Ophelia's Gaze: With Second Life Style, When is Bad Fashion Really Just Different Taste?

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

As much as I like to believe that Second Life has the potential to be (and sometimes is) a cooperative fashion utopia, the reality is that fashion and drama are pretty closely linked. As in most other matters of taste, there are very few certain things in fashion. Even the most stylish items can be worn hideously, and most of the people who consider themselves stylish, in RL or SL, seem to take at least a little bit of joy from looking at someone whose outfit is going in the opposite direction of taste.

Blogs like What The Fug? get a lot of traffic from critiquing some of the out-there outfits people wear in SL (along with offering constructive tips on how to improve your avatar.) However, in the What The Fug Flickr Group (NSFW), which shows bad outfit sightings contributed by fans of the site, things can get a lot less constructive. And in my opinion, arbitrary.  In a virtual world where nearly everything is possible, is it bad taste to have an overweight avatar, or to wear mismatched shoes? Where can the line be drawn between bad taste and different taste?  Keep reading for a few of my ideas on the subject!

 
Here are two outfits, one of which I would say is, well, different, and one which is just outright bad. Here's why:

True Style Requires Visible Effort

A well put together outfit will rarely come together immediately. You need to give yourself time to try different options, and for the love of all that is stylish, make sure that all your prims fit. If you're not 100% sure of how to do this, LindenLifestyles posted a great tutorial about editing prim hair many moons ago, and the lessons definitely apply to all prim attachments. Taking time to edit the prim components of an avatar is crucial, and also unavoidable. Once you've got that down, you might want to take a look at how to tint certain prims for WindLight, as well, though it's not as necessary as making sure they fit to begin with.

You also want your avatar to be wearing things that look like the designers put an effort into making. The top on the right looks terrible only because it's being worn without any of the prim enhancements which turn it into a rather striking leather trenchcoat.  So make sure you're wearing things that compliment you, and that you're wearing them in a way the compliments the designer, too. Otherwise, it will look like neither of you really care.

True Style Requires Logic and Common Sense

Don't be afraid to think critically about your outfit, from head to toe. Does it really make sense to be wearing body oil all the time? Should your belly ring (or other piercings...) be attached over your clothing? Is your pretty ring entirely hidden behind a blinding cloud of bling? Do size 0 hands really make sense on a 6'7" woman?

On the subject of thinking about your shape, don't be afraid to smooth out some of those 90 degree angles; the end result is almost always a lot more appealing. If you're not sure how to go about that, What The Fug has done two great tutorials-- you can find part 1 here, and part 2 here. One of the best parts of Second Life is that we don't have to follow nature and reality closely at all, but if your goal is to be visually appealing, you're going to want to pay fairly close attention to the "logic" behind your shape.

True Style Includes Respect for Others

I fully support all the diverse and unique subcultures and groups in Second Life, but would you go shopping in real life while wearing a BDSM outfit, however well-made it was? Some things just aren't appropriate in every situation, and one of the most tasteful things someone can have is respect other people around them. Not everyone wants to participate in the things you do, and wearing very racy fetishwear to malls and tourist sims is completely unnecessary. It forces people around you to engage with your fetish, whether they want to or not. In this sense, a large part of style is dressing for your location. You can be wearing the most fabulously textured denim short-shorts in all of SL, but if you're wearing it to a black tie gala, you should probably change.

[Another huge part of dressing with respect for others is if you're participating in a big event, like a hunt, expo, or show. Being completely kitted out with accessories and really primmy clothing is in very bad taste because your outfit, and the outfits of others doing the same thing, can make the event so laggy that others won't be able to enjoy it. In those circumstances, no one will be admiring your sense of style.]

I've been on both sides of this issue. I'm not entirely proud of the fact that I do get a lark from the unfortunate avatars of others, but it's the truth. When a woman in a store near me has large prim breasts, a little latex onesie, hair that doesn't even come close to fitting her, and a waist no thicker than her own wrist, I have to laugh. On the other hand, I've also been laughed at, because I do have pretty unique tastes at times, mainly due to my love of Japanese street fashions. "Iris, what the @%^* are you wearing?" is something I hear fairly often in-world, and I'm okay with that. If I want to wear my persocon ears with a sweater dress, or dress up like a supervillain, no one's going to stop me. Hating what someone is wearing just because you yourself wouldn't wear it isn't enough of a reason to say they have bad taste.

If you hadn't guessed, by the way, the outfit above right is my example of bad taste, with the left my example of different taste. The hair, dress, bejewelled prim nails, and shoes are all pieces that I absolutely adore, and that I've been criticized for wearing-- the phrase "Japanese ballerina waitress with a bad perm" actually came up.  Tough luck, that's what I like.

So how do you define bad virtual world taste?

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.

Update, 4:00pm: Added advice on avoiding lag fashion -- HA"

Comments

[Nalates Urriah]

Bad taste... it is personal, some times it is racial. In the eye of the beholder a big butt, gigantic breasts... may be just the thing. For others it seems silly.

I remember a girl friend talking with her new boy friend as she dressed for them to go out. Most of the discussion was about how to get her booty big enough... he wanted a big ol' butt... I thought it was WAY over done. But they were happy with the result.

[Uccello Poultry]

Fashionably comfortable is how I define the way I dress. If I like the look and I'm comfortable, I'm happy. Even some experienced players don't take the time to adjust hair, clothes, or accessories that are mis-fit and to me, that is just wrong. Take a few minutes. Pick your own fashion, but get the basics right.

[Alicia Chenaux]

The WTFug Flickr pool does not reflect on the authors' opinions unless we're the ones adding the pictures. There are often times we are sent pictures from readers that don't make the blog because it's obvious that it's more of a personal attack rather than "Oh hey, her prims suck and she's wearing neon green socks with a bikini, holding a flaming torch and standing in the middle of Armidi." Um...not that I've ever seen that. *whistles*

Proper prim placement is really the best thing you can do for yourself, no matter what your fashion tastes might be. Nothing makes your look suddenly fall on the bad side of the fashion tracks than a piece of hair jammed through your eye, your boots inside your calves, and your tail floating 2 inches away from your backside. Once you get everything in place, you'll find your look completely comes together. :)

[Tymmerie Thorne]

If I can see (or am afraid that I will see at any moment) parts only your doctor or lover should see, it is bad fashion.

[Burgundy Mirajkar]

WTFug is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I usually agree with the bloggers' criticisms. It's at its best when it's calling attention to common style errors that truly look wrong and at its worst (more often in the comments than in the original posts) when readers mistake their personal taste for objective fashion sense.

That is, WTFug works when they're the fashion paramedics, not the fashion police. Thank you, Iris, for making that distinction here, as well. So much is possible in the world of SL style that it's disappointing when the creative and eccentric is summarily dismissed because RL preconceptions overshadow innovation.

As for the question about bad taste, I'd echo the prim cautions but also add that skimpy doesn't automatically mean sexy. Skimpy *can* be sexy, of course, but not if it isn't also well put-together.

[Gahum Riptide]

I dislike immitations of baggy or oversize clothes, popped collars, and what I call "rock god" fashion (guys with a tucked in t-shirt, jeans or leather pants, and long straight hair). I'll never tell someone they have to dress a different way, but that doesn't mean I won't make fun of it. I realize not everyone likes what I wear and I don't care if I get told "WTF is THAT?" because I lknow it happens and fashion is subjective.

On the other hand, most of what I make fun of is poorly fitted prims on avs who have had enough time in world to figure out out, such as the version of you on the right.

[Athanasius Skytower]

So how do you define bad virtual world taste?

I'm not certain I can define it to any useful degree, but I know it when I see it.

Mostly as the difference between, "Well, I wouldn't wear it, but okay, whatever floats your boat" and "OH DEAR GOD MY EYES! BLEACH! BRING ME THE BLEACH!"

[Mab MacMoragh]

I don't have fashion sense or awareness to judge anyone else's taste. Lord knows what people think of mine (and are too kind to say)!

I just enjoy the passing SL scenery, like a nerdy first-time passenger on a train. All of it is interesting and I will take pictures if it catches my eye AND if it doesn't make me crash. That said, naked Greenies are kind of yucky to look at.

[Vivianne Draper]

So you can't have it both ways. Saying that someone wouldn't wear their latex clothing shopping in RL, so they shouldn't do it in SL, is one standard. But on that same standard, you wouldn't stand around publically pointing fingers at that person and ridiculing them would you? But because the internet is anonymous you can get away with rude behavior like that. Similarly, becuase SL is not RL, someone can drag their latex-clad, prim-boobied slave clan shopping with them.

I find the practice of making fun of others because they don't dress how you expect them to both abhorrent and despicable. It doesn't cost you a damn thing to laugh quietly behind your computer screen or perhaps send a quick IM to the person shopping with you. On the other hand, it does cost you both time and effort to go out of your way to send a picture and make fun of them publically. I think its pretty sad that you get some sort of weird feeling of superiority because others don't do with their pixels as you think they ought. Do you also point and make fun of poorly dressed people in real life? Do you take pictures of them and put them on a blog somewhere? Why not? Afraid you'll lose that anonymity that shields you and you'll be called to account for your rudeness?

[Mab MacMoragh]

I have never in my life taken a picture of anyone in any context to ridicule or disrespect them. In fact I go out of my way to do the exact opposite in both RL and SL. I understand this comment is probably not directed at me personally but it makes me sad. I read Iris Ophelia's post as a light-hearted opinion, not as a call to arms, and am surprised at the rancor it provoked. BTW I'm not a fashion blogger nor do I participate in the practices Vivianne finds despicable. I don't laugh at people unless it's made plain they want to be laughed at. I don't have the social intelligence to be snarky, being mentally impaired due to encephalopathy. I just like to have fun in SL since my RL is relentlessly scary. In RL I am made fun of all the time by people who don't know me personally and sometimes I'm bullied for being so 'different' in a way that I have no control over. So I know how it feels.

[Nuuna Nitely]

I don't understand why people make such a big deal about what people are wearing or not wearing in SL. "Your World. Your Imagination." So if it's their imagination to run around naked, in their underwear, bodyoil, blind etc. who are we to judge?!? If you find it offensive or don't like it, it's your problem. It's very easy to just look away in sl. I love seeing quirky people in SL.:) Yes you wouldn't go shopping in your BDSM outfit in rl, but that's the freedom of SL that you can do it here. You can't force on others what YOU think is in bad taste. There's enough bulling in rl, let people in sl wear what they want.

[Cecille Enoch]

To be honest I don't really care about bad taste in fashion in SL. I think people should wear what makes them happy. As long as it's not hurting anyone else. And no I don't mean 'hurting' using the shallow fashion police definition. Maybe I'm too political correct. But does it really matter what an avatar looks like? I know a very cute little avatar with the perfect size, but I know in RL she's far from the perfect size. Still she likes to laugh at avatars wearing wacky clothes. Who is she to judge? But then again ... who am I to judge? I'm totally with Nuuna on this one, let people where what they want to wear.

[Faerie]

I try to be very easy going and forgiving and I love the imagination that some people can bring to SL through their avatar. A giant-prim-boobed furry headed Naga in latex? As long as everything matches and fits, I'll applaude and congratulate her originality.

But there are three bits of bad taste that I hate:

- Not taking the time to make sure things are fitted/tinted properly (like the hair in the right hand picture). Or prim feet/boobs/ears etc that aren't tinted to match the skin colour, these look hideous.

- Blinding bling. Please just say no to bling.

- Noisy boots. I've come to detest noisy boots with a passion. They are way more imposing than bling because looking away won't solve the problem - the sound of a big horse clip-clopping around just goes on and on. Unless you have actual hooves on your avatar please delete the noisy scripts from your boots.

[Arcadian Vanalten]

Honestly? Sometimes I like to check out the fashion blogs just so I can laugh at the self-appointed hubris of these folks making their proclamations about what constitutes taste and what doesn't. Eccentricity is a long-running tradition here in SL.

That being the case, being mean-spirited is never attractive. I'd be far more impressed by somebody in some enthusiastically mismatched outfit than another self-appointed fashionista with a perfect ensemble on her *yawn* perfect model body being hateful to the fashion-eccentric.

The fashion bloggers cannot all be generalized; some are more catty than others. However, as a whole, I often find the "fashion authorities" tend to be legends in their own minds, and no more or less likely to look appealing to me than any of the other avvies I see on a daily basis. Their relevance, I think, is greatly overstated.

[Lizzie Lexington]

Well all i have to say is this is Second Life....who cares is someone who is walking around in a BSDM outfit honestly. Our avatars are just Ken and Barbies for grown ups. But....clickity clack heels - I wouldn't object if those were forever banned. hahaha.

[Lizzie Lexington]

Oh, btw loved the post for reals!