Ophelia's Gaze: Fashion and the Full-Figured Female Avatar

Exclusive to NWN, Iris Ophelia's ongoing showcase of all things stylish in SL

It’s been a couple months since a pro-anorexia Thinspo group on Flickr based around snapshots of Second Life avatars surfaced. There was a very strong community reaction, especially among the fashionistas.

Questioning the way the female body manifests in avatar form is not new, either. For as long as there have been games there have been criticisms about the female characters in them. Women constantly face unhealthy and unnatural images of femininity. Second Life is one of the few game-like environments where you can control every element of your avatar, including size.

So Thinspo SL raised a question that had been in the back of our heads for awhile. With the freedom to choose any shape, why do women Residents still overwhelmingly choose these thinner images for ourselves?  And while I’ve made versions of my shape in several different ethnicities (and genders), it took a little bit of anti-Thinspo feeling for me to make a more fleshed-out version, as depicted on the left.

Interested in filling out your own shape in style?  Four tips after the cut.

The Big Picture: Adjusting The Avatar Base

Making a larger female avatar is not easy-- unless you’re trying to make a cartoonish or satirical one. Natural-looking shapes are challenging in general, but the bigger they are, the harder it can be. Don’t feel that you need to max the sliders out. I added about 20 to my Body Thickness and Body Fat sliders. These two areas prime your avatar for the next changes, not the be-all and end-all of making a heavier avatar.

Give Yourself The Right Curves

The Belly and the Butt sliders are obvious next steps, and I can’t emphasize enough that you don’t need them both at 100. Do what fits for the body you’re designing. In my case, I added about 15 to each. Just as important, however, are the Love Handles and Saddle Bags. These are vital for even a sleek and skinny female avatar, though-- it’s their correct use that can eliminate unpleasantly angular avatar hips and give a very curvy feminine silhouette. These two sliders should always be just high enough that they smooth the shape out, but don’t add any extra peaks.

Adjust The Fine Details

Sizing up your avatar’s head is very important to make a larger avatar look right, and if you do it right you won’t lose any of the recognizability of your face. Focus on the Upper/Lower cheeks, and the Chin/Neck slider.

Embrace A Tighter Fit

One thing that you will need to accept about larger avatars is that things will be much harder to fit. Some hairstyles may need to have the strands in the front moved, and prim attachments like necklaces or belts will almost always be buried inside your avatar, so be prepared to edit just about everything. I didn’t have too much trouble with clothing with my fuller avatar, but that’s not the case for everyone. Clothing may show texture seams on an avatar with a larger top and middle, moreso than on a pear-shaped avatar like the one I made. To put it bluntly, there seems to be a bit more of an allowance in designs for bigger butts than there is for bigger guts.

My first month in SL was spent mostly hanging out in clubs, which is also where I finalized my current shape. I thought at the time that my avatar was “bigger”, hippy with some curves, and I was quite proud of that-- but as soon as I left that clubbing bubble, I realized that I was just as bad as the female shapes I thumbed my nose at. Now that I have this more realistic shape, I can’t say that I’m completely converted, either. It’s no small feat to make a permanent alteration to an extension of your identity.

Have you been inspired to try the full-figured approach?

Iris Ophelia has been featured in the New York Times and has spoken about SL-based design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

Comments

[Brandy Rasmuson]

Iris, you created a very lovely shape, and you've given some nice pointers for someone looking to make a curvier shape. Being full-figured in SL is all I've known really as I started out that way my first day, and I'm still really happy with my decision. I credit my shape for making me so comfortable modding prims since I had to learn early on how to fit anything.

[Nightbird Glineux]

I think there's a kind of "vicious cycle" going on. We buy the barbie doll shapes because that's what is available. Sellers only offer barbie doll shapes because that is what they see selling.

I bought a selection of shapes from In Great Shape, which unfortunately is no longer in business. They definitely don't fit the barbie doll stereotype!

[Doreen Garrigus]

Iris, your new curvier shape is lovely and feminine. Mind you, I don't see anything wrong with the Barbie Doll style avatar---I just object to *every* avatar being shaped like that, as a default. We vary a great deal. Our avatars should be able to vary as much as(if not more than)we do.

I only have one question, now: How tall is your avatar?

[KickMe Sideways]

** Not advertising! **

Hi Iris, love your new look! I also agree with Doreen here. I think if there were more fuller shapes available, "some" would love to try those.
Two things here:
1) I was at Gnubie and one new female was there with a larger bottom, she said she liked her larger bottom and that she wanted to keep that shape. I had given her one of my cousins shapes (which was taller and thinner ( she added bust and bottom)) that she made, and this new av loved the new look.
2) My cousin makes shapes in SL and has been making the fuller shapes. She also cannot stand 100% of the female AV's to all have the same sizes. So she is making a line of "Large and in Charge" Shapes for those wanting something alittle larger but not overly done.

Also she has made Daisy Mea shape which (and you can guess) is a "Country Girl" shape that is 10% bow legged. For those Horse loving people *smiles* (I thought it was a good idea!) that want to "LOOK" that part.
I added a SLURL in the URL place, I hope that is correct for anyone wanting to stop by and take a look. Mind you, she has just started and is making custome shapes as well, so there isn't that many to choose from ATM.

[KickMe Sideways]

Well Poo! The SLURL didn't take, so here it is:

L&K Designs @Jayzee Beach

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jayzee%20Beach/183/20/22

[Kedawen Darrow]

I was inspired to work on making my avatar more realistic after reading this article. Its something I've wanted to do for a long time, and have tried to do but without very good results. Thanks Iris, for the tips.

Here is my before and after.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/geekilicious/2737418278/

[Hamlet Au]

Cool, Kedawen! Would love to feature that image here if that's OK.

[kesseret]

This article may be of interest. Marissa and I, like Brandy (who has a gorgeous shape!) are thicker avs and there's a whole bunch of us.
http://marissaracecourse.com/2008/06/03/you-mean-you-chose-to-be-fat-body-image-in-a-virtual-world/

Anyway, great article and so sorry I missed a killer article of my interest... note to self: stop working and more Second Life ;-)