My second life as a rl female playing a male avatar

Then whatever you do, do not get a female alt! Curse you Nephilaine Protagonist and your limited editions!

Yes, curse you!

The Oi! boots are my favorites! Also, you can avoid the problem of having them stick through your pants by just wearing the shoe base portion.

This is how it is in my family in SL and RL. I had to log in as hubby to get his Avatar out of the standard off the island look. It was pathetic - he would have stayed that way from day one, happy scripting away, who cares what his Avatar looks like.

Same in RL - T-shirt, jeans. If they are not stiff and do not smell, who cares what they look like.

OTOH - I do like what he chooses to care about more than clothes so I don't have much to complain about. His heart is definately in the right place! Besides, I LOVE shopping for in both in RL and in SL.

Girls love Oi! boots, too.

Another observation, this time from a female perspective. Although we have a lot of stores and designers to choose from, there is also a lack of diversity in some respects. "Slutwear" in all it's manifestations seems to be the most popular, in terms of sales, big gowns and flexiprims are also popular, pure fantasy stuff, too. But really good modern clothing is hard to find for women as well. Torrid posted about this on her blog, about making her little 50's type dresses, even though she knew they wouldn't be big sellers, because that sort of modest attire just isn't that popular in SL. But that is exactly the kind of thing I would like to see more of, interesting designs, wildly creative or simple and modern, whose main purpose isn't to show off my T & A.

Which is why I've spent so many linden at Pixel Dolls, silentsparrow's wonderful stuff, ect. (there are others, I don't mean to leave anyone out) I like to dress like a tart at times like any woman, but I need more than that, for my fashion habit.

They look even better on girls. Totally jealous of that.

You should buy me and Velocity a pair.

Sometimes we don't mind even if it's stiff and/or smelly.

Looks like this post is turning into a history of my attire, skim or skip if need be...

Back when I was first on help island, my wardrobe consisted of many freebies of course.

I just checked on my website and I actually have couple pics... I'm the blue guy with the pirate hat, tinted blue dragon shirt, simple shorts, sandals.... and of course the dual parrots! those were quite a fashion statement! oh, and the tail!

http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/blimpride.jpg
http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/blimpride2.jpg
http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/shelter.jpg

While I still haven't gone too deep in furry culture, I quickly became a fan of the furry av's.

First was a bat, still likin' that dragon:
http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/batty.jpg
http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/battyclose.jpg

And my jogauni sporting a nice native american outfit from Fairy's Grove Creations (one of like 2 male outfits there XD but they're nice, native american and wood elf):
http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/jogaunilight.jpg

And then there's my original black lion av:
http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/blacklion.jpg

I loved those shorts the moment I saw them, I'm a shorts kinda guy cause I find myself pretty resistent to cold weather, not that it gets cold where I'm from (some people just think it does). And the shirt was made for me when I suggested (not entirely seriously) it in a chat, by Tateru Nino, she does some clothing.

And I got custom recolor of the lion:
http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/snowland.jpg

Can you tell I like blue? XD

Interesting story, I saw that shirt in the Forest store I think it was at the time and thought it was funny and cause I like pepsi, and then I buy it cause it was cheap (clever as funny shirts might be, their effect usually doesn't last, so I'll probably only buy them if they're not too expensive)... and then it has a v-neck, turns out it's designed for women of course. =P But then I realized the mane would cover it well, so was able to actually wear it. And still loving those shorts.

I think with the furry avatars, I pretty much stuck to one outfit. This may be attributed to laziness and/or being earlier in my second life and not wanting to bother with too many outfits due to inexperience with the system and inventory management. But also I think their animal look makes me less wanting to adorn them, most of us don't adorn animals IRL. =P So I would find one outfit that really suits the av well and go with that.

My main av now though is probably my elf. I think I've grown a bit narcissistic. XD

My elf has been as costly as several of the furs put together because I've bought several outfits for him.

This was one of the first outfits I put together:
http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/azurelf.jpg

The top I took out of an outfit I bought, it may have been of gorean influence, don't remember the name of the place, but I was looking for something in just that design. But the pants are from Itan Kishi, which I highly recommend.

This one is probably my favorite outfit:
http://www.smurfyone.com/sl/newplayersretreat.jpg

It's from Osprey Therian's, she also has a lot of other nice complete outfits, male and female.

Ok, so my fashion sense isn't exactly contemporary. I have others in similar styles, but no pictures... also some leather armor from somewhere the name escapes me, but it was like 800 lindens but the texturing was wonderful.

