Vanity Fair

March 8

@Dreamer Pixelmaid and I were chatting about the Skin Fair yesterday....and I had to laugh when she called the Genus Morph head the "Ms. Potato Head" of mesh heads! So true!

I believe the full package (with all the available options for ears, mouths, noses, eyes, etc.) comes to L$7,650 (that's the 50%-off price during the Skin Fair), but if you're one of those people who buys multiple LeLutka heads to get different looks because you can't mod the nose or mouth enough, it kinda pays for itself. It's essentially the same as the cost of two full-price LeLutka heads.

I finally upgraded Vanity Fair from a Catwa Kimberly head to the new female Era2 head from LAQ (currently using the Sophia skin). The HUD's not perfect, but I just love the level of detail on the UltimateHUD skins! There's a new free freckled Era2 UltimateHUD skin gift called Elowen at the LAQ booth at the Skin Fair.

February 27

On 2/3/2024 at 8:18 PM, Persephone Emerald said:

I bet us oldbies have more fun playing with the Senra avatars than the newbies do.

True! And we have all those old SLUV skins sitting in our inventories to play around with!

January 27

On 1/26/2024 at 12:16 PM, Rowan Amore said:

Yeah, I don't know too many people sporting the GenX bodies so creators would be better off rigging for the old Belleza bodies as they're higher on lists than the new ones. Many people have complained about lack of new items for older Belleza but I haven't heard too many complaining about lack of support for GenX.

#54 : Belleza - Gen.X (Classic) : 671 : 0.1% #55 : Kalhene - Erika Zero : 654 : 0.1% #56 : Belleza - Gen.X (Curvy) : 650 : 0.1%

It was kind of a big fail, IMO. Just as Slink's new Cinnamon/Chia was. Heck, even though Slink isn't even in SL anymore, there are more people wearing it than GenX.

Personally, I love fatpacks sold per body. I'd rather pay $500 for a single body fatpack than 1500+ for one with bodies I don't even own.

A lot do use the stats from which body packs are purchased to know who's buying what.

Yes, it's now clear that replacing Isis, Venus and Freya (which was popular) with the GenX line was a tactical mistake on Belleza's part. I've also heard complaints that you can't make the GenX arms more muscular/fuller, which is always a pet peeve of mine, along with avatars with too-short arms!

January 27

On 1/23/2024 at 8:01 AM, Rowan Amore said:

@Lucia Nightfirehas a detailed list of mesh heads and bodies here...http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Archon/179/100/56

Updated: 2024-01-23 @ 00:00:00 PST

Top 300 mesh bodies with 515530 unique wearers:

Rank # | Model Name | Count | % (Count / 515530)

#1 : Maitreya - Lara : 151672 : 29.4%
#2 : Signature - Gianni : 34121 : 6.6%
#3 : eBODY - Reborn : 33155 : 6.4%
#4 : Belleza - Jake : 28793 : 5.5%
#5 : MeshBody - Legacy (Female) : 24503 : 4.7%
#6 : MeshBody - Classic (Female) : 20137 : 3.9%
#7 : MeshBody - Legacy (Athletic Male) : 18722 : 3.6%
#8 : MeshBody - Legacy (Male) : 16489 : 3.1%
#9 : Inithium - Kupra : 14007 : 2.7%
#10 : LucyBody - Atenea : 13539 : 2.6%

This is probably the most authoritative list, in my opinion. I was going to post this myself in answer to the question, thanks for saving me the trouble, Rowan!

Among my small army of Second Life alts, the most popular female bodies I use are: Maitreya Lara (I only buy during the 50%-off Black Friday sales every year) and the Maitreya Lara-compatible LucyBody Atenea; Kalhene Erika (including Zero and Zero Plus); and Senra Jamie, which I find I am using more and more recently. I also picked some Inithium Kupra bodies for L$1,000 each during last summer's one-hour flash sales, and I currently use them for four of my alts (one was a replacement for Belleza Freya). I also have a small number of female alts still using the MeshBody Classic and various Altamura freebies (notably Juliet, which was a Valentine's Day gift many years ago), but I am slowly replacing them over time!

I've only upgraded Vanity Fair to LaraX so far (I was briefly flirting with Inithium Khara, yet another L$1,000 flash-sale buy, and I love it, but it's still too hard to find clothing for). Then Maitreya released LaraX, and I was like, SOLD!

For male bodies, I have 3 Belleza Jake, 1 MeshBody Legacy (which I won in their launch raffle), 1 Signature Gianni, 1 Aesthetic Enzo, 1 Anatomy (for my drag queen avatar, who also switches between a variety of female bodies), and 1 Inithium Kario (another L$1,000 flash-sale purchase), and the rest all use either MeshBody Classic or Senra Blake. I think that Senra Blake might become THE default male mesh body on the grid, since it is increasingly difficult to find clothing that fits the L$1 MeshBody Classic.

