"What's She Wearing" Tool Displays Fashion Credits of Nearby SL Avatars. But Beware Avatar Fashionista Drama!

My post on Strawberry Singh's tips for listing SL avatar fashion credits was the most shared on Facebook last week, so in service to the people, here's a similar tool but in a heads-up display, available for free in the Marketplace: The What is She Wearing HUD.

Strawberry herself shot a tutorial for it in back 2016 (watch above). Since then, however, she's observed some social dynamics around the HUD. Which is a fancy way of saying Drama:

"A lot of people got upset about that HUD too," she warns me. "Because they don't like people knowing what they are wearing out and about. (Non-bloggers that is.) Because you can walk around and get anyone's style credits just by clicking on it."

Wait what?  Why would some fashionistas get upset about knowing credits? When real life fashionistas post pics, they usually list all the brand credits of the items they're wearing in their Instagram or whatever, I point out.

"A lot of them don't want copycats," she explains. "They feel they have a unique look and don't want someone just going out purchasing everything they are wearing and looking similar."

I guess that makes sense when you think about it. A fashionista on Instagram has hundreds of millions of potential followers, whereas Second Life's most highly userbase is closer to 100,000. So it's a bit like competing to have the most amazing and unique look in a small town highly prone to gossip.

And that copycat drama, Ms. Singh tells me, happens "all the time."

Which is some of keen Metaverse irony: To do the right thing and avoid drama, fashion bloggers try to list all the creator credits in their pics. But doing that with this tool may opens them up to other kinds of accusations and drama!

Hat tip:  Saffia Widdershins.

Comments

[Spiffy Voxel]

I've owned the What Is She Wearing HUD for a while now, it's very handy for when I'm people-watching and spot an item of clothing or accessory that I've not seen before. My Second Life is built on such serendipity, as it leads me to stores I might not otherwise have come across.

When people ask me about my look, I'll happily tell them where I got items from, but I'm also upfront about my having created my own skin textures, and laugh about how I should rent myself out as a mesh clothing stress-tester due to my rather extreme body shape.

I find the idea of wanting to copy the look of other avatars hilarious and also rather sad. Second Life has so many options out there for customising your avatar, why limit yourself by trying to look like other people? The only limits are your imagination and L$ budget.

[blip mumfuzz]

I use this HUD every single day. I find it absolutely essential. 90% of the things I wear I buy after seeing it on someone else.

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

I use the WISWHud multiple times an SL login, and I never detach it. It enables more shopping and introduces me to stores and items I didn't know about. And more shopping is better than less shopping because thy inventory must always increase, never decrease. It is also useful I can't keep track of every store and every new release, so I can get the names of things that I recognize the maker of. As in, "that looks like a Doux hair but I don't recognize it" and then I use the HUD to find the name so I can demo it.

[Ilsa Hesse]

I use the hud mostly because I am old enough to remember when people would happily tell you where they got something… or give or trade or whatever… now people get pissed or do not reply.
My avatar has my own shape, and a skin that is not the most common and honestly I have never had a “oh, she looks to much like me!” Moment.

[Scottie Muircastle]

It's a nice little tool that I also use quite regularly, not to steal an outfit, but to identify that item that catches my eye. And trust me, the amount of fashionista drama that I have put up with for offering it, is far far more than one would think.

I decided to give it away because it's a way to stimulate the economy for everyone, not just the bigger labels. Would like to think it's at least partially responsible for a few sales in Second Life (laughs). Which is good for everyone! Happy creators = More Nice things to buy!

[ReRe Sandalwood]

I think this happened to my avatar. I am an active participant at a medieval/fantasy sim and one day, I had on a specific outfit to fit my character's backstory. The day after I wore it, another girl wore it...then posted her photo and MY backstory in the groups we share. I was very upset about this; it was like she stole everything and assumed all my creativity as her own. This is equivalent to plagiarism, and it hurts. But I think what hurt most was her nasty response when I confronted her about it. In short, people need to remember that many of us put a lot of work in perfecting our avatar's look...especially those that do roleplay. It takes time, energy, effort and a lot of lindens to create the perfect look; it also takes time, effort and energy to create a great backstory about your character. Is it too much to ask for folks to understand this? I don't mind sharing where I purchased items from, but I do mind if someone just ups and steals every aspect of my character...including my character's back story.