How to know my avatar size?

[KarisalynnXOXO]

Well I been buyin a lot of stuff in the marketplace, and I notice I got this dress and it came in lots like (Medium,Large and more...) so im trying to find out what my avatar size is so i can know what it is.


Thanks!!!!

[Madelaine McMasters]

If the dress came in sizes, it's standard mesh. The best way to determine fit is to put it on. Mesh clothing often comes with alpha layers that erase any bits of your avatar that might poke through the garment, so make sure you wear the alpha layer. Standard mesh clothing can't be resized, so if none of the sizes fit will, wear the best one and adjust your shape to suit.

Because I'm obstinate, and refuse to change my shape for anyone, I don't buy mesh clothing.

Fitted (some call it Liquid?) mesh should avoid the sizing problem. It adjusts to your avatar, but (I think) requires you to be wearing a mesh avatar.

Don't depend on my knowledge about this, few people know less about getting dressed here than me.

[Rolig Loon]

You don't need to know.  This isn't RL, where you have to try on a bunch of dresses until you find one that fits.  When you buy clothes in SL, there are three possible things you might get:

1. You might get system clothes -- a blouse, for example -- that are quite literally painted on your body.  No matter what size you are, it fits.

2. You might buy prim clothes -- a skirt, maybe -- that is made of several prims linked together.  It might have a built-in resizer script.  If so, you just click on the skirt and you'll get a menu with buttons to make the skirt bigger or smaller.  If it doesn't have a resizer script, you stand on a pose stand and adjust the skirt yourself with your Build/Edit tool.  It's a lot easier than altering a skirt in RL  Anyway... no matter what size you are, the skirt can be adjusted.

3. You buy a mesh outfit -- a dress, perhaps.  It is packaged with several sizes in the same box -- XS, S, M, L, XL .  You try them all on, and keep the one that fits.  Throw the rest away (or save them in case you ever get fatter). So again, it doesn't matter what size you are, since you buy ALL sizes at once.

Now, the smart way to shop -- especially for mesh clothes -- is to get a free demo first.  Try it on to see whether you like it.  It will have all sizes in the demo, so you can see if the XS one is still too big for you.  You can also see whether it fits but looks ghastly on you.  Take a pile of demos home and try them all on.  Get a friend to help. THEN go back and buy the one you like.  (Frankly, I would never buy a mesh dress without trying a demo.  Too much of the mesh clothing in SL really does look ghastly.)

[Lindal Kidd]

Like Maddy, I resisted changing my shape for the longest time.  My shape is ME, and I didn't want to look like everyone else just to be able to wear Mesh clothing.

Then I got mesh hands, and I could NOT get them to fit!

I eventually got a set of the free Standard Mesh Sizing shapes.  I picked the one that was closest to my own proportions (it turned out to be the Medium shape.)  Then I wrote down all the slider settings for my own shape's head and facial features, and applied them to the Standard Mesh shape.

I wound up still looking like "me" but my hands now fit perfectly, and as an added bonus, most Mesh clothes fit better too.

However, a Standard Sizing shape will NOT guarantee fit.  I find that I still need to use a different size with items from certain creators, or even need to tweak the shape a little to fit into a particular outfit. 

Liquid Mesh or Fitted Mesh is not a panacea, either.  You don't need a mesh avatar to wear these items, but they are not automatically going to fit perfectly.  You will still have to wear an alpha mask layer with them.