Janzoe Designs, part 1

There is no question in my mind that I'm in the middle of the most challenging photoshoot I, or any of the SSL crew, are every likely to undertake. It's exhausting!

Why? Janzoe Designs!

Janzoe, run by January Quan, has an outstanding -absolutely outstanding- series of skins and genitalia in her store, delightfully situated in a grotto under the cliffs of a sim that also contains her imaginatively designed gardens and home. I was immediately drawn towards an androgynous, boyish skin called 'Lucy' (L$295) which I've been wearing and modelling around various locations in SL. And there's the challenge! Because it's an androgynous/boyish skin, beautifully shaded to create a flat-chested look, we immediately run into the suggestion of 'age play'. Is the model age-playing a 14 year old girl? (Or boy, the addition of a penis could easily make this skin a male).

Let me say from the outset that I'm not in favour of ageplay at all. It seems odd and, frankly, sometimes a little nauseating. Fortunately, this skin has enough going for it to transcend such accusations (3 tattoo pubic layers for example), and two basic models, breasted and unbreasted, and you can think of them as being equivalents to something like a 32" and 30" bust size respectively. We all have friends in RL who are similarly sized are grown, feminine women. So I approached these skins with that mindset. In RL I'm not much bustier than that anyway, so I automatically identify with such skins. My cups certainly do not run over, lol. I've inherited my Mum's genes in this. She's now in her 50s, yet looks about 30 on account of having a small frame and not much in the way of a bust, so what may have been a curse in her teens and 20s, having a boyish frame, now means she's Peter Pan-esque...almost eternally blessed with youthful good looks.

For me, the Lucy skin falls into that 'boyish' figure bracket, and I do believe there is immense potential for the 'Lucy' skin to be expanded to feature a variety of more 'grown up' faces, for example, as 'Lucy' has a rosy-cheeked complexion.

I put the skin on with some trepidation and some feelings of concern (relating to ageplay) but, frankly, these disappeared in minutes and I found I was thoroughly enjoying the different look and feel of the skin. My problems did, however, continue when it came to posing Lucy. Again, because of the youthful look, Diane (who was taking photos) and I pretty much had to tear up our book of landmarks. We have a selection of photo studios and locations we love to use, but some of the poses seemed inappropriate, and thus we embarked on a grid-wide hunt for suitable photo locations where Lucy could be best shown off, without it becoming an album of Lolita styled poses.

Lucy is a remarkable and freshly styled skin, though, and ultimately, dressed, she passes as a youthful female. That's an 18-20-22-24 year old female. Pop some clothes on her and she's just a delightfully youthful woman. But, of course, it's a skin, and thus there's no point whatsoever in photographing her clothes. You really need to see the skin in all of its glory, and so the photographs Diane and I took are all nude shots and, as I said, therein lay the problem of getting to the core of the skin and showing her off to best effect.

Another area where I think this skin can be an absolute winner is in the realm of faerie life and roleplaying in that sphere. We pretty much 'keep it real' at SSL, but I can well imagine a gossamer-gowned girl, with wings attached, wearing the Lucy skin to superb effect.

I think we've already assembled the largest portfolio of shots for Lucy in the history of SSL, and it has certainly been the most time-consuming either Diane or I have ever been involved in but, do you know, it has been one of the most satisfying I've ever been involved in, because we're working really hard to show this delightful skin to best effect. And it feels like we're maybe 1/3rd or half way through the shoot (which shall continue tomorrow, and maybe Saturday too, until we're fully satisfied that we're doing it justice. I'm now fully expecting this post to run to three parts, with part 2 to feature the best of the shoot (and with other pix added to our flickrstream) and part 3 -via Vajeena- concentrating on some of January's other products.

I can't wait to get back to the photoshoot, and then further expressing my enthusiasm for the Lucy skin. I don't think I've been this excited by a single product since the emergence of the Nearly Tactile pubic hair!

See you all tomorrow for part 2! :)