New to SL

Hello All,

I am fairly new to SL, I created my avatar about 2 months ago but have not had the time to log in and do much until now. So far I love shopping!

Anyway I seem to be spending a lot of money on clothes and I was wondering if it would be cheaper to make my own clothes. Do you need Photo Shop to make good quality clothes or can you make them without it?

Also could you suggest some shops where they sell good quality formal dresses. So far all I could find that look really good are Blaze and Last Call.

Thanks in advance

If you IM me inworld I'll send you several Landmarks to get you started!

Hi Tamerlayne,

First, welcome to SL! You can find a lot of good information about clothesmaking in the sticky threads at the top of the Texturing Tips section of the forum. I am not a clothesmaker so I have no substantive advice for you beyond that - I just wanted to welcome you to SL and the forums. Have fun!

Welcome Tamerlayne

I just made my first few pieces and am pleased as punch about that, even though they are terribly plain. So, designing your own stuff not only lets you wear what you like, but it's also a lot of fun. And cheap

That said, there is a bit of a learning curve but there are lots of resources for that via various links on this site. I found good links at the texture forum, no need to paste them all again here. You'll need a good graphics program, though.

All that said, I love spending money in nice shops. MUST .... BUY ... MORE... JEANS...

B.

Welcome to the forums, Tamerlayne!

Well, I don't own enough gowns to be a good judge of quality, but yes, making your own clothes is much cheaper than buying. Of course it helps if you actually enjoy creating stuff. May I suggest you take some basic classes to see if it's something you would like to pursue. GQ Students (search places and groups) offers some, as does others (can't think of where at the moment but someone is bound to chime in with suggestions).

Welcome to SL. The shopping here is wonderful, first place I found upon leaving help island was a big mall.. I thought to myself "Oh I am going to love it here!" I do!

IM me inworld tonight and I will send you a bunch of LM's to some really great shops and some nice places to wear those gowns.. I get on around 5pm SL time most nights.

I don't make clothes, just prim items, but I do make shoes, I will toss in a couple of pair to get you started. *smiles*

I STILL love shopping.



The texturing forums here should give you some idea of what's involved.

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Simone, Rebel Hope, Innovations, Details by Nonna Hedges, Ivalde (retro), Nicky Ree...how's that for a start?

The Gimp is free and can be used for picture editing. The builder's forums father down the list have some very good people there so be sure and stop by say hi.

Formal gowns, I love Innovations, but they ain't cheap!

Any paint program that will read .psd files (so you can load the clothing templates) will work, you don't need Photoshop.

Is it cheaper to make your own? Not if you have to lay out four hundred dollars for Photoshop. Or if you count your own time at even minimum wage. Or if you buy commercial textures, or a digital camera or scanner to create your own from real world images. But it IS a lot of fun to create your own clothes.

If you get good at it, you can even make some money.

Simone has a place called SHHH...its full of gorgeous clothes for 100...the detail is awesome.(gowns, formals and a few other bits)..speaking of awesome...try awesome designs (look these names up in the search to teleport in) they do a special pack for new folks full to bursting of clothes for NOTHING! Awesome also has a reduced section, some items for as little as 1L.

ALSO...dont forget yardsales!! Not the reseller variety...the type thats an inventory sale...usually people who are genuine yardsalers will mention in the description of the yard sale "personal inventory clear out" or something like that.

Oh and Stellar designs also have a big sale on at the moment...go across the courtyard from the main sales area to find it... ANNNND lest we forget...Frangipani, upstairs..she has a WHOLE wall of fabulous clothes that as a newb i paid full price for- from as little as 30L an outfit, her stuff is beautiful

hope this helps

Fai x

I'd rather forget them, actually.

As with most things in any developed economy, making your own will mean you spend less money, but that the value of time you spend is greater than the cost of the clothes would have been. Of course, if you enjoy spending that time then that's no problem!



You don't need Photoshop. You can use GIMP, or Photoshop Elements, or other graphics tools. To make formal gowns, you will probably also need to do some prim building in SL itself.

Thank you so much for the huge welcome and for all your suggestions! I appreciate the help very much!

Thanks again

My tip about clothes shopping is to check out all the freebie places before parting with cash. Not all the freebie stuff is good but you'll be able to create a good basic wardrobe before you start spending out on the more special things.

I've made quite a few garments in Photoshop. Textures are easy but the process for targas with transparency is a little more involvesd and it musy be adhered to strictly or the transparentness doesn't upload to SL and you end up with a bikini being worn over white shorts and vest!!!

Hey Tamerlayne -great moniker btw

I don't have a clue about how to make clothes, I am a consumer not a creator - but I have some favorites - if you want suggestions on great stuff for a good price - IM me here or in world; I tried to contact you but u don't have IM turned on here .

Amaranthim

Before it's too late.

Still here? That's it you're addicted now!!!

OK My tip is to go to the Freebie places pick a whole load up open it up in a sandbox (find one that has a changing room) and go through them. Not only will you find a few really lovely pieces BUT lots of these items are mod. So have fun changing the tex, colour, their flexibility etc etc I keep a folder in my invent with some of these better pieces that I can play with.

Still here? Lost completely lost now!!