I got the chance to re-acquire this lovely  Taiga Aisaka figure from MegaHouse’s Brilliant Stage line during HobbySearch’s sale earlier this month.  I say ‘re-acquire’ because I had her on my pre-order list at one point, but dropped her after every figure on my pre-order list was delayed to August — the month this Taiga was released.  The funny thing is, I had my pre-order with HobbySearch back then; so this could be the very figure that I pre-ordered.  Instead of paying full price, I’m bought her for 60% off instead.  ^^v

MegaHouse’s Brilliant Stage Taiga Aisaka was released in August and retails for ¥6,800 — apparently that’s the standard price for 1/8 scale figures nowadays.  Sculpted by Hatsumi, the quality is really nice for this tiny figure.  But one shouldn’t expect anything stellar, given the somewhat boring pose and that controversial face.  Yes, I’m talking about THAT face.  The one where Taiga is smiling, as if she was taunting her next prey.

I’m a little bit torn when talking about MegaHouse quality because they always give us chocolate with a hint of shit in it.  MH never disappoints when you look at the figure as a whole, I”m all for the gestalt principle, but the sum of its parts never adds up.  There is always something missing or something neglected in these MegaHouse figures that is really shameful on their part.

First, it was the paint transfer and bulky clothing on those dreaded Queen’s Blade figures with no instructions.  They fixed that problem, minus the instructions, and gave birth to a bigger issue which I’ll talk about in my next review.  Then there is that hair seam line problem that seems to pop up on every other figure they release.  I’m not talking about the seam line that shows up on the top of the head; I’m talking about the seam lines at the BACK of the head.

Nonetheless, MegaHouse still makes really nice figures that suits my taste and preferences.  The paint job is spot on with Taiga, the sculpt looks lovely, and the base is tiny; three essential elements nicely covered by MegaHouse.  But, personally, I find the pose on MegaHouse’s Taiga a bit too static for my taste.  Normally, they do a really good job with boring poses by incorporating an element to indicate movement with their figures; but that wasn’t the case here.

As I’ve mentioned in my Kotobukiya Taiga review, I like Taiga’s dere personality more than her tsun side.  That’s why I like this figure, even though every soul who reads my blog have told me the Max Factory Taiga is better.  Read this: I am not paying $200 for that figure!

MegaHouse did a really good job with Taiga’s dere face.  Sadly, the same can’t be said with her smiley face.  I’ve seen many comments about her face being “off” when I first posted about her back in April, but I still don’t see what’s wrong with her face.  She might not have the Taiga face that you prefer, but you can clearly identify her as Taiga.

To all you Taiga fanboys/girls out there, please elaborate on what’s “off” with her face if you’re going to tell me “her face is off” because, sadly, telling me “her face is off” in the comments is not going to help me with identifying what’s “off”.

Taiga’s smiling face looks better than what I had in mind, but it creeps me out just looking at this. :S

I didn’t realize this at first, but you can see the HUGE contrast between Kotobukiya and MegaHouse’s colour pallet.  You can see that MegaHouse have some really good painters working for them.

The level of detail on MegaHouse’s tiny Taiga figure is right up there with the big girls.  But you can see the sculptor’s negligence amongst the beautiful details on the figure.  That dreaded pair of  seam lines runs the length of Taiga’s long hair.  The sculptor literally slapped a piece of  on Taiga’s head to finish the figure and didn’t care to blend that piece in with the rest of the figure.  They did this for Zero and Sakura Nanako as well.  It’s a shame that they chose to use this crude method to finish these, otherwise, really nice figures.

Aside from the seam lines, you can see that MegaHouse put in the effort to make sure all the details are there to be seen.  The finish is a bit rough for MegaHouse’s recent standards; but I’ll give her a pass having just reviewed two Kotobukiya figures recently.

Taiga can stand without the base.  But that’s not necessary because the base is quite small, the smallest in my collection.

MegaHouse is one of the few figure manufacturers that knows how to make their bases.  If you can’t make a diorama, make it clear!  But you must add some etching on it to make it look elegant with a minimalist approach.

Obligatory pantsu shot.

Meatballs!

The good:

• She was on sale!
• Taiga in her school uniform
• Really nice paint job
• Tiny, tiny base

The ugly:

• Smiling face that no one will use
• Nasty seam lines on her hair
• Boring pose

There are a only a handful of Taiga figures on the market to date, and unfortunately, MegaHouse’s Taiga only manages to sneak her way to the middle of the pack…somewhere between Kotobukiya’s Swimsuit Taiga and Chara Ani’s  Uniform Taiga.  This doesn’t mean MegaHouse’s Taiga is inferior to any of them, it’s just that she isn’t well received among her fans and to those who highly value “anime accuracy”.

