Looking Backward: Skin Trade For Iggy, 2007

April 15, 2007 5:00 PM

Location: Lila’s Skin Shop

I came here seeking baldness, because I heard that this store sold “Old Dude” looks for avatars. I’m stunned by what I found.

Lila is a designer of mostly female “skins”—wrappers one can place on a blank avatar, like my handy gorilla-suit, to completely change one’s appearance.

And what skins Lila had on offer!  They were a frat boy’s dream-date, straight out of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

I walked past pictures of the nude female “skins” on big posters, showing skin-tone and other attributes. 

A male avatar was nearby, and he only seemed to be ogling the merchandise.  Soon another guy showed up in just a pair of jeans and a male “demo skin” costing only one-quarter of a cent in real money.  Demos work just like full-priced skin (about 7 US dollars), except it is branded all over with…you guessed it…DEMO.

There was not a woman in sight.  A cheerful little sign told players to “get nekkid” and try on demo skins in the store.  Um, not me.  I needed a changing room.

I bought two (male) demos and went back to UR Island to try them on.

Ironically, the “Old Dudes” skin does not permit baldness.  But one called “Ben” does, and with lots of tweaking, I found myself oddly creeped out. Except for the lack of gray in the beard, Iggy now looks a lot like I will, after my pre-summer buzz-cut.

Iggy's 2011 notes: I've added Dreadlocks to Iggy, but he's basically the same avatar I had in 2007, wearing the "Ben" skin. Lila's skin has aged well and still looks decent when compared to those of newer male avatars.  Or is that that males still have a disadvantage, and most innovations go to female avatars?

Sadly, Lechium Candour, who ran Lila's Skins and has been an SL resident since 2005,  no longer appears to have an in-world store. The last location is now a police-equipment provider with cop-cars, guns, and a firing range. Whee.

No results came up in Marketplace when I searched under her name. I dropped her an IM and a notecard, and if I hear back, I'll report on it here.

In real life, I have moved on, too. I shave my head not seasonally, but at least once per week. My beard is now as gray as "Ben Senior's," alas. No dreads have sprouted, yet.

My "Looking Backward" posts are aggregated here, if you want to see the fool I made of myself in 2007.