are there fashion trends in SL

I know that sl is vast and that you can be anything you want but it seems to me that there are no fast paced fashion changes.I also realize that there are no real seasons and think this might help. So to my questions

Are there fashion trends in SL and/or if not
Would creating seasons help
Lastly,given that there is untold free stuff which must turn into a mountain if left unchecked Would culling free stuff, say every few months or so help.
just a few thoughts since I can't log in

I've only been in world a year and would probably be oblivious to fashion anyway, but I have noticed my own trends in buying clothes reflect the real world seasons. I wouldn't want to think about buying a winter coat in August in the southeastern US. Nor do I want swimwear in December.

So I'm not sure introducing seasons into SL will work that well because it's a global community. Though it's spring where I am and I may shop for some short sleeved shirts, someone in Australia may be more interested in a hoody right now. I don't feel the virtual world can overcome the real seasons, at least not yet.

dam right, it's pissing down outside

there is a deffinate trend with your bling (blingtard) type of people who seem to go through phases. especially the females. not long ago they went through a huge ass and boobs thing. A real sight to see with chest and ass sliders too 100 and everything else to normal range. no idea what there into now, thankfully i don't run in those circles. along with most of the people on the forum i believe.

i know i go through phases as well tho but that's just a personal thing, at the moment i'm going through a steampunk air pirate stage in my clothing *arrr!*

-Crunch

I have seen/purchased "warmer" clothes in the holiday season before. I do have hoodies and the like in my invo. I am not too focused on the seasons though I wear my hoodie just when I feel like it, not so much when I think I should be.

oops totally forgot about Bling and will again instantly

OK- Mac's answer made me think more of my Seasons in SL - when I came in- I wore regular street clothes- albeit more revealing

Then I went thru a time I wore only Ball Gowns. Now I wear odd clothes- themes -

so- maybe it is us - each one- who reflects a certain SL fashion- the Fashion of Me - SL lets us indulge that.

I do not think there are fashion trends per se in SL

it is more like groups of fashion, like goth, neko, vamp, slutwear, classy, casual, etc
types of categories but no real trends
people just buy what they like

I tend to make more than I purchase now a days..

my purchased wardrobe is very eclectic

Most of the trends I see in SL are of the "one up" type. Someone will do something a little different, so the next one will try and go further with it, and so on and so on.

Real world fashion trends track over years and not months. Second Life really hasn't been around long enough to track something like a fashion trend, especially considering that the overwhelming majority of SL residents have only been around abuot a year or less.

The two reliable constants in SL fashion, since I've been here, seem to be that (1) men wear t-shirts and (2) women expose their navels.

One of the trends is bad taste.
Another trend is 1981.
When I am a neko I dont wear clothes but I think animal skins may be a fashion trend.
One trend I have noticed (which thankfully is dying out) are long floaty fairy dresses that imitate tulle or muslin or fine crepe. They are ghastly in real life and equally so here. I used to see many women in ball gowns in sleazy places in sl. Odd. and like a funeral home.
I agree with people who added to this thread - I dont think there is scope here for real fashion trends.
Just wear jeans and a Tee shirt. Sensible wear for a virtual reality.

Sluttier and sluttier.

I'd say that seasons affect what I buy. Around christmas, it was many sims that changed to snowcovered gound and christmas trees. It made me feel out of place to walk around there in a miniskirt and naked arms.

I would say that I've developed through stages.

- Newbie who picked up all 0 and 1 L packs, happily plunging through them.

- Newbie discovering that some free stuff look better than the other free stuff.

- Newbie starting to delete (GASP) some of the ugliest stuff.

- Newbie actually takes the big step and BUY a few thosand L

....and so on and so on. I remember the almost scary feeling of buying outfits that was 100 L or more. Now, I'm looking for outfits that's more detailed and has better quality. 100 L is in the "bargain" price now.

I kind of use clothes that fit best into the sim. In roleplay, Victorian clothes from the 1850-era. Veils in Gor. Out with friends, jeans or casual dresses. Bikinis or just body art on beaches.

The biggest change in trends, is that bling and exposed bellybuttons is not so common among avatars that's been around for some months. I still wear skimpy outfits at nightclubs, but then I will not wear those free stuff, but a outfit I've bought and maybe put together from different packs or shops.

The older the avatar get, the more "special" it will look. I'm still in human shape. I've just recently bought Neko tail and ears. Maybe faerie or elf... I kind of stay with a look that can be called a "human that's put on a costume". Maybe I will develop into a non-human shape. Not yet.

Grey is the new black
Poetry is the new rock and roll


wait 5 minutes




red is the new black
standup is the new rock and roll




wait 5 minutes




brown is the new black.............. etc

rinse and repeat

Seasons seem to be more obvious when landowners(private or business)decorate their land or store to reflect a season. I tend to dress my avie to reflect what the RL weather is doing in my hometown.

I have clothing ranging from casual to fancy ballgowns. I'm more on the conservative side for the most part. It can be very hard to find well designed female dresses that aren't down to the navel. Slutwear will always be with us, I just don't buy it.

I agree that clothing runs more along genre lines. Whether it is a period style(Edwardian, Medieval, 1940's), role play(Star Trek, Gorean, vampire), contemporary, beachwear or anything you can think of. You look for quality at a reasonable price.

I will say that it was a guy who almost blinded me by wearing the most bling I've ever seen anyone cram onto their body. I couldn't help wondering how many sims had he lagged with all that bling.

