Shops that ARE expensive as hell!

I second that Mickey. I have lots of gowns that I won't wear anymore because I almost guarantee I will see one just like it at a club. Also, I am trying to find lesser known designers because of the same reason.

Mickey, please im me inworld and tell me where the name of the store and the gown you are eyeing. That designer I'm sure has others and if you do this, I promise, promise, promise I won't buy the one you are eyeing.

Next month Will and I would be together a year and I really want to dazzle him with something special.

Also I agree with Ephraim it is also about the roleplay as well.

Nicky Ree
Riviera Couture
Jador Fashions
Armidi
Blaze
Simone (who also has periodic sales!)
Digit Darkes
Nonna Hedges

Sweetaholic's line of Special Kimono's are expensive at 1800L but have a lot more than your normal run of the line 300L ones and are worth it imho.

Hosoi Designs line of Japanese furniture and items are pricy but are the most accurate renditions of traditional furniture I have found in SL, they use wonderful textures and designs.

Even though I can't afford to shop like this, I really do think some of her sets are worth the price, because I appreciate the artwork. Someday I will probably buy one hehe...and I never buy clothes.

Was thinking of a "valuable" experience.....

Pay attention Gentlemen.

Early in SL....a handsome gentleman in a finely tailored tuxedo invited me for an evening out, and I had commented that I'm not sure if I can dress for the occasion properly. He sent the limo, and I arrived at the entrance of Nonna's boutique. Walking into the store....you had the same feeling as walking into a store like that in RL.

Your heart beats a little faster....your senses are more alive. I had not been to a store like that in SL yet....and it was a treat. There were beautiful women dressed in beautiful outfits milling around...and I was dressed in jeans. For a minute, you even have that nervous feeling of being out of place.

He told me to pick out a gown....and I was clicking on the prices....he told me to stop clicking...just choose the gown...again, your heart races....and it took some time....because they were all beautiful. I chose the gown...and he told me to put it on right there. Wearing the gown, you feel different....he asked me to twirl around....you feel different twirling.......

He then chose the perfect jewelry....presented in a beautiful case....for a few precious moments, you are Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman....dressed in a stunning gown, unlike anything you have worn before....as he opens the jewelry case....(you do remember that scene).....giddy with excitement.....every woman should feel that....even if it's only SL. Roleplay? I think not....Real.

Next....I was escorted into a fine restaurant....we even had a waiter....I could tell from the waiter's gratitude, that he was given a generous tip. On to Phat's....it was packed, and took some time to get in back then....and I had not been to a place like that before either. Beautiful people in beautiful formalwear....beautiful surroundings.....overwhelmed, if you had not seen that aspect of SL before.

But confidently dressed as Julia Roberts with Richard Gere in a finely tailored tuxedo, as your escort.....you are the most stunning woman in the room (even if only in your mind).....

And that.....is Valuable!

Several years later....hard to get a rush like that....so Up the Ante....up the prices....aspire to exclusivity....have a dressing room attendant help you into the gown....require reservations to the restaurant.....put place settings on the dining tables....hire a waiter that can uncork a wine bottle effortlessly, and knows the difference between a merlot grape and a shiraz grape......as owner of the restaurant, stop by the table and ask if service and dinner is acceptable.....send over a special dessert and after dinner drink......hire the best musicians.....pack the club, and demand a hefty cover charge, and make it hard to get in....make an entrance behind the bar to hand out a complimentary drink of your most expensive liqueur, and yes, they are expensive.......give us a rush again....add value.....

But I find the original topic more interesting and open ended.

Beautifully told, Mickey!

And THAT, gentlemen and ladies, is immersion. It's what SL is all about.

(I felt exactly the same way, Mickey, the first time someone invited me out dancing...although my experience wasn't nearly as magical as yours!)

Beautifully said, Mickey! So true!

Since 2006 when I joined, my LMs for Nonna have been renamed to have the word "expensive" in them. But you are right, I should have said, "exclusive".

Please keep the ideas coming! Anyone, know smaller, newer designers? For anything, not just clothes.

Sighing....I hope everyone keeps upping the ante.....so that wasn't a one shot deal.....

Mickey, being taken to a swank place by a handsome, attentive gentleman, while expensively (exclusively?) dressed NEVER is a one shot deal. It's always a thrill, even if not quite the mind-blowing experience of the First Time.

But if you're feeling jaded, try for variety. Instead of going dancing Yet One More Time, dress up in leather, strap on a sword, and go adventuring with your companion. Or put on a flight suit and pilot a Huey in formation with Major Connolly. Become a mermaid and go tempt some passing sailors to join you for a swim.

Immersion comes in all flavors, you don't always have to be Eliza Doolittle at the ball.

