5 years later ...

[ToughCookie Panache]

I joined SL forever ago and was super fashionable, but it's been at least half a decade since I've gotten back in here and updated my look. I'm so lost. Mesh heads are a thing? All my old jewelry is flashy and tacky and everything has a million more prims than allowed. Help!

[Jameson2001]

10 minutes ago, ToughCookie Panache said:

I joined SL forever ago and was super fashionable, but it's been at least half a decade since I've gotten back in here and updated my look. I'm so lost. Mesh heads are a thing? All my old jewelry is flashy and tacky and everything has a million more prims than allowed. Help!

Hello ToughCookie,

Take a deep breath, breath out, relax and realize that SL is like everything else technologically today.  Things change!   First, decide if you want to update your classic avatar to a mesh one?  If so, I would recommend reaching out to a few old friends who have switched to mesh, or hang out at a mesh body store and ask for help.  Believe me, you are not alone in the difficulty for some of us who made the switch to mesh recently after having our classic avatar for so many years.   Be prepared to spend some lindens on your body, hands, and feet.  As for a mesh head, many of us stay with our classic avatar head and we look just fine with mesh everything else. 

One word of caution.  Once you go mesh there is no going back.  You will have to get rid of all of your non-mesh clothes, and buy new mesh clothes.  It can be very painful throwing out clothes you use to enjoy wearing, and still look great on a classic avatar.  Sadly, these non-mesh clothes mess up your mesh body and cannot be worn.  Good luck, and enjoy the learning process.

 

 

[anniemoreira]

23 minutes ago, ToughCookie Panache said:

I joined SL forever ago and was super fashionable, but it's been at least half a decade since I've gotten back in here and updated my look. I'm so lost. Mesh heads are a thing? All my old jewelry is flashy and tacky and everything has a million more prims than allowed. Help!

Even though I am on second life about a year and a half, I still learn something new everyday. 

Do as Jameson said, and remember always try demos before buying  anything. Don't waste your money/lindens already in something you don't know for sure you gonna get used to.

Good luck and if you need help with something just sent me some message. 

Edited February 5, 2018 by anniemoreira

[Claireschen Hesten]

At this moment in time there is no urgent need to get a mesh body if you want to keep the system body for a while invest in a few mesh pieces a jacket, long top and trousers can breathe new life in to system layer clothing with out looking like a 2008 throwback. i would say the absolute minimum avatar upgrade you need is mesh feet either Slink/compatible feet which have the largest range of shoes available or Maitreya feet which i've found with some re-positioning are compatible with system foot shoes

If you decide you want a mesh body check out http://meshbodyaddicts.com/mesh-body-reviews/ for full reviews on all the available bodies there's also mesh head reviews but i don't feel there's any need to have a mesh head unless you really want one

[MoiraKathleen]

Before getting a mesh body and/or head, take a look at Mesh Body Addicts site.  You can find tutorials, info about specific mesh bodies and comparisons between them.  It's a good place to get some basic info about mesh bodies before heading out to get demos.  

Be sure to get demos first, for any that you are interested in.  Also take a look at clothes in the style that you like, to see which mesh bodies they are commonly offered in.  (Not every clothing vendor makes clothes for every mesh body). Get demos of clothing that you like and try them out with the bodies you demo.  

I would suggest just getting a mesh body first, getting used to that, and then look at mesh heads a little later down the line. 

[MoiraKathleen]

With a good skin, good hair, good modern mesh clothes (which state they work with classic avatar) and some mesh feet and hands, you can get a good looking avatar without going full mesh.  A lot of that depends on how much skin you want to show   However, many mesh bodies come with feet and hands, so if you buy them separately first, if you decide to go to a mesh body in the near future, you may not need the separately purchased feet and hands. 

[Ariel Vuissent]

Before you buy anything new, look around. Visit a couple high-traffic areas and just see what people are wearing. What do you like? Then, you can either ask people whose looks you like what they're wearing, or inspect pieces you like to see where they're from. Demo some mesh bodies (and heads), demo some of the newer skins, and figure out what your budget is and how you'd like to spend it - a mesh body and maybe a head, plus new skin and some clothes, can run high but is a long-term investment. Mesh hands and feet, but no body or head, leave you with a larger budget for mesh clothes if you want them, but if you choose to upgrade to a full body in the near future, may be a waste of money. 

There's really no rush. Do your research, ask some knowledgeable people (the inworld group for the mesh body addicts blog is extremely helpful, along with the individual groups for different body and head brands), and have fun with it!

Personally, I swore I'd never go mesh... and now I'm full mesh and will never go back! Getting rid of my old wardrobe hurt, but I adore mesh. Others feel differently, so I definitely recommend shopping before you decide. 

[ToughCookie Panache]

This is such friendly and useful advice. Thank you all ?

[ToughCookie Panache]

1 hour ago, Jameson2001 said:

Hello ToughCookie,

Take a deep breath, breath out, relax and realize that SL is like everything else technologically today.  Things change!   First, decide if you want to update your classic avatar to a mesh one?  If so, I would recommend reaching out to a few old friends who have switched to mesh, or hang out at a mesh body store and ask for help.  Believe me, you are not alone in the difficulty for some of us who made the switch to mesh recently after having our classic avatar for so many years.   Be prepared to spend some lindens on your body, hands, and feet.  As for a mesh head, many of us stay with our classic avatar head and we look just fine with mesh everything else. 