January 27

I personally have never understood the attraction of breedables, but hey, I applaud the people who discovered that there was a business model there! More power to them. Grab that coin, girl!! 💰💰💰

What I find amusing is all the places that sell breedables like KittyCats and such. I wonder how many of them actually make money off of it (as opposed to just enjoying them as pets).

January 27

3 hours ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

Yep.

They didn't just give away heads but basically ensured an entire ecosystem that supports their products came into being... and since everyone had a head they all wanted the makeup, the skins, the add-ons... everything. It could be argued that they've replaced the basic SL UV map, in commercial terms this is absolutely true.

Also someone who already owns a freebie Lelutka head is quite likely to be impressed enough with the product - since it is genuinely good - that they would feel a lot more comfortable dropping the $3900 or whatever it is for a different model, SL fashion being as addictive as it is.

I've been burned on expensive mesh heads before but never felt that with any Lelutka EvoX product, they're the gold standard and come without annoying bugs or anything like that.

This, 100%!

January 27

11 hours ago, Dorientje Woller said:

All joking aside, handing out a free head or having a mega sale on mesh heads can bring the attention/awareness back to a store, a creator. LaQ & LOGO are the best examples. Both were, to be honest, falling behind to the Genus, Lelutka and Catwa heads. Since the sale at LaQ & the free heads at LOGO, both are back under the attention of the users in SL. And to be honest, it's business 101, even in RL, if you want to be succesfull, you have to invest in your products.

And yes, the recent 99%-off sale at LAQ got my attention! I landed up buying a number of heads for a number of my alts that had a different look to them from what I've seen elsewhere on the grid. Any yes, that particular sale was a smart move, since it raised awareness of the LAQ brand! Here are two examples of heads I bought during that sale from LAQ, Bree (top) and Rain (bottom):

January 27

On 1/22/2024 at 9:17 PM, Persephone Emerald said:

I don't spend much in SL, but I'll grab free stuff like crazy. The thing is, sometimes when I'm grabbing free stuff I also decide to buy something. If I hadn't gone into the store for the freebies, I wouldn't have bought anything there, so offering freebies works.

I have 4 avatars who each have free mesh heads, but I've also bought 2 Lelutka heads and one Akeruka one because I wanted those particular heads too. ( I'm counting $L 1 heads as freebies, btw, but if enough people pay $L, that adds up to real money for the creator too.)

Now, using the drug dealer analogy Unilway used above, your first sample is free, but after you get a taste for it, you'll pay for more.

This. THIS! One category of freebie that this fashionista will pick up for EVERY. SINGLE. ALT. is free/cheap Bento mesh heads, because you never know when you are going to want to switch heads, and it's nice to have options. (I also tend to pick up free skins, particularly if they come with the body skin, OR use the Velour body skin tones. I don't bother anymore with any freebie skins that require me to purchase a non-Velour body skin separately.)

So yeah, I went a little crazy last December, picking up the free/inexpensive heads from LeLutka, Akeruka, and LOGO.

Somebody could write an article in a business journal about how Catwa was overthrown by LeLutka as THE mesh headmaker on the grid. And, I must confess, after fighting with the HD lips and lipstick HUD for the umpteenth time with Vanity Fair's signature Catwa Kimberly head, I paid a visit to LeLutka to pick up some demo heads to play around with. You best believe that Vanity, when she buys a new head, will be buying full-price at LeLutka! That's the beauty of freebies; you learn how to use the product, see how much easier it is to use (better than the competition), and then, when you're ready, the sale is made!

For example, I was stopped in my tracks when Genus released the new mature men's M002 head at a discount at the current shopping event. I have an old wizard avatar, for whom this would have been *perfect*, so I picked up the demo, along with the skin, to try it out. I eventually decided not to buy it, HOWEVER, the fact that I even considered trying it at all was informed by my previous good experiences using the free Genus 4K head on several female alts. Giving away a free head is a savvy marketing move to get market share.

January 15

So, I did a quick search of the SL Marketplace for "Senra Jamie" and I was...underwhelmed. With a few exceptions, there doesn't seem to be a heck of a lot out there for Senra Jamie, yet. Mostly stuff from four stores: Lilleth, MALified, Pixel Box, and Luova.

Are stores deciding not to create apparel for Senra bodies because it's just too much work to add another mesh body? Am I searching under the right keywords' how are these items being described? Or is there still some confusion among store owners that Linden Lab needs to vet/approve everything for Senra Blake and Jamie, which creators simply want to avoid?

