical, it has to be said: The way in which a person sees things is clearly their truth and their reality.

Marianne McCann’s Second Life Tenth Anniversary (SL10B) build (http://slnewserpeople.blogspot.com/2013/06/sl10b-interview-marianne-mccann.html ) focused a lot on the early days. There is hardly anyone around who has a bigger collection of SL memorabilia than Marianne, nor anyone who can speak to it with as much eloquence.

That said, there is yet another display now that focuses on the history of Second Life™, and it opened February 8^th on the LEA 17 sim. It is the work of Sniper Siemens, who had attempted this challenging task once before on very short notice in LEA6 last year and was determined to try again.

I ran into Sniper, perched on an interesting armchair at the entrance to the installation, and she told me that she was very pleased with how this year’s version had turned out.

What about perception? Well, I found that a lot of the time, as I walked through this amazing installation, that I thought I might not have covered things the same way. Everyone loved the Greenies, but Sniper spent a lot of space covering them. It could have been that she had a lot of content from that time, but I can’t really know.

From 1995 to 2015

I loved the intelligent design of this exhibition. There is a definite path (a beautiful stone walkway that has outstanding specularity, created by Kriss Lehman of Botanical) that meanders from 1995 to 2015. The specularity is important, because it adds to the overall look of the build. As I wandered from year to year, the gleam on the ground and the trees that surrounded the paths created a sense of unity that was artistic at the same time that it decreased some of the confusion that often occurs when trying to get the sense of a large installation.

I won’t spend a lot of time covering the individual exhibits, because I just noticed that genius writer and blogger Canary Beck has discovered this gem of a build, and will focus on the history details and the quiz contained on the sim. (http://canarybeck.com/2015/02/08/take-the-second-life-history-quiz/ )

What I Noted

The installation is a knockout for those of us who love and appreciate the history of this virtual world. One thing of note: If you don’t like to read a lot when visiting, you will miss a lot. There are many signs with a lot of writing on them. I don’t know how to get around this, when there is a detailed story to tell, but I am not sure many will stop to read unless they want to complete the History Quiz.

The only other comment I have is that Sniper is a good builder. Her mesh seemed to add a lot to the build, especially when there is not a lot of 3D content about the early days. 

For anyone who has ever built a history build (as I did for SL10B and SLL11B) the big problem is always how to represent residents, because the human/furry, etc. form has a high land impact. Sniper’s solution was to use these bean type cartoon characters along the paths to represent the human aspect of SL. They added color, and another level of uniformity to the build, but they didn’t really seem to be part of SL history, so they struck an incongruent note to me.

What I Loved

It is clear that this build is a labor of love, and that Sniper poured her soul, and her time into its creation. I especially loved the Linden Lab San Francisco build, and the silliness around the Zindra build.

This build is a must for anyone who wants to learn about the history of Second Life™. Sniper had a vision for creating this history, and it is accessible and understandable.

The build focuses a lot on the financial aspects of the history, and for me, it provided a revelation. I never knew that the “haptics” equipment that is now becoming so popular with the current virtual reality craze, was actually the catalyst for Phillip Rosedale to create Second Life™. The Rig, as its called, supposedly still sits in boxes in Linden Lab.

There is a great display for those of you who don’t remember a time when Burning Life was very much a part of the culture. I have always thought, along with many others, that Phillip Rosedale was trying to create a virtual Burning Man when he first envisioned Second Life™.

The Greatest Story Ever Told—the History of Second Life™ 1999-2015 will run through the end of May of this year on LEA 17, allowing you plenty of time to learn about what came before, and what might come in the future.

