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 Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:17 pm
This is a mini guide written for any of those "old" Gaians who have returned to find that avatar styles look crazy different and everyone is using body mod arms and legs.
For those of you who joined after body mod items already existed, you're fine. xD I don't think this guide will help you much. You know how to use leg mods and arm mods no problem. This is like... for old Gaians who are used to using pagers, but have time traveled to an era where smart phones now exist.
This guide is here to point out some of the types of items that exist... I'll give examples here, but it's not a full list. I'll give enough items to demonstrate the idea.
This is more of an... in between stage. This allows you to still dress "old school" while just updating the look a little bit.
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:18 pm
Generally -- slimmer arms, slimmer legs and an expressive face
Gaian's aren't as strict anymore about the face matching the rest of the avatar... as long as it's within reason. For example -- it's often better to include pink blush even if you're not using any other pink items.
Arms and legs must agree! Don't have short arms and long legs or vice versa. (In some cases... you can get this to work and be an interesting style. But, generally, if you use an arm mod, you'll likely need a leg mod. and vice versa again)
What I'm gonna do is list some of the "cheat" ways you can do to have slimmer arms and legs... but still layer items the way you're used to layering.
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:21 pm
⋆ ARMS ⋆
In the old style of dressing avatars, we'd layer up the arms with gloves and all sorts of jewelry (upper armlets, bracelets, watches, rings). We'd also usually hold an item in one or both hands.
New style: Arm mods. The problem with most arm mods is that you can't equip gloves, jewelry, handheld items... You're locked into whatever the arm mod is. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be weird to get used to when you're used to the old style.
Here are some items you can use to help get used to modding the avatar's arms.
• • • • Gloves
Trick 1: Gloves. You already most likely have used gloves before. But these aren't just any gloves. Use gloves that just happen to change the shape of the arm/hand. Just pay attention to the proportions. If the legs/shoes you use increase the length of your legs, the gloves might leave the arms too short (depending on the item).
✰ Gloves: Some gloves extend and slim the hand. You can still hold handheld items.
  
✰ Long gloves: These gloves also change the shape of the arm. The arm is modded, but you can also hold items. ...Holding items will be a challenge since the item won't always sit in the hand.
 
✰ Bare Hands: The following items mod your hands so that you can have that bare arm look (without having the short, stubby arms of the avatar). The bonus here is that these items work like gloves, but happen to be bare hands.
  
• • • • Hidden Arms
Trick #2: Hide the arms. Use oversized sweaters with long arms. Use jackets that have the arms folded into the pockets to give the illusion that the arms are longer.
✰ Shy Arms: When in doubt, hide the arms. I found this to be a useful trick back when I had very few arm mods.
   
✰ Posable Jackets / Sweaters: The arms of these items aren't frozen. You can still move the arms around.
  
✰ sleeved arms: - lapin, that bear item
• • • • Looking to the Future
This is bonus info for when you feel like you can use arm mods.
✰ Posable arms: Arms like these are versatile. The pose will change as you pick different arm poses. This is useful since you might be able to switch up your avatar and not have to buy a lot of different arm mods to do what you need. (You'll still end up with a lot of different arm mods anyway.)
 
✰ See-through arms: The downside of arm mods is that you need to pick a pair that matches your skin tone. Items will usually offer the basic skin tones. Items sometimes also offer the 'fantasy' skin tones of skins that are available from the gold shops.
Past that, some items color the hands as if they're wearing gloves.
If you normally wear a skin that comes from an item, you might be stuck wearing "gloved hands" unless one of the fantasy colors is close enough to your skin tone.
However, some items mods use the avatar's skin tone. You can use those items.
        
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:24 pm
4
In the old style of avatar making, we'd use as many layers as we possibly could: shoes, shoes over shoes, socks, stockings, leggings, anklets, knee pads, you name it.
The new style of legmods may feel restrictive at first. You have a set of pre-made legs. That's it. No other layering. It is still possible to add color and texture to your legmods (especially if your legmods already have that color and texture), but that will take time to get used to it.
To blend into the current style, you want longer legs. The legs are usually slimmer too. Some shoes will cut your legs slimmer and lengthen the legs. You get to wear the same socks, pants, leggings, stockings that you're used to... and also have slimmer, more current legs
• • • • Slimming Shoes
The following shoes will slim and lengthen the legs, as if the legs were legmods.
✰ Slimming Shoes:
      
