FASHION CRISIS

Is there no market for the dainty and demure among female avatars?  Longtime fashion maven Torrid Midnight ponders this after launching a new line of spring dresses with the equally acclaimed designer Mistress Midnight.  Their April release was decidedly unlike most popular women's fashions in SL, which lean toward the dramatic (goth, sci-fi babe, etc.) or agressively sexy (very high heels, thongs, etc.)  To herald Mistress' return from a brief SL hiatus, the Midnight sisters had something else in mind.  Their "Spring Flowers" line was girly and modest and the kind of thing you wear when you meet your boyfriend's parents for the first time.

Sales, Torrid notes drily, were not great.  Which launches a quandry in the metaverse fashion industry:

I find myself questioning how I design now, would I do better to just make a bunch of half-boob shirts (tops that only cover half of your chest)? How about five pairs of jeans so low we can tell just how "groomed" you are? The thing is, even though I'm just being funny, those would probably sell extremely well...

Torrid's ruminations on what SL girls want is here.  Mine begin with these questions here: there's an enormous warehouse of Resident-made fashion for people who want to roleplay in-your-face sexuality and sexual-tinged fantasy.  There's a comparative dearth of fashions for folks looking for low-key sensuality.  What's this say about SL culture?   And what does it say about what women want from this world?

Update, 5/9, 5:10pm:  Second Style Fashionista has, of course, a way more thoughtful take on the issue.

Comments

[Yirrkala Wombarra]

Maybe a lot of those Female Avatars who choose the extreme clothing are actually male in RL, and are making their Avs wear & act in SL what they would like RL females to be wearing & acting....?

[Torrid]

I also mentioned in that entry that it had to do with the skirt. Most females in world lean towards the prim skirt these days and this was all about the system skirt. I'm not a big fan of the prim skirt and that has mostly to do with having some *extra cushion*. I have a dress shape that makes system skirts work just fine but prim skirts, that's another story. As Celebrity mentioned, the poofy skirt on this dress didn't go over well. Then again, poofy can change at the touch of a slider. I've not regretted making the dress, it's caused me to examine a great deal. By the way Hamlet, that's a very old picture! lol

[Darla]

Isn't Torrid's store notorious for its provocative fashions? Why does she expect that her average customer that wants sexy clothes will suddenly spring for a modest gown just because she starts selling it?

[Torrid]

Hi Darla! :) If you read my blog entry that this story is referenced from you'll see that it's about me examining what women want in SL. I have some provocative clothing sure but I also have casual and conservative clothing. Plenty of my customers have purchased the casual fashions and this was a learning experience for me as I said. I never expect someone to buy something just because I sell it, if that were the case I'd have been disappointed two years ago lol.

[Aliasi Stonebender]

In my experience, a lot of the female avatars who choose the extreme clothing ARE female; there's an interesting sense of disconnect when you see two particularly "hoochie" avs talking about their grandchildren.

On the other hand, I think most of us have some part that eternally thinks of ourself as nineteen or so... and thus, perhaps this is not so surprising!

That said, Torrid, while you do sell more conservative stuff, I don't really link your name to it so much. I may not be the only one, so... *shrug*

[Merlyn Bailly]

Much of Jonquille Noir's clothing is classy and sexy without being extremely revealing or kinky. Ravenlynn Templar is another designer with extremely good taste. I have alot of their designs in my SLB wishlist.

I think alot of the more extreme dress styles are worn by guys using female avs (gay or bi men who are just "playing" at being girls) and the younger women, 18-25, who really haven't had much chance to develop a real sense of taste as yet (makes you wonder how many of the male avs are really women trying out being the so-called "superior sex"!). They're still trying to strike a balance between what their parents expected, what their boyfriends expect, and what they really like themselves. The younger they are, the more likely they are to go for extreme styles, because they're still rebelling against their parent's expectations (just as I think the more sex-oriented male residents are probably male in RL, age 18-30) AND trying to make their RL/SL boyfriends happy.

[Sasy]

This is kind of odd as if you join fash con or any of the groups that post numersou designers work then you will see that the dresses that are being ripped off the shelves superfast are in fact all the girly and feminine dresses especialy the vintage inspired ones and system skirts have always sold extremely well where I work we have very little prim work sets at all , I dont think its just who your market it I think it comes down to how your marketing them , everyone that comes to SL is new to every designers work and this week Im sure hundreds signed on for the first time and have no idea what style Torrid sells, also give the customers more credit some of them are fans overall of a designers work as its generally quality they are fans of so wether its a hoochie top or a 3 piece spring dress if the quality is there they will find some way of incorporating it into their inventory :o)