Mesh or Prim clothing - what's your preference?

[Evangeline Arcadia]

I've been doing a bit of shopping recently, hadn't done hardly any over the past 2 or 3 years. After buying something recently  I think I've come to the conclusion that I prefer prim to mesh clothing.

When I'm in a store I usually find that the product images for mesh clothing are really fantastic. Many of them are really beautifully done, and I admire the time and skill that has gone into making them, and also the time and effort that's been put into making mesh clothes. But I feel that many stores are getting a bit too like real life - that is, what you see does not live up to what you actually get.  Just like in RL where we are wood with beautiful images in magazines,  it's just an illusion and when you put on the things for real you never look like the beautiful models in the photos. Well I'm seeing the same thing with mesh and it's kind of dissapointing.  But I've not found that to be so true with prim clothing. For a start prim clothing seems to fit better - no alphas needed (which sometimes conflict with other items worn like making your feet invisible when wearing an alpha for a skirt...). Unfortunately I don't think there are that many clothes shops selling prim clothing anymore in SL:) Will have to do a bit of looking into that - I hope I'm wrong!

That's my mini rant over with...

So what do you prefer and why - mesh or prim clothing?

 

[Syo Emerald]

I prefer mesh when it comes to prim vs mesh clothes, because prims don't come with a benefit of realism.

I can't wear long overknee boots that are made with prims, because they will stick out oddly as soon as my avatar dares to move or bent a bit. And its bs that alphalayer make more parts invisible than they should. A proper alpha layer for a skirt will never influence your feet. And alphalayer have been around way longer than mesh and to those who don't use them I can only say that they look like first day newbies....because on higher graphic settings such things as invisiprims stop working completely.

Prim clothes also never really fitted. This box between the legs to pretend wearing a skirt always poked into my legs or was simply just too visible. The mesh skirts I own even bent with my legs when I sit down.

And last but not least, I prefer good quality textures and those can't be found in most prim clothes, because there aren't any new ones coming out anymore.

[Jesica Dragovar]

After I tried on my first mesh dress I was hooked! Mesh all the way

[Umaeril]

I like a combination of prim and mesh. I like some mesh tops with prim skirts with mesh over-the-knee boots. I don't much like alpha layers for bottoms though as all of them make me have a huge backside and my avatar is very slender and willowy. I buy clothes to "mix and match" because an entire mesh outfit just looks like a lifeless mesh outfit to me. There is no movement to the clothes. But add something prim to that, like a skirt, and you get some of both. 

I agree that some mesh clothes often look so much better in the adverts.

[Coby Foden]

---

Evangeline Arcadia wrote:

So what do you prefer and why - mesh or prim clothing?

---

I prefer both. And even system clothing. Mesh is great for something, prims are great for something, system layer clothes are great for something. They all have their uses.

Why? I guess the image below (which I have already posted earlier in couple of other threads) shows why.

The clothes on the left are not possible to make with prims. Similarly the flexible clothes in the middle and on the right are not possible to make with mesh. Therefore it's good to have all the various options available for making clothes.

[Ren Toxx]

I choose whatever looks best to me for the type of clothing I want to wear at any particular moment, and isn't overly expensive. I can think of no other preference worth having.

[Dresden Ceriano]

---

Umaeril wrote:

I agree that some mesh clothes often look so much better in the adverts.

---

The same could be said of system/prim clothing.  The difference is, with mesh, any discrepancies of this nature are easily discovered through trying on a demo first, which is where I find the advantage in buying mostly mesh stuff.  Should creators of system/prim clothing start regularly supplying demos of their creations, I might not be as mesh oriented as I currently am.

That being said, there are some types of clothing that just lend themselves to either one or the other.  I agree that combining the two and having them play to their strengths is often quite successful.

...Dres

[Kelli May]

I like rigged mesh for the things it does well. Assuming the creator does their job, works to standard sizing (or some consistent slider values they can be bothered to tell you) and supplies the proper alphas, you can make it fit. I've yet to run out of alpha layer slots since they were upgraded a couple of years back.

Non-rigged mesh is great for a lot of attachments where traditional prims were used. Being a single 'prim' rather than a linkset allows re-sizing on three axes without using a script or manipulating individual prims. I've had a lot of unrigged mesh attachments that have been simple to fit this way where a prim linkset would have been a huge chore.

There are still times when a prim is as good as or better than mesh, but they are getting rarer. Flexible prims are still a great way of adding movement to a hairstyle, for one.

[Chic Aeon]

I think that your problem with "the ads look better" is likely because the folks heavily into mesh design have good computers and can run SL with all the bells an whistles on. Many of the prim clothes photos were taken long ago and so could never look as good as they do now.

