Let's Go Shopping!

Anyone who follows my tumblr or facebook pages will know that I am attempting to transfer to a completely mesh body. I think, as a (sometimes) dancer, this is the right choice. The avatar movement is so much better, and the horrible texture distortions of the system avatar are greatly reduced. It's a better look, but it has to be said, it's a big challenge right now to clothe my avatar.

This is, in part, down to me. I tweaked Chry's shape from the beginning. For example, I have bigger breasts in first life, and it's always been a problem styling, with blouses and tops. So Chry has a smaller bust in SL. When she became a dancer, I made her legs more muscular. And I have always liked the look of broader shoulders on women, "swimmers shoulders", so that's what I gave her. Of course, like every woman born, I bring my own body issues to the table, so she has a super flat stomach.

Suffice it to say, she's not the Standard Size. I can tweak her a little to fit, but sometimes the changes are too great, and I am not prepared to create a shape for every outfit, given that I change a lot.

I wear the SLink Physique body, and one idea that I think is totally under-developed is the appliers. These "paint" the clothing onto the body - like system clothes, but drawn onto the mesh body. No gaps, no weird holes where your armpit ought to be, and the clothes fit perfectly.

For my Second Life, I need:

• Business style clothing for meetings and other professional situations
• Urban clothing because that's probably my favourite casual look
• Great jeans, cus I'm a rockstar dontcha know
• At least one formal gown eaach week for Guerilla Burlesque shows. Yes I do re-wear, but I do think Chry is in the kind of position where she ought to be cutting edge in formal fashion
• Steampunk clothing because steampunk plays a large role in my life
• Costumes for stage and circus work
• Knickers. Many, many knickers.

So I hunt for these appliers quite regularly on Marketplace. I will also buy good mesh pieces, but these tend to be specialty pieces - a classic coat, a pencil skirt that fits like a skin, a leather jacket or a pretty dress to wear to a party or wedding.

All this to introduce the things that annoy me about shopping for clothing right now.

I just feel bad for them. Like I should slip them
a fiver and talk to them about good nutrition
(image courtesy of marketplace.secondlife.com)

1. This body. This body shape convinces me that all the women in SL are men, and that this is a vicious parody outlet for their misogyny. There, I said it. And I don't think I need to say any more...

...


... okay, one more thing. If you advertise stuff like this for sale, I don't even look at it, because I don't even know if it would go on my normal shaped body. This isn't even the worst example, there are shapes with extended gap, outrageous ass sour faces and ginormous boobs. I mean, I really believe in body positivity, I do. But I ... don't ... I can't even ...

In real life you'd need industrial strength
double-sided tape to keep this cardie from
flapping about. Good thing it's got that
"grandma made it" sexy going on
(image courtesy of marketplace.secondlife.com)

2.Why So Slutty? Ever since I have been in Second Life I have heard women bemoaning that their only choices are slutty clothes. I'm calling bullshit, because we are in a new era now, and still with the slutty clothes. By the way, I am a big defender of the S word, and I totally get that it's nice to wear clothing that emphasises your beautiful body without putting you in actual danger of physical harm. But some days I do yearn for pages and pages of well-cut blouses.

Nice Sunset
(image courtesy of marketplace.secondlife.com)

3. Your bad ad. If you can't use photoshop and your camera well enough to create a nice looking advertisement for your clothing, then what chance is there that the clothing (also made in photoshop) will be any better?







Also rans:
Stuff that isn't the stuff I searched for. Seriously, if you make jeans and wardrobes, stop being lazy and posting a slab of keywords that covers both.
Using the SLink (or other) logo when your product isn't specifically SLink-orientated and also using the SLink logo to mean your system lingerie has SLink hosiery. Looking at you, Blacklace.

But since we're on the subject, thank you, Zaara Kohime, for transferring all of your lovely lingerie to SLink (and other) appliers. You literally made my day. Now ... Nena? Nena?

"Sumana" in gold, by Zaara. So much love (chryblnd Scribe)