Day 117: Guy for a Day
Ive mentioned how shabby many guys dress in Second Life. After all, most girls go to great lengths to get dressed up with nice cloths, shoes, hair, and not to mention skins. And of course, the whole ensemble changes regularly :)
Many guys I know are still wearing basic jeans, texture shoes, and hair months past their newbie dates. OK, I know you guys probably have different priorities than what hair to use today. But just 1 nice outfit is all we ask :) And I mean in SL! Dont get me started on RL! :P
Most guys I talk to mention the lack of items for guys, particularly freebies or low-cost stuff.
So OK, in an effort to understand how the other half live, Ive decided to walk in your shoes for a day...
I go to my Library tab in Inventory and dredge up the "Male Shape & Outfit" folder. Thats a common folder that all SL Residents have in their Inventory. 
One moment Im Christine Daaé in my lovely Opera gown...
The next minute: Poof! Im Second Steve.
OMG!
After a few mins recovery :P I decided on the rules: Today, I will do my best to get Second Steve to look decent. I will only use freebie or $1L items. No building or making stuff (hands shaking as I turn off Photoshop :P).
OK, before you think Ive joined the enemy :P Im just trying to make Second Steve look decent (i.e. try to look as non-Newbie as possible). Im not going to "Hey Sexy" anyone or go to clubs. This is just about the outfit, OK? :)
And Im not using an Alt. I didnt even touch my Profile. Im not trying to fool anyone. Its just Nat in a male AV...see my name above my head? :)
Im going to follow my own Getting Started in SL Guide. Lets see how the boys fare...
First stop, New Citizens Plaza (SLURL: Kuula (54,175,29)). Let's pretend I read all the Notecards Im supposed to read and skip to the freebies :)
After ransacking the freebie stash at New Citizens, I popped into their changing room (the male one :P).
First order of business was skin and hair. The best skin I found at New Citizens is the "SKIN by OPIUM FREE skin - male dark". The hair and much of the rest of the outfit is from the "Complete Male Korean AV from LL". Hey, its a nice top...even has a prim hood! :)
And I went through all the Appearance dials. Hey...I didnt know they are diff for guys (makes sense though). So whats with the Coin Purse, guys? :P
Next stop, Free Dove (SLURL: Gallii (113,53,33)). Im shocked at the lack of quality stuff for guys at the Free Dove. There are some nice cloths, but I didnt think they were better than what I had on.
I did find this nice "Free Samples of Mens Prim Hair from Innovations". The hair had Mod permission, so I made it darker (the original had too much grey). And a pair of nice LW Harley/Engineer boots.
Onto the next stop: Sarah's Freebie Paradise (SLURL: Philereme (201,162,55)).
Again, Sarah's has so many things for women...but only a few items for the guys.
I did find a nice set of SKIN! Its the Nora Male Skin buried in all the outfits. You really have to look for it. But its a $1L male skin with good facial details!
And I also picked up a nice casual shirt.
I wanted a quick hair fix...so I headed out to Gurl6, men's department. They have a $1L hair called Boyfriend :)
And finally, Yadni's Junkyard (SLURL: Leda (210,28,54)). I was just looking for a better pair of pants at this point. Something black to match the top.
And here it is! Second Steve's makeover :) I spent about $5L total on the outfit. But it was a lot of work finding and going through outfits.
Wow, what a day! Im sorry guys if I ever doubted you. Yes, its hard to be a guy in SL. It was quite a challenge for me, so I could only imagine what its like for a guy new to SL!
Ah...Ive been dying to do this all day! Im back in my own tail :)
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30 comments:
Heh, heh, heh, excellent post Natalia. There's plenty of inexpensive, good quality menswear around...if only the boys could be bothered to look around for it.
Most of the best fashion blogs feature men's clothes, so get it together boys!
So...did you get any 'hey sexys'?
Hey look! There's my newbie starter avatar! And my newbie top! And my newbie jeans!
(how mortifying...)
Great post Natalia! Thanks for taking a walk on the wild side. I look forward to future forays, perhaps with a tutorial for making something for guys? (Many of your tutorials for women's clothing have very useful information for men as well!)
