Mesh has been live on the grid for little over a week and more and more releases making use of this new feature are hitting stores. At this early stage, most everyone blogging mesh products give a run-down of its pros and cons; me included.

Mesh allows for worn items to be rigged, meaning they will move and deform with your avatar. However, while rigged items will stretch or shrink with certain sliders, a few notable sliders are not taken into account, namely those controlling fat and muscles. For those of us who prefer to add a bit of fat and muscle to our shapes, this can pose a real problem. I’ve tried most mesh items that are sold with demos—an absolute MUST which I am very happy that designers are embracing—and so far, none have worked very well for me. That is, until today and the release of Lassitude & Ennui’s overknee boots. These actually work really well for me!

Style Notes & Slurls

Skin: Orchid Tan by The Body Co.
Hair: Tavern Natural Black by Point B
Outfit: Oriana Corset Red by Nomine and Fishnets by Blowpop
Accessories: Overknee Boot Snakeskin Black by Lassitude and Ennui

Just have a look at that boot, bending with my leg in this seated pose. That’s just fabulous, isn’t it? I am of course wearing an alpha, but my basic test for whether a mesh item really works for me is to see how much of my shape is breaking through when I am not wearing the alpha. If its too much, the end result won’t look in proportion to the rest of my body once the too-large area has been hidden by the alpha.

In this case, very little poked through, making the alpha a perfect solution.

Style Notes & Slurls

Skin: Orchid Tan by The Body Co.
Hair: Tavern Natural Black by Point B
Outfit: Oriana Corset Red by Nomine and Fishnets by Blowpop
Accessories: Overknee Boot Embossed Black by Lassitude and Ennui

In addition to the sexy snakeskin version, the boots also come in a decadent embossed leather version. I really like the texturing of both versions and the overall style of the boot suits my tastes very well. The top flares out, avoiding the need for an alpha all the way to the edge (which can be very tricky to match up), and the slit down the back is quite sexy.

A closer look at the texturing and two more of the colours; the red snakeskin and the purple embossed leather.

These boots have made me a little more hopeful for mesh for me personally. Clearly there will be some rigged items that I can wear even though I am adamant about not changing my shape to conform to clothing.

If you’re curious about mesh, remember that you need to be using viewer 3.* or a third-party viewer that has added the code; Kirstens Viewer is one of these and so is the Astra Viewer. And whatever you do, make sure to try the demos of any mesh items before buying!