Photo Editing for Fashion Bloggers 101 with Swirly

Hello darlings, Swirly here! As Second Life's number one fashion blogger for more years than she cares to remember, Swirly thought it was time to give something back to the little people. That's right, Swirly is going to share some of her most closely guarded fashion blogging secrets just with you!

Swirly knows you've all seen those other so called photo editing tutorials and is sure you'll agree - what are those girls smoking? Dodge and burn? Liquify? We want to make the pictures pretty darlings, not destroy them.

Here we have a snapshot straight out of Second Life. Yes, even with the ever radiant Swirly these pictures do look quite lackluster before we pretty them up, don't they? Let's do something about it.

Start by opening your picture in your favorite image editing software. Swirly recommends MS Paint. That's because it's made by Microsoft, so you just know you can rely on it to be the best quality software darlings. Try to stay awake for this bit, Swirly knows it's tedious. Now print the picture and close your image editor, you don't need it anymore dear.

Once you have printed your picture, you need to crop it. Use sharp scissors, and remember the "Rule of Thirds", which means you musn't crop more than one third of the picture away because it's quite wasteful. Think of the environment, and do recycle.

Now for the fun bit darlings, and where you can let your true talent shine through - editing the photo! You will need crayons in a wide range of colors, at least 8, or you risk your picture looking slightly unnatural. The best quality crayons come with a "tan" color for the skin tone, but pale pink mixed with white for highlights is a good second best darlings. Swirly recommends yellow for hair, but this may not work if you are not blond. Put lots of color into your picture and remove every hint of dullness.

Once you've finished editing your picture you will need to "scan" it to get it back on to your computer. Because this is very technical, Swirly recommends that you ask your husband to do it for you. Swirly always gets the nice boy at the copy shop to do it for her. And darlings, here is the stunning end result, that's all there is to it!


Skin - Tres Blah
Clothes - Pig
Hair - Bliss Couture and ZsaZsa's House of Beauty
Jewelry - Paper Couture
Lashes - Glow Studio

RC Cluster Twisted Tongues for 50L Friday

Hello darlings, Swirly here. After her shopping spree at Paper Couture, Swirly had precisely 50L left to spend, so thank heavens for Fifty Linden Friday, an event that Swirly usually leaves to the proletariat. Whose ranks she unfortunately seems to have joined for the moment. Speaking of Fifty Linden Friday, what on earth is up with these designers these days? These girls are practically giving it away! Emma Gilmour, Autumn Hykova, Saeya Nyanda, Roslin Petion, Twiggy Whippet, Lamb Bellic, Launa Fauna, Antonia Marat, Redd Columbia, Shai Delacroix, Apatia Hammerer, Julliette Westerburg and the list goes on, all offering themselves up for next to nothing like street corner hookers for a dime bag. Keep yourselves nice girls, that is all Swirly has to say on the matter.

Now on to the fashion, as Swirly knows that's what you're all here for. The always clever and fabulous Redd Columbia of RC Cluster has released these must have Twisted Tongues for Fifty Linden Friday and Swirly just doesn't know how she lived in SL without them! There are so many to choose from, but Swirly lost count after two. Due to the nature of Fifty Linden Fridays, they'll only be out for another hour or so, so hurry and grab them now darlings!

Paper Couture Fall Collection

Hello darlings! Fashion Victim presents Swirly's annual blog post. What could be better than a new Paper Couture collection to bring Swirly out of hiding? Certainly not a grey t-shirt from Tiny Bird, but Swirly would rather not talk about that particularly traumatic incident right now. Now on with the hard hitting fashion journalism dears.

Paper Couture has lots of short frocks on offer this season to show off Swirly's lovely legs. Swirly bought quite a few as they represented a substantial linden dollar saving over the longer frocks. Sequin Jungle is simply perfect for those indecisive evenings when you can't quite make up your mind whether to head for the disco or go on safari. You know what Swirly's talking about, and you'll never need to worry about it again. Swirly squealed in delight when she saw the turban included with this outfit, as it meant she did not need to choose a hairstyle for this photo.


Swirly's favourite frock this season is the White Cheetah Mini. Darlings, if you take off the shrug, you get slutwear. Now Swirly is sure you weren't expecting that from Paper Couture. It looks like the Lu Sisters are finally marketing to wider audience. Pro tip - look out for "PC Inc" coming to a Tableau sim near you sometime next year. On to the Dead Man's Necklace, not only is it the closest Swirly has come to a man nuzzling her bosoms in many a year, it's also just the most fabulous piece of jewelry Swirly has ever seen and it also reminds her of the "artwork" her daddy used to hang on the walls at home until her mother came in screaming at him to take it all down because it wasn't hygienic.


The Spotted Suit belies its name, revealing itself to be a suit with spots. Swirly is most impressed with the size of the jewelry in this season's collection. The Sunrise Earrings are simply massive. What this photo does not show you is that due to their sheer enormity, the earrings are piercing into Swirly's cheeks, causing incredible pain. But its all worth it darlings. Never let him tell you that size doesn't matter. It most certainly does.


Seen by Moonlight just inspires Swirly to strike a dramatic pose. The long, sculpted cape trails after you seductively as you walk, but it's something you'll need to keep checking to make sure you haven't accidentally tucked it into the back of your knickers before you leave the ladies room. Swirly knows not everyone has class darlings. The Treasures Bib is a particularly striking piece, and just perfect for the messier eaters amongst you, though heaven knows how you'll get all that encrusted food out of the gems.


The Beaded Top Gown has so many hints of different color, it will match anything in your wardrobe. Swirly chose a random pair of shoes from her inventory to prove this - look, they match! Swirly just adores PC's Metal Headdress - it's sure to hide a multitude of sins, such as baldness.


The Infinite Rainbow dress reminds Swirly of a week long migraine she had back in the 80s, minus the pain of course, though perhaps with a hint of nausea remaining. The Simplicity Necklace sums up all that is the Lu Sisters - always understated, never pretentious.

And that is the collection for this season. Well at least, what Swirly could afford. Alas, to stay in sugar daddies, one must log on to SL *smooches*

Skin - Tres Blah Designers United Light Fatpack
Hair - Paper Couture, Bliss Couture
Poses - LAP, Del May, EverGlow
Lashes - Glow Studio
Shoes - Paper Couture, Armidi
Eyes - Don't ask, don't tell darling