I'm new, where can I find what I'm looking for?

[Pomkeki]

So, as I said I'm brand new and I haven't the slightest idea what shops are good for what - or even how to tell if something is of good quality beyond how it looks. With that said I have a lot of questions - sorry, please bear with me!

I already know that I should demo everything I can, but what if something I'm interested in doesn't offer a demo? Is there some way I can tell if it's good or should I just avoid shops that don't offer demos?

What are some good mesh bodies and heads for a more petite (adult) girl? So far it seems that the deadly combo of tall, curvy, and sexy reigns supreme on SL (not that I'm complaining) but I can't seem to find anything along the lines of what I'm looking for. I would like to be short and slim with a smaller chest and a more "cute" than sexy sort of look. Kemono and anime avatars come close, I just prefer the more realistic look.

Where can I find a lot of fantasy stuff? I browsed through the vanity thread for awhile and my favorite avatars were all fantasy, historical, or sci-fi themed. I don't know if I'm allowed to post pictures of them, but I will say they must have been hard to put together because I can't figure out where they got it all! I've seen wings, pointy ears, animal ears, horns, tails, mermaids, satyrs, all kinds of avatars yet I don't really come across those things in the marketplace. Is most of it custom made?

If anyone can point me in the direction of some great shops for lolita, fantasy, historical, or steampunk clothing that'd be great too! I'm sure there are some well-known brands that I just don't know about yet.

Edit: One more! When people talk about animations on mesh bodies and heads, are these separate from/do they interfere with AOs?

Any tips you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Pomkeki

[Chic Aeon]

32 minutes ago, Pomkeki said:

What are some good mesh bodies and heads for a more petite (adult) girl? So far it seems that the deadly combo of tall, curvy, and sexy reigns supreme on SL (not that I'm complaining) but I can't seem to find anything along the lines of what I'm looking for. I would like to be short and slim with a smaller chest and a more "cute" than sexy sort of look. Kemono and anime avatars come close, I just prefer the more realistic look.

Mesh bodies conform to the SHAPE underneath the body (at least to a good extent) so if you are demoing the SHAPE that comes with the demo of the body, that is throwing you off. I suggest learning how to adjust the shape you have OR if you have that shape the body should be close for height and slimness. You may need to "flatten" you breasts if you want to be sort of flattish. I am flatish and slim but fairly tall at 6 feet (note that isn't REALLY tall by SL standards :D)

The most popular mesh body is Lara. There are other bodies of course but Maitreya (Lara), Belleza and Slink are the ones that you will be able to find the most clothes for. So before making a final decision ALSO look for clothes for that body. You might get a body you like and have nothing to wear :D. 

Personally in the clothes line I would never by something without a demo. I can tell you  as a blogger who tries on LOTS AND LOTS OF CLOTHES that some creators are experts at making vendor photos (ads) and that their garments don't come close to the look of the photo. Also there is that FIT issue.

 

As for fantasy clothing I think the Destination Guide has a section on that.  -----  Well no, apparently not and as a comment to old folks reading this post ---- WHEN DID THEY EVER UPDATE THE CLOTHING PART OF THE DESTINATION GUIDE. It is filled with popular brands of five years ago, not today. Oh my!

UPDATE PLEASE!!!!!!!    

 

Start slowly. Experiment. Maybe find a role play area that you like and ask folks that you see there and like the look where they shop.

 

[angeoco]

Chic posted her reply before I finished this, but I'll go ahead anyway.

You might be brand new, but you seem to have done your homework! :-)

Regarding demos, it depends on the nature of the item. Quality clothes for example nearly always have demos; if there is no demo then maybe the seller is trying to hide the fact that the item is nowhere near as good as it appears, or maybe it's just so cheap that a demo is not needed. With things like houses and furniture, you can often inspect the items inworld. With no demo, it's really a toss-up between the cost of the item, the seller's reputation, and how desperate you are to have it.

The mainstream mesh bodies, as you have noticed, are curvy, but they have the advantage that there is lots of clothing designed to fit them out of the box. You can always adjust your shape to a small chest; it will look ugly naked but with fitmesh (i.e. designed to fit your particular body) clothes on it should be OK. You have probably seen lots of Maitreya Laras around, and the Slink and Belleza models are popular too. If you're looking for a petite but adultish slightly-anime-type body and head, Orange Nova Nauha might be worth a look.

I'm sure somebody else will advise about heads and fantasy things, as I don't use them.

And you can use a tool such as "What is she wearing?" to (shh!) spy on interesting-looking avatars around you.

 

Edited August 12, 2017 by angeoco

[Marianne Little]

Posted in wrong thread and can't delete the whole post. Sorry

 

 

Edited August 12, 2017 by Marianne Little

[Morgan Rosenstar]

On 12/08/2017 at 1:40 AM, Pomkeki said:

(...)

I already know that I should demo everything I can, but what if something I'm interested in doesn't offer a demo? Is there some way I can tell if it's good or should I just avoid shops that don't offer demos?

(...)

Yes.

If you're new I would definitely recommend to avoid no-demo items. Shopping after shopping, you'll find your own favorite stores that you know you don't need to demo but as a start? Demo or don't buy.