LEA 17: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA17/26/237/22

DrFran Babcock

Maps of Second Life

By Gemma Cleanslate

A visit to New Kadath Lighthouse Art Gallery was a pleasure. The walls are covered with maps from all times in Second LIfe, some going way back to the beginning. I love maps, since I was a kid in school, I have always wanted to read maps. One summer for a part time job I worked at an automobile Association preparing trip maps for travelers . This was before global positioning systems . So to see all the maps of SL in one place and the progression of land and sea is so interesting. The maps of the railroads are there, as well as map of aviation routes  with airports pinpointed. The Blake Seas are there along with map of pirate areas. Bay City Maps were on one wall. There is a section showing the early holdings of the millionaire Anshe Chung. 

Next to the maps is a very interesting description of the origin of the areas in most cases.  In an alcove there is Aley’s globe of the SL universe. In the same alcove is a very ancient map done by Jack Linden tells his history in sl, serving as a land management “aspects” and a fond liaison with residents until 2010 and another by Dyne Talemesca who first named the Sansera continent. 


On one wall in another room is the history of Magellan Linden, the intrepid explorer who discovered many pre linden locations of Nova Albion. I asked Professor Juliana Lethdetter about the maps and how long they would be there and her answer was “The entire 'Maps of Second Life' exhibit is permanent.  When I first opened it in 2012, I thought it was going to be temporary, which is why the Destination Guide says it's 'limited time.'  But so many people liked it so much, that I decided to expand it instead of taking it down.  Currently everything on the First Floor and everything on the Mezzanine is part of that collection (plus a little bit of spill-over on the Second Floor, too.)  I move the pieces around as necessary due to limited space, and I do sometimes make changes or swap out old pieces for new, if I feel it improves the exhibit.  But generally what's up on the walls stays up." 


There will be some art exhibits on the second floor from time to time. Right now there is one set of ink sketches by Juliana. There are so many fascinating bits of history in these walls at New Kadath . I recommend you make a visit especially if you love maps and history. You will find so much there.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/New%20Kadath/34/31/23

Gemma Cleanslate

Second Life Historical Museum

By Becky Shamen

In my explorations of Second Life, I have covered many millions of square meters of space. For this adventure, we will travel in time and go back to the beginning days, when all of SL amounted to a mere 16 sims. I found the Second Life Historical Museum in the Destination Guide. The guide described it as follows.

Learn about the origins of Second Life and see displays of historical artifacts, images, and notecards that have been instrumental in shaping SL. Wear a free, fully-customizable avatar of our Primitar "ancestors" and relive magic from the early days.

The "museum" is an open air monument and, by panning your cam, the entire thing can be viewed, without taking a single step. In mid-December of this year, I will celebrate my 4th Rezday in SL. I have often wondered why I didn't start when SL first came on line. Now, having viewed it's early history, I can see why. With a life time of experience in art and design, early SL, to me, looks like something made from Leggo Blocks.

 Looking at this early street scene, it seems, back then, builders were limited to using basic primitives, like cubes, spheres, cylinders and cones. They had sculpts then, but nobody was very good with them yet. Today, we have mesh objects. Mesh is great for clothes and for limited use in scenery. While mesh does allow sim owners to have many decorations, using fewer prims, the trade off is increased lag. There have been many times that I have gone to a sim that sounded interesting, only to turn around and leave, because excessive use of mesh kept the place from rezzing and my av from being able to move. I wonder if lag was as big a problem, 10 years ago.

Early avatars, called `Primitars' at the museum, by today's standards, were scary monsters. I think  I would rather be bald than wear a hair do like this one. Thank goodness for flexi-prims. In one picture, I saw a dozen avatars, all sitting on the ground, with exactly the same pose. Today, with countless pose and animation balls, AOs, and avatar physics, motion has become very realistic. One can only hope that, ten years ago, with stiff, ugly avatars, they hadn't invented sex yet. That would be too perverse, even for my adventurous tastes.
 

This is the first Halloween party, held in Second Life. We have just ended the Halloween season and been to a lot of, so called, scary parties. If I had been around for this first party, I think I would still be having nightmares from it.

