What Is The Sound Of One Dot Writing?

There Are Responsible Girl Reporters.....
(as with all photos on my blog, click to enlarge--my photos are Xcite! enabled)

In theory, this should be the first post of mine to hit I Heart SL : Fashion. Since this means many of you will be meeting me for the first time, let me say "Hi, I'm Dot Lane and this is my blog". I do feel compelled to write a little more about myself and the philosophy behind my blog however. (I heard you groan! Admit it!) Now I know what my loyal readers are saying. They're saying, "But Dot, we already know the philosophy behind your blog. Your philosophy is that a car wreck attracts rubberneckers." Au contraire! You have my philosophy mistaken for that of Britney Spears. And though I sometimes appear without hair after a particularly bad teleport and forget my panties on occasion, she is not the role model for my blog.

......And Then There Is Dot Lane, Ready To Blog!

So what is this blog and why do I write it? Second part first: I write the blog because I enjoy it. "What is this blog?" requires a longer explanation. I started this blog to write about myself, primarily because I have a notoriously bad memory for places I've been and things I've seen. Once I became comfortable in SL I started taking pictures of myself and realized that I should be keeping notes or at least tagging my pictures. I checked out Flickr but decided I wanted to write more than brief descriptions. And since I wasn't hanging out naked in sex clubs, I also thought I should write about the clothes I wore as well as the places I visited. The primary focus of the blog soon became clothes, which I've tried to combine, when possible, with observations about the occasional absurdities of SL and about SL in general. In other words, clothes and fashion and style enable me to write about other issues, so I suppose I'm operating under the "Mary Poppins" philosophy, although I like to think you get more sugar than medicine when you read my blog.

Important point number one: I'm not a reviewer of clothes. I don't solicit clothes for review nor do I write about things I wouldn't wear myself. This makes me an enthusiast, not a reviewer. A reviewer has a particular set of responsibilities. I, on the other hand, have no responsibilities. For the most part I am enthusiastic about clothes and design and why wouldn't I be? I buy the clothes I wear. This leads me to another point: transparency. I had a long conversation about clothes with a friend a few days ago and she said something like "but it is easy for you to look good--don't people give you the clothes you write about?" I felt my heart sink a little, because her statement meant that I haven't made it clear that I do in fact purchase most of the things I wear and that yes, I do actually go out and try to earn money to support my clothing purchases.

A Bribe? Umm...What Gave You That Idea? Have I Mentioned I Love CKS Designs?

Important point number two: Have I been given clothes in the past by store owners? Yes. It sometimes happens, especially after I've written a review of a store. If the review is a particularly long or thorough one, I'll send a link to the store owner on the theory that people like to see their work being appreciated. (Content creators are also very good about Googling themselves however!) After I do this I sometimes receive a gift back. I certainly appreciate the gesture it but it also make me feel a little self-conscious and I'm not sure what to say about the practice other than that it does happen.

I also have friends who are designers which is another reason why I hate to say that I write reviews about clothes--the line between advertising and editorial is completely obliterated when I blog about their work. And while I'm not going to publicize my friends list here, you can rest assured that you'll know when I'm talking about the work of someone who is a friend or acquaintance--I get all gushy. Like everyone else, I also have my favorite designers who will appear time and time again in this blog. I make no apologies about my love for Kit Maitland's CKS Designs (she's also a friend), my passion for Tete a Pied (now Fleur Skins) and Ingenue and Bossa Nova as well as all of the funky Japanese design I've found, especially places like Cipher and Kiki's Closet. Reviewers strive for objectivity and I find, too often, objectivity going out the window when I write about these designers and a host of others.

My final concern about joining a fashion blog feed is that I sometimes veer far far away from fashion in some of my posts. I'm the kind of person who would feel guilty if a reader came to a fashion feed expecting pretty pictures and instead found my rantings about IM conversations or my self-aggrandizing posts (forgetting for a moment that the blog is entirely self-aggrandizing--humor me here) about Google searches. All I can do is promise to try to keep a high signal to noise ratio so you don't tune me out.

So now you're saying, "Good lord girl, don't get all emo on us--we don't even know you!" Fair enough. But writing is my RL work and these are issues I have wrestled with at length so it is inevitable that they bleed over into SL. On a brighter note, if you're interested in my blog and want to know more, there is an archive of over 100 posts waiting for you. So go and read, or better yet, get out into SL to explore and have fun! If you see me around be sure to say hello or leave a comment at the blog. I love to chat.

You Just Can't Shut Me Up!

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Clothing shown:

There Are Girl Reporters.....

Suit: Tete a Pied "Womens Charcoal Suit"
Shoes: Tesla "Leather Vixens" in liquorice
Hair: Calla "ImSoPreddyv2" in black
Glasses: Mobius "Betty"
Skin: Soda "Nymphette" pale freckled

...And Then There Is Dot Lane, Ready To Blog!

Dress: Kikis Closet "Cynical" (the arm and leg band are part of the outfit as well)
Stockings: Savvy? "Concubine Trash"
Shoes: Fairlight "Ballet Boots"
Collar: Eat Rice! "Charm Collar II"
Skin: Tete a Pied Vivant "Blush Biba 1"
Cigarette: Virus "Cancer Stick"
Hair: ETD "Maaliyah" in Elika's Red
Pose: from Juicy's "Party Girl" set
Tattoo: Ink Stain "Multi Star Tattoo"
Earrings: M-C-H "Key Motif Studs"

...A Bribe?

Outfit: CKS Designs "Earthy"
Backpack: Little Heaven "LH Money Bag"

You Just Can't Shut Me Up!

Dress and Gloves: Bossa Nova "Norma" in Moss
Hair: Truth "Missy" in auburn
Skin: Another "(Re)" freckles, lust
Collar: Eat Rice! "Charm Collar II"
Tape Over Mouth: Overdose