Chubby, Cheap and Cheerful

One thing you're sure to notice after being in Second Life for a while is the oddity of some of the body shapes people create for their avatars. Many of the weirder ones are enshrined at What the Fug, a blog with a fascination for 'watermelon ass,' and other indignities inflicted upon avatar mesh.
What you won't see much of is fuller-figured avatars - at least, fuller-figured avatars that aren't doing it for the lulz or trying to be grotesque. When people get to choose how they're going to look, I guess it's natural enough that the majority of them are going to go for 'slender' or 'muscular' rather than 'pleasantly plump.' That's what our society tells us again and again is attractive and desirable. People are frequently judged on their character (lazy! stupid!) if their bodies are overweight, and that really stinks. Of course obesity is dangerous, but it's possible to be both heavier than the ideal and healthy, and many intelligent and conscientious people are carrying extra weight for one reason or another and shouldn't be shamed for it.
IRL I am a bit overweight. I'm generally healthy and can usually find clothes in mainstream stores that fit and look good on me (although some fashionable styles will always be out of bounds - skinny jeans should only be worn on skinny legs). I'm definitely not stupid, and have the MA diploma to prove it. Physically, sure - I AM a bit lazy, I just don't enjoy sports or exercise for their own sake, but mentally I'm far from it. I'm okay with how I am, and I am a nice-looking woman with style.
But my SL shapes have always been skinny - I guess it's just wish-fulfilment? They're also more facially beautiful than I am, with very dainty and symmetrical features, and never have dark shadows under their eyes. I give Jane more manageable, glamorous hair, too! Not to mention the power of flight...
However, the other day, I was browsing round a little mall in FS City when I spotted a shape that immediately made me go 'Oh, cute!' This was in Rosy Mood - I'd link you to their main shop, but when I went there I couldn't find this shape, and the whole point is to send you where you can find it, right? The stall is easy to find, just walk to your right from the landing point and then look to your left.

The shape is called Momo and she is an adorable, plump girl, very like the 'peach' that the name means. She's L90, which I find very reasonable (especially as, if I'm honest, I could probably generate her myself with a little sliderplay - L90 seems like a fair price to pay for that work being done for me). She's fully modifiable too, which is great - I thought she was a bit too knock-kneed to begin with so I straightened her legs out a little.

Up above you can purchase a choice of three skins to compliment her features - only L120 each, or L250 for a fatpack. That is very cheap for skins, and they do have certain limitations - as the sign says, they don't have genital details. I can deal with that, though - and she also looks good in a variety of other skins. Be careful with the vendor - I got Momo Blue when I actually wanted Red, because I didn't read the instructions carefully enough.
One problem with using a full-figured avatar is that most AO creators assume you'll be skinny (fair enough, most avs are), and you'll be stuck with a lot of animations that make your hands pass through your hips. However, there's a solution and it's absolutely free. Imperial Elegance offers two excellent, natural, casual female AOs, one for a slim figure and one for 'chubby.' You can get them for L0 either in-world or from XStSL (link goes to the chubby one, for the other click 'View all by this merchant' and look for 'Casual Girl AO'). Isn't that awesome? I highly recommend them to any girl getting started in SL. Unless you want an AO for something really specialised, like wearing a kimono, being a fairy or a mermaid, or constantly smoking, you may never need to buy another. Full marks for generosity and practicality!

Here is Momo Jane, then. She's wearing a Pleiades Another Skin mod from the current Newbie Assistance pack from Peppermint Blue. Peppermint Blue is another LM and subscribo group absolutely everyone should have. Although the packs are called 'Newbie' there is no 'avatars under 30 days old' restriction on them - anyone of any age can grab them, and they contain wonderful goodies.

Her hair is the June group gift from Tekuteku (another group, although not subscribo, that's well worth joining) and her teeshirt's from Reek (you do have to buy the fatpack but it's cheap for a fatpack), her jeans and socks from Untone Quilt and her sneakers from the fabulous HoC Industries. Their shoes are SO good, and SO cheap, that again, apart from very specialised needs like thigh-high pirate boots or ballet slippers or whatever, you hardly need buy anything else. Oh - if you like cheap, cute ballet flats, definitely go to 50 Flats. The '50' means Lindens per pair, and there are always freebies too.
One thing to keep in mind - system skirts are extremely unkind to a figure like this. Momo is copy/mod, so you could make a skirt shape, but it could be tricky to do that without losing her intended curves. I would recommend only wearing dresses that use a prim skirt and glitch pants. Actually, I think glitch pants would be a good thing in real life too!

Untone Quilt

Phew - it's been a little while since I posted. Since my last blog, I've had my misedashi, or maiko debut! Yaaaay! (Imagine me flailing my arms like Kermit the Frog introducing a guest star.) It was a successful evening and I'm very grateful to everyone who attended, especially my onee-san (mentor/big sister) Theodote Carthage, who goes by 'Waka' in the geisha world. I do invite you to have a look at her shop, Cartunno Couture. I was also honoured by the attendance of Xuemei Yiyuan and Gee Nakamura, the oka-sans (manager/mother) of Little Yoshiwara and Satoharu geisha houses. It was so encouraging to see them there! Rock on. \m/ (^v^) \m/
Continuing my love of Japanese sims and fashions, here are some adorable items from Untone Quilt. No, I don't know what inspired the name. Untone Quilt. Awesome.
(My hair, skin and shape are still the same as in my first post. Only real difference there is that my eyes are 'Charmy Gray' from Annerose, because I got tired of the slightly bloodshot look of the BP* freebies.)

First up! The 'madrigale green dress.' This is a soft, flowy, swishy sundress, with a gorgeous layered skirt that flutters sweetly as you walk. It has a very springlike vibe, and I'm wearing the hell out of it. I've teamed it up with Orchid Dreams' 'SaSa Wedge' shoes in Spring Dots pattern, and a peacock feather necklace (on a Jacket layer) that I acquired in a freebies package somewhere, some time. On investigation (I love how the new-style Search feature enables this), I think it can be found in a place called Tableau. Look for a box marked 'Yay freebies (girls).' The little green ribbons in my hair (they're tintable, so I changed their colour to match) came with a 'Pigtail Braids' prim hairstyle bought many moons ago, whose provenance is difficult to establish (the seller didn't enclose an LM), but it MIGHT be from Empyrean Emporium.


Next, the cutest little denim overalls. These come with plain legs, or legs with a schweet embroidered pattern.

Only hitch is, they don't come with any shirt, and the bib of the overall won't cover your nips unless your breasts are very low-slung. Accordingly, I've wriggled into a freebie 'cutsew' top from Bis-Daisy==casual wear. I think the lace edge on the collar is very pretty.

You can also get an overall 'capri' prim set, to roll up the legs! Ideal for paddling.

If you want to be more girly, try the overall dress version, which comes with tights with little Bambis on them. Again, no top included, so you will need to put on an undershirt or shirt for modesty. (The overall bibs come on shirt and jacket layers, to make this easier.)

These are the 'puchidenim' (puchi is a Japanese transliteration of 'petit') shorts, which have cute prim puffs around your legs. I have the flower style - there's also a striped denim style with a blue waistband.

And finally for this post, the 'puchidabopan' trackpants, which can be worn layered with the puchi shorts or on their own!

You could also leave off the ankle puff prims to wear them as leggings. Sporty and versatile. (Although they don't look quite right with these shoes!)
That's just a sample of the Untone Quilt range, so if you like the look of these pieces I warmly recommend that you pop along to the main shop and see what else is in stock.