✰ Slimming Heels
• • • • Dynamic Shoes
Some shoes mod legs into more dynamic poses. You get the effect of dynamic poses of legmods, but still get to use shorts, skirts, socks, etc like you're used to. Remember, make sure the arms and legs poses agree. (If the bottom half of you is running, so is your top half)
✰  
✰
• • • • Peakaboo Clothing
The following items mod legs, but you still get to add socks. They're also useful if you need your avatar's skin tone to show through.
✰ Slimming Shorts/Pants:
 
✰
• • • • Special Mentions
✰  - Leg mod, but allows you to still wear shoes and socks. Try some high-tops for a different look.
✰  - Bare legs
leg surgery meday legs
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:25 pm
5
FACE
It's really really really alllll about the face. That trend started years ago and hasn't dissipated yet. I can't emphasize face enough. The default eyes from the Salon and the mouths from dress up don't cut it anymore. You will need to use items.
It's about good expression, but also filling empty space. but with purpose.
Some details worth looking into:
• • • • Noses
We have noses now. A good nose is a worthwhile investment. But, heck, if you change your avatar often... get lots of noses. And, yes, add a nose. It might look odd at first if you're not used to them, but pay attention to avatars that are heralded for looking awesome. Most will have noses.
✰      
• • • • Eye Cutters
A lot of older eyes/contacts are just... large and cartoony. You can save and use your older eyes/contacts by modding them and cutting them into a smaller shape. Upside: a lot of the cutters include blush and makeup. Downside: If you want your avatar to be makeup-less, be sure to find one that works.
✰       
✰
• • • • Brows
Have you always loved a certain wig or hairstyle but hated the eyebrows? You're in luck! you can do something about that now. ...This is also good for those faces or contacts that come with bad eyebrows.
✰        
✰
• • • • Mouths
There are many mouth items to choose from now. Some mouths even layer over other mouths. This is especially useful when you have a face mod with eyes you love, but hate the mouth.
✰          
• • • • Under-eyes
Some eyes sit on a layer below the typical contacts layer. This can sometimes lead to interesting layering. You can make a unique pair of eyes or use the under-eyes as eye shadow. You may or may not need this trick, but it exists.
Items that do this don't have a name tag. You just have to find them accidentally.
✰    
• • • • Face mods
Sometimes it's just easier to go with a pre-made face. It can also be cheaper than buying the eyes, makeup, beard, freckles, scarring, nose, and/or mouth separately.
In the past, these canned faces could be bad. There weren't many face mods, so everyone started to look alike. Nowadays, there are enough choices out there that you don't have to worry about that.
You can also alter most of these faces using the mouth and brow mods. You can also usually add a nose.
✰     
See post *** for adding more detail.
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:31 pm
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:37 pm
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 6:24 pm
8
Depending on when you last left, you may or may not know about the following types of items. They've been around a while. Leg and Arm mods may have dimmed their usefulness, but they still can come in handy.
Bangs
possibly useful -- anklets
we went through a time were anklets were essential. however, they don't work well with most new leg mods. ...but will work most of the time with the shoe mods I suggested. if you never worked with anklets before, you find them to be a godsend!
-- undershirts
At one time, these items were a godsend for layering. Nowadays, they might not always pair well with arm mods.
  
Leggings: These items equip above socks, but below pants/shorts.
Under-Stockings: Sorry for the stupid name. These items equip under socks.
For guys, a lot of the typical gold shop "stockings" items also equip under socks.
 
Body Part Removal: These types of items can be useful when altering the avatar's shape (like when trying to create an inanimate object or scenery).
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 6:55 pm
9
Looking to the future
... Use these tricks for as long as you want. Or, don't use them. Dress however you want to-- with your short, thick arms and stumpy legs. Hee.
Eventually, you'll find that using the actual full arm mods and leg mods is easy.
Easiest: Pick a new color scheme. Items get recolored nowadays with various color schemes. Colors are uniform -- and most are named! Gone are the days of every item being a slide shade different from each other.
Type in the name of a color scheme... and your items will match. It's easy to add arms and legs and such when everything matches. Just be sure to pick arms and legs that will distribute the colors where you need them.
Mix and match color schemes to increase difficulty.
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:03 pm
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:08 pm
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:17 pm
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:21 pm
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:26 pm
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:28 pm
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