It's been just a little while since I last entered a ~silentsparrow~ establishment; long enough, in fact, that until yesterday I hadn't even managed to get to the new island (for which I will now die of shame).

It's also conceivable that when I arrived there, I was so taken with her recent offerings that I bought one or two outfits. Alright, eight! No, no shame there at all. Not even a little bit.

I was fortunate when I arrived that I already had my lights set to Midnight, and was therefore able to appreciate all the work that had gone into the lighting scheme. To begin with, I fumbled around some of the buildings in the sim, getting my bearings; I didn't manage to drop in at the front door, but rather through some out of the way back entrance. This took me through several rooms of artwork by the owner of ~silentsparrow~, hyasynth Tiramisu, her partner Jessica Ornitz, and a handful of other talented artists. Moving along from there I wandered into the picnic area, slipped into the water and was scooped up into the mill; through the trapdoor in the roof, I found yet more artwork. "All this is lovely," I thought, "But where has all the clothing gotten to?"

More wandering about outside brought me finally to the front gate, and thence to the clothing shop; as has already been hinted at, I was in for a treat.

The ~silentsparrow~ store is like a decadent triple-decker chocolate layer cake covered in a delicate tracery of frostings and cream. Each layer contains new treats of a slightly different variety than the others, but is no less delicious!

How to describe the style? To be overly simplistic, most of the clothing is a gothic, Victorian, romantic mixture with a teensy dash of punk to be found here and there. Every piece of clothing within the clothing sets (with perhaps, some of the underwear as an exception) is ornate, featuring a pattern the same as or complementary to the rest of the set. Lace and flimsily transparent fabrics make up some garments, while jackets and coats look to be made of tougher stuff.

Hyasynth is reputed to slave for many, many hours over these beauties; up to fifty hours per (outfit/item) - well it's true! Hyasynth and Jessica are among my oldest Second Life friends. We were neighbors together at the beginning, back when Achlya was the edge of the world.

Hyasynth's time, patience, talent and expertise are all evident in the garments and in the artwork she creates. For those you you not familiar with her work, you maybe wondering how much she charges for these magnificent pieces: two piece outfits are sold for around L$300, while I saw outfits with between seven and fifteen pieces going for less than L$800. Pricey for clothing, perhaps, but a bargain when you consider the quality of work, and the mixing and matching opportunities afforded by each outfit.

There's more than just clothing. There's artworks, furniture, fiendish laboratory equipment and a lot to explore. Not all of the spaces are above ground, and some are well hidden.

All in all, even if you are not going to buy, I can thoroughly recommend visiting the island. The sim itself is beautiful in a haunted, gothic manner, the builds are high quality, the artwork superb, and the clothing in a class of its own. One word of warning to those who intend to buy, and even to those who don't: bring a fat account balance, you'll need it.

Gallery: Silent Sparrow