Hey Natalia,
Part of the fun of sl for me is changing my avatar into something that I am not in rl. While I can't change my personality (well, I can ,but then I'm being phony and playing a character rather than the true me), I can change how I look in sl. For me, sl is partly about doing things I can't do in rl and that includes morphing into different people, creatures, and animals. Because of this I've spent almost my entire time in sl as the opposite gender from what I am in rl (male in rl, female in sl). I briefly tried an avatar that looked like the real me (after being a girl for about 3 months). I had a terrible time finding any clothes that I would ever wear in rl, plus I hate buying clothes in rl and hated doing it in rl (for some reason as a girl, I love it). Anyway since you gender bended today, I thought I'd share. I think that next time I need new clothes in sl, I might stop by your store. (:
i sooo agree that its very hard to find clothes and hair for boys. my male friends in sl often come to me asking if i know any place with good clothes for men. i spend a lot of time looking with them for nice clothes but they are so costly, i keep a few landmarks now for them to check out,just in case. (men in action, is an example of a place that has a lot of male clothes)
i think though and this is my personal opinion. a guy that takes times to find nice clothes he likes and really puts work in his avatar is a great pointer about how serious he is about the game and i am very much more likely to give him more attention if i see he took the time to look good.
a guy that works on his appearance tells a lot about how he is there to have fun and meet people and not just in second life for the cybering.
I find it interesting that your blog is as appealing to the guys as it is to the gals, and you sure hit a hot button with today's post!
Keep up the good work! I admit to wondering about this... just hadn't gone there yet.
"i am very much more likely to give him more attention if i see he took the time to look good."
Tina, I agree 100% with you on this one.
My, you cut quite a dash, Miss Zelmanov! I especially think the photo in the NCI is just spiff--one might just point that fellow in the direction of the nearest dance card, mmm? (*slaps self, comes to senses*)
I really think men actually WANT to dress nicely. A little bit ago, a Victorian tuxedo ensemble was out as a freebie at a local shop, and the fellows all dived upon it in droves. I have had several gentlemen pop by my shop and ask me about men's clothes.
So the need/desire is out there--it's up to us designers to stop making things just for ourselves and help the poor guys out!
An inventive idea! True, the stuff for male avas is scarce, but I agree with tina that. while it takes time to have a good looking ava, it sure is possible.
Caterin, so true about men's stuff in fashion blogs! Most guys just dont care, I think :P
And I did get a "Hey Sexy"... Someone was quite insistent and offered Friendship. When I declined, he asked if it takes money to be my friend... really creepy, and doubly so since Im in a male AV!
Ged, heehee I think we all looked like one of the Second Steves and Second Sarahs at one point. :P Im so glad you changed your jeans! (You did change your jeans, didnt you? :P)
Otenth, I would like to look more into men's stuff, perhaps going shopping or making an outfit. I really wanted to just make a dress shirt and tie! (I havent seen a nice one in SL so far)
Grizzy, it feels so weird being a guy, even when Im just trying on cloths :P Dont you get tired of pretending? I was so nervous the whole day!
Tina, thats so true about a well put-together guy in SL. Like in RL, it really shows someone cares. It also shows the person has more experience with SL (and probably knows how to have a good time in SL!) Im a bit old fashioned about this, but... a guy really shouldnt ask a girl if she knows any place to go in SL :P
Its so true about LM's for guys! I started putting a folder together too! The first couple times someone asked me, I thought of all the places I knew, but they were all women's clothing stores. There just arent any department stores, per se, in SL! I should do an entry on shopping for the guys :)
Alyse, I think the building techniques apply equally to men and women (OK, maybe not flexi skirts :P)
I do tend to forget how diff guys fashion is! Their body dimensions are totally diff. I did experiment with making a men's shirt...it is SO much easier to texture around the chest area! :)
Virrginia, I think guys do want to look nice too! Most just dont like the idea of shopping. We really do need to make things easier for them!
Lauralee, I do feel bad for the guys...I didnt realize how hard it is to get started. I think overall, they have a tougher time of it to get oriented in SL. Once things settle down, I think the exp is about the same for guys and girls (there are some nice shops for both).
I was trying to help newbie guys get started, so they dont get discouraged!
Natalia: I am a great fan of your blog and while I don't "go shopping" I get around a lot and am always on the lookout. A while ago I gave up on finding shirts that aren't skin tight Polo shirts and opted for sports jackets. I've spent a lot on some of them and they do seem to soften the muscle look. A lot of the jeans and some other tops I wear are actually for females. Shoes are easy to slide into some sort of boot or low-heeled dress shoe which works although maybe not a long-term solution. So my newbie look has to be mostly about my skin and hair. Since MLK day I've had the skin tone slider at 60% which obviously knocks out the pasty white kid look but I do think a good skin is the highest priority. You touch on this but real choices would be great especially if they mean good eyes. I have "off the rack" hair but it's purple which skews that part of the discussion off the scales. Thanks again for your great writing.