I dunno, but I would have expected a bit more on the Marketplace by now. (I also went into Lilleth, and the Senra Jamie stuff only appears to be on sale in the Marketplace, but not the in-world store?)

I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts and opinions. I *love* these new bodies, and I am already using them (either with the Senra heads, or with other free/inexpensive heads I've picked up) for quite a few of my alts. But if we're going to be stuck with the included capsule wardrobe, that is definitely going to limit their usefulness for new users (the intended audience).

December 12, 2023

My main Second Life avatar, Vanity Fair, has moved from Lara 5.3 to LaraX, and is not looking back. I won't be buying any more Lara 5.3 apparel for it, going forward.

Whereas, for all my alts who have Lara 5.3, I did pick up the LaraX upgrades, but I do not plan on using them for a while.

December 8, 2023

8 hours ago, Cristina Elvehjem said:

Still only flat feet.

I really don't care about this but more options would be cool.

Yep, I think that the brand-name mesh body makers would have rioted if they included Barbie feet! You gotta give people SOME reason to upgrade 😉

I really like the unisex capsule wardrobe that comes with the Senra bodies, but my one complaint is that they didn't include a simple women's flat among the shoe options. The closest you get is the (unisex) loafer, but it's not quite what I'm talking about here. I mean a shoe like this Amy flat at the Hilly Haalan freebie store (it's also surprisingly hard to *any* kind of freebie flats in SL, so I turn to these quite often for my alts when I need a non-heeled shoe):

December 7, 2023

2 hours ago, BookishMelinoe said:

Oooh! That Rome outfit is one of my favorite casual ensembles, redelivery here I come!

Unfortunately, a redelivery of the Rome items I already owned does NOT include the LaraX version...you have to purchase the new super-duper-improved-extra-special version from the LaraX wall to get it (along with all the other sizes).

Annoying, I know, because I thought that, too.

December 7, 2023

I think that the target audience (new Second Life users who just want a good-looking starter mesh avatar without having to jump through all the hoops with the name-brand models of mesh heads and bodies) is going to be VERY happy with this version 1.0 of Senra Jamie! It's clear that Linden Lab actually listened to user feedback on the beta versions.

This is what she looks like straight out of the box, no adjustments to the head and body sliders. The eyebrows do NOT move when she blinks, which was the single biggest thing that bugged me about these bodies. Sure, as was mentioned earlier, there are still issues with the mesh polygons and the rigging, but again, new users don't care about that, just us fussy oldbies 😉

December 7, 2023

Okay, doing some testing now...it's clear that they did change the shoulder area in the new Jamie 1.0 body, as the beta clothing now doesn't fit right. No big deal, just delete all the old folders, including all the old clothing!

(First pic is the old beta dress, new pic is the same dress, version 1.0.)

December 7, 2023

On 12/5/2023 at 2:25 PM, EmmaAsht0n said:

Here's the red version:

Yes, gowns like this, with bare arms and strapless, or with little to no fabric along the neck and shoulders, will work well on LaraX. I mean, you're usually alpha'ing out everything between the waist and the feet anyways. I have found that most non-skintight/bodycon dresses and gowns will work with LaraX, if you use the alpha HUD, although you might need to reset any included alphas first.

December 7, 2023

From the pictures in the new Linden Lab announcement, it looks as though they have fixed the formerly sky-high eyebrows on Senra heads, which was my number one concern about these bodies. I still want to play with the new Senra 1.0 heads and bodies to see how they work with older SLUV skins, though. (I know this is not an issue for the target audience, new SL users, but I have alts with inventories full of old SLUV skins that I would like to use!)

It also would appear that LL is making some sort of Senra promo/tie-in for vendors participating in the Valentine's Shop and Hop, and I guess we can expect to start to see some clothing from creators! Good news all around.

December 7, 2023

16 hours ago, Dorientje Woller said:

All the stuff updated to LaraX & LaraX Petite by Le'La in one section

I hope all stores start to do this!

I know that Bumblebee has a LaraX section immediately to the right when you enter the store. (Don't forget you can pick up L$300 store credit at the Bumblebee booth at the 2023 Holiday Shop and Hop, and you can even use it to gift items to another avatar!)

Carol's Store seems to be doing the same thing; all their LaraX clothing is along one wall. And they are giving away a L$300 gift card at the Shop and Hop, and they also allow you to buy gifts for other avatars.

December 4, 2023

I just picked up the new gown group gift from Hilly Haalan (it's at the landing point, and also at their group gifts store). I noticed that there is no Lara version, just LaraX, so I assume this means that Hilly Haalan will do a complete switch-over from Lara to LaraX from now on, and not try to rig for both bodies.

