avatar

[Shaherie1]

everyone is saying i need a classic avatar for easy demo wearing and easy skin and head buing...how do i know what kind i have now? Is there anywhere to look and see what avi I have?

[angeoco]

Everybody has what is often called a classic avatar. Some people choose to add mesh body parts and call it a "mesh avatar", but you (and your wallet :-) ) would know if you did.

Edited June 7, 2017 by angeoco

[Nalates Urriah]

Here is the long answer....

There are different types of avatars in SL. There are starter avatars at sign up, which have what we call mesh bodies. We just call them mesh avatars. There are newer and older avatars in the signup collections and in the Library that use the classic body, an odd mesh body with mesh clothes, and newer 'fitted' mesh avatars and clothes. There are also the older or original avatars which we call classic avatars. The classic avatar skeleton and skin are the base avatar for both mesh and classic avatars. The Classic model was the first avatar in Second Life.

When using a new mesh body the skin of the classic avatar is hidden behind it. As the classic body will poke-through the mesh body when animated the classic body is hidden using alpha layers.

So... the answer to your question, which are you wearing and how do you know which you are putting on? If you go into Appearance or Outfits Worn and take off (detach) everything you can then what you are left looking at is the Classic avatar.  The Classic avatar is also known as the System Avatar. The skin and other parts cannot be taken off, only replaced. Those things that can only be replaced are system parts or clothes. Clothes for the Classic avatar are often called system clothes.

So, what can you do? 

Go into your inventory in the Library folder (at the bottom of the list) in Clothes and play with those avatars/outfits. They are mostly mesh skins and clothes.

To get to the classic avatar, you need to open the menu's Develop tab. If it is not showing press: Ctrl-Alt-Q

Then revert to the test avatar: Develop->Avatar->Character Tests->Test Male/Female. All this does is set your avatar to use the classic skin and clothes. You can override any of the settings at any time.  Once your avatar is a classic avatar try changing clothes using those that were not showing before.