If you did take photos of prim clothes with all the new lighting and shadows (and you could even have prim clothes with materials if you made them now or added textures) they would likely look much better. That being said, I prefer well made mesh. I still think there is room for texture clothes -- especially for wearing with some mesh garments.

I ALWAYS hated those tiny prim skirt panels (yuck) as they seldom look right unless you were standing JUST SO -- and then often not .  

And as someone said you can often download a demo to see how things really are TO YOU. Unfortunately some designers put the bare mesh out as a demo rather than writing DEMO over one of the textures they made. For me, this isn't a good plan and likely loses them some sales.

There ARE still folks still making prim clothes. Once you find them, you'll be set.

 

[Dresden Ceriano]

---

Chic Aeon wrote:

There ARE still folks still making prim clothes. Once you find them, you'll be set.

---

I've seen creators who make outfits which combine both mesh and (usually) flexi-prims to great effect.  Unfortunately, I don't remember which ones, since I usually just hand that information over to my sister and forget about it.

...Dres

[Conifer Dada]

I still use system textures for clothes that are fairly tight fitting - sports tops, shorts, jeans etc.  Mesh is good for skirts, dresses, baggy clothes and, of course shoes.  I don't have any prim clothes left, I don't think - except for some shoes I made myself and some items of jewellery - plus a carnival head dress I made myself.  

 

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Long gowns made of mesh look better if they also have flexi prim overskirts to give the dress movement.  System clothes are good for wearing under mesh, such as a shirt under a close fitting jacket. 

There are still lots of designers making new system clothes, particularly when they come with appliers for breasts and butts.

I have some skirts and dresses that are made out of system pieces, but have a rigged mesh panel that is used for the skirt prim rather than just a regular prim.  When done right you can't tell they are even there and since they are rigged mesh they move with you and never stick out, unlike the tradtional skirt prim.

There is a place for all types of clothing IMO.

[Lewis Luminos]

As a guy, I like mesh best because its more realistic. You can't get good-looking jackets, coats, sweaters or hoodies, even jeans, when they look like they're just paint sprayed on to the body. I very rarely wear anything non-mesh nowadays, except for one or two old favourite t-shirts (which I will sometimes wear with an open mesh shirt or jacket over the top.  I've been lucky; it seems that my shape was pretty close to standard size L for mens mesh so I haven't had to alter it much to adapt. I will occasionally have to narrow the shoulders because some creators (mostly the ones using the same templates as a base) have them far too broad.

But nothing beats dancing with my partner when she's wearing a long gown with a flexi skirt. Flexi still works miles better than mesh for dancing.  Observe:

[Meldina Ashbourne]

Sadly eough for me as soon as mesh came out - I was addicted nad haven't deliberately purchased prim clothing since it's release, unless of course i'm using it for say lola's or the cute azz which normally require the appliers.    I am addicted to mesh, everything I own from houses, to furniture, to landscaping, to clothing to jewellery, it's all mesh now, except my mouth - cause the mesh one made me specifically look like a puffer fish.    In the end it comes down to preference completely, I prefer mesh as i've been around long eough to enjoy the prim clothing while it was in it's prime and now enjoy mesh as it was a step forward for SL.    

[irihapeti]

a bit of everything most times

rigged mesh boots, jeans, top and jacket

unrigged mesh bangle

flex prim hair

sculpt and flex prim cowgirl hat

 

 

 

[Aslan Vlodovic]

Well said. Mix n match is the way to go!

Which is "best" depends upon you and what you want the clothing to do - move or not move for example.

Mesh and prim have their own strengths and weaknesses. As with any clothing (in rl or sl) how it fits on you will be different on how it fits on others,.

 

As for adverts- well I have found over the years prim, mesh, sculpty, layey  and skins ads are often photoshopped to look unbelieveable fantastic. And the sad thing is we believe that unbelievablity. Take all ads images with a grain of salt..

 

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

Many people photoshop up their product images to remove flaws in the product - a practice I find highly unethical and if I see if on Marketplace, I report it as a false advertisement.

This is why it becomes critical to always try a demo.

The same thing happened a lot back in the days of 'body paint and prims' clothing - especially with those crotch prims used to make a short skirt effect...

I only buy mesh clothes now. In fact I recently got rid of all, or at least most, of my pre-mesh clothes. All that is left, if anything - is the things I've yet to get rid of.

- I just prefer the look of mesh items that much more.

But go with what looks nice to your eyes on your screen.

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

---

Dresden Ceriano wrote:

I've seen creators who make outfits which combine both mesh and (usually) flexi-prims to great effect.  Unfortunately, I don't remember which ones, since I usually just hand that information over to my sister and forget about it.

...Dres

---

I find that is the best way to do hair - a mesh base with some subtle use of flexi to give it motion at the right moments.

- Very few hair makers blend these though, and of them, they get it wrong half the time because I guess the blend is very tricky to get right. But when its done right, it really shows up nice.