New World Notes

SL Avatar Body Survey from Top Fashion Brand Dominated by Maitreya

Mishi Akin, owner of the massively successful virtual fashion brand Blueberry, recently ran a survey among her subscribers, asking them which mesh avatar body they use.  2879 customers responded (a very impressive data sample), and the results (above) are striking:

They show an overwhelming preference for the Maitreya body sold by Onyx LeShelle. In Mishi's survey, respondents could choose more than one body ("they could choose all if they wanted to", she tells me), but even then, Maitreya was far and away the clear choice.

Her reason for conducting this survey also provides insight into the state of the Second Life avatar economy: "I check to see if another body rose in popularity more than the six I design for," she explains, "so I can optimize my products. For example, if a new body was more widely used than the least used body on my design list I would replace it with the new body."

She tells me she conducted a similar survey 2 years ago, and the top choices are unchanged from what you see above: Maitreya, Slink Hourglass and Physique, and Freya, Isis, and Venus from Belleza. Or to put it another away: Three SL avatar body brands overwhelmingly dominate the market. This is partly due to what's called vendor lock-in: Once you buy a product that's dependent on specific accessories, it's very difficult to switch to a competing product.

But why is Maitreya far and away the market leader? Mishi has a fascinating theory there:

Get Free, Full Permission, Bento Hand Poses for SL Avatars from Emiliana

Now that the SL grid seems to be stabilized after this week's epic DDoS attack, I can finally post about this free offer from Emiliana, one of Second Life's best and stylish fashion photographers: Basic but beautiful Bento-based hand poses -- free, and full permission. Click here to get them from her in-world store.

Created in Blender, Emi is offering them to replace the default poses. "There just seemed to be a need for them," she tells me. And really, they're just basic so I'd feel bad charging for them. I've bought a few cute hold-able things over the past few months only to find that there weren't Bento poses in them. I wondered if maybe they couldn't find any, so maybe this will help."

Of course, like the street and technology, Second Life finds its own uses for things:

A Decade of Virtual Fashion in Second Life, Documented by Strawberry Singh

From 2008 to 2018, Strawberry Singh has created a history of virtual fashion in Second Life, noting all the technical milestones which improved the graphics and physics of outfits along the way. (I'd also love to see an analysis of styles as they've evolved over the years -- maybe in a follow-up, he hinted.)

But what's Strawberry's own favorite year in virtual fashion?

Woman Gives Second Life Husband Youthful Makeover to Keep Up With Virtual World's Bias for Avatars Under 35

Alicia Chenaux just took fashion makeovers to an extreme, changing not only her SL partner's avatar appearance and wardrobe, but his age too. (Before and after above.) She breaks down every avatar accessory she bought to make that happen, and the final tab is pretty steep as far as virtual makeovers go:

So the grand total for everything… L$6380, or about $27 USD.

Totally. Worth. Every. Penny.

"Does changing his avatar change how you feel about him?" I ask Alicia.

"No, not at all," she tells me. "It's still him on the other side of the avatar."

Notably, Alicia reports, her objection to his avatar looking like a dude in his 40s or 50s wasn't about a personal bias for youthful beauty, but an acknowledgment of the Second Life avatar industry's bias toward the young:

The Blinking, Deus Ex Eyes of Ms. Arbenlow: Coming Soon to Second Life

Stare into the new eyes of Daeberethwen Arbenlow, and do not look away. They're inspired by Deus Ex: Human Revolution, one of her favorite immersive sim games: "It was a game with great characters and cool sci-fi concepts." (I'm also a fan.). The thing about these blinking, glowing eyes, is they're eyes anyone in Second Life can plug into their own avatar's eye sockets -- "ANATOMY cyber eyes", to be precise, available starting November 17th, for the big Remnant event (details going live later).

She won't precisely say how she made them, but hints a bit at her process:

Recovering from Hurricane Irma, Strawberry Singh is Back Creating SL Unboxing Videos

Strawberry Singh, Second Life vlogger supreme, just uploaded this new unboxing video, which is worth a watch, especially if you're into SL fashion subscription boxes. More importantly, this also means that Strawberry Singh, IRL a Floridian facing down Hurricane Irma, has emerged relatively unscathed.