The beautiful paint job is this figure’s best asset.  The sculpt looks really nice, but the pose is boring and the finish is on the rough side.  Her pose is so boring that I got tired of looking at her already.  She’s definitely not the best MegaHouse, or Taiga, figure out there.  But, if you absolutely must have a Taiga figure in your collection and doesn’t want to drop a fortune for the Max Factory or Kotobukiya versions, this should do the job.  Otherwise, spend the money or wait for a future release.  Her pose is just too boring in a world of fancy and panties.

I haven’t noticed anyone else on my blogroll with a review of MegaHouse’s Taiga yet.  Please let me know if have one.

I always wonder why black, but it is certainly a good thing comes to black Friday.  I am shopping mad today (in SL of course).

The shoes from M+M are definitely one of my favorite shoes now. They are so elegantly made.

un Jour gave this beautiful feather decoration as group gift a few days ago. It might still be in group notice.

details…

Hair braid crown & Reindeer : Scribble (FLF)

Tippet: AA- fur tippet A

Top: Modd.G- the urban babydoll (old weekend fever)

Gloves: spork- cosmo gloves (old gift)

Skirt: RunoRuno- Knit skirt black

Leggings- dg- splatt leggings

Hair: Kin- Cami

Shoes: M+M- strap flat shoes

Feather eye decoration: un Jour- Oiseaunoir (group gift)

Skin: vive9- Grace (free)

Ring: CaLLie Cline- the rock black diamond (FLF)

Birds & feather tattoo on face: Plastik (FLF)

Yey! I can’t afford to buy loads of clothes so I found out a way to save money. I just loose most of the weight I’ve gained while moving to Germany. Moving to another Country for most people result in some weight gain or weight loss. In my case, when I moved to Munich, I didn’t start with sports as I was supposed to and I wasn’t used to the groceries and a bit overwhelmed of all the good chocolate bars they have here. So I gained about 9 kilos in like two years. Which isn’t good. I have a heart condition and to jump in weight and stop doing sports and eating like burger king every fourth day just isn’t that good for me. Now I’ve lost about 5 kilos in soon to be three months, going slow here, don’t wanna push it. And all of a sudden I can wear all the clothes that’s been looking weird and illfitted on me before. So my wardrobe has just been a whole lot’a bigger. Feels good. I’m not going to buy any new clothes til’ I’ve lost about six kilos which nI hope will be about the 18:th – my birthday. I wouldn’t say I’m on a diet. I haven’t eaten a salad in these three months, I throw up if my food doesn’t make me full… I’m just doing more sports and me and boyfriend cooks a whole lot more at home.Our pizza place has gotten more expensive so we don’t eat that much pizza anymore either. And I’ve started doing more sports. Which is good although my knees aren’t enjoying it too much. And I don’t want to get really, really thin and I know I’m perfect just the way I am so don’t worry, I just want to feel good and healthy and I didn’t before. I got short of breath, my heart was pounding like a freak and then it dropped all of a sudden (irregular heartbeats, haven’t had any problems at all the last year though) and my stomach was really bugging me, which turned in to a bad circle, to cure my bad stomach I had to eat… and so on and so forth.

So today, as all days, we’re going retro style!

Skirt – Hunkydory ~ 2006

Sweater – Mono ~ 2006

Boots – Vagabond fall 2007

Bracelet – selfmade

ZARA Pencil Skirt Size S, SGD40, retail at 60 plus, fits a UK6-8. Condition: as good as brand new, no defects.

All blue and Filete for this tanguera´s skirt !!

Pollera azul fileteada

Burda 11-2009-120

Although the pleats intimidated me, I knew that I had to try to make this skirt.   I made it out of a tan wool crepe and lined it with the striped lining that I bought tons of and use for everything.

Since I have such a short attention span, I couldn’t read all of the directions. I did it my way.  **Cue Frank Sinatra singing**

• I serged all of the edges of the fabric and lining, including the pockets before I began sewing, which saved me from having to go back and finish the seams.
• I added about five inches to the length since everything that I make turns out too short, and I am very short to begin with.  I don’t like anything to be above my knees.  It’s a bit longer than I intended, but since it turned out so full, the length works.
• I attached the front of the waistband (the part that is seen) to the front of the skirt and the back of the waistband to the lining.  I placed the skirt and lining right sides together and sewed them at the top of the waistband.
• I sewed the tops of the pockets that were to double as belt loops closed.
• I omitted some of the top-stitching
• At this point I haven’t hemmed it, but have left the serged edges exposed.
• The pleats are more open than on the line drawing.  This is either because of my hips or because I didn’t ensure the pleats were totally closed when I sewed the pockets on.

I like it!  It looks great with boots.  I won’t make it again because one is enough, but I find it amazing that my best results come from Burda patterns.  Hmmm…

Fila Women's Winter Baseline Skort, Tenniswarehouse.com.

Hi again, I’ve been away from here for a little while – sorry about that…

Not much women tennis news right now, but I did find this great skort that just came in at Tennis Warehouse. Elagant, cool and stylish. Great work, Fila!

The same style is also avaliable as a dress, click here for more info.

