How do I change my avatar's appearance?

This article is part of the Extended Second Life Knowledge Base that includes advanced and specialized information. This information was originally provided by Linden Lab, but is not actively maintained nor guaranteed to be accurate. Linden Lab does not certify nor assume any responsibility for this information.

See the official Second Life Knowledge Base for the most current information.

Changing your appearance in Second Life is quick, easy, and free. A wide variety of controls let you settle on exactly the look you had in mind. While the huge number of variables can be intimidating at first, most Residents quickly get the look they want. (Most continue to tweak their look for hours or even days afterward, but that's another topic entirely.) To change your look, right-click your avatar and choose Appearance. You can also select Appearance from the Edit menu.

Note: appears as a particle cloud]]; this phenomenon was once called "being Ruthed", and you may see other Residents using the term.

Settings within Appearance:

Shape: This tab determines the overall form and shape of your avatar. This is also where you select Male or Female.Skin: This tab determines the color of your avatar's skin, skin details (such as wrinkles), makeup and any tattoos you may have.Hair: This tab not only changes the color and style of your hair, but eyebrows and facial hair as well.Eyes: This tab changes your eye color, and lets you select an image file for your eyes.Shirt, Pants, Shoes, Socks, Jacket, Gloves, Undershirt, Underpants, Skirt:These tabs allow you to take off or create new clothing pieces. You can set the overall dimensions and color of the clothing as well as apply a texture.Make Outfit: This button allows you to save any or all parts of your current appearance (body parts, clothing, and even attachments) in an outfit folder, which you can drag onto yourself to switch to the whole outfit.Save, Save As: These buttons save the changes you've made to the currently selected body part or clothing. Save As lets you pick a new name.Save All: This button saves all the body parts and clothing you have on.Revert: This button undoes all changes made to the current body part or clothing since it was last saved.

Attachments

You may also attach inworld objects to your avatar to change your appearance. Some people go so far as to fully cover themselves in objects, often changing their shapes into something completely inhuman. For more information on attaching objects to your avatar, see How do I attach and detach objects from my avatar?