 

On 12/08/2017 at 1:40 AM, Pomkeki said:

What are some good mesh bodies and heads for a more petite (adult) girl? So far it seems that the deadly combo of tall, curvy, and sexy reigns supreme on SL (not that I'm complaining) but I can't seem to find anything along the lines of what I'm looking for. I would like to be short and slim with a smaller chest and a more "cute" than sexy sort of look. Kemono and anime avatars come close, I just prefer the more realistic look.

Except the outdated meshbodies, there's not really such thing as bad meshbody. Some are popular and offer a wider choice of clothings (Maitreya Lara, SLink Physique and Hourglass, Belleza Freya and Isis) and some others are more niche meshbodies for those who are looking for something very specific.

So this is something you have to consider : how wide you want your wardrobe?

I suggest you've a look at meshbodyaddicts blog, the review is well done and even with pictures.

 

On 12/08/2017 at 1:40 AM, Pomkeki said:

Where can I find a lot of fantasy stuff? I browsed through the vanity thread for awhile and my favorite avatars were all fantasy, historical, or sci-fi themed. I don't know if I'm allowed to post pictures of them, but I will say they must have been hard to put together because I can't figure out where they got it all! I've seen wings, pointy ears, animal ears, horns, tails, mermaids, satyrs, all kinds of avatars yet I don't really come across those things in the marketplace. Is most of it custom made?

You can find fantasy stuff for most of the meshbodies. Sometimes it requires some creativity. For example : my best ranger/hunter pants I found was a black leather pants in a biker store.

 

On 12/08/2017 at 1:40 AM, Pomkeki said:

If anyone can point me in the direction of some great shops for lolita, fantasy, historical, or steampunk clothing that'd be great too! I'm sure there are some well-known brands that I just don't know about yet.

I would suggest Pixel Box for some nice steampunk-lolita clothings (but they do nothing for Kemono, cf my 1st comment).

 

On 12/08/2017 at 1:40 AM, Pomkeki said:

Edit: One more! When people talk about animations on mesh bodies and heads, are these separate from/do they interfere with AOs?

Animations for meshbodies and heads rarely interfere with AO.

"Standard" AO will animate your meshbody only. Bento AO will also animate your fingers (there are also AO to animate tails, hooves, etc... and Bento HUDs to animate your head).

[LittleMe Jewell]

On 8/11/2017 at 5:40 PM, Pomkeki said:

 I browsed through the vanity thread for awhile and my favorite avatars were all fantasy, historical, or sci-fi themed. I don't know if I'm allowed to post pictures of them, but I will say they must have been hard to put together because I can't figure out where they got it all! I've seen wings, pointy ears, animal ears, horns, tails, mermaids, satyrs, all kinds of avatars yet I don't really come across those things in the marketplace. Is most of it custom made?

You can always send forum messages to people asking them about their avatars and outfits.  Hover your mouse in the upper right of each post - to the right of 'report post', you'll see a symbol called 'Share this post'.  Click that and copy the link to put into a message to let whomever know which picture you are talking about.

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

When I was noob, I just played around with free stuff until I got an idea of what to look for and how to tell if something was likely to be poorly made. This was before mesh clothing and not much had demos. It was a good approach for me. I learned a lot, went through several different 'me's and had a great time. Then when I had some money I was able to make good decisions for myself. I also had a pile of stores whose stuff I knew I liked.

Today, I'd suggest a trip to the Free Dove for some basics, and joining groups like FabFree and SL Frees & Offers and some of the other umbrella marketing groups. (Are any of the genre-specific ones still going?) Keep an eye out for interesting group gifts (sometimes the store group, sometimes one or more of the umbrella marketing groups) and MM boards (Midnight Mania - board has a prize and numbers, first number is how many have hit the board/second number is the target; if the target is met, everyone who hit it gets the prize, usually at SLT midnight) and free join days for things like skin groups which can be expensive. (See if 7 Deadly S[k]ins is currently free to join, or maybe something like 10 L$. Good skins, lots of gifts. Tending more towards mesh heads/bodies these days but still some system.) Themed hunts can be good too, there's a Steam hunt in March, Rag Dollz used to have a dark steampunk in the autumn IRCC, and the legendary Twisted Hunt might be coming up soon (like September). That might be a good one given your tastes, though it's always been one of the hardest. United InschCon and friends run a Medieval/Fantasy hunt 3 or 4 times a year. Silvan Moon (now distinct from The White Armory) has a fantasy gown out as a group gift. For years that used to change every weekend, now it's less regular. The store is worth a look around IMO.

Mesh clothing covers a mesh body, so if you're inclined to wear things like steampunk there might not be enough of a mesh body visible to be truly worth the fuss and cost. Lots of us are still running around quite happily in system/classic avatars too. When clothing comes with versions sized specifically for mesh bodies, I just tuck those away in case I ever get one.

Have you learned how to use the Avatar Complexity rank information yet? I'm not sure where it is in the standard viewer but you should be able to find the information via web or forum search. Or someone else here can help you. It's not perfect but it's a reasonable indication of quality. The higher the number, the harder it is for computers to render. A well made piece will usually have a lower complexity number than a poorly made one.

OK, that's enough for one day. Good luck. And don't feel like you need to get it all sorted out right away. You have your entire SL ahead of you.  

[Pomkeki]

Thank you for all of the responses!