I can't put stockings or pantyhose on my feet why?

[Tiffanyallenbates]

I put on pantyhose but the look like legging i wear at home.  they don't cover my feet

[Alwin Alcott]

might be the item  you try to wear isn't designed for your specific avatar...

might be the item isn't fully loading

might be you wear a system avatar and mesh feet

might be....lot of causes...

[Madelaine McMasters]

Hi Tiffany,

As Alwin suggests, your problem is probably caused by the wearing of either prim feet, or shoes that contain them while also using a classic (non-mesh) avatar. Stockings/pantyhose are, like other system layer clothing items, and even your skin, a layer of paint on your avatar. If you are wearing prim feet, they'll come with an alpha layer that paints the original avatar feet transparent. This is to prevent the avatar skin from poking out through the attached feet and shoes. So, there are two reasons your stockings are not visible over your feet. The first is that a shoe's alpha layer is overriding that part of the stocking texture and the second is that the prim feet/shoes are actually outside of the avatar mesh in that area, making it impossible to see the skin, even if it was otherwise visibile.

If the stockings are not patterned, you may be able to adjust the color of your feet to match. Prim feet and shoes containing them generally have a skin tone matching HUD. You probably had to noodle with yours to get your feet to match your body. Now you'll have to fiddle with it again to make your feet match your stockings. Remember to make a copy of the HUD before doing that, and name it to match your stockings.

Good luck!

[Nalates Urriah]

Here is the LONG answer so you'll know what is going on.

There are different technical types of avatars in SL. There are the new starter avatars, which have what we call mesh bodies or we just call them mesh avatars. There are also the older avatars which we call classic avatars. The classic avatar skeleton and skin are the base avatar for both. To use a new mesh body the skin of the classic avatar is hidden using alpha layers.

Learning to make clothes for 3D virtual worlds is no simple task. Linden Lab made it about as easy as it gets. Plus, SL users have made a huge number of tutorials. But, you need to understand how the avatars and clothes work before trying to learn to make clothes, skins, or tats.

Clothes and skin made for the classic avatar apply a texture/image to the mesh surface that makes up the skin of the classic avatar, which we usually just refer to as the system (original) skin. We call these clothes and skins classic, system clothes or skin. You can think of the images as being like decals. These are the clothes we make with GIMP or Photoshop. It sounds like these are the type of stockings you have.

If you use GIMP or Photoshop you are familiar with layers. In the classic avatar the skin is the bottom layer. On top of that we composite the tattoo, undershirt, shirt, and jacket layers. We can also wear ‘attachments’ on top of all those layers.

Over those ‘system’ layers textures the new style mesh avatar places a new mesh surface. The two surfaces are so close to the same position we generally hide the classic surface used for the classic avatar with Alpha Layers, so the classic skin won't show when it pokes through the surface of the new style mesh avatar surface - which it will as the avatar moves. It’s a basic limitation of modeling and animating in all 3D worlds that surfaces conflict. It is just the state of the technology we have. Note, this hiding also hides the system clothes applied to the classic skin. Rather than an entire mesh body, it sounds like you have mesh or sculpty feet. For purposes of discussion here we can consider mesh and scrulpty the same.

The viewer always applies system skin, tats, shirt, etc. to the system or classic avatar’s surface. This is why when you wear a new style mesh avatar and make changes to system clothes you see no change in appearance. The change happened on the classic avatar skin/surface, which is HIDDEN UNDER the new style mesh skin/surface. Your case the leg is classic and the feet are new style.

Special skins and clothes are needed for use with the newer style mesh avatars. With mesh clothes another mesh surface is placed over both the classic and new style mesh skins. A rigged mesh top should fit over both skins. A rigged mesh jacket will be another surface that fits over all the surfaces below/inside it.

We use 'Appliers' (a HUD that usually comes with a skin or other attachment) to place textures/images on the new surface that makes up the mesh avatar skin or clothing. We must composite the skin and clothes we want to put on the new style avatar skin ourselves. But, it is intended that we use new style mesh clothes with the new style mesh avatar body. So, in general we only place skin on the new mesh skin.

Unfortunately, skins made for the classic avatar generally won't work with the new mesh avatar skin. The skin makers are modifying classic skins they made to work with Appliers they build, which put the skins on the new mesh avatars.

Mesh clothes can be used with the new mesh avatars and classic avatars. System clothes can only be used with the system/classic avatar.

If all this seem unnecessarily complicated... you're sort of right and the thinking is understandable. But, the necessity for it comes from the Lab's habit of making all new things as backward compatible as possible. Classic avatars came first. We are now in a transition to newer things. We expect these complications to be removed in the coming SL2.

With stocking you need to have and applier for the feet you have.

If you have sculpty feet and shoes... they are usually made together and there ususally is no applier, but they come with a HUD to control skin color and features of the shoes. If the HUD does not have an option for stockings, make a copy of the feet and adjust the skin color to march the leg's with stocking color.