Ebay.com

Ebay.comEtsy

Etsy

Sadly, I couldn’t find anything that strongly resembles Ms Waldorf’s necklace – this is the closest I got

Etsy

Link

Link

Click

Link

Very difficult to find a very similar coat around or under $1oo, so this is what I found

Yes, not black but red, but still very classy. Click

Here

Ebay.com

Click

CLick

Find it on Link

Link

What’s that black thing clinging to Blair’s legs? Oh no, no no no.. another Blair-fashion faux pas. I’ll just assume all her tasteful skirts and dresses are stuck in the dry-cleaning.

Only one outfit?? (Apart from the stage costume). Having a quiet fashion day, Ms Waldorf?

This skirt in grey and black is the group gift by plastik

the poses are from so many styles sms

the shoes are from maitreya - older group gift
and the shirt is from redgrave -  not free

Skin: group gift ‘:::: IrEn ::::  Designs’
Tshirt: A:S:S (suscribe)
Skirt: on xstreetsl (0L$)
Leggings: group gift ‘+plus * bags & accesories*’

Skin: group gift ‘:::: IrEn ::::  Designs’
Dress: *LP* design (lucky chair) (also a knitted top on group)

Skin: Vive9 (0L$)
Outfit: Lycee (lucky board)

This look is a result of playing with my inventory. Nothing new, all are old things I have for a long time. I like everything I wear, but I made them into a funny look (again?).

It  is a lot like  my mon’s clothes from 30 years ago, or looks like a “crazy” lady(?).

details…

Glasses: K_gs- TVGlasses (lucky board)

Bag: COCO- Bag with a heart (free?)

Scarf: COCO- collar with scarf 01 (modified)

Leggings: YFT- Regins

Socks: Maitreya- Sculpted socks

Top: Ohmai- Catherine blouse

Skirt: Sugarcube- belted skirt

Hair: OH- oh my ramen

Shoes: TESLA- Elise2 mary jane heels (free)

Skin: vive9- Twiggy (free)

View here

• Skin: DUTCH TOUCH
• Hair: ETD Jackie – Chestnut
• Shirt: *Linc* Button Down – Brown
• Skirt: ::LEO-NT:: True Love MiniSkirt – Dark Olive
• Necklace: :Sey Siesta
• Bracelet: :Sey Amber Leather – Silver
• Tattoo: ::dEVOL:: Sexy Gun Star
• Shoes: Weird Monkey Design Kboots – Brown

Have a good shopping !

Malak El Ezzawy, one of our favorite local evening wear designers, tributes the “Little Black Dress” this fall with her limited edition collection.  What I love, is that it is a perfect addition to my LBD post (posted a couple of weeks ealier, click here).  As mentioned before, the LBD transcends time and trends and is the perfect “throw it on and still look chic” dress.  A staple in every woman’s wardrobe, just like a man’s white chemise.  Below is a sample preview of her limited edition collection, more on this Facebook link, and in store at the Melodies Atelier at 24 Tharwa St., Mohandeseen, ground floor.

Malak’s LBD collection is full of lace, as we call it in Egypt, dentelle.  The dress below worn by Menna Shalaby is a dentelle top with a chiffon and tulle skirt and a sexy low back.

Menna Shalaby wearing Malak's LBD

This LBD is the perfectly structured tube dress, which I believe, will be flattering to many.  The dress is very futuristic (which I don’t usually like, but this is cool).  I also love how the designer utilized both polka dot and stripped prints on one canvas.

Polka Dot & Stripped Structured LBD

This matte paillette, aka sequined, one shoulder LBD is IT! The fall season is all about embellishment & sequins, in addition to asymmetric dresses.  I guess this LBD is an ALL-IN-ONE must have!

Matte Paillette One Shoulder LBD

I decided to end this post on the perfectly simple, yet sexy, LBD.  The uniqueness of this dress comes not only from its simplicity but its texture.  Velvet is a material that faded away for a while, but is back it style and feels very rich.

Perfect Velvet LBD

Details:
Pink Cami – NY&C
Gray Tank – Target
Black Sweater – Kohls
Gray Scarf – Walmart
Plaid Skirt – Marshalls
Gray Tights – IDK
Black Boots aka Wonder Womans – Chinese Laundry via DSW

Today was a very busy day for me at work. I went on a field trip. This actually proved to be trickier when I was getting dressed than I thought that it would be. First, we went to see a play. So I felt like I had to dress professionally. Second, it was raining. I then knew that I should wear boots and a skirt or dress instead of pants. I hate when my pants get wet from the rain. Third, I don’t have any light colored tights. I pulled out my black boots and gray tights and tried to think of what to wear that wouldn’t be a repeat, especially since I just wore my black boots on Friday and a different pair of gray tights this weekend. I then pulled out this skirt. I love the pattern in this skirt and am not sold on the fit of it for me. It worked, but I felt like it was big in the hips and shifted a lot.

Sorry for the late post, I am getting ready for our trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving!