Latex - a straw poll on what people want.

[Sonya Bigboots]

I'm taking a straw poll about latex as I am working on some new items.

I've never been really happy with the latex gear available on SL, but maybe that's because I know what its like in RL whereas a lot of SL residents may have never known what RL latex is really like to touch and wear. I don't want to put a lot of work on features there is no demand for, or for added realism to be seen as flaws.

So...

• What sort of Latex outfits do people want in secondlife, but can't find?

(Keep it clean.. kids may be viewing the forums...Any suggestions that can't be posted on the public forums could be sent to me prvately in world)

Also what do you prefer...

• A- realistic latex (with a few creases, bubbles and variance in colour)
• B-classic SL cartoon latex (with a smooth background colour and some white highlights)
• C- a mixture of the two.

Thanks for any input and requests

[Wildcat Furse]

I buy my latex or kinky fashion @GRAVES, they seem to have always the answer for my needs .... below one of my favorite outfits *meows*

[squashy Beeswing]

I agree with Wildcat. I have Graves stuff and really like it.  As well as the obvious fetish appeal it has a great sci-fi look to it which really appeals to me. 

I'd love to find more of that sort of outfit in SL but the latex i've seen is nowhere near as good quality.

[Dana Hickman]

What I look for in latex is always quality alpha edges, quality seams, and realistic shading / highlights. The types of styles available are much less important to me than the quality of the craftmanship. Even the most basic of styles or looks can be used or mixed effectively, but it makes no sense wearing it if it's not made well or doesn't actually have realistic highlights. For this reason alone I buy very little latex in SL, because what most people sell as being latex (or leather for that matter) is actually junk.

[Sonya Bigboots]

I quite agree Dana.. Latex is SL is the easiest material to do badly... and one of the hardest to do realistically.

[Sonya Bigboots]

Yes, the graves stuff is good... probably a bit overpriced, but nice. More an impression of real latex than realistic.

By saying you like the sci-fi do you mean you like latex in SL that does things that physical limitations won't allow in RL, or just that you would like to see Princess Leia in a Rubber toga?

 

[Marianne Little]

I think you nailed what I wanted to say - I would like to buy latex that looks like RL latex in photoshopped ads. I mean that I want latex that look somewhat realistic, with wrinkles and realistic highlights. The ugly white highlights in SL latex is what I really don't like.

An impression of real latex sums it up perfectly. I don't want too much realism in my second life, too much "faults" on clothing are not what I look for.

I would like stuff that's not possible to wear in RL - and Princess Leia in latex too, thanks! :womanvery-happy:

[Sonya Bigboots]

Well, in my time I've seen a lot of impossible looking latex stuff in Rl.....

Seems that people are wanting the impression of real latex - not the heartache when the damned stuff rips, the zip snarls or the talcum powder all over the bedroom carpet when you are squeezing into something very tight. You don't want to find your favorite latex SL dress has perished with age.

White highlights have been giving me some grief Marianne... without any the latex looks flat and unshiny... too much and it looks like you have got Talc on you and you haven't bothered to the buff the latex. And also they will look slightly different on each persons viewer, monitor set up, and body shape. I was experimenting with true-colour highlights and shadows... but as you say we are used to photoshopped images of latex taken using flash photography... and those flashes create bright white highlights.

At the end of the day I will create what I like, and probably do some stuff that is realistic, and some that is very stylised and outlandish. But it sounds like I would be wasting my time trying to get zips visible and latex stretch marks showing - people don't want that, they want the idealised version with a few details to sell the beautiful illusion.

[Sonya Bigboots]

Lovely outfit Wildcat,

And also quite simplistic and minimal. I did have a quick look at the Graves shop, and it seems nice stuff, stylised with a bit of a sci-fi twist, if a little tame. More Fashion than Fetish... maybe's there's a seedy back room I haven't found, nestling furtively in a virtual soho alleyway...

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...and my cats adore me.

...at least, they better adore me if they still want to get their Whiskas and free access to "Mr Squeeky" their rubber mouse toy - see, they even have the same interest in rubber slaves as me!

[Sion Pearl]

 

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Marianne Little wrote:

I think you nailed what I wanted to say - I would like to buy latex that looks like RL latex in photoshopped ads. I mean that I want latex that look somewhat realistic, with wrinkles and realistic highlights. The ugly white highlights in SL latex is what I really don't like.

An

impression of real latex

sums it up perfectly. I don't want too much realism in my second life, too much "faults" on clothing are not what I look for.

I would like stuff that's not possible to wear in RL - and Princess Leia in latex too, thanks! :womanvery-happy:

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This. Exactly this.

I like the Graves stuff too -- I dig on the SF look and the highlights aren't too silly, but yes. I don't want to look like a real fetish model. I want to look like a fetish model after Photoshop.

This is me in Graves: 

And this is me in Elixir, which is not quite as great as Graves but certainly has its moments: 

I don't want real. I want hyperreal.

[Wildcat Furse]

this is "'hyperbeautiful' ..... :smileyvery-happy: *meows*

 

 

[Wildcat Furse]

I really look forward to see some of your new creations appearing soon in this topic Sonya .....*meows* 

[Sonya Bigboots]

Thanks Wildcat.... but being a perfectionist I might be a little while.

At the moments I am having a bit of a rethink...I had got very realistic baselayer greyscales done, if you like the textured fabric to cut and sew actual outfits from.... but I think in the light of what people have been saying I need to "dumb" them down a bit to a more stylised look people expect. After all, a lot of people in SL have never even seen latex worn in RL, just in photo's using flash photography.

And then last night I realised how to modify the basic clothing templates to get around a problem that slows down all latex clothing creators.... that will take a few days and may or may not work, but having thought of the idea I can't not try, even though it means rebuilding from scratch.