Natalia, to answer your question. It felt super super weird for me too, but that was kind of fun for me. It was interesting to walk around as someone completely and utterly different looking from what I look like in rl. However I kept my rl gender a secret for a long time and it was a big relief when I ended up outing myself, although it did cause a little drama for a while. Now I'm just kinda used to it. Being a girl in sl seems normal now. I have spent a brief amount of time in sl as an avatar that looks pretty close to what I look like in rl. I found it kind of boring.... more fun being different. Also attempts to make a human male av ended up looking just like rl me. I can do that in rl. More fun to be something else in the sl world. I keep my personality pretty much the same though and don't do any type of sl relationships, partly because I'm not interested and partly because I'm straight in rl so I guess I'd have to be a lesbian in sl. (:
About time you drifted of to the dark side, Natalia, even if only briefly! :P
The men's clothes situation in SL is truly tradgic, I agree. I feel fortunate that I know how to create my own!
If any of you guys are interested, I have one outfit and a few hats for sale at the Keyhole in Port Caledon. I'd leave a SURL, but I'm at work right now! HA! I really should get back to designing my 1900 - 1920 era maen's outfits, but I'm having so much fun as Aquaman in the JLU, that I just haven't had the time! LOL!
Dga, I know what you mean about men's clothes! They are all skin-tight! We have been complaining about women's clothes for a while, but it must be weird to have shirts that stick to your arms!
Im glad you are checking out the skins as well. A good set of skins make such a huge difference in your appearance. Unfortunately, they are expensive for men! But check out the $1L set of Nora skins at Sarah's.
Grizzy, lol it really felt weird for me to be a male AV, even for a day. I really didnt know which changing room to use, for instance :P
Im glad you settled into the role you have chosen. It sounds like you are open about it, so thats great! As you mentioned, this probably matters most when you are in a relationship with someone...
Pyxel, we need all the clothes we can get for the guys :) So quit playing superhero and start sewing :P OK, just kidding, I love Aquaman :).
Hi Natalia, I've only recently discovered your blog thanks to an SL friend. Oddly enough I came here for a reference on how to build shoes :-)
Male clothing in SL. If I was the sort of person who settled for t-shirts and jeans I probably wouldn't worry. The problem (?) is I came to SL after I heard about some of the steampunk sims. There seems to be a tonne of Victoriana for women (even as freebies) but men's wear is in limited supply. So I've taken the bull by the horns and opened up a shop and started making men's Victorian clothes. It's certainly been a learning curve but my natural pedantry has been an advantage when getting textures "just right" the point I have started receiving requests for specific items! Which is a little scary in itself.
Anyway I just thought I'd say that I'm enjoying reading your entries, and that should we ever meet I promise not to use the phrase "Hey Sexy".
Though given I spend most of my time in Caledon it's likely to be "Good Morning Miss Zelmanov" which may or may not mean the same thing. :-)
Edward, I am so glad that you started making men's wear! SL desperately needs more clothes for the guys :)
Im going to be at the Imbolc Ball in Caledon this Friday, so hope to see you there :)
Hi Natalia, for me this is an area of strange and wonderful experiences. I think it would a fascinating discussion about why men want to change sex in SL compared to why women might want to.
If anybody who reads this post wants to read another totally open and frank account of what can happen when you change SL gender (from a guy's perspective), please have a look at http://secondlifegenderbender.blogspot.com
And yes Natalia, I have been following your advice and I have visited your store. You have been a great help to me and to everyone else out there.
I am so glad this article was written. Especially by someone experienced and proficient in SL as yourself, Natalia. Hopefully readers won't think that all shabby looking male avatars are the results of being lazy, but more so a lack of affordable options.
(Please note: Yes, it does take 5x as long for guys to find all of the items you women do in SL, and No, guys in RL, or SL, do not generally spend (or enjoy) as much time shopping as you ladies do, heh.)
I recently discovered SL and wanted to try to keep things as low budget as possible - ie, try to learn more about the SL experience without paying until I knew if I wanted to maintain an account. Needless to say, it didn't take long to notice how detailed and accurate so many of the female avatars looked, while the standard default issue male av was quite a horrible blob in comparison. Since I generally care about my male appearance in RL, I knew I wanted to change that in SL and immediately got to the task.
Not easy!!
As you mentioned, so few (or quality) freebies for the guys, and even if we do want to pay money, there certainly aren't as many options. From my own experience, if I wanted a male skin that looked about the same quality as 90% of the females running around, that skin alone would run L$5,000. Ouch. And I think skin is the most important part to making a noticeable appearance change - it can make even mediocre clothing look good!
