From Izzie Button's sales blog
There's a hot new avatar fashion enhancement in the virtual world of Second Life, but it's more real than many might expect. Ever since creator Izzie Button put her Cellulite & Stretch Marks for female avatars on sale last week, they've been moving like mad.
"Sales have been really good," she tells me, "a lot better than expected to be honest. On SL Marketplace, it is my #1 best selling item now, with four 5-star reviews in only 1 day. I've gotten mainly positive feedback from customers about them and lots of requests to do more stretch marks/cellulite on other body parts too."
It's an unexpected trend in an online world where the avatar beauty standard skews to thin young women with nary a blemish or ounce of fat anywhere. And, in fact, she's had some complaints:
"There were also a few people who didn't understand how I can create such a 'terrible thing' and 'who would even buy this' and 'cellulite in SL - OMG noooo!'," as she puts it. "But the vast majority of feedback I got was positive."
It was actually her customers, she tells me, who clamored for her to create these bodily imperfections.
"I just released kitty scratches and mosquito bites before, and was in the swing of it and in the mood to create more imperfections. I love making items that are not necessarily 'pretty' to bring more realism to SL and give avatars more character and life; little imperfections like pores or scars, wrinkles, etc... My customers know that I'm not afraid of releasing 'imperfect' things and I'm glad that they communicate their wishes to me."
Her imperfections are so popular, the SL Flickr community are starting to use in them in their fashion shots. (Many featured here.)
Fans are posting testimonials on her social media, like this:
“I find this to me so attractive and realistic. Flaws are beautiful. In SL we don’t have many flaws appearance wise. We get to choose how beautiful we are, unlike RL.” "You make avatars alive. Away from perfection. Thank you for that!" "Thank you for making realness a normal thing.”
Izzie sees a rising trend in imperfection in the fashion world of Second Life:
“I’ve noticed there is a trend in SL, away from looking like flawless barbies with perfect poreless and smooth skin and skinny shapes," she says. "A lot of people don't want their avis to look like dolls anymore, like everyone else. it's more about individuality and realism now, about being unique and stand out from the masses.
"People always wanted their avis to stand out in the sense of being ‘pretty’ or sexy or looking especially cute or young and so on... now it's about details, little flaws, more realism, aging in SL, wanting to tell a story or sending a message to other people. Things that a lot of people hate having in RL such as wrinkles or cellulite, stretch marks.... those kinds of things bring realism and life to Second Life and people seem to love and embrace their flaws in SL (maybe it also helps them embrace their flaws in RL more)."
If this trend continues, expect virtual world fashion shows and photo spreads competing to depict human beauty at its most vulnerable, its most real -- fleeting, weathered by gravity, age, and bad genes, the result of our best attempts to momentarily resemble a Platonic ideal that is as non-existent as the most digital of avatars.
Update, 8/24: Izzy's line now includes breasts with blue veins and stretch marks:
Hat tip: Cassie Middles
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