SD is changing; but is it for the better?

This post isn't going to have many shiny graphics, I'm afraid. I want to talk about something that has been on my mind for a while, and that I was just reminded of while shopping the Bazaar -- the declining quality of clothes on Stardoll. I've been noticing this for a while now, but lately it has reached what I think is an all-time low. We barely ever get any new regular stores or collections for existing ones anymore, and when we do they are mediocre or just downright bad (Fever, anyone?). Yet, I wouldn't even mind this as much if Stardoll weren't also rapidly closing down older stores simultaneously. If they want to remove so many stores from Starplaza, they need to replace them with something of equal quality and value.

And sure, right now the tributes are rolling out, but with the exception of GV, many members of the Stardoll community have been disappointed so far. Chanel was mismatched and underwhelming, and while Louboutin looked good initially from the spoilers, the majority of the shoes ultimately had all the graphic quality of a bunch of cheap freebies. I can only hope there's better stores to come and that we haven't seen the end of the tribute season yet.

To be honest, I think the lack of high-quality, fashionable pieces in the Plaza right now is a major contributing factor to the exorbitant prices in the Bazaar. People value older items at such high prices because everything new coming out is garbage, and they need the large amounts of money they make from those sales to buy other Bazaar items priced even higher, thus perpetuating the cycle.

These days I see more people who are Superstar and Royalty than ever, people who, like myself, were non-ss for a long time and decided to give Stardoll our money to contribute to a site we have enjoyed for many years. When there are so many of us helping to keep Stardoll afloat and affluent, why is the quality of the user experience constantly, persistently being lowered? Stardoll should be improving, not declining. I miss the days when they actually put effort into the clothes and stores being released.

...Okay, I lied. Have a shiny graphic:

Feel free to disagree with anything or everything I've said here. My intent is not to offend people, merely to state an opinion.

Giambattista Valli Tribute Store Review

Today I thought I'd do a quick review of the Giambattista Valli tribute store that opened a few days ago in StarPlaza. I'll be honest, it's also an excuse to show off some new graphics I've been trying out today. I've quite suddenly become obsessed with black and white photography again, so I've been playing around with monochrome minimalism in Photoshop for a couple of hours now c:

Overall I'm quite pleased with this collection. I think it's much better than this year's Chanel Tribute, which seemed sloppily made and incoherent. I normally love Chanel, but I liked one piece out of that entire collection. ONE. I planned to do a review of it when I first saw it was coming back but once the store was released I decided not to, because it was awful. This collection is so much closer to what I was expecting from Chanel.

I picked about four favorite pieces, which you can see below, that I'm planning to buy once I get some more Stardollars (I'm considering that Dior pass that just came out, although the gifts aren't great quality). I really like almost all of the items, but I have to draw the line somewhere since it's not good to spend huge amounts of real money on pixels, right? c;

The Sequin Valli Gown is my overall favorite, I think. It's very sophisticated in cut and design, I love how the transparency and sequins are drawn, and the skirt's underskirt is just the right length. (When the length isn't right it's a pet peeve of mine. One of the transparent maxi skirts I have in real life has an underskirt that's much too long. Which, now that I think about it, might just be because I'm short. But it's annoying).

The Swallows Tulle Dress is just adorable and summery and girly – not adjectives that I normally associate with the way I dress my medoll, but it's nice to have a change – and yet has a certain elegance to it. The Canary Couture Heels are a pretty unique style and colour here on Stardoll. The ankle strap part makes them stand out, and I've been using yellow a lot lately, so they shouldn't be hard to match.

Lastly, the Silver Couture Trousers are somewhat more formal than I usually like, but the design is so classic that they're a must-have. They can be paired with a statement top that nothing else will go with, or with other neutral pieces to become the stand-out in the outfit themselves. I chose the silver colour over the pink because (a) I'm not crazy about that shade of pink, and (b) silver is a much easier tone to match with things.

Tribute Store Rating: 8.5 / 10

Outfit of the Week | All I Want

I am utterly in love with this striped skirt.

