Meh. It'll do! [items and their cheaper counterparts]

[WhipWhip]

I'm picky to a point,

For example, equestri has a riding crop, but it's blue. I could not compromise between that and SDplus frederika, which has one that's black.

I also struggled a bit with Trilune's covenant and Trilune's promise. The boots are so close in colour, but one is a little too purple for my liking, so I had to buy the pricier one for pure white boots.

I can get really picky if it's for a specific avatar.

Shapes also matter a lot more than colour to me. If an item doesn't have the right shape, it will disappoint me more than if the colour is a little off.

It's why I keep buying items with boots in them until gaia gets the shape perfect wink

[Antiq]

I try to go for the cheaper options in the first place, usually. I'll have just a handful expensive ones maybe, and then work around those with cheap stuff and gold shop items. There's masses of really nice cheap items out there. I like to have a few hair items I really like, even if they are expensive, and maybe a few leg mods, and I think they really set the look. Everything else can be cheap.
As for colors, yes, I'm realllly picky. I don't like "hard" colors, they need to be subtle or soft, or black and white, and I don't like orange at all xp

I have overlooked items sometimes, and then fallen in love with them later. I recently bought some Francis hairs, which I had sadly neglected before but now I think look really cute, and they are relatively cheap xd

I often type a low price range into the MP, like 50m to 100m for instance, and always find something really nice, or that I had forgotten about. Also, tektek. If I need a hat to go with whatever, I'll just browse alllll the hats until I find one that's good, and cheap.

Fanny Flaps

There are so many new shinies now that it's easy to overlook a beautiful older item in the rush to show off your latest acquisition.

This is so true.

[Paperworm]

I remember I used the Portrait of the Deer Legs because the Counterfeit Items were too pricey, but after some time I was annoyed by the attached Skirt of the Portrait Items, so I saved up to buy my all time favourite Counterfeit.

[x3rubiachica3x]

I'm not too picky about colors. I can make an avatar out of a few different shades of one color. So I am usually open to all colors. I always seem to use recolors as opposed the original or most expensive version of an item.

I love the item SDPlus #408 Bloody Mary for the hair pose. Absolutely admire it. When one of the hair RIG's produced Light, Warm and Dark Bloody Mary Hair, I wish-listed the Dark Hair. Well, now that hair is inflating. And I don't want to spend all that gold on it. So I may settle for another cheaper recolor....damn inflation...

[rococobro]

i'm not big on color-matching to a tee. i'm more concerned w/shape, shading, and w/the theme or i had in mind coming across, i guess. i've found quite a lot of older, cheaper items (rig fails/gold shop/dusty EIs) that do the job better than their recent, overflowing cash shop competition.

[Tenshichan~dream]

I think the only thing I really compromise on is color. Ill get a recolor of an item because the original is too expensive. Sometimes I like the recolor better too boot.

But I never got a whole different item in place of an expensive pose on another. Because there is generally a reason i want a certain pose and another item just wouldnt cut it.

[hiimbeary]

- On and off. Sometimes I am, sometimes I just throw together an avi for kicks and the color doesn't matter.

- I have done that occasionally, but it doesn't always work out, or I just wasn't able to find the right items to match with it.

- Can't think of any right now...

[cosmere]

I don't compromise on color, but I'll compromise on the pose itself. If it's a color I won't use, it makes no sense for me to buy it. For the pose, I can often easily find a cheap substitute - this is especially true for arm and leg mods. There are a ton of them that are all kinda same-ish and if it works, then I'm going for whatever is the cheapest.

A huge majority of the time, I just work within the confines of my inventory. This is the best way to save imo. If you don't have to impulse buy things for a particular avi, you end up saving a lot more in the long run.

But I have to feed my color addiction, I just can't help it. I want everything teal and everything navy blue. Often times without consideration for price.

I frequently rely on whatever multi-pose items I have to provide me with hair item substitutes. Practically never go buy something just for hair. I just use scissors items and slap on bangs or extensions to get it exactly how I want.

[icetears]

eh...unfortunately at that point I just incorporate a whole new color into my avatar. Usually I like what I like and have a hard time accepting less.

[a spark to ignite]

- Are you picky about your colors?
I dunno if I should say yes or no to this. My avatars always have a theme/character, so they aren't strictly matchy-matchy, but I usually try to make the character's actual outfit appealing, even if other stuff like hair and eyes don't match (the hair and eyes are usually actual natural colors). I guess as far as dressing the little character I'm picky about how I do their outfit. It may not totally match, but it will always fit whatever specific theme I'm going for, as best I can make it.

- Do you build around an item's overall look no matter what the color?
Kind of? I usually start with a single item I find that I like, then think of a theme it might fit well into, and build an outfit (clothing, accessories, etc) around it. Then I select the character's appearance (skin, hair, eyes) if I don't already have one for it. I usually go for periods of time where my avatar's clothing changes but the hair and eyes and stuff remain the same for a while, so I kind of keep a particular character for a little while, but what she wears may change a few times before I move on to a new little character.

- Do you have any favorite 'alternative' items that you use in place of more expensive ones?
Not really. I don't seem to ever really want items that are insanely expensive. Usually if I happen to want an item for a particular avatar/outfit, I can afford it. I run into 0 listings way more often than I run into lack of funds. x__x;;

- Any items you wish had an alternative?
WIZARD IVAN TIE. But unfortunately it's the ONLY tie on Gaia that will work for my Halloween Gryffindor witch avi... and there are 0 listings.
I do also wish we had more skirts that looked like the Thrall skirts... except without the suspender straps and the habit of unequipping/covering other things that a normal skirt wouldn't.

[Naturalist]

Has no one made a thread guide for knock-offs yet? I'd say it'd be pretty useful. Any who, color is very important. The shades and textures have to be just right. I can settle for a cheaper alternative just long enough until I can afford the actual item. These legs for example. I needed Forest after Dawn for the legs but I settled for Heart x Mind and Faded Revenant for a few days until I could rustle up the 100bil+ for the item I really wanted. It's very rare for me to like the cheaper knock-off, but when I do, I'm ecstatic.

[ponponpon way x2]

If you're talking about recolors then usually I'm willing to wear whatever color is cheapest.

As for items that look similar... I'd probably be happy to buy the cheapest item available and build an avi around that. blaugh

With inflation I've been buying less and less of the expensive s**t.

[Slick Southpaw]

generally my compromise is *none* because what I look for are things that work with my skin tone and don't give me stupid noodle arms.

Since Gaia likes darker bases about as much as they care to make things fit the male base, it's usually get it or don't get it at all

[the bystander effect]

I look for similarity in color and in shape for cosplays. Other than that i don't really care.

Like right now I'm wearing the cheaper/recolor version of Hybrid Maneater.

[Salathielly]

I used to be pickier about trying to match the blue in my ears...but that meant I was pretty much always wearing variations of the same outfit, and that got boring, so now I wear whatever, as it's much easier to make a navy avatar or an electric blue avatar (or heck, even an orange avatar) than a true blue avatar.

Now I'm slightly pickier about shading/texture/the shape of mod poses, I suppose.

And hmm...I'm not sure about "instead of," but I love cheap items that work as well or better than expensive ones.

I wish there were more masculine alternatives to some of the girlier arm and leg mods on the site where I like the pose but can't use it without making my avatar look like a girl. xD