So many moons ago (okay not that long ago), mesh clothing was introduced into SL. In order to make mesh clothing, designers established a ‘sizing’ system (Standard Sizing), because essentially, mesh clothing was static, so you had to start somewhere right? Now mesh clothing was ‘rigged’ (anchored to the body somewhere, otherwise you’d walk off and leave your dress behind!) but that’s about it.
Now we’ve evolved into fitmesh, and even mesh body fitmesh, but what do they mean?
For the normal SL avatar, fitmesh is basically a mesh clothing item that is ‘anchored’ to the body in many places, and more so, these ‘anchor’ points tell the dress to stretch wherever the designer tells it to (breasts, butt, legs etc etc) when the shape sliders are used. Now this is not a perfect science, but it works for the most part very very well, depending on how many ‘anchor’ points the designer gives that clothing item. For example, it may be fitted to adjust to your breast size, but not your torso size, so when the torso slider is moved, the avatar will break through the dress in those places. For this reason, alphas are still used most of the time really.
Now we have mesh bodies. Mesh bodies *are* fitted to cover the SL body (mostly), so basically you’re wearing an outfit (of a body) on your sl avatar! The problem is, the shape that you become once you wear a mesh body is *very* different to the sl avatar shape – arms may be lower, breasts/butts almost always bigger – so you’re basically wearing foam shaped like a gorgeous woman (or man) on your avatar, and standard sizing was not developed to cover these shapes. That’s why we have alpha HUDS.
So here enters what I call ‘Fitmesh for Mesh Bodies’ (Fitmesh for Maitreya, Fitmesh for Eve etc.). These are mesh clothes that *have* been designed to cover the Mesh Body you’re wearing. The problem is, for designers to make these, they require the designers to essentially hand over all the ‘outside of SL’ file that they used to create the mesh body. This is very risky business, especially for the designer who took however long to create it. The risk is high of theft, or someone using their technology to create a competing mesh body – and that’s just unthinkable to someone who spent a year of their life working on it. Now slowly designers are finding ways of giving ‘certain’ information types without giving away the whole farm, but it will take time before it’s common practice to hand over your mesh body hard files to clothing designers.
As a result of this issue, many mesh clothing designers are still creating mesh clothing using the SL Avatar, but are stretching/moving/adjusting the item so that when it’s worn on a mesh body, it works like fitmesh for that mesh body. To me this is amazing, and I can’t speak highly enough of those who find a way to do this, but for the mesh body user, it becomes a problem to distinguish what really is ‘fitmesh for mesh bodies’ and what is ‘an attempt at fitmesh for mesh bodies’. The main difference for you will be that legitimate Fitmesh for Mesh Bodies will fit perfectly to your mesh body, and react/move with your shape sliders. Attempts at fitmesh for mesh bodies will likely do the same, but may have one or two ‘trouble spots’ that require you to use your Alpha HUD.
The dress I’m wearing above is a great example of an Attempt at Fitmesh for Maitreya – the dress works perfectly with my shape, however there is breakthrough in the arm area. Unfortunately, no matter how small I reduce my torso muscles, the arm pokes through, and sadly, the sleeve doesn’t match up with the Alpha HUD cuts (which means I’m either going to have a disembodied arm, or put up with the poke-through) which is a shame, but it may work for your body so always, always demo!
Still awake? Good because if you are, here is my point. Designers attempting fitmesh most of the time don’t advertise the item as being ‘maitreya compatible’ and the like (sometimes they do, sometimes they do). I’m assuming those that don’t have made their clothing of their own accord without any feedback from the mesh body designer at all, I’m not sure, but this makes it almost like a ‘treasure hunt’ to find fitmesh for mesh bodies! In light of that, I’ve decided to follow the lead of my favourite blogger, Strawberry Singh, who does a wonderful weekly ’round up’ of what she’s found around SL that week, and adapt it into a weekly blog that outlines what I’ve found fitmesh wise for that week! That way, all you have to do is check out my blog each week and you’ll find the hidden gems I’ve come across. If you can think of a name for it that’s not a million miles long, leave a comment I’d love to hear it! Can we just shorten the term ‘mesh bodies’? Maybe ‘Mebo’s’? Anyone? No-one? Okay 😦
Now designers, feel free to send me your item pictures to be included in this weekly blog, just be aware it is Fitmesh for Mesh Bodies ONLY, with a primary focus on the bodies my readers use most often, Belleza, Maitreya and Slink Physique.
Think I should include others? Let me know! ❤
He loves me, he loves me not in:
Mesh Body – Lara by Maitreya
Skin – Lucy 1 by Glam Affair
Hair – Lithium by Mithral (at Collabor88)
Dress – V Neck Dress Red by Bueno (at Fameshed)
Shoes – Statice Heels by Glamistry (Maitreya, Belleza and Slink sizes)
I’m comfy on:
Bed – Najwa Lovers Divan by {RW} (Available at Fresh (by ROMP) event)
Mesh Body Addicts 