It's so hard to believe it was free - to me it looks like it could be from one of the older Antidote or LE collections. I honestly think it's one of the best new clothing pieces we've had in months. For those who don't know how to get it, it's a free gift when you complete an offer for free SD or SC. I recommend the Glimpse Facebook app offer, if you have it available c:

I'm also enamoured with the free dress from the 250 million celebration. Like everyone else, I am disappointed that they didn't give us free SD like the last time, but the Topshop dress is the silver lining. I'm hoping the high-quality of the dress and skirt signal a revival of the old Stardoll style!

I'm wearing:

Black Bratz Hat - Bratz

Leather Jacket - Fallen Angel

Jailbreaker Skirt - Special Offer

Checked Clutch Purse - Bonjour Bizou

Nelly Hair Piece - Nelly.com

Bracelet w/ Studs - Evil Panda

Outfit of the Week | Railroad Track

I just bought this new hair and couldn't wait to style it. I can't even tell you how much I love ombre—my own hair in real life is ombre and very similar to this colouring-wise. I've been looking for a good ombre hair on SD for what seemed like forever without much luck, until the new Tress Up collection came out. Almost all of the new styles are designed well, but it's a shame that most STILL don't fit the dolls' faces properly. I don't see how they could possibly mess up so often, since presumably they design the hair on a Stardoll face, right? It doesn't seem very complicated...

I'm wearing:

Flapper Collar - Decades

Taupe Slouchy Sweater - Archive

Hotbuys Fanny Pack - Fallen Angel

LE Fringed Shorts - LE

Bracelet Clutch - Archive

Sky Ring - Nelly.com

Charlun Shoes - Killah

Outfit of the Week | Only If For A Night

This week's outfit was kind of inspired by the Florence + The Machine song I happened to be listening to, so I figured putting the song with it was only logical. And actually, my doll kind of looks like Florence with the red hair, although that's purely coincidental since this is the hair I've been wearing for a while now.
As I'm sure you noticed, I'm trying out some new editing techniques. I think it adds something without distracting too much from the outfit itself. I'm kind of obsessed with triangle patterns right now, I've been using them for almost everything c:

I'm wearing:

Black Ocean Top - Bonjour Bizou (Bazaar)

Collar - Special Offer (Bazaar)

Cross Necklace - Fallen Angel

Editorial Shorts - Decades

Soft Black Clutch - It Girls

Knee High Socks - Evil Panda (Bazaar)

Leonora Shoes - Miss XV

RL Trend | Spikes and studs

Today's trend is one that the fashion world is no stranger to -- spikes, studs, and anything in between. A longtime favorite of grunge fans, these metallic decorations have started to gain momentum in other fashion subdivisions. It's no surprise, really. When added to clothing or accessories, they instantly add edginess and sophistication, especially when used asymmetrically.

Fortunately, unlike last time's Real-Life Trend segment, there are plenty of options on Stardoll when it comes to this look. Below are some of my favorites that I own:

There are also some nice pieces using this trend in the Starplaza that I don't own. Velvet Orchid, in particular, has a lot of clothes and accessories that have spike detailing on them.

These shorts are similar to the ones above, except pink and with asymmetrical spikes. I think the graphics quality is a bit higher as well, in fact these almost look like LE to me. I think they would have been better in a different color (I'm not a major fan of pink, but these shorts are still a great piece to have and easy to style. With neutral or dark accessories to balance out the pink, they could really stand out in an outfit. The price tag is a bit on the higher side, but these are certainly a worthwhile investment. I've been planning on getting them myself at some point, although at the moment I'm pretty much broke -- I have to wait for another pass to come out.

A great casual bag (well, technically it's a backpack. shhh) for any grunge-themed outfit. The colour scheme of silver and black is classic and will go with almost anything, as will the design. The only thing I've seen some people do with this bag that I don't like is tuck it under their doll's arm. It's a backpack -- that wouldn't work in real life and it looks kind of ridiculous on Stardoll too, in my opinion. But anyway. At 6SD, this bag is extremely affordable, even for non-superstars!