(By the way, I did finally find a decent shape and skin for an affordable price, although still more than a few hundred L$.)
So now, I'm struggling with finding a decent short hair style for men that doesn't look cartoonish, any suggestions? :-)
Wrath, I really feel bad for guys, particular someone like you who is making an effort. But dont give up hope, theres lots of good stuff for guys in SL :)
For hair, check out ETD, HCT (Here Comes Trouble), and Calico. Not sure which style you prefer, but they have a nice selection. Also, ETD has some newbie hair (60 days or younger). And HCT has some demos.
Good luck!
If I may add just one quick note, for the guys out there who might want to improve their look in SL - just as in RL, it's completely acceptable to bring along a female to help you make those decisions - seems like every place I went which had better quality skins, clothes, hair, etc. there always seemed to be a girl helping the guy pick out the appropriate attire or whatever.
Sometimes SL mirrors RL so much I just have to smile. :-)
P.S. - Natalia, I picked up the 'Steve tie' from your shop - I cannot wait to add textures and create some more from it - thank you so much!!!
Wrath, lol thats very true. Im like the clothing shopping for my family.
So grab a friend and head over to the stores :) (Hmmm...does that mean I should start reading the men's fashion blog too :P)
And have fun with the tie! And please make some stuff for guys if you get the chance :)
Good post. Actually dates back to before I joined SL but I only found it today. I see you skipped over the delicate issue of "anatomical correctness". The coin purse slider is just not sufficient. There are some things a mesh cannot be stretched around ;)
When I wanted to buy my first hair, ETD was recommended to me. I wandered around the huge store full of women's hair and finally found one short aisle with 5 styles of men's hair.
I think part of the problem with the scarcity of supply is the scarcity of demand. A lot of men think it's ok to bulk up their upper body ridiculously and wear painted T-shirts. It's up to women to tell them how they should make themselves appear.
Dear Anonymous, lol Steve's fine with a coin purse ;P
I know what you mean about men's fashion though. Guys def shop less (lol I guess its just like RL ;P). I know many guys spent a lot of time and effort on their AV's though, and it really shows :)
If you are seriously into SL men's fashion though, check out the SL Men blog (in my links). Its a great idea, particularly for finding stuff in SL. Ben does a really good job putting diff outfits together...(just a note, he does use my hair occasionally, but its the outfits that really make his site!)
Hey Nat! your Blog really does have everything, doesn't it? :D
Finding free/cheap clothes for guys isn't *that* hard to do in SL, but finding freebie animations is hell! I've been trying to populate my ZHAO 2 with anims and most of the walks are either stupid or boring, whereas the freebie female anims are everywhere and great. Any ideas?
Great post, as always. I'll try and catch you in-world sometime.
Aemos, lol I have problems just finding poses for Second Steve ;P Check out Abranimations and Reel Movement (at Animation Warehouse). For things like poses and walks, Animation Warehouse is pretty good (but takes a while to go thru).
Im posting a tutorial this week on making poses :) Maybe you can make some anims for guys :)
Hey, I'm 10 days old and relieved to discover it's not just my lack of searching skills at finding guy's stuff. Being over 40 and hoping to do some serious business here I don't want to look like a pimp, a goth, a punk, or a muscle boy, which seems to rule out 95% of what I've seen so far. Neither do I want a tux or morning suit. I'll pay for a really nice sport jacket, turtleneck, dockers or chinos, and loafers. With a Caucasian skin that looks realistic. I'm trying to look in SL like I do in RL, I'm comfortable with that :-)
I'll check out some of the places you list... if you've got any new suggestion for "business casual" I'm interested. No comments on my style choices please, I get enough of that from my wife :-)
Sherman, heehee I promise no comments ;P
As you can tell from this post, Im really not an expert on shopping for men's stuff. A friend of mine loves Simware (inexpensive and great casual stuff).
For men's fashions in general, definitely check out http://www.slmen.com. Ben does an amazing job of putting together everything from casual to...um...all the other styles you mentioned ;P
Have fun with shopping with SL! (Remember, its suppose to be fun :) )
I think it's got better since this was written. I'm female in real life and normally use a female avatar, but sometimes I like to be a boy just for something different. I notice it's easier to find clothes if you want to be a certain kind of character (e.g. cowboy, pirate, vampire, etc.). If you want to be an ordinary guy it's harder to find good clothes.
Dear Anonymous, heehee Im glad to hear :) There are certainly a lot more guys stuff out there now!
HI,I REALLY LIKE UR POST ,ITS ,really too GOOD
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