"We have power and all is good," she reported some days ago. "Just been helping the neighbors a bit. Had some fallen trees around the hood, there are still many places that are flooded, many people that don't have power. We will try and volunteer and try and help where we can so won't be around for another few days."

Many other Floridians, of course, were much more impacted by Irma. Fortunately, Strawberry also created this long list of donation and support sites to help them.

Step-by-Step SL Photography Tutorial Turned Into an Animated GIF

Anya Ohmai is an awesome SL photographer who creates luscious images like the one above, and she just put her in-world photography and Photoshop post-processing techniques into a detailed, step-by-step animated .GIF tutorial -- cool technique as compared to the usual YouTube video. When you're on a PC or laptop to see it in full, go here to Anya's sight to view it. 

Also read more background on her Flickr page, and how her artistic process evolved as Second Life's technical features changed:

Tomorrow in Second Life, The Post-Apocalypse Becomes a Fashion Show

Thereafter could be the name of a zombie RPG or for that matter the new name of New Jersey after the 2nd US Civil War, but since it's set in Second Life, it's something somewhat different: A fashion showcase and party where all the stylish kids will come! Yes:

Thereafter is a Second Life theater, music and sales event celebrating humanity and society in a post-apocalyptic world.  Join us as some of SL’s most cherished content creators contribute exclusive items that provide the backdrop and costuming for live theater events set in a post-apocalyptic, Shakespearean environment. Highly regarded live musicians and DJs are scheduled to honor the favored and familiar sounds of a post-apocalyptic world.

Go here for event details and teleport link starting Noon PST tomorrow. Get there soon, because if our civic infrastructure collapses into chaos, you're going need new fashion tips.

Cajsa's Choices: Six Stylish SL Fashion Photags with Composite Couture

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

The composite of three or four fashion shots pulled together is a standard in Second Life fashion blogging, but Tea Peony (above and below) takes it to a new level. Her composites include different delicious angles that highlight details with narrow and wide slices.

She creates a mood that is fun, cheeky, and she never forgets that the point is highlighting the clothing and accessories. Her blog can be found at Hitchhikers Guide to Second Life.

Mokotana Boa is another fashion blogger who demonstrates how in one image, she can highlight individual details and show the fashions not only in the best possible light, but also project an individual style that makes her work instantly recognizable. I like how she samples three colors and creates a palette for each photo.

She also can lend those same talents to non-fashion decor items as you can see in the photo above. This Road Trip composite from Mokotana Boa is fabulous combination of the sideview mood shot and the details people want to see. She brands photos with her blog logo, but her real brand is her distinctive style. Her blog can be found at Moka's Way.

More masters of composite pics below!

To Survive, Second Life's Modeling Industry Must Modernize and Be Less Drama-Filled Than the RL Modeling Industry (Comments of the Week)

Really interesting conversation over last Friday's post on how mesh has helped contribute to the decline of Second Life's modeling industry. According to SL fashion blogger Alaska Metropolitan (above), SL agencies must transcend the technical limitations of Second Life as a platform and leverage social media more:

I think for the SL model agency to survive in modern times, they'd need to really take a look at what they're offering. In times past, a fashion show was a fun way to showcase an entire collection on release. That doesn't happen so much anymore. It's fast fashion now ;-) with lots of event releases. Fashion shows still make sense for shopping events, charity auctions, etc. But the max number of folks that could TP in and watch a show live hasn't changed! It's still really low. To get lots of virtual eyeballs on a brand, agencies could do more video production, catalogues and lookbooks, etc. I feel like part of the decline is just an industry that didn't innovate as much as it could have.

Reader "Dusky" argues that the real challenge is not so much mesh, as the culture around SL modeling, which seems pretty much like its real life counterpart, except maybe with a little less cocaine and anorexia: