SculptyWear?

The Muism group gift jacket was a popular blog item a few days ago (link, link, link). I am not a member of the Muism group so I cannot comment on that particular item, but it seems from other posts as well as these that there is a love-hate relationship growing with sculptywear. The style is often fantastic. The wearability is sometimes lacking.

Avatars, just like our real life counterparts, are of various shapes and sizes. Even the very best clothes designers can't make prim objects that fit everyone perfectly. So many of the designers have begun putting out demo models of their sculptywear item which is a wonderful help. Some demos are mod, some not, but if they fit you perfectly -- or close to it -- you can buy with confidence.

The upside of sculptywear is that the design possibilities seem almost endless. I have no idea HOW they do it, but it is amazing. The downside is that sometimes, no matter what we do, we just can't get things to fit. It seems like the more complex the sculpty is and the more pieces it takes the place of, the harder it is to modify. Simple sweater necks and cuffs almost always work for me.

The advantage of the older style prims that are linked is being able to edit just ONE of the pieces without influencing the others. With sculpties we are often resizing a large and complex item. We get the offending area to fit and that throws off another - LOL.

There was a gorgeous short jacket that I wanted and the designer had very nicely made two versions (one for bustier gals - a category I do not fall into). No matter what I did, it didn't work. But her demo gave me the chance to try it and that was great.

We give up a bit of fashion FOR fashion with sculpties in a lag situation. I suspect that you have been to events where some of the people never got the large gray balls off their feet, head, hands etc. :D But once they rez? Heaven.

I have also heard from a friend who runs around with the techie crowd that sculpties are actually polygons (I hope I have that correct) and actually take up six more times of the server's energy than a regular prim. Maybe someone knows the scoop on this and can explain it more.

I guess my personal decision will be to use sculptywear carefully -- much in the same way I use multiprim jewelry and leave it home when I go places that will be crowded. And enjoy every shapely nuance when I am in a calm and stable environment.

And you?

Credits: Everyday Tote by ETD, Sassy Sweater by Nuclear Boutique, Pepper Capris by Bossa Nova, Socks by PixelDolls (shortened), Untied Sandals by Shoes Simply Shoes, Melange Bracelet by Tekelili