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A recurring theme in Second Life: Vanity


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Just now, Amina Sopwith said:

You're wearing makeup. I can tell. You're LYING.

It's even funnier to me because I rarely do wear makeup and when I did wear it daily it was just mascara and a hint of eye shadow, blush and lipstick. Yep. The natural look. Foundation was something I used very sparingly and very rarely. Mostly only when dancing at the powwows as a sunscreen so I didn't end up being so dark I couldn't pass for white.

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10 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said:

I am NOT vain!  Now tell me, does this dress make my butt look big?

I tried on a demo of a dress earlier today and sent a pic to a friend asking, "Be honest. Does this make me look like a Barbie Cake Topper?"

Seriously was worse than the system skirts! 

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For someone who spent the last 2 weeks building her Windlass bedroom around a vanity set, I can relate to the topic. 😄

Seriously, though, for starters, I want to say @Scylla Rhiadra has clearly 'won' this thread, far as I'm concerned.

Now, on a matter of vanity, this topic immediately reminded me of the movie Surrogates. SL is very much like that, if you think about it. In a Seinfeld episode, they once said that "95% of the population is totally undateable!" LOL. That might be a slight exaggeration; but, given the choice, why walk around in a crappy body when you actually had a choice?! We all want to stay attractive, not decaying (yikes), right? I wouldn't call that vanity per se. More like 'residual self-image', to use a Matrix term.

And sometimes I just want to experiment a bit, and not necessarily look (close to) the way I do in RL. I have probably bought more skins, dresses, hair(-bases), shoes, slink stuff, etc, than I care to admit. But I don't see myself as particularly vain, really. I am happy, though, when I have an avi with clothes, nails, makeup, etc, that's just perfect for me. Doesn't have to be a Barbie doll per se. Not making her be ugly either, though, thus circling back to my initial point: given a choice (and we do have one in SL), why not go for something you can be proud of? An avi, in that sense, is much like a building project, that way, to put it a bit irreverently: a creation you put time and energy in (and sometimes a fair bit of coin *g*), and feel good about when it's done. And if not, you get to have a do-over. That's having one up over RL. :)

Edited by kiramanell
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17 hours ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Foundation was something I used very sparingly and very rarely.

Foundation is usually the only makeup I wear, to soften the edges of my vitiligo so people don't start looking around for the flesh toned puzzle pieces that have fallen off me. It started on my hands, which was fine, but then crawled up my arms, across my chest, up my neck, and onto my face. For one brief summer, I tried to mask it all, but it became clear I'd have to buy foundation in 5-gallon pails and I hate the feeling of that crap on my skin. Now I just touch up around my eyes if I'm going out for the evening. During the day I wear sunglasses, or an accidental application of sawdust, dirt, and grease.

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38 minutes ago, kiramanell said:
45 minutes ago, Erwin Solo said:

Vanity, thy name is SL, to double-modify  Hamlet (I, ii, 146). 

 

And Hamlet, in turn, paraphrased Ecclesiastes. :)

Yes! I was googling when this thread first started, and found that.

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  • 2 months later...

Hey everyone, I've tasked with writing an update to our is SL real article, and found this thread interesting. I've been in SL (on a different avi) for almost 10 years and I've noticed the different trends that have come and gone throughout the years. Vanity (particularly when it comes to Mesh AVIs) seems to be the new thing this time around. 

Does any one  mind answering a few questions on the subject for my #Throwback update Second Life article? Just reply this thread and I'll start posting questions. 

 

Thanks. 

Sen. 

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40 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

Vanity is most definitely not a new thing in SL...

I think it pretty much started in SL when they made an MMO/VW avatar more customizable that any other service whatsoever even to this very day. 2002-ish?

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11 hours ago, spincity said:

Does any one  mind answering a few questions on the subject for my #Throwback update Second Life article? Just reply this thread and I'll start posting questions. 

I love talking about the vanity of everyone else! SL is filled with so much narcissism! I myself am humble and full of empathy. 

If this comes across as if I'm making fun of spincity, this is not the case. Please throw out some questions. 

Edited by Bree Giffen
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On June 12, 2019 at 8:20 AM, Gopi Passiflora said:

Maybe I'm being Captain Obvious here, but I think it's safe to conclude that a recurring theme of Second Life is vanity. We Residents are obsessed with our looks and making ourselves even more beautiful. We admire and envy others' looks as well.

This is true, but in RL our ability to look fabulous is dependent upon genetics which is out of our control. In SL our look is only limited by our imaginations 

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On 6/12/2019 at 5:20 AM, Gopi Passiflora said:

Maybe I'm being Captain Obvious here, but I think it's safe to conclude that a recurring theme of Second Life is vanity. We Residents are obsessed with our looks and making ourselves even more beautiful. We admire and envy others' looks as well.

I don't know if it's vanity for me.  Maybe a little.  It's more I desire "success".  Success in putting it all together and it all works.  And, it's not easy.

And, no you don't have to build to make an exceptionally creative avatar in SL as others have said in this thread.  It's all in the composition and harmony of putting it all together, and, again, it's not always easy to do.  

It's like legos...all the legos are there...now what are you going to make.  Only making an avatar is far more involved than legos!  Just trying to think of a simile.  

Edited by FairreLilette
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32 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

RL, too. Not that anything ever goes wrong with 'plastic' surgery. And of course, no one ever talks about how horribly that kind of surgery ages.

Hollywood is full of examples of why not to do it.. I can't believe they still cast a lot of the people that look so bad from it..

I think they get addicted to it or something..

Like this guy..

 

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On 8/30/2019 at 8:11 PM, Beth Macbain said:

Vanity is most definitely not a new thing in SL...

Of course not, there a ton of blogs that surround the topic. 

However, with mesh it seems a little different. Have you ever had someone message you and comment on your avatar in a way that wasn't complimentary? 

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19 hours ago, Bree Giffen said:

I love talking about the vanity of everyone else! SL is filled with so much narcissism! I myself am humble and full of empathy. 

If this comes across as if I'm making fun of spincity, this is not the case. Please throw out some questions. 

Do you have a mesh avatar? If yes, what made you decide to get it?

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