[Sonya Bigboots]

Seems the general concensus is "Hyper-real"!

Judging from your photo's you like subtle highlights too Sion, I much prefer the subtle highlights to the great big white marks covering most cheap SL latex.

But are there people with a chalk fetish out there that really like that look? Somebody must be buying that stuff.

What other brands do people like, and why? I hadn't come accross Elixir before, so I'll have to check out their stuff.

And importantly for me... what do people want, but just can't find anywhere to buy in SL?

• What features do people want, or don't want, in their latex clothes?
• Do people want "street legal" and "risque" versions of the same outfit in the same box, or are they no bothered because they won't be wearing latex in PG sims?
• Do people want versions with and without the highlights, or do they just want the creator to make that decision for them?
• What little gripes do you have about latex outfits you already have that you'd like fixing?
• Does an item of clothing being no-mod put you off buying it?

Any replies will probably feed into the work I am doing right  now as I create some latex greyscale master templates before creating specific clothes, so any info  appreciated.

 

[Sion Pearl]

I don't think you want *all* the creases gone. The Graves stuff has the tiniest amount of creasing here and there. It makes a lot of difference. Subtlety is everything, really.

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Sonya Bigboots wrote:

Seems the general concensus is "Hyper-real"!

Judging from your photo's you like subtle highlights too Sion, I much prefer the subtle highlights to the great big white marks covering most cheap SL latex.

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Yep. Definitely.

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But are there people with a chalk fetish out there that really like that look? Somebody must be buying that stuff.

What other brands do people like, and why? I hadn't come accross Elixir before, so I'll have to check out their stuff.

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I have a love-hate relationship with Elixir. Some of their stuff is amazing. Some of it... well. Here's some more pics of me in Elixir: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sianpearl/sets/72157625791313575/

sYs and Ezura have both made decent sci-fi latex suits.

Here's me in one of the Ezura ones:

And this is me in sYs, which isn't quite as nice, but works:

 

I'm all about the cyber latex. Not all the time, though. There's some horrible cyberpunk latex out there.

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And importantly for me... what do people want, but just can't find anywhere to buy in SL?

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That's a really good question. I personally would like to see more latex stuff in silver and chrome (I have a dream of my av wearing chrome latex so shiny it dazzles), and maybe gold. I have never found a satisfactory set of latex opera gloves and stockings in a properly shiny metallic shade, or a basic catsuit for that matter. It's out there, but it's rarely good, or it's got ragged seams and a messy collar, or it's chalktastic, or it's horribly tacky with holes for nipples and girl bits, or it's lovely but so uniquely styled you can't really use it as a generic.

I would love to see a catsuit in realistic transparent or translucent latex (the Graves sets have nicely tinted undersuits, but not an actual plain trans latex catsuit - I would love to see one that's like surgical glove material. Or a dress with opera gloves and over-the-knee socks too. Never been able to find that in SL. I would link a real-world example, but I'd never get away with it).

But I am hardly representative of the market.

 

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1. What features do people want, or don't want, in their latex clothes?
2. Do people want "street legal" and "risque" versions of the same outfit in the same box, or are they no bothered because they won't be wearing latex in PG sims?
3. Do people want versions with and without the highlights, or do they just want the creator to make that decision for them?
4. What little gripes do you have about latex outfits you already have that you'd like fixing?
5. Does an item of clothing being no-mod put you off buying it?

Any replies will probably feed into the work I am doing right  now as I create some latex greyscale master templates before creating specific clothes, so any info  appreciated.

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1. Long gloves and stockings. Nice collar, sleeve, glove and sock seams. Nicely designed underwear with nice scope for cleavage. There are enough kinky nurse/schoolgirl/miss whiplash/tacky streetwalker outfits out there. Please don't make it tacky. I mean, to reference RL latex manufacturers, I see way, way too much Westward Bound in the Marketplace and nowhere near enough Fraulein Ehrhardt (Google them if you don't know, both very NSFW. Ehrhardt has an amazing thick trans latex dress/gloves thing).

I know! I'm super-demanding!

2. I won't buy an outfit that only has rude bits. I appreciate being able to cover up. Also, you can get away with more in sci-fi sims. Always include nipple pasties and thongs and bras and stuff.

3. Personally, I'd just be happy with decent highlighting.But I think doing two versions in a set, the super-shiny one and the subtle lighting, might get you more sales. Be a lot of work though. 

4. Undefined and ragged seams on the collar, the sleeves, the ends of gloves and socks are the big ones. It's not painted on, I'm wearing it.

5. Only if it's an attachment. I like my attachments to be copy/mod. As for clothing layers, though, I will happily buy no-mod stuff. Elixir sell copy/mod stuff. Graves' attachments are copy/mod but her clothes layers are copy only and that's fine.

[Sion Pearl]

 

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Wildcat Furse wrote:

this is "'hyperbeautiful' ..... :smileyvery-happy: *meows*

 

 

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Thank you. :robothappy:

 

[Sonya Bigboots]

What a full answer... take a Gold star!

Lots of good info there Sion... no big surprises but it nice to hear other people think the same as me. I'll have to re-read this again when I'm designing outfuts rather than working on base layers.

Subtelty and not being visible to the naked eye is the balancing act I am debating at the moment with myself... when you get something just barely visible in your own viewer, you wonder how it will look to other people using different viewers and graphics options. At the end of the day I will have to make stuff i like, and hope it pleases some other people too.

And glad to see that at least one other person wants to be able to "cover up" when they want, without ruining the look of an outfit.

Do the rest of you folks agree with Sion?

 

 

 

 

[Wildcat Furse]

here is another outfit I love .... don't know if the mods will pull it, but let's try it :smileyvery-happy: *meows*

[Sonya Bigboots]

Deffinitely looks like that cat is plotting to kill somebody....