So I actually do own this one, I just forgot to include it in the image above...oops. Another piece from Velvet Orchid (I told you they have a lot of spiky things), this dress is the perfect blend of girly and edgy. I know I said above that I don't like pink, but I sometimes like shades of light pink, which is the case here. The dress's design is unique and not only does it make use of the spike trend, it also incorporates two others -- cutouts and a skater skirt. The graphic quality is high, but so is the price, unfortunately. This is a wonderful item to have, but you might want to wait for a sale before buying if you're on a budget.





And lastly, as a bonus, I've found a couple pictures of gorgeous couture outfits that include spikes and studs. The second one is from the recent Met Gala for the Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibit -- I loved almost all of the outfits from that event!

Outfit of the Week | I Follow Rivers

So I'm not even sure how to start this...I'm alive? I think it's been a few weeks since I've posted anything here. The end of the semester really got away from me. Whoops :s But now I'm done with school and, although I still don't have copious amounts of free time, I'm going to be making an effort to update here regularly again. As you can see, I'm going to be making these outfit posts a weekly thing, and hopefully introduce some new segments soon.

I'm wearing:

Circle Glasses - Killah

Hotbuys Techno Top - Bonjour Bizou (Bazaar)

LE Fringed Shorts - LE

Pendant Necklace - Bonjour Bizou (Bazaar)

Tassle Pleather Purse - It Girls

Gabriella Flats - Nelly

My apologies

I just wanted to update here with something to let you guys know I'm still around. I've been too busy with end-of-semester schoolwork to post for a while now, which of course was not my intention when I started this blog. The quality of the posts here is important to me, and so I would rather not update for a few days then update every day but with low-quality posts.

In other news, if anyone's interested, I was in New York City last week and returned overflowing with fashion inspiration, so once I get some free time you'll be seeing lots of new posts! Although I just found out that the Boston bombers were planning to head to NYC and set off bombs in Times Square on Friday - I was IN Times Square that day. Not cool, not cool at all. That was quite a shock :s

Outfit | Where Are Your People?

We've finally been getting warmer weather where I live, so I was inspired to make a more traditional "spring" outfit today. It's got pastels and lace and everything, quite a change from my usual grungy looks, no? I actually used to dress like this all the time a couple of years ago, on Stardoll and in real life, but then for some reason I started liking darker looks. I still like this style quite a bit though, I just don't wear it as much.

I'm wearing:

Daisy Headband - Pretty 'n Love (Bazaar)

Grand Knitted Wedding Blouse - Voile

Lemon Lace Top - Pretty 'n Love (Bazaar)

Hot Buys Citron Skater Dress - Bonjour Bizou (Bazaar)

Prato In Fiore Shoulder Bag - It Girls

Basic Nude Oxfords - Basics (Bazaar)

Two more media partners!

I'm happy to announce that Abstractions is now partners with two more wonderful blogs, the first of which is The Kuki's Memoires, owned by kukipopoi!

Her blog is lovely, and it's clear that a lot of effort is put into it - the pictures alone in each post must have taken quite a bit of time, given the amount and high quality of them. I especially like the fact that it has a nice balance between writing and pictures. I've seen other blogs where there is too much of one or the other, but The Kuki's Memoires has the perfect amount. Her styling and review posts are also excellent - the outfits she designs are super creative and it's obvious that she has a talent for layering clothes to create unique new styles. Very inspirational for anyone trying to break out of the metaphorical "box" with Stardoll outfits themselves!

Our second new media partner is The Best Bargee Bar None, owned by Miloshki!

The only major Tumblr-based Stardoll blog (that I know of, anyway!), The Best Bargee Bar None brings something really unique to the blogging community, especially in terms of graphics. I absolutely love her Anatomy of an Outfit posts - they're a very artistic way to display outfit inspiration, and they just look so polished and minimalistic one can't help but feel inspired by them. I also really like the outfit styling posts and the way she designs sets of outfits that have a clear theme to them, almost like mini fashion collections of their own. Overall, there's a definite hipster-ish feel to this blog, and if you know me at all, you'll know that means it was an immediate favorite!