EDIT: Oops, my mistake! I didn't read the poster properly and the new group gift fits both Lara and LaraX, as well as Lara Petite and PetiteX. Fingers crossed that HH will continue to support both.

December 2, 2023

13 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

I looked through the thread to see if this link was posted yet to make sure I wasn't throwing out something someone already gave to the thread..

My computer is back up, so I can start to contribute now.. Here is my first since getting back today.. The LaraX flickr group.

I hope to get more in here now that I can move much better on the net.. hehehe

Link:---> SL Maitreya LaraX ADs & Bloggers

Thank you! This is EXACTLY what I was looking for!!!

November 30, 2023

Report from my pillaging and ransacking of the gifts at the 2023 Holiday Shop and Hop event (remember, you can get in a day early if you join the Second Life Birthday group for free!):

Shop and Hop stores with LaraX/PetiteX gifts include (use the directory here to find the stores' booths: https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/14556-your-guide-to-the-2023-holiday-shop-hop-including-early-access/ ) :

Blueberry (a tops fatpack), Salt & Pepper (a sweater dress fatpack), Sascha's Designs (a gown), MALified (a casual belted outfit with boots, MALified's gift is ONLY LaraX, no other sizes!)

I may have missed a few stores that weren't on my radar, so there might be more LaraX/PetiteX gifts out there. I focused on stores that I knew/hoped would have good gifts that I could wear year-round, and not just at Christmas. This was just a quick 'n' dirty first pass; I hope to go back sometime later to update this report.

If you do find other LaraX/PetiteX gifts at the Holiday Shop and Hop, please do share them here!

EDIT: Some more LaraX items! Boots from Ambrosia, a knit dress and scarf from Freda, and the Zury leggings fatpack gift from Addams (which was a previous gift from the Addams group notices) now includes LaraX when you unpack the Lara version from the unpacker HUD!

November 28, 2023

Why do I have a feeling that I am going to be spending lots of Linden dollars this holiday season? I already see so many things and I want to buy buy BUY!

November 27, 2023

Canadians face this hurdle pretty much all the time. Right now the Canadian dollar is worth (double checks) 73 cents US, so yeah, it hurts. I can't even remember the last time our dollar was at par with the U.S. dollar.

November 27, 2023

4 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

Have you or others tried LaraX clothing on Atenea to see how they fit?

Nope, I've had no time to try that out yet, but I had been trying old Lara 4.1/5.3 outfits on LaraX, and I have found that about 50% of it I can still be used, if I make good use of the LaraX alpha HUD. Things like T-shirts, bikinis, bars, panties and other skintight clothing, etc. will probably not work, but most clothing with full-length sleeves (or sleeveless!), full-length pants, and non-skintight skirts should all work okay (again, using the alpha HUD). And I expect the same to be true for the LucyBody Atenea mesh body.

November 27, 2023

I am reposting this from the LaraX? thread here, since it fits into the discussion. I'm so glad you created this thread!

ViSion has already updated their Mell minidress and jacket to LaraX. It's now located at the front of the store, behind the front counter as you come in. If you bought it previously, you can get a redelivery for free, which includes the LaraX versions, which is great!

Turns out that I had bought the Mell outfit megapack, which also includes the boots, which still fit LaraX well! Here's what Vanity looks like wearing it, below. The fatpack of the dress, jacket and boots comes in 30 colours, and the dress itself comes in two versions in the pack, cotton or satin, and it includes optional panties (also in 30 colours via HUD). It's an outfit I turn to time and again!

P.S. the rigging is INSANELY good; once I was falling from a great height due to a vanished skybox, and the hem of the skirt on this dress actually fluttered as I fell! From that point on, I was a loyal ViSion customer. I mean, who thinks of little details like that when creating clothing??

November 27, 2023

On 11/25/2023 at 7:25 AM, Katherine Heartsong said:

Plus, you might even see the 5.3 stuff becoming cheaper in stores as Lara X gain momentum, just for the long tail sales profits for the creators. And if rigging for the new X is much easier, fashion comes even faster and more petite support, both pluses.

Yep, that is what this diehard freebie fashionista is hoping for! I have a number of female alts who wear the Maitreya Lara 5.3-compatible Lucybody Atenea mesh body, and I have no plans to update them. I endlessly shop for freebies for them at events like the Shop and Hop, and by taking advantage of stores with dozens of group gifts and a free or inexpensive group join, like Scandalize. Those Atenea bodies are going to have clothing and shoes for YEARS, people! 😉

Forums

Blogs

Knowledge Base

Posts posted by Vanity Fair

Linden Lab

Tilia

Second Life

Connect With Us

Partner With Us