(To the tune of ‘O, Christmas Tree!’)

I was so glad to see a great designer like Ivey Deschanel of Sn@tch recently releasing an item that contains a system skirt. The system skirt is much maligned in SL, and it does have its limitations. It splits open in many crossed-leg poses, stretches weirdly in wider-leg stances, has that strange gap between waistband and body, but it’s still the best way to get that vintage ‘pencil skirt’ look if you’re a lover of vintage clothing, and I’ve seen it treated in many interesting ways (not the least being as the skirt section of a male jacket).

However, the one thing that most people complain about with regard to the system skirt is, “It makes my butt look HUGE!”

The key to working around that? Make a no-butt shape. Make a copy of your usual shape and dial down the butt and saddlebag sliders to pretty much zero. You’ll look very boyish (and possibly in dire need of a cheeseburger!) if you wear that shape with a normal skirt, or with pants, but wear it with a system skirt and the skirt will give you your hips and butt back; without that extra padding! It’s a good idea to rename that shape something like “no butt, for system skirt”, so you can just search for “system” and find it quickly.

I’m going to make a more detailed post about this on the main blog soon, but today’s was inspired by a cute skirt suit I found in Ivalde’s discount room. I bought the suit in both brown and beige, and mixed and matched them up:

The suit is called Brianna and was just 20L per set. Yes, it’s a little old, and obviously hand-drawn, but I like it for that authenticity. Mar chose the colour-change Flapper Pumps from Baby Monkey’s discount room, to go with them. Her bag is also from Baby Monkey (although I’m not sure if it’s still available there) – the Lulu Purse. Hair is the freebie Renee from Audacity at Savoir Hair and the earrings are the Oracle Gold Earrings with African Jade from Lilipily, which – if I recall correctly – were a DSN (Designer Showcase Network) gift. Poses are by Glitterati.

There are a couple more pictures behind the cut :)