I seldom share personal information in SL, but I'm going to break my rule for a minute. My husband owned a vintage clothing store as well as selling high-end midcentury modern furniture and one of the things that has always thrilled me in SL is well designed furniture and architecture. It lights my brain up and I can practically feel it smiling, a feeling I also get when I see beautiful clothing and shoes. I know SL is supposed to be a "social" platform but most often what turns me on are the amazing creations I see. With that in mind, I wanted to show you some of the spectacular non-wearable items that you can find at The Vintage Fair. This is a long post, so grab some coffee and get ready.
Let's start with
What Next. Apologies for failing to align the photos but I was dead tired by the time I got to these shots. I think the new Vintage TV Camera is one of the most clever new items I've seen in a really long time. The camera is scripted with 2 operating animations; one for larger and one for smaller avatars. The entire piece is only 11 prims and is copyable.
The Sophia Chair Set reminds me of mid-century
Danish teak furniture. The sets are available in 4 fabric options: Fawn, Grey, Mocha and Violet and have both a solid and printed pillow. There are 12 animations (some female, some male). Touch the pillow to review props of mugs and books that work with some of animations. I really admire Winter Thorn of What Next for the special touches she includes in her wares.
My lovey, Jacqui, purchased The Pasadena from
Funky Junk first. I hemmed and hawed and eventually broke down. You can purchase this marvelous California ranch in either a version with or without the garage. The garage can actually hold a vehicle or you can hide bodies there. I like the elongated look of the garage version though I also love how the patio on the no-garage version is so open. I really love the upswept roof of the house which brings just the right
Googie touch. The house has fantastically garish wallpaper reminiscent of the 50's and 60's and has all kinds of cute add on's like built in shelves, an operating fireplace, porch lights, mailbox, etc. There is a demo at Vintage Fair that you can access from the Funky Junk store there. If you are still having problems navigating the sims you might want to look at Ulla Coronet's, Funky Junk goddess,
flickr pages for more images.
Van Auster of
Post is one of my favorite prim crafters in SL. Van has elevated the use of sculpts and textures to a level that I can only dream of reaching. Much of his work harkens Art Deco and Mid-Century Modern but the 2 exclusive sets he has made available for Vintage Flair have a color palette that reminds me of the
Arts & Crafts Movement , which emphasized craftsmanship over mass production related to the Industrial Revolution of that era. Both the Endion Station Loft set as well as the Gogebic Parlor Set can be purchased as sets or as individual pieces. The sets offer a significant savings on fantastic pieces. The floor pillows on the Endion set offer 2 animations as well as reading books. The globe comes in both a scripted and unscripted version. The scripted globe has 2 light settings, warm and cool in a gentle glow.
The Gogebic Parlor set has awesome props for a medical setting. The salvaged medical cabinet has 3 soft lighting settings. Jacqui and I both went "oooo" at the colors. I completely forgot to take a photo of the amazing gaslights that are available. They come in 2 sizes and are composed of bendable brass tubing. They also have menu scripted lighting and particals. The Gogebic Pottery set (shown inside the cabinet) is has the rustic, handcrafted look of Arts & Crafts pottery such as Roseville, Rookwood, VanBriggle and Pewabic to name just a few.
Lisp is offering the Lolo Retro set which would find a perfect place in the Pasadena House by Funky Junk. The
Mid-Century era gave us some of our most notable designs by Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Heywood-Wakefield, and George Nelson amongst hundreds of others. It had a major presence in mainstream, middle class homes.
Popping back to the 1930's,
Hanaya has several offerings for Vintage Fair. It is so evident that Moriko Inshan, Hanaya's creator worked really hard on these items! Nana's china cabinet is modeled after her own grandmother's china cabinet and is stuffed full of fancy china and silver as well as vintage family photos. The TV room set includes chairs with animations, a television (I modified the image on the screen), a side and TV table, and touches like an ivy plant, coasters and photograph. If I have not bored you to tears yet this work is reminiscent of reproduction furniture of the time with themes of Chippendale, Duncan Phyfe,
Sheraton, etc.
Hanaya also offers this adorable New York Bus Stop as a freebie to guests of fair. It can sit more than one avatar and has 2 different animations. It is subtly decorated for the holidays and I adore the little pidgeon friend that accompanies it.
I found some great items at
Scrub. Many of them were accessories but they also offer this lovely Gramofhone (sp.) This cutie plays several different tunes from the 1930's. Oh and the turntable moves! Big fun!
For more colorful pieces be sure to check out
Zigana. They offer bright tables, happy prayer flags and garlands, music boxes and all kinds of things that will add a nice spot of color.
Ok.. I'm tired. Especially since my ex-wife, Whisper Despres, insisted we hold a bake sale after I shot and edited all those photos. All while she hops around like a rabbit.
Cool Beans, which I see is closing December 3rd and I've always loved to see at Fashionably Late, has this adorable, cute and whimsical Bake Sale Stand. It sits 2 people and has really funny animations, like head on table, waiting, etc. It's just too fun.
Credits: These shops are scattered all around Vintage Fair. For a map and complete list of slurls visit
this page on the Chic Management blog. The slurls on the store names are to the main stores. You will not find these items here until possibly after the fair, though some are noted to be exclusives.