Mickey, I had exactly the same experience (it was a recent wedding...I'm still feeling the rush). Magical

Kyllie, thank you for the recommendation. We very consciously decided to pay an atypical attention to detail in our products, hoping that there would be a market for them. Spending that much time to create items like that means that they will be pricey. We get some good feedback from our customers, and love it when they point out flaws that we can correct. So far, it seems that there are people willing to still pay for a quality product, and not expect it for free, or "on sale".

While I agree that freebies have their place, I like nothing better than to find really good quality designs and I don't mind paying for them. What I will NOT do is pay just for a name - they have to deliver something in terms of the quality.

Casa del Shai (um, I think that's the name) has beautiful men's clothes that are expensive in both price and quality; I don't know what their women's clothes are like but I will assume they are the same. The last time I went there I barely escaped with three new suits, and they were not cheap - 700L or so each. But I just couldn't resist, they were *that* nice.

Another place I have, erm, accidentally spent too much money on men's clothes is Muism. I bought the 1200L tuxedo even though I can't even wear the jacket (it's made of sculpts and flexi prims that simply aren't adaptable to a woman's body) but the slacks and the vest are wonderful, including a beautiful sculpted collar and color-changing ascot.

I have 2 Nicky Ree dresses; one I adore, and bought because of the amazing primary colors, the gorgeous oranges and purples (yes, together!) The other one was a brilliant yellow and after buying it and wearing it once; I deleted it. It just wasn't me, my body was just too chunky for it and I am too short. Would have to be a special reason, but yeah I'd shop at Nicky Ree again, but not for just everyday.

I can only recommend League. Don't see many recommendations for them, even though they have some of the most detailed and fine-tuned stuff I have seen so far. Not overly expensive, rather middle-class-ish, but I wanted to pimp them anyway.

Wow Mickey, that was really something. I had something, well, not really similar but was exciting to me. Not really new to SL but still very naive. Almost exactly a year ago, in fact, a dear friend invited me to go dancing, to dress up and go to Frank's. I'd never been dancing before. Was for my rl birthday, he was so gallant and I was so starry-eyed. We danced for about an hour, and then he said, oh, I need to make a quick run, I will TP you. I said ok; he did, and it was a surprise birthday party for me. The dancing had been a ruse, a cover, to get me off the sim to prepare for the party. Lots of SL friends there and a couple of rl friends too who rarely log onto SL but who came because it was my birthday. Was a nice surprise and I had a good time. As nice as that was, to this day, I wistfully wish the dancing invitation had been real.....I felt like Cinderella, for just a short time.

Well I hestitate to put into this thread butcause I certainly dont see myself on the sam level as many of the designers mentioned in this thread. However I have been creating clothes for around 2 months now and have just started selling them recently.

my collection is small but I do believe well created. I am fussy with clothing in SL and I like wearing them and a few good friends who are the same seem to like them too.

Anyway i was blogged the other day if you want a peek?
http://slshopaholic.wordpress.com/

Don't be sad mickey--it sounds like you had a wonderful experience, and you are very lucky

I fell in love with a full-piece bathing suit from Nicky's. It cost a little more than I had been expecting to pay. And guess what--it is anbsolutely perfect, and I am just so fussy when it comes to seams lining up and creases being drawn properly. I've not bothered to wear any others since, and feel wonderful when wearing that one favourite pair.

Oh - no I didn't mean it that way. Sorry I didn't make that clearer.

I was speaking to topic but I did lump it in with the general (OP) reply, so I apologise for the miscommunication that might've seemed snarky. (ETA: That particular sentence in my other post, was meant to set up the next paragraph, i.e. why I was also including some not so heftily price tagged stores. fwiw.)

Ah and therein lies the rub (no pun intended); roleplay or not, details left out or not, the emotions do not belong to the av, but to the human. No matter how one may try to dodge that particular tomato.

And that's one danger of roleplay.

Sascha's Designs
NYMPHETAMINE Boutique

What constitutes "expensive as hell?" I think some shops are expensive, but not "expensive as hell." Stiletto Moody falls into that category, but I don't shop that much... 375L for a complete outfit with numerous layers is a little pricey but not "expensive as hell" IMO.

My personal criteria would be a shop in which an outfit can cost $1200L on average. But some might say anything over $600L.

Someone asked about a midpoint that would be a dead zone. I'd say above $400L I start to become much more critical of whether I 'need' it, how like it is to things I already have (i.e. not identical but "do I have a lot of mermaid tail gowns already?" and especially texture quality and construction (which can include skirt options, and not forgetting things like glitch pants to match each skirt length, as well as possibly layering options).

I've seen a lot of things I might pay $300L or under (most likely $200L is my 'impulse buy zone') but they were priced up to $900L. In some cases it was "I don't really need that" and in others it was "that's freebie quality, dream on".

In the $1200L range it should be unusual, and top quality.