Pixelapproved!

There are summer afternoons when getting dressed feels like far too much effort, but looking cute still seems entirely reasonable. This is one of those looks. A little bit bohemian, a little bit nostalgic, and, according to my shirt, a little bit dramatic. I will neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of that statement.

The starting point this time is DeeTaleZ‘s Amanda skin, worn in Europ on my beloved LeLUTKA Sasha 4.0. Amanda has that beautifully detailed, photorealistic quality DeeTaleZ does so well, with visible skin texture, soft colouring through the cheeks and nose, and enough definition around the face to keep Sasha’s strong bone structure intact. I especially like the mouth on this skin. It has a lovely natural shape on Sasha, and I only added Melancholic‘s Pale Glossy lips for a little extra shine. Nuve‘s Noelle brows in brown frame the face without becoming too heavy, while Avi-Glam‘s Zara eyes keep things soft and bright.

Of course, I was never going to leave Amanda quite that innocent. Goreglam‘s Oxytocin eyeshadow in purple adds a rather fabulous wash of colour around the eyes, and suddenly the whole face feels much more playful. Purple against platinum blonde is always going to get my attention, especially when there is plenty of pink in the light to play with as well. TRUTH Collective‘s Virtue hair does the rest. It is gloriously big, curly and slightly unruly, which feels exactly right for an afternoon spent wandering around outside rather than attempting to look remotely polished.

The outfit followed the same logic. The Kiwi Co.‘s Graphically Unhinged tank has that cheerful retro graphic that looks as though it escaped from a particularly happy corner of the seventies, and I paired it with OSMIA‘s Emmie low-rise jeans in navy. Yes, low-rise. Apparently we are doing this again, and I have made my peace with it. SHIFUKU‘s Boho lace long cardigan brings in that gorgeous burnt golden orange and gives the whole look a softer, almost end-of-summer feeling. Thalia Heckroth‘s Chancla leather slides finish it off with exactly the amount of effort I was prepared to put into footwear.

Then my little visitor arrived.

Geek‘s kiskadee apparently decided that my hand was an excellent place to spend part of the afternoon, and frankly, who am I to argue? There is something ridiculously sweet about this tiny blue bird perched on my finger while I am standing there in the grass, surrounded by all that late summer colour. It turned what was supposed to be another outfit picture into one of those small SL moments I love most. Nothing grand, nothing terribly important, just sunshine, bare toes, a ridiculous amount of blonde hair and unexpected company.

Summer is beginning to lean towards autumn now. The greens are getting deeper, warm golds suddenly look appealing again, and I am already finding myself reaching for colours I would have ignored a month ago. But I am in no hurry to rush it along. There are still afternoons like this to enjoy, and if a little bird wants to sit with me while I do absolutely nothing useful, I think that sounds like a perfectly good way to spend one.

XO, Graz