The next time you find yourself cursing Linden Labs, because you are still a cloud, the scenery isn't rezzing, you are only getting 1 Frame Per Second, or you've crashed three times in the last hour, remember, it could be worse. It could be 2002 and the big yellow duck wants to dance with you and take you home to his nest.

Phobos (229/151/33)

Becky "Sha" Shamen

The Portuguese Way

By Gemma Cleanslate

Often when I get an invitation to a LEA sim I encounter spectacular  installations that are really busy, show the art of one builder, and sometimes send one spiraling into the space or depths. There is a new installation on LEA19 to which I received an opening party invitation and, for once was able to attend. It was wonderful to sit at a picnic table and listen to a tribute to the popular Portuguese Fado singer, Mariza. I sat among some of the famous artists of Second Life and enjoyed it all. There was even a very famous performance artist who is banned by  LEA, but attended, incognito, almost, and actually sort of behaved. The party was fun, but to enjoy the sim I had to go back several times. 

The installation is quiet and lovely. It is called The Portuguese Way. It was created by Winter Wardhani and a team including Chagal Campestre, FlorCampestre, Janjii Rugani and Wan Laryukov. The scenes depict the beauty of the land of Portugal and tries to incorporate the history of  the past 900 years since its beginning. I took Qwark, a native of Portugal, on my second visit and he said so easily “Oh, there is the famous bridge into Lisboa”... “Oh! There is the castle of Sao Jorge” and on seeing a windmill on a hill said those are very common in Portugal. 

Along the way you can learn of the  history culture of this lovely land by picking up notecards at all the interesting stops. We visited a charming farm village typical of ones you will find in the Portuguese countryside. In a quaint shop there we saw the wares you might find in such a tiny town. Outside you will find pens with pigs and other animals roaming. As Winter said she thinks she went a it overboard on the contents of the notecards.  As you roam the sim you will find delightful views and places to sit and enjoy. I collected a shield and sword at the castle, a costume cap outside the chapel, and a few other items, so watch for them. 

There are teleports in many locales that will take you around to the interesting spots. I like to walk this type of sim after teleporting to the important places  because there are many quaint spots I will miss if I don’t. I found a paddleboat rezzer and took a ride along the river to a lighthouse , passing by the experience called blindness. This is described as “This totally dark maze was build based on the book "Blindness" by the Portuguese Nobel Prize winner José Saramago. Do you dare to feel all the emotions arising from being blind? To feel the despair of not seeing? To struggle to see the light again?” 

I went back the other way along the river, which passed a charming cozy spot to sit, and went to the base of a great waterfall where the fish are jumping all around. These are the points you might miss by just taking the teleports so take time to wander. I recommend beginning at the balloon ride, taking the TPs to various spots of interest and then ending with the paddle boat ride so you will not miss much in the region. The river winds under bridges and finally leads back to the beginning spot where you will find a fisherman’s camp . Grab a pole or just sit by the fire and relax. Savor the time you spend here. It should be here until December. 

Begin at the balloon ride. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA19/155/200/21

Gemma Cleanslate

Goddess Apparel

The fashions of the twenties are the basic foundation of many of today's dresses explained Athene Forder in the first floor of Goddess Apparel's Roaring 20’s Chicago location.

"If you look at the ball gowns of today, the slender style came to fruition in the twenties," stated Forder as she sits in a high-back chair, dressed in an elegant silk gown of her own creation, "It was a time of pushing limits. Men found that women would no longer be forced into the subservient mold of the past. Women had tasted the power of the vote and had learned that they could make changes in other areas of their lives as well."

Perhaps the more men pushed to control women, the more styles limits were pushed, was Forder's comment. Women's hair was cut shorter, as well as their skirt lengths. The best dressmakers of that time were women, but men held the pocketbooks prior to the twenties.

The most popular dress of the era was the flapper.

"Well, my guess would be because of it's flair," Forder declared. "It flaunted the staid, lady-like moray of expected female behavior. The style for a woman always included some type of hat. The twenties headdress kept that tradition, but once more pushed the limits, using pearls, beads, and feathers instead of, or in addition to a regular hat."