 

This is the best possible first response. I feel so old. It's ok though -  I can do this. Probably

[LittleMe Jewell]

As mentioned above, I would advise to first go grab all the various mesh body demos - the meshbodyaddicts site has links.  From the demos and prices you'll be able to decide if you want to jump into that boat right away or start on a bit smaller scale.  What I did when I returned was to initially just get Slink mesh feet - partly because SL system feet are super ugly and partly because none of my shoes from years ago that used invisi-prims worked anymore.  The Slink feet aren't a waste of money either because there are still a lot of shoes out there that only come in a Slink version and you can wear the Slink feet with most mesh bodies.  The ugly hands didn't bother me as bad, primarily because I always wore bracelets anyway and those hid the ugly wrists - and I didn't care about the bento fingers ability right away.  Thus I skipped the cost of mesh hands.

When you finally decide to get a mesh body, you might not actually have to throw away ALL old clothing, so don't immediately trash it all.  Any 'system' layer clothing (tops, pants, underclothes) will be useless on a mesh body, so any outfits that rely on those will be worthless.  However, if you have any mesh outfits, they may still work for you.  Originally, mesh clothing came with an alpha layer that blocked out the appropriate parts of your body so they wouldn't poke through.  That alpha layer won't work on a mesh body and any old mesh clothing will likely not fit well directly on a mesh body.  However, the mesh bodies come with HUDs that will let you alpha out parts that poke through clothing - a manual way of doing what the alpha layer did when you wore the mesh item over a classic body.  That may let you get some use out of existing mesh clothes in your inventory as you slowly buy new items.

Just because you get a mesh body doesn't mean you have to also get a mesh head.  Many of us, myself included, are still using our system heads.  Take your time figuring it out and don't let anyone push you into making a decision before you are ready.

[MoiraKathleen]

You might want to check out this link about one of the skin vendors - might be a good way to inexpensively get some new skins to try out. 

 

[Josephine Carissa]

Hello Cookie : )

you can check out this lady, she has lots of video's and information.

https://strawberrysingh.com/

Welcome Back,

Josephine

[Akasha Sternberg]

Hello

I have been away for 3 years so I feel your pain... and for the pre-mesh stuff aka system stuff: I never deleted mine because I need to switch back  to system body for pics I use for a Character in a chat rpg outside of SL    Just be careful that you do NOT wear these things with the mesh body should you get one

Take your time, find your style - you´ll get used to it again it´s like riding a bike... if all else fails - freebie groups, gifts groups, if you have friends left they will help and tbh basically any decent looking people will gladly help

[Chase01]

I'd also caution you to take your time to read reviews, and demo products thoroughly. Some great suggestions have already been made, but if you feel like you have a question while in world, feel free to hit me up. I have multiple heads and bodies from various vendors so I'd be happy to share my observations.

 

 

[Bastilla Loon]

I was out of it for 7 or 8 years, and was likewise mystified when I came back.  I now have a Slink Original body (too many of the others seem to be designed for absurdly large breasts, including the other Slink body) and a Lelutka head.  But!  No rush.  Indeed, if you mostly wear clothes that cover much of your body, the system avatar has some advantages.  It's simpler, but also you can use the alpha masks that come with clothes and you're actually probably more likely to get clothes working without skin poking through than you are with a mesh body.

Spend time with demos.  I eventually bought *two* Lelutka heads because eventually I decided I didn't like the way the corners of the lips folded on the first one; I didn't notice that right away.  (There go those L5000!)

 

There is no need to go with *the* most popular body or head, but you want *a* popular one.  My Slink body isn't the Matraiya body that seems to have most of the mindshare, but nearly everything that has custom sizes for mesh bodies has a Slink size.  (This may be in part because the Slink folks are more willing to give out Dev kits.  I'm building a small business with some mesh clothes.  I applied for Slink, Matraiya, and Belliza Dev kits and only heard back from Slink.  Lucky for me that is the body I actually wear myself!)

 

While the look of the body or head is important, what's more important in choosing the brand is the HUD that comes with it.  You'll use this more than you expect; it's not just for one-time configuration.  You'll need it often when changing clothes or makeup.  Make sure you like and can work with the HUD in the demo.  For the body or head, you don't have to take it as-is, but can (usually) modify it with a shape sliders.  ("Bento" heads are the mesh heads that do this.). Play a lot with the demos.  You also aren't restricted to the skins that come with the body or head, as there are lots of great third party ones out there.  (I got mine from YS&YS, and have also used Esode.) (I can't find a reference in world or on the web to the store that I got my old skin from 9 years ago... the world moves on, some things are forgotten!)

 

Edited February 7, 2018 by Bastilla Loon
to is not too

[ToughCookie Panache]

Wow.  

This is a wealth of exactly the kind of information I was hoping for.  About to log in and follow a few more leads. Thank you all again.