Outfit | Face In The Crowd

I haven't been terribly inspired for outfits lately for some reason. I put this one together to showcase one of my favorite sweaters that I found in the Bazaar, and this lovely clutch from the Windows on the World store. Hopefully some new stores will start coming out soon and I'll have some new pieces to use in outfits. I'd love another tribute store, or even just some good new collections in the stores we already have.

I'm wearing:

Encroaching Peach Sweater - Bonjour Bizou (Bazaar)

Paradise Preform Pants - Supertrash (Bazaar)

Copenhagen Clutch - Windows on the World (Bazaar)

Hat - Designed by me

Charlun Shoes - Killah

Hotbuys Weekly Review

I'm sure by now most of you have seen this week's Hotbuys - they're inspired by the Prada S/S 2013 collection, which in turn appears to have been inspired by traditional Japanese costumes. There are five pieces as usual:

     

The presentation is wonderful and the items are very well-made and well-designed, but most of the pieces are so unconventional that it would be difficult to find things to go with them. Add that to the prices - which are on the higher side - and for many it may not be worth it.

In my opinion, the bag is the best buy out of all of them. It's unusual and unique, but with its classic colours and sleek design, it's an item that will be a great addition to many outfits. The skirt also could be worth buying; it has a nice design and the print on the ribbon would probably be easy enough to match. The only drawback I see is the super-high waist, as it might be difficult to find shirts that fit under it + also match well. But overall I'm very impressed with the quality of these Hotbuys in comparison to those of previous weeks (although last week's were nice too).

I was also planning to include some styled outfits using the new HBs by people around Stardoll, but I looked for quite a while and could hardly find any! It seems that many people don't like them, or perhaps are simply trying to save their Stardollars for the LE decor that has been hinted at.

What are your opinions on this week's Hotbuys?

x Ravessa

First-Ever Blog Partner

First off, I must apologize for my absence. I've been unusually busy over the past week and I haven't had enough time to devote the effort required for a quality post. It won't become a habit, I promise. But anyway, the news - Abstractions is now partners with The Stardoll Lookbook, created and run by sparklewand12!

She has an amazing and unique sense of style, and her blog is absolutely wonderful. The posts are of all kinds, not just outfits - there's reviews, stylings, real-life trend discussions - and they are always top-notch quality. Check it out, if you haven't already!

x Ravessa

RL Trend | Geometry

Nothing much tends to happen on Stardoll on weekends, so today I thought I'd write about a real-life trend I've been particularly liking: geometry. No, I'm not talking about the mathematical kind! This post is about geometry and geometric designs in fashion. Triangles, lines, squares, and trapezoids - anything goes. On their own, the shapes look minimalistic and abstract, and combined with other elements or prints they add a unique edge.

Collage designed by me :)

Recreating this on Stardoll can prove challenging, due to a lack of similar designs, but there's always StarDesign and I have seen some really wonderful user-designed geometric pieces. They're fairly simple to make - you can use the shapes provided and combine them in creative ways to get great designs.

I took a stroll through the Plaza to find some other, Stardoll-created pieces that can be used to add a little geometry to your look:

That's all for now!

x Ravessa

Outfit | Tainted Love

As you might notice, I'm wearing the LE skirt I mentioned in my review yesterday - the one that was still available, but I hadn't bought. Well...it wasn't sold out today either...and I've never had a lot of willpower when it comes to buying stuff. But hey, if there's anything worth spending large amounts of stardollars on, it's LE, right?

