Fashion

[Strawberry Singh Honored Resident]

Mesh to me has been an amazing addition to my SL. I have done a few posts and pictures with mesh items on my blog already. Some of my favorites have been the gown from Rebel Hope and those incredibly sexy thigh-high boots from SLink.

There are some things about Mesh that I wish were different/better, such as the ability to modify it to fit our own shapes, rather than modifying our shapes to make it fit.  

I know some people were very apprehensive about the introduction of mesh and are still feeling somewhat alienated by it. What are your thoughts on Mesh? How do you feel about it? 

[Gala Caproni Member]

Ok.. I'll bite.... It will be a cold day in hell before Gala loses her ass to fit into a mesh dress......

Now, that being said, let me explain.  I worked hard to make her an individual.  I do not use a store bought shape for my body and I do not want a clothing designer to tell me how my body should look.  I do not want to be in what I feel is a cookie cutter design of a dress.  I DID try on some mesh dresses and pants and while yes, they move well with the body, I had to make my shape smaller to fit into even the "big girl" size, which I thought was kind of funny, since I see MANY avatars way larger than mine.  I don't want to be a stepford wife! AND... I like my skirt to SWIRL... mesh does not swirl, although I did see a mesh dress at Son!a that she added prim skirt to, to get that effect, but of course, it won't move with you the way the mesh does.. and the mesh won't swirl....

Now.... I think there is a place for mesh in the clothing world... those boots you showcased are AMAZING!!!! and if I have to shave 4 or 5 muscle points off my legs to fit them, so be it (I would pay anyone who could tell I did that).  Shoes, handbags, glasses, jewelry, hair, scarves, belts... in general.. accessories... that is where I think mesh fits into the clothing world.

OK, my 2 cents worth.... any other takers?

[Kitty Otoole Honored Resident]

Starts singing "Let's talk about mesh baybee"...

On the plus side some elements of it are making me very happy; for example the Mesh collection that Janie Marlowe released had me squeeing to the point of having to go and lie down in a darkened room, I kid you not. 

BUT I'm a picky cow, and I'm also a curvy avatar. I have boobs and buttocks and no, I don't have legs that elevate themselves into oblivion, so fitting issues are going to annoy me to hell and back. 

Gripes aside it is early days. I'm excited by Mesh, I'm positive about what the future holds. Second Life fashion makes me happier than real life fashion because in real life I can't afford the luxury items that I'd give my right arm for; but I can wear and enjoy them in world. So the potential that mesh brings to the grid makes me drool in anticipation at what the myriad of wonderful designers that we have in world can accomplish with it..I wait with baited, slightly fishy breath

=^..^=

[cherry Ravinelli]

I like it, allways try on the demo's first to see the fit on my shape. Not too much choice, but it's growing daily I think, so we don't all walk around in those beautiful boots :-) Looking forward what mesh brings to sl fashion!

[Gala Caproni Member]

I got ALL the demo's at Jane and not one fit my avatar as she is.  I had to change every part of me - torso, butt and legs .. and that was wearing the FAT GIRL size!  what an ego deflator!

[Vick Spitteler Honored Resident]

I'm optimistic with clothes, shoes and acessories in mesh. This may sound suspect, cause I have a shape store, but I'm seeing a lot of people rejecting the mesh shapes, cause they aren't editable and we can't use tradicional clothes. Change the skin is so funny...

[Gala Caproni Member]

Well... I guess this wasn't as controversial a topic as I thought it would be!

[Charles2 McCaw Honored Resident]

As a designer, already having invested way too many hours getting my first mesh couture to market, I share the mixed feelings already well expressed here. My biggest problem with mesh is that you can't yet risk wearing it in public! Don't know when, if ever, a tipping point will come, such that you can count on nearly everyone you meet at a concert or on a dance floor will see that you are, in fact , wearing clothes! And you might think some great lingerie would help .... But no, that just defeats the purpose of making part of your lovely body invisible.

Another serious problem is the hemline. If the alpha layer comes close to the hemline, you get the weird effect of legs that seem to be amputated just beneath your skirt. If the alpa layer is too high, then your legs (or hips, or ass) poke through, cancelling what should be one of the major advantages of mesh: clothes that fit well and move gracefully with your limbs.

We may be able to find work arounds for these problems, but it's not going to be easy.

[Nuuna Nitely Honored Resident]

I'm more interested in full mesh avatars. Those are fun. Clothes... not that interested so far. I'm one of those who doesn't want to loose her shape. Also for layering the mesh clothes don't work yet.  I can see myself wearing some tight pencil skirt or mesh hair. But as mesh is still a new thing, I'm sure designers will get better and better.

[Cara Ametza Honored Resident]

I'll go ahead and bite and respond to this thread. Mesh to me sucks. Let me count the reasons why....

1. Alpha layers, most shoes now use alpha layers, I have to take off the alpha layers for mesh which means some weird shoe options unless I'm missing something. If phoenix allows multiple alpha's someone can share how, because I would love to know how.

2. Lack of viewer support.  For whatever reason, LL felt the need to shove mesh out, knowing full well that the majority of the grid couldn't see/use/interact with it.  That's great, but it also creates a ton of users walking around thinking they look awesome in the latest fashions who look like total dorks with huge spheres around them because they will have to pry phoenix out of my pixel hands.  Based on the massive number of people I've seen using phoenix still, seems I'm not alone in this.

3. I kinda like my shape, I've tweaked it over years and I'm rather fond of her.  I don't want to look like barbie just like everyone else to fit into an outfit that someone else created.  I think I know the reason why most mesh outfits don't fit properly, the designers are using the default avi mesh, which is TINY if you have ever looked at it.  That's something that's a huge difference to the actual avatars that are in world, and as such creates some serious fit issues.  If someone has actually exported a realistic shape to use in the program then fit would be much better.

Currently I'm just sitting back and watching mesh, the SLINK boots are tempting but sorry not worth giving up my fav viewer for.  I've tried using v2, it blows, and Firestorm while better is still a whole lot like v2 and has a few bugs that as a creator make it really, really difficult to work with.  LL seriously screwed up when they released v2, and should really scrap the project and start over and just cut the huge financial losses of v2.