I do have some more modern outfits, the places that come to mind are UFOnly and Avery Webb's. More retro in design. And Bare Rose does have some male stuff which is nice.

So I would never call myself fashion conscious, but I do like to shop and get a variety of outfits/avatars. I suppose I like simpler designs, I'm a shorts and t-shirt kinda guy IRL (at least when I get to choose my attire instead of my employer XD). I don't mind dressing up more in SL though, it's less hassle after all.

I would definitely like to see more mens outfits in SL. My own tastes though are probably pretty out of time, so I don't know what would be the hip new line of men's clothing you all are probably looking for. If it's fairly simple and of good texture quality, I'd probably go for it. There are definitely men out there willing to shop.



Maybe Maeve had it right, considering those shorts I love.

Anyway, I hope you may able to glean some useful information from this, and let me know if I should expound more upon anything or if you have any questions.

All said and done, if I were a female av I would probably have so many outfits as to make my current male wardrobe look empty, there's just more out there and more that looks good on women (probably indeed a cultural thing). But I would be a willing shopper for more men's clothes.

~Az

You can't beat Oi boots, thigh-high textured stockings and a short skirt for insta-cool, I'm tellin' ya.

*laughs* What a good idea!

I'll jump in as the voice of moderation I'm neither a clotheshorse nor a t+jeans guy. I like simple designs with interesting fabrics and patterns, from unique striping to full-blown psychedelia, including some paisleys and creative floral prints. I tend to wear button-ups open at the collar and out at the waist: if long sleeved, often rolled up the forearm; good buttons but not too many of them. I also like the simple structure of golf shirts with flamboyant designs. With pants, I tend to go slacks in interesting colors--muted greens and grays, mostly. If I do jeans, they tend to be either deep blue or gray, structured but not overwrought.

Also, think unisex. Not everyone is trying to be Vin Diesel and Angelina Jolie over here.

It's funny. People always assume my av (a cross between an angel and a wolf) is female. I let them assume it as gender doesn't bother me. Eventually one of my friends corrects them, and tells them that I never actually indicate I am female anywhere on my av or in my profile. Needless to say, their behaviour towards me changes rather a lot when they're corrected.
They stop hitting on me, for one. Then they stop being so outgoing and friendly towards me. Then they always seem compelled to ask what my avatar (or even my player)'s sex is.

My av doesn't need clothing, I think it looks fine without it. Natural and beautiful in an artistic way. I went shopping for men's clothing once, to get a suit, to look professional. I think that might be a big part of why men go shopping - to fulfil a function, to present a certain 'look' to the world. In my case I bought two suits before I figured out that it was my words and actions that marked me as professional, not how my av looks. This lesson was brought home to me when I saw some very impressive people (scripters, artists, Lindens...) with very plain or eccentric avatars.

Yes, there is a shortage of clothing for males in SL.
Yes, this should be fixed.
Yes, it is probably a good idea that each line of clothing goes for a certain theme, or image.
Yes, there is a shortage in the choice of availible images. They all seem to be based around :
* newb
* sports
* gangster
* suited professional
* master/slave, or sexuality based
* furry
* completely eccentric unique avs that are only really suitable for one person.

Kudos to anyone who can come up with more desired 'themes' for men.

I have some theme ideas to share and I'll leave it vague for creative types to input their own spin.

Think of these themes.

Hardware
Power drills
Handyman
Cross dresser
female shoes that fit male feet
punk rocker with a hidden cowboy lifestyle
Pharoh
Jesus's robe with joining the military
Business man with bloody hands

Oi! boots come the closest that I've seen (the WareHouse has some great stuff in it!), but more stuff along these lines would be awesome. Jeepers Creepers! is another great source for casual shoes. Barnes Boutique and at least one other (I can't find it now ... odd) make excellent dress shoes, but that would look strange under a pair of jeans.

Just to show you where I'm coming from, in RL I have one pair of dress shoes (almost ten years old!), one pair of "athletic" shoes, one pair of hiking boots, and four pairs of simple black boots ... Tankers, Doc's, combat boots, etc.

The big boots are another thing that can look great on women, but make a male look like a comic book character IMO. Who ever told some of these people that "combat boots" are supposed to have rows of 3" spikes?

I can't bring myself to wear "pegged pants" without a mohawk and a few dozen safety pins.

Well I would take that as 50 ideas for men's clothes right there .

After reading this thread I am wondering if I should start making clothes for all the poor guys running around naked lol.

ugh the first one was all misses. I refused to look at the second one.