Bollywood

One would expect that in a metaverse such as SL it would be easy to find attire from every continent of the Real World. Whilst western fashions to suit all tastes, from haute couture to guttersnipe grunge, can be widely found, you can find more Indian Sari shops in a single UK city street than the whole of the Grid. So dressing for a Bollywood-themed event wasn't as simple as it first seemed.

A search for "bollywood" seemed like a good place to start, especially when I quickly found a whole sim of that very name. Sadly, that initial promise soon waned as the sim, beautiful as it is, yielded only a freebie Gandhi outfit as far as clothing goes. Not *quite* the look I was going for. Bollywood is worth visiting for the atmosphere and Indian architecture though. Eventually I found two shops that looked promising - Mashooka Designs and Desi Beatz Apparel.

Desi Beatz comprises three small vendor spaces in a mini-mall surrounding a club of the same name, all owned by Sam1177 Alito - you really would be forgiven for missing it. But don't let the outward appearance put you off. The content on sale is excellent. All things for the Indian female can be found here, from bindi's (the little spots worn on the forehead by Hindi women) and mehendi (henna tattoo's), to beautifully coloured and textured shalwar, kurta (tunics), lehenga and saree. Some of the prim work isn't as great as it could be - the shoulder scarf for example don't fall correctly. But that is a minor fault. The prices are very reasonable, averaging L$300 for an outfit, L$40-100 per bindi.


Mashooka Designs has a much more upmarket feel to it, being a far larger store with western as well as Indian clothing and shoes. The range of clothing feels much larger as well, although this may be due to the clearer layout and labelling. I felt there was a western influence to some of the textures used by Aradhana Voight, Mashooka's designer, which may make the flattering styles more appealing to the masses, but wasn't so much what I was looking for. I still managed to spend far more than my weekly in-world wage there though!

Having decided on a lehenga from Desi Beatz Apparel for my Bollywood costume, I needed to find an appropriate skin. NOT an easy find. I eventually plumped for the Eros range from Nomine in the Ruddy complexion, which, with a little slider tweaking, provided the look I was after. My look was finished with Alexandra hair in Black from ETD, and plenty of gold bling for that Bollywood authenticity.

I loved my finished look and felt very much the Bollywood filmstar as I danced to bhangra music at tiny Indian club I stumbled across. Thank goodness my life doesn't have the drama Bollywood films do though!




*Skin::Nomine Eros Female - Ruddy - glitter [L$1000]
*Clothes::Desi Beatz Apparel - New Red Lehenga [L$300]
*Shoes::Goddess Heels - X3D - Digit Darkes [L$250]
*Hair::ETD Alexandra Black
*Eyes::Midnight Black by Orchid Dreams
*Bindi::DBA Brow Bindi 2 [L$100]
*Mehendi::Mashooka Designs Mehendi special {red} [L$85]
*Jewellery::Gold Bangles for both arms - Anita Angelus, Prim Princess::Elegant Gold Choker - Alyssa Bijoux Jewellery [L$189]::Double Hoop Earrings - Reminisce Jewelry [L$175 for three pairs]
*Manicure::TeteAPied Glitter Nails Pack in Gold