Ayashe Ninetails

Interior decorating. I was hired to do 4 rooms based on a close friend's recommendation and word of my ridiculous food/decor inventory. I wasn't even aware I'd be paid until I finished the project. It started out as a favor (friend of a friend kind of thing), but I put in many more hours than intended because it was way too fun, so I was offered a nice gift as a thank you. Essentially, it boiled down to being paid to shop and design cute kitchens with someone's else's prims, and I'm moooore than okay with this!

I wear Lucybody on my semi-neglected alt, so I just did a quick comparison for you. Ruth's hands and feet are separate attachments, and I'm seeing some slight seams there. She also won't fit my Maitreya-fit mesh nails and rings. The shoes I tried aren't a great fit, either. Ruth's nice, but it feels slightly more limited - at least at this time. Maybe better for someone who isn't as accessory-obsessed as I am? For Lucy, I'll add some additional points to what everyone else has already said. Maitreya-fit mesh nails from popular stores fit very well. The same can be said for rings. Demo first, of course. I have not yet tested toe rings on her, but I probably should. Lastly, she looks so much better in tight pants/shorts/swimwear than my Maitreya-wearing self, and I'm still fairly salty about this. You could essentially take Lucy on a romp through all the major events, sales, group gift giveaways, and freebie/gift card offers and have little trouble dressing her for no/low cost. I've done this numerous times and her wardrobe is exploding with things she can wear. I do have to work a little alpha magic from time to time, and certain AO animations might cause some skin to peek through, but that's to be expected. Oh oh oh and get this - I do still need to update her to the latest version, so I just ran her over there and saw there's now a "Feet Special Edition For Use With Open Boots" being sold for 99L and I just might faint because as of now, that was my *only* major negative! I haven't bought/tested that yet, but you knowwww I'm going to!

Hmm. Mayyyyyybe this for a decent base? Clef de Peau - Otis, shown on Lelutka Eon (Evo X). If you enter the mens skins store through the main entrance, it's on the right side with a 40% discount for group members (it says through Nov 15, but it might still be active). Group costs 75L. There's also another one on the left side that could work, too.

Omg! They didn't rez for me at all, LOL. How weird - I only saw the bottles from TW forward and I was standing there for quite a few mins. That's been happening a LOT lately. *kicks SL* Thank you!

Maybe take a peek at Vendetta? I don't know if you can blend those skins well with Stray Dog, but it might be worth playing around with demos and maybe some slight tinting to see if it works! Vendetta can be a little softer and there are skin imperfections in their faces, which I like a lot. You also get some nice body options like freckles. I was also going to suggest Clef de Peau (just search for "Clef" otherwise it'll return no results), but I don't see any body demos in that store - just the paid versions, annnnd that's a problem.

I agree. I adore V-Tech and really wanted Lara Flat to take off and be super successful to open up more options for both of them, even if only at the Itty Bitty events, but maybe that issue is what was holding it back. Well, that and current body trends. If the deformers work well for the OP, I suppose that's another avenue I can test out.

I'm so glad you mentioned this! I noticed this happening when I first bought Lara Flat and it's what eventually prompted me to switch to a male body. Lara Flat does include a V-Tech compatible fit version, if I remember correctly, but I don't quite remember how well that works (or doesn't). I also don't remember if that's for skins or clothing. I was so over it all by that point. The head issue is also a very good point. The unisex heads fit pretty well with minimal (if any) seams, but if you're heavily invested in your current male head, welp... You could also try rocking a female head as Maitimo suggested, but that's definitely entering computer into the sea territory. I've done it, buuuuut. There are some really nice unisex skins around, but it's all so very fiddly creating the right look. The struggle is real! Stick with Jake, OP. 😂 Just shop skinny. That's my method these days.

