What *IS* Willis Talking About?

Evelyn Hartshon of Blogging Second Life set a challenge for bloggers this week: from the list on their website, choose and write about a store that you have neither heard of nor been to before. I chose Maai, because I’d mentally picked out at least half a dozen items from just the first page of their Marketplace store.

It turns out that I cheated a little bit: once I’d spent a happy hour clicking away on the Marketplace and gathered my pretty trophies in my inventory, I realised that, gathering dust in the lamentable depths of my “Still To Be Sorted” folder, was a dress I’d fallen in love with at an event I’ve forgotten the name of a month or two back. I have decided this does not count, purely because I still hadn’t heard of the store. I am nothing if not observant.

Maai’s Marketplace store is the first place you should look, should you find their offerings as pretty as I do. There are plenty of promos available – Ziza, on the left of the picture above, comes with prim belt and mesh shoes and was on sale for an irresistible $L99. It’s hard to turn value like that down when one’s Linden balance cries itself to sleep.

The right-hand dress, Darla, is the aforementioned dust gatherer, and I think you can see what attracted me to it. I’ve seen this template used by quite a few creators, but this is one of my favourite texturings – I’m a sucker for monochrome floral. Darla comes with the same style of mesh pumps in black.

The drawback of the templates Maai used to create these dresses is that they’re only sold in one size – some faffing with sliders may be in order. I didn’t find myself needing to make any changes, but I could just be lucky. It would have been worth the effort, though.

I should probably also warn you that, when I first tried this dress on, my ladygarden was poking over the top of the plunged front… not a good look. Handily, Aura skins come with a layer for the hiding of one’s ladygarden, which soon solved that issue – fortunately before I’d paraded around any newbie sims wearing it. This is not a fault with the dress, and certainly won’t stop me wearing it, merely a cautionary tale for preserving one’s dignity.

Maai is a diverse place to shop. Above left is the Andy mesh dress, which comes in three sizes and includes the mesh belt accessory. It’s great for everyday wear and also dresses up nicely. The centre picture shows the Uma shirt and Pia shorts, both clothing layer only and pretty solid basics for your wardrobe. On the right is Ary, an entirely prim sweater that’s surprisingly easy to wear, for such a detailed piece, shown with Jenna leggings, another simple basic that will probably match half the tops in my clothing folder.

Maai has an in-world store, but I believe the promo offers are Marketplace only. I definitely recommend a peek, if only to snap up some deals.

Other Credits:
Skins: Aura – Briar – Starlight (shown with Darla)
League – Jen – Bloom (all other pics)
Hairs: Wasabi Pills – Coco (shown with Zizi and Uma/Pia)
Lamb: Oleander (shown with Darla)
Exile: All I am (shown with Andy and Ary)
All poses by Frooti