Fashion? Bleh!
I try to stay out of the scene. The blog scene, the kissing ass to certain people, the making friends with other certain people scene. I pretty much stick to myself and talk to a very small number of people. There are actually only a limited few that I talk to on a regular basis. I attempt to be nice and respectful to everyone, noobie or oldbie, creator or buyer, whatever. Sometimes I may come off as a bit brash but thats because I don’t care for the fine art of small talk. I speak when I have something to say.
I’ve gone to releases, openings, parties and things as little as possible. I enjoy recieving the invite but generally opt out of going. When I do, I tend to sit in a corner in IMs or tabbed out in poser.
But anyways, thats not the reason for this post. While I am generally unsocial, I really try to stay as far away from the cliques and groups as humanly possible. As a creator one of the things that really piss me off is how high fashion is placed above all other content. I have spent the past 2 1/2 years trying to push the fact that poses are important also in creating a personal look.
Before, the thing that irked me was review blogs. Until recently, reviewers only blogged animators who were also fashion designers. Torrid, Sensual, ect. Now, while it was great that poses were at least getting some coverage, there were others of us out there that have an eye, talent, skill, but severe lack drawing ability. Why is it important for me, as a business owner, to be reviewed? Because where is the one place all designers are captivly watching? The fashion blogs.
Now as most of my work is poses, my main customers are fashion designers. They need us just as much as we need them. For desginers, the presentation of their boxes is a lot more important then you’d think. With poses, they can enhance the feel of the ad. The avie giving off some kind of emotion that works well with the outfit is going to sell a lot more clothes then a default stance. We all know this. So why am I still feeling like I’m scrapping the bottom of the barrell?
I will flat out tell you that I do not think designing clothes are easy. I tried it once years ago and it was pretty bad. Remember, I can not draw myself out of a box. It takes time, talent and skill. But making poses? Pfft. Thats easy. Bull shit. Anyone who says that should be… I dunno… made to try it themselves. Yeah its really bloody easy to make rubbish poses. Just like it’s easy to rez a box and call it a house. But doing something with style and as few breaks in the avie skin is an artform. Think of it as sculpture. Anyone can make a figure out of play-doh but giving that figure expression, movement and life is an entire different thing.
I had started to think that all this was in the past. I’ve been reviewed multiple times along with other pure animators. I was starting to get a bit of respect for the hard work that I do. So, yesterday I read this on second style. A new group, fashion consolidated, for all designers welcome to send out a notice about updates. Sounds like a fab idea. I join it thinking what a good way to give the designers updates about my releases. Then, I found out that you had to recieve permission to be a “vendor” to send notices. Oh no I think to myself. Is this person going to be another fashion > animations? Or are they going to see the part I play in the grand scheme of the SL fashion industry?
Fancy to guess?
No. And I quote: “for clothes/skin/hair… things that make up personal appearance.” Ok. But isn’t an animation override part of an avatar’s personal appearance? This stumped her. She then gave me a line about having to reduce “spam” (her word not mine) in notices. Ok. So anyone who makes clothes, good or bad, can advertise their stuffs but not someone who helps those designers sell their stuffs. OK… Then another line about allowing me in would make others left out. OK…
It ended with her needing to ask the sister group of fashion emergency. I had this entire few paragraphs how I was annoyed and rather pissy towards her. It was 4am and I was certainly craky. This sort of thing wasn’t something I like coming back to after a week off of SL. It really makes me want another break. Bleh.
(Next day)
So today, I’m alone on cappiello doing some terriforming and she tells me I’m in.
February 5th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
You had better hell be in or there would be fashionista hell to pay. Because “everyone” knows one simple thing: Luth Brodie makes the best poses in SL.
I use them, though I ought to mention I do. I know Alaska Metropolitan does. I think Sabrina Doolittle does too. I bet if I did a survey I’d find most fashionistas have poses of yours.
And no fashionista uses the default posse set. I don’t, that’s for certain and I consider my default set (The set that came with the Torridwear spring flowers dresses) a large part of my look.
Let me say that I appreciate the hard work you do.
February 5th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Thanks CC!
Sorry my edit was a bit brief. Today she sent me an IM saying that they had talked it over and that I would be allowed to post notices as long as its modeling poses and AOs.
There was also a large difference in the way she spoke to me between last night and today. It could have been that she was overly tired, overloaded with invites to the group, or someone got to her before you could and put the smack down. Either way it is interesting seeing the difference of it.
Granted had I not pressed the issue a few times with her, I wouldn’t have been in. That still pisses me off.
And there really is no need for a survey ;) I can tell you for a fact that a large number of the “bigger” designers have and use my poses. From early supporters like Munchflower, Fallingwater, Fancesca Poppy, Ceres and Simone (to name a few) to newer fans like Blaze, Sol, Elika, Antie, Willow and many others.
From designers big or small, photographers, models and lovely reviewers I do have quite a bit more customers then I’d ever dreamed of.
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:25 am
Hello! You know, I never even thought of this issue until you raised it. Yes, fashion bloggers *do* use poses. But it never occurred to me that would be something that should be credited. I started my own fashion guide because for one, I’m somewhat OCD and had friends who don’t get out much to stores and wanted a capsule of information about a shop’s offerings and two, I would see things in other blogs that I would like that weren’t being reviewed (for example, a really fabulous make-up being worn for a jewelry review) and therefore not credited so I’d have no idea where to get that product, so I wanted to make sure that I was crediting everything that I use in my entries. And before I saw the review of your poses on StyleDisorder and followed the link to your blog from the comments, the thought never even occurred to me to think about poses - although I *had* been meaning to figure out ways to get new ones to use for my own blog.
Anyway, even though I’m not a big-time fashion blogger and have only a small readership, I would like to request to be added to your review list and I will credit your poses everytime I use them. I’ll have to think about going back and seeing if I can actually credit some of the poses that I’ve already used, which may not be possible since I have a few very similar poses, but now that you’ve brought it up I am definitely going to try.
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:56 pm
Why shouldn’t it be credited? What makes something a no brainer to be credited and others overlooked?
The typical norm for credits are: clothing, hair, shoes, jewelry, skin, shape (if its purchased) and more and more often location.
Currently only 1 blog credits for the poses (that I’ve seen) and its only occasionally bordering on rare. If you credit 1 thing other then what you are posting about, then you should include ALL things in the photos.
A good pose can enhance your photo whereas a bad pose can make it look cheap.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:17 pm
I wasn’t saying that it shouldn’t be credited, and I apologize if that’s what I implied. I was noting that I have not seen poses credited in most of the blogs that I’ve perused, and as I’m still somewhat new to Second Life I’ve modeled my own blog off of those other blogs. I fully agree that poses *should* be credited, along with every other item and I stated that I shall try to do that as well as the other credits I list.
March 6th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Nah wasn’t attacking you and understood what you were talking about. I think my brain just jumps forward and assumes I’ve said things like: “I agree. And on the issue of…”
So for my previous comment add “I agree. On the issue of no one else does it…” That should make it read a bit better heh.
But the question still stands. In general what makes one creative thing more important then another?
March 17th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Coming to this a bit late as it only just popped up in Google. I’m sorry you felt that way Luth - I think your “overly tired and overloaded” may have been closest to the truth. FashCon was 6 days old at the time, and I was (and still am, really) pretty much a newb with an idea that I was amazed people liked. I had no clue what the expectations of people signing up would be and had (and still have) a lot of very differing opinions of what FashCon “should” be. I’m trying to hit the right mark all the time, and inevitably some people think I get it woefully wrong - but if they do in both directions then I guess it’s the best I can do.
So, I was totally green and now, being a little more sprouted, it’s of course blindingly obvious to me that ao’s are an intimate part of an av’s look, and therefore by extension fashion in-world. It may seem odd to old-worlders, but at the time I even pondered for 5 minutes whether skin was “fashion”. It’s first life perspective on a 6 day old explosion of a group that threw me, that’s all.
I checked back logs and I don’t think I was rude, but I’m sorry if it seemed that way. There’s no “we” with FashCon, just me so far, so I take any blame - all I was doing was looking for a breather to take a compass reading from another group, at which point I quietly said “doh” to myself and got back to you.
I use your poses every day and this never was a judgement on worth. For the record I think pose makers are about the most skilled creators on SL, and we could spend 2 million on clothes and still look like a herd of goats without a good ao.
- Honey
March 17th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Honey,
I think you misunderstood a bit of what I was talking about. The thing that really got to me that this isn’t the first time I’ve given the last seat on the bus in content creation.
If this was the only incident I would have not thought twice about it. It’s a reoccuring theme that I’ve delt with for just too long. It was mearly an example highlighted more so because it was something that was happening when I wrote the post.
The issue still is: all other content creation being overlooked while fashion creators are made demi gods.
And I’m not saying make me a demi god. I actually hate watching people fawn over anyone, especially me. And I do personally love my solitude. On the otherhand, when I was gathering people to give shops to on Lalique, there were some of my own customers treating me like some noob mall owner out looking for a fast buck. It was a bloody nightmare trying to find people to actually give shop space to if you can actually believe it.
Anyways… ta for the comments about my work :) While it does make me feel all gushy inside, I like to steer around the idea of most skilled. All content creation in SL takes skill that is really different from eachother. They are so different infact that its pretty damn impossible to gauge which is the hardest. I don’t envy people on principle, but if I did I would for people who can draw.
I think for all those different factets of SL creation takes an equal amount of skill, talent and vision. They should then be rewarded as such.
Then again it’s a moot point anyways because while I’m able to send notices, SL wont let me no matter how naked I am 700m above an empty sim at 9am Saturday SLT.
March 18th, 2007 at 12:08 am
Luth, you and I have never really spoken much before but I most certainly know your work. You know I began doing poses because I was so sick of seeing unnatural ones. I’d see females standing on their tip toes completely frozen in place , their shoulders severely broken, their bodies twisted horribly. Everything just seemed so extreme to me. I just wanted to make something I liked and if other people liked it, that was a bonus. I started a long time ago and it took quite some time for people to start paying much attention. If I were still creating poses often I would certainly want the help of blogs. Now I only create them when I have some time and if I just get in the mood to do it.
I have watched you become one of, if not “the” most talked about animator in fashion blogs. I think it’s great that folks started taking notice finally. I think you do great work and it’s really about time someone who purely animates got more coverage. I’m also glad to see that it’s someone who cares how an avatar looks using their poses. I completely agree that poses and overrides are a part of our look. I rarely see anyone without some type of override these days.
Anyways I’ve really rambled more than I should have lol. I did have a point here which was just to say I’m glad you are getting coverage and that hopefully more people will begin including the information about what poses they use. Keep up the great work.
March 18th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Hey Luth, thanks for the reply. I understand better now that your post wasn’t directed at me but that the timing of FashCon’s arrival and my greenness then hit a livewire for you. It’s just that it made me worry that I’d been rude, and I looked back at logs of our conversation and don’t see any paras about you being annoying or pissy - I don’t think you were at all. Sorry if I gave you the runaround for a night though - I was pretty new to what people’s perceptions of fashion were and had to re-adjust my squiffy brain.
With regard to sending notices - did you try the new formula I sent out in a notice? Just IM me if yoi need it. It’s a pain, we shouldn’t have to do it, and I’m spending an awful lot of time getting the bigger Linden’s to actually fix it for all big groups (see my JIRA bug report). But it’s only once a week and hasn’t failed yet, and that’s for dozens of designers who couldn’t previously get a message through. If it’s failing for you I need to know and report back to Linden. I’ll quit the compliments then, but I do want to see your new pose announcements :)
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:53 pm
whoa. This seems like a hopping topic.
Torid:
Thanks! While its nice there isn’t any of the drama between animators like we’ve seen in fashion, we hardly speak to each other. So it’s a pleasure seeing another good pose maker saying nice things :))
Honey: Nah don’t worry if you’ve been rude. Water under the the bridge. I’ve voted for or whatever the JIRA bug reports. The last time I tried I: cleared the cache, rebooted, logged into home (700m above my sim), sim was empty, took off all clothes and attachments, tried 3 times and none of notices went through. Plus I only release once ever 2-3 weeks :(