Our second After a Fashion excursion in Second Life (SL) was on Monday, March 12.There were 9 of us: Catherine, Connie, Joy, June L., June M., Kate, Kathryn, Monique and me.
As usual, we met at Crayon’s SL headquarters. We had a rough start because there were technical problems in SL. A couple of us had to log out and back in again. Some our avatars had trouble moving but all-in-all, we had another successful event. It's wonderful seeing the progress our avatars have made since the first event two weeks earlier.
When you join SL and start creating your avatar, you do have the basics but they have a very “GNubie” look and if you don’t do something about it, you’ll really stand out in the crowd (and not in a good way.) Poor Paradise, she was so homely in the beginning.It was time for the GNubies to shed their newbie looks. Fortunately, we had the more experienced girls to mentor us and experiment with some new looks in between. It was time to shop for the essentials: shapes, skins and hair.
Full disclosure time...
With help from Katicus, I bought a couple new skins on an earlier trip (they were on sale -
cheap! - and went back for a new hairdo.) I also caved and spent some Linden dollars. I’ve included my “before” and “after” pictures.First stop, Colette’s Body Shop. We saw several groupings on sale (I think they were 11 for L$1,000). I have to admit, I didn’t get the whole shape thing until I read Kate's So-Called Second Life. Katicus and Catherine explained how out-of-the-box avatars are naturally tall and often out of proportion.
Catherine taught us how to measure our avatars. Paradise has a great body. I only wish I had one like her in real life! At 6'2", she was one of the shortest in the group. Art imitating life or what? Some people don’t want take the time figuring out how to give their avatars proper shapes. Others don’t want avatars too tall or human-like. There’s a shape for everyone.
Next stop, Panache Island. We went to Skins by Hose & Queen for skins first. We found free packs of skins high up on the wall. Some of us also practiced our flying - it was a great way to show some of the girls where the freebies were hiding.Panache Hair was our next stop. It was also the shopping highlight of the evening. (Unfortunately, that was also the time SL crashed on my computer so I missed half the trip.) It’s a large colourful store with all kinds of great hair to choose from. I learned that some hair demos are strange colours like lavender and mauve with orange streaks. (Hair demos I tried elsewhere had funny markings across them.) While Joy had trouble keeping her hair on, Trixie and Satu had a great time finding groovy new doos.
We closed the evening with a trip to the trvia lounge at AOL Pointe Island. It was Catherine’s night - she won two rounds while I was there. Way to go!On a related note...
I discovered a great podcast today, The Traveling Avatar’s Quick & Dirty Tips (of the Quick & Dirty Tips series). A must-listen for the SL gnubie. Short, sweet and to the point.
Plans for our next “After a Fashion” event are already underway.
Technorati tags: After a Fashion, Catherine Winters, Connie Crosby, Eden Spodek, Joy Boyson, June Li, June Macdonald, Kate Trgovac, Katicus Sparrow,
I love your avatar's makeover particularly her new hair and outfit - but I think she changed races and had raccoon parents in the process.
ReplyDeleteSecond Life seems like more work, drudgery and cost than one's first.
So you're not a fan of the make-up, eh? ; )
ReplyDeleteI'm getting pretty hooked. Now I know why my kids like game consoles so much. It's really not that hard if you have some experienced friends helping you along the way. I've met some interesting people in-world (that's Second Life speak for Second Life).
I don't know what all this will mean for the future of the web. I understand VoIP will be added to SL in a few months.
Monique, thanks for your comment. Do you have any current pics of your avatar? Kate and I were thinking about a before and after post for our whole group.
ReplyDeleteI dig the new look, very exotic. One question though, the waist is a touch "Disney" for me, ever consider giving her a tad more in the midsection? This is just a personal preference. Anyway, you've got a very well done blog :) I dig it.
ReplyDelete-Will Ross (TA)
Hey Will, Thanks for stopping by and glad you like the blog.
ReplyDeleteI listen to your podcast regularly.
Paradise bought a new shape so her midsection (and the rest of her body) is more realistic. Her face is evolving too. She's a work in progress. ; ) Our next event is on April 9. Check back next week for her newest look.
Eden