I don't regret buying it though. I really like how I've been able to style it and it seems to work well with lots of things in my closet :)

I'm wearing:

Two Tone Belted Blazer - Windows on the World (Bazaar)

Golden Trim Nutcracker Vest - Voile Holiday Boutique (Bazaar)

Stunning Falls Scarf - Tingeling (Bazaar)

Bushra Bag - Miss Sixty

Draped Pleather Mini - LE

Basic Black Tights - Basics

Superbowl Thigh High Tights - WOTW (Bazaar)
Thanksgiving Heels - Special Offer

Outfit feature | April's LE

Sollare

I was just browsing through the catwalk on Stardoll to see how people had styled their new LE purchases, when I came across this great outfit by Sollare. It's not made up entirely of LE (like some that I saw), but the accessories are all from the new collection, with the exception of the flower brooch. I like the fact that it looks both dressy and casual, and could easily work either way. The colours are also wonderful - black, white, and gold is a classic colour scheme, but the addition of the two green shades makes the outfit something new and fresh.

LE

In light of the spring 2013 Limited Edition collection released yesterday, I thought it appropriate to make my first post a review of some of the pieces. Like everyone else, I had been expecting it to come out soon, so I was really excited when I woke up and saw that it was already out before I had to leave for school.

Overall, I was quite impressed with the quality of the items compared to previous collections. There was much less neon and pink this time around and the focus was more on casual streetstyle, with elements of grunge, no less - one my favorite styles at the moment!

The Best:

Gold Trim Moto Jacket, 132sd

This jacket is a bit pricey, but I think it's one of the very best pieces of the collection. It's well-drawn, open so that you can see whatever outfit is being worn underneath, and the zipper detailing adds a touch of personality and interest. It would look great styled for spring with a flowy maxi skirt, or in a more rock-inspired look with some ankle boots.

Fringed Shorts, 52sd

These shorts are on-trend, an excellent color with just a bit of an ombre effect, and are versatile enough to be worn with many different styles of outfits. I think the versatility especially is a great advantage, since many LE pieces are so 'out there' that it becomes difficult to find ways to use them with any kind of regularity. And the fringe detailing is wonderful. They're a great buy, especially with that price tag!

Quilted Flounce Skirt, 78sd

This is a great skirt that can be dressed up or down. While skater skirts are very much in fashion right now, this one constitutes a slight variation to the style with the use of a quilted design. The price is a bit high, but as far as skirts on Stardoll go, this is a very nice one and definitely worth getting.

Draped Pleather Mini, 78sd

This piece doesn't seem to be as popular as the others, judging by the fact that it hasn't sold out yet. I'm guessing the disinterest is due to the fact that it has an odd shape and many people think it might be difficult to style. I do agree that if you want something you can wear a jacket over, this skirt isn't for you. But I think it could easily earn its place in any wardrobe if a bit of thought is put into how to style it. The stud details combined with black fabric make it a highly current yet unique piece that can go with many things.

What I bought:

As much as I liked all of the pieces above, I only ended up with one item (the shorts), mainly because I know I would hate myself for spending so many Stardollars in one place if I had bought more. I'm really happy though, because this is my first ever LE item. I was never Superstar at the right time to buy it before (although the collections were so bad I didn't care!).

How I've styled them for now:

Jacket - Windows on the World (Bazaar) | Shirt - designed by me
Shorts - LE | Tights - Basics | Clutch - Archive (Bazaar)
Sunglasses - Killah | Shoes - Killah | Hat - designed by me

x Ravessa

The obligatory introductory

If you're reading this, it means that the secret documents have finally been unsealed to the public. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is...just kidding. What it actually means is that I finally stopped being lazy, or let go of my fear of failure, or whatever that mysterious force was that was holding me back, and got myself one of these here newfangled Stardoll blog contraptions. *canned applause*

This is mostly going to be a lookbook blog in the beginning, until I have enough time to work on some other types of posts. I'll be showcasing not only my own outfits, but also those of others that strike me as particularly well put-together. There might also be posts about real-life trends, music I'm particularly liking, and other miscellaneous fun things c:

Farewell for now!

x Ravessa

(p.s. can you tell I really like the galaxy trend?)