To some extent it is more technology driven. The arrival of flexi prims, for example, gave content creators increased scope, and more recently, sculpties.

There are "fads" - like bling and "tartan" skirts, a while back.

Seasons tend to follow the US - Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas - you can see clothing themed along those celebrations. Skating in winter, swimming in summer following the northern hemisphere seasons.

There is too, a growing internationalism - with many talented fashion designers from all over the world - so it is both a varied and exciting scene.

Absolutely. As a flow on from this, when techniques are successfully employed by one designer, we start to see others take inspiration from this and a large number of similar designs enter the market.

I think that there are definite trends in fashion within SL, at least in "everyday" women's wear. Baby doll dresses were huge a while back, but we don't see so many of them right now. Not so long ago everyone was making boho styled clothes, but this trend died down over the winter, when we saw lots of coats released in similar styles. The release of "couture" styled clothing from a particular designer was hugely popular, and tons of other designers flooded the market with designs in a similar style soon after. When one designer enjoys success with a particular style of clothing, other designers will follow.

Adding an amendment here to "some" men wear t-shirts and "some" women expose their navels. My partner and I do neither, nor do most of the people in the areas we frequent.

When I joined the group of AVs I fell in with quickly developed their own style, basically a personalised avatar. Over a year later most of us still have our post newbie 'look'. We do all have folders with our original newbie looks too and I have noticed lately there is a trend to revert back to that for short periods of time.

As for setting trends, well we help newbies out daily and those that stick around initially tend look like a combination of bits of the regular crew, however if they are around for a few months they all go on to develop their own individual look and style.

Personally I seen lot of same old same old.
Depends on where you are, I notice lots of pleated skirts, not a whole of originality often personally.
There is some good stuff that is new and unique in Victorian, Steam and Cyberpunk fashions
I have noticed but not sure if its a trend.
The trend I think is a whole of people copying things from each other and the media.
I am trying to figure out personally how to do unique things for clothes for at least myself.
Figure when I get good at making clothes certain styles will be pretty exclusive who owns them and it won't be for profit.
Yet there is also built in limits with clothes here so I got to figure out how to work around that.

...and I thought men wore tattoos & guns, and exposed their navels, nipples, back and pretty much every other damn thing. I've met too many like that, anyway. The navel thing I find quite annoying: I like to show it off now and then, but far too much clothing in SL doesn't give the option. The jeans finish halfway down my ass and the tops about a foot above. I often end up resorting to a corset to cover the gap.

The same thing goes on with shoes: sure, there are designers out there who can create footwear with heels lower than 5", but they are few and far between. It's no wonder newbies end up with the cliché of bare bellies, bling and fsck-me shoes.

Too right FD. Pleated skirts are a result of two things in my experience. One - the much-hated mesh skirt layer that makes anything but the slimmest bum look like you're hiding a space-hopper. Two - the only skirts easy to make with flexis are tiny pleated ones or enormous ballgowns. Anything in the middle ground and the flexis pass through parts of your body and look silly.

The other clothing limit is the 'painted on' look of most avatar mesh clothing. Baggy clothes are hard to make realistic, especially with the variety of body shapes out there. So the skin-tight fit is often the route taken. How many guys do you meet iRL wearing skin-tight clothes? (Not enough, some might say ;p) Hence a lot of male clothes don't look good, and a lot of female clothes tend towards the slutty.

current trend i see is face lights. hate them.

if they only lit up the face ... fine ... but they act like a spotlight on everything around them.

destroys all the well thought out lighting design of many locations.

Yay are we discussing fashion trends again?


The sweaty clubber

Dressed in some kind of club going clothes, usually skimpy or blingy, but always wearing wet/oily/sweaty skin. Oh yeah look at me sweating on the dance floor! Oh nevermind that this looks terrible when viewed in any other situation.

Badly dressed fighting man

He's a few steps away from newbie but he's got a gun with the giant red prim laser sticking out if it! Too bad the area is no script or he'd be pwning you. He also has a belt and a backpack where the straps are hovering over his body. And the helmet is too giant for his head. Still walks like a newbie too.

Glare face

Hey girl. I can't see your face. Really. It's glowing just way too much for me to make out more than two black blobs for your eyes and a red blob your mouth.

Ain't it the truth! And that's why so many men go shirtless: the bare-midriff look isn't on the upswing for male avatars (except at Welcome Centers). I make it a point now, every time I see a t-shirt from somewhere that doesn't grok layers, to send a nice IM to the creator explaining that the shirt layer without underpants is COMPLETELY USELESS YOU IMBECILE! Errr, uh, no, I always backspace over that part and say it nicely.

As for trends: is it just me, or does it seem like almost everybody is neko now? I mean, it was a cool look, but now, at least in the circles with which I'm acquainted, seems like the neko/non-neko ratio is about 3:1 and growing. And by non-neko I'm including not just the other humanoids, but mechs, tinies, furries, ectoplasmic upwellings--the whole rest of the non-bot, non-Ruthed grid.

I'm not sure neko is exactly "fashion" so much as an avatar category. I'm also not sure it's exactly a "trend": more like a take-no-prisoners conquest.

Will any non-nekos live out the year?

i HOPE it is a trend. i've been a neko for well over a year now. and i DO see more neko-wanna-be's.

hopefully they will get over it.