As for fabrics, Forder stated that cottons were still used, but mostly for the poor. Though the small detailed patterns of these cotton fabrics are a twenty's earmark. Satins tended to replace the heavy silks and beaded fabrics became popular. Though satins were originally from Asia, fabric manufacturers began duplicating the fabrics the best they could to fullfill the growing demands.

"An unusual fact about fashions during the twenties was the flat-chested look," she added. "Many of the women would actually bind themselves to fit the style."

At Goddess Apparel, Forder is making creative decisions. She has styled what she is proud to add her signature to since June of 2008. Her work began with a commission two years ago. Today, she has a portfolio of 79 different gowns. She also has men's jerseys, shirts and jeans. She works two hours a night and six over the weekend.

After a great deal of research about the flapper style, she created "Marika." Her goal was a dress that would allow the wearer to select the amount of fringe she wanted. By using actual photos of styles she loved, she'd then go to her drawing board and attempt to recreate them. She tries to keep a balance of soft pastels, bright jewel tones and dark, muted colors in her gowns. Marika comes in black, lilac, red wine, sapphire and teal.

"I was looking for a sexy style in the flapper tradition. I shortened the length for that bit of edge and then went wild with the fringe," she confessed. "It moves with you as you walk."

"Since then, I've been adding more and more period dresses to the gowns in the Goddess Apparel line," she said. "It wasn't until I looked through my line, with Chicago in mind, that I realized how many of them fit the style of the 1920's, especially the ball gowns."

"Zelda" is her second flapper dress. Instead of a feather, it has a little hat and veil and a more traditional cut to the top. The gown is made out of sequined material and comes in nine different metallic based colors," she informed me.

Forder selected a variety of colors that she could give a metallic sheen to. She named the dress after Zelda Fitzgerald, stating that Zelda was the icon of the day. It was her husband that wrote the Great Gatsby. I note that the gown she is wearing during our interview is named Lady Gatsby. It is available in a number of pastels with two exceptions: one is blood red and then she added black to a cream for a dramatic effect. She said that sales of this dress have been doing very well. Both have the shimmer of satin as you move and the skirt sits nicely without adjusting a sit script.

Forder created an alternative dress. She liked the lines so much and the jewels on the back straps, that she made a little cocktail dress from it, "Siren was actually designed as a challenge to myself," she confesses. "I wanted to try my hand at a split skirt... so I split more than the skirt. Siren is done first in silks, but it has a second set inside that is done in see-through chiffons...all held together with silver clasps."

Some of her gowns are adoptable to different time periods. She stated that most of the slender gowns may be considered a modern ball gown that fits nicely into the 1920's. Some of her older Victorian gowns have slender skirts to allow it to fit more eras. The outfits on the second floor of her Chicago location she considers to be more universal in look than the twenties, but would pass in Chicago.

We move on to the playful Leto, which is one of her early creations. She enjoyed adding the feathers. "I was trying to create a design that might catch the eye of the singer Katia Keres. The high cut skirt is surrounded by the feathered flexi. I tried to keep it feathered, so when I changed the colors, I kept as much of the white base of the feather there. This would keep them from all blending into one mess, preserving the outlines." With the more formal style skirt, she created a salsa version with the feathers which lead to the Leto Edge.

One gown demands my attention and I'm entranced with its detail. The Psyche is an elegant wedding gown. Without the train, the gown is perfect for bridesmaids. And, yes, she has veils available so you don't have to visit another store looking for one.

Forder is updating her main store to include multi-dress vendors that will have a note card of the included outfit parts. Some accessories are sold separately beside the appropriate dress.

She has conducted fashion shows in the past and hopes to do them again. Forder is also working on expanding her stores a little. Her main store, located in Newport Keyes, now has a dance area.

Netera Landar