all of this dust, all of this past

All right, I want to talk to folks that make sculpts. Maybe folks that make mesh, too. I have an avatar concept and I want to see it realized.

(from the fashion album; wedding dress from 1976)

This is a wedding dress, circa 1976, supposedly modeled (in some inspirational fashion) from Anne of the Thousand Days, and displayed at the Victoria & Albert Museum. There are more details on the archive listing of the gown.

(from the fashion album; wedding dress from 1976)

This is a closer shot; for purposes of display, specifically of the embroidery on the dress, and the detail work on the veiling.

So, okay. That avatar. First, in the above two shots, throw the dress away. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely wedding dress concept, but I'm not overwhelmingly interested in that. What I am interested in, however? The monochromatic tone-on-tone: arms, face, outfit. Any outfit would work with that, if everything was that same even off-cream tone.

Or, hells, pick a color--though I'd prefer not vibrant, or a dead black. But still, what I'm seeing in my head could work with just about any outfit that matched the tone of the avatar skin.

Because what caught my imagination so in this is the utter facelessness, while still being definitely feminine. More than that, even, I don't want to put any specific binds on this--while I want a smoothly faceless avatar, I'm thinking even an actual head replacement paired with a toned skin would work. But what I keep seeing on the grid? Beautifully made immersion fetish hoods; blocky robotic avatars; or actual headless entirely avatars, where a neck stump--sealed, or bloodily fresh--is all that's seen.

And all of those have their place; I've even pondered if there's a way to tint parts of Mm. Allen's holographic avatar to be more monochromatic, and demi-opaque. But what I think I'm most intrigued by is not a single-tone face, but the absence of face--those perfectly smoothed angles that still say, to our seeking eyes, "face", over "hood" or "mask" or "helmet". Part of it is because of the slight central vertical elevation--not enough to suggest 'nose' or 'lips' but simply something pushed forward, just slightly enough, for the merest suggestion of face to occur.

What I found most intriguing with this particular mannequin--which even a Google search didn't discover a similar design for--is it seems as if it's covered in cloth, instead of paint. I'm fairly sure that it's simply a very matte finish, though I would adore to know the exact composition.

But I'm fairly sure it's possible, to some talented modeler out there. Anyone interested in taking it on? I also may drop a word into Mm. Allen's ear, see what happens there. This needs to be a Thing, though. It really, really does.