You're pretty much in it. Jake is the closest you'll get if you want to stick to bodies with massive wardrobes. I use Legacy for my male avatar, but I can always be heard off in the distance cursing up a storm about his arms. With Jake, I just don't love his calves. But that's more of a me issue there considering the kinds of clothes and shoes I fit him in. That said, there are some tricks you can use. A couple of mens stores I've found tend to create their clothing to be quite slim. Some clothes alpha out the legs, for example, and shape them a lot slimmer than they are naturally. Enforcer is one example. Ascend isn't too bad, either. Gild is another with slender silhouettes. Furtacor is yet another. Duk has some cute slimming shirts. Second trick already mentioned but way harder - Maitreya + V-Tech or Lara Flat addons. Shopping will drive you up a wall, but it's doable. You can fit him into pants and jeans without much trouble just by shopping at major venues, but the upper body clothing hunt will drive you mad. This is the route I took prior to switching to Legacy. You *will* be tempted to toss your monitor into the sea a few times. Stores that might save you a trip into the ocean to fetch it - Asteroidbox, TwoSided, and Krankhaus. If your alpha game is on point, Fe Style, Deadwool, and Mossu. Skins do exist for the addons and tend to be quite slim, so there's that.

Hey there! Welcome back to SL! Okay, so you've got a lot of options. Maybe too many options. I can help a bit. It sounds as if you've got your mesh body all sorted out, so let's move on to the heads. So here, your best bet would be Lelutka Evo X (which is backwards compatible with Lel Evo Classic products), but you've also got another really good option in Akeruka (AK). Unfortunately, you just missed a 50% off sale at AK (ended yesterday) where they released two new Asian mesh heads at discount. The good news is AK runs sales quite frequently, so if you can wait a bit, you might be able to grab one for about 1800L. AK Advanced heads include a version designed to match Lel Evo products, so Lelutka Evolution line skins and makeup will work on them (but not skins and cosmetics made for the newer Evo X - that's important). This decision is going to come down to how much patience you've got for shopping. Evo X is the easiest shopping experience as of right now. AK/base Evolution line is a slight bit harder to shop for, but still doable. With the holidays coming up, my advice would be to grab head demos from both stores, figure out what looks you like, check out the available cosmetics, and wait a bit until sales start dropping again. Note: there are definitely options in the Genus and Catwa lines as well, but if you're like me and shop too much, you'll notice that fewer new releases for those heads are flooding the market these days. Still, it might be worth grabbing the free Genus Strong Gift at their mainstore to see what you can do with it. Hopefully all that made sense. I don't know who let me touch the keyboard before finishing my coffee. Now for skins: Lots of stores carry Asian skins for Evo and/or Evo X and sometimes Genus, and sales are common. I'll include a small-ish list of stores to get you started. Just pay very close attention to what line the skin is made for - Evo and Evo X have different logos. Nothing will ever say AK, so just pick Evo if you go that route. Demo demo demo everything. Also, pay attention to the weekend sales. Happy Weekend, the Saturday Sale, and SoKawaiiSundays will make skin and makeup shopping a lot easier (and cheaper - a lot cheaper). Skin stores: Tres Beau (check around both outside and inside the shop/up the stairs) Moccino Beaute Nuve (they have some Asian skin freebies for Lel Evo, Catwa, and Genus in exchange for a 250L group join fee) Dernier Enfer Sombre Gloom (they do weekend sales quite often) ItGirls Bold & Beauty Velour (frequent weekend sales on skins and cosmetics) Last note: Many stores sell body skins separately from the heads. Read all the notecards that come with the demos to find out what body skin your head skin is designed to match. If you need any help finding any of the places I mentioned (they should be in the Search, but you know how cranky SL can be), or if it all gets a bit too confusing, just poke me here or inworld and I'll help you out.

This is pretty much what I do. I have a no-frills flat platform rezzed in the sky. I made it the exact size of my plot so I can comfortably rez my backdrops and props up there. I'm pretty clumsy, so I've learned to embrace the inevitable. Accidentally yeeting myself over the edge when rezzing large builds is part of the creative process at this point and a nice change from accidentally attaching couches to my body 😂.