No server updates last week. No Mesh meeting this week. So, I went down to the Hair Fair. That was an expensive adventure. But, the prices are amazing and most vendors are contributing 50% of the cost to Wigs for Kids, a worthy cause. Stop by and donate even if you don’t buy anything.
Getting In
The Hair Fair is popular. Lots of people are going. Especially as they learn about the prices. So, getting in can be a problem, lots of server full messages. There is a way around that problem. Open the World Map and search for Iridium. You’ll see four regions that are obviously related; Osmium, Rhodium, Iridium, and Platinum. Find one of those areas with the fewest people and TP in there. Any area with less than 45 people will probably let you in.
If you can’t get in, you can see many of the hair styles on the Daily Look – The Fashion Blog. Just watch for the Hair Fair Heart Logo.
The fair closes July 15.
Size
As I wrote above, there are four regions. Each has about 26 or 27 shops. That is a total of about 100 shops. Some have more than one location. The Bandana Day shops are in every region. As you would guess they have bandanas. They are for those wanting to support the kids by wearing head scarves, bandanas.
Costs
There are deals to be had. Some bandanas start at L$50. I saw some fat packs of hair for well over L$1,000. Most of the do’s I was interested in were $150 to $500. I am guessing the average is around $200.
The DEMO versions are all free, at least those I tried are free.
Styles
There are some out ragouts do’s. Everything is there from the Lolita styles, day glow colors, designs shaved into the balds, punk, grunge, dominatrix, cyberpunk, super trashy, and super model wow. Pretty much every style is there.
They have done a good job of getting men’s designers into the fair. If you’re a guy and you’ve been looking for something wild or nice, stop in and look around. Even if you are not in the market for hair… you should check the place out. There are some absolutely gorgeous women walking around.
Hats… there are so many styles with hats. These designers have done some amazing stuff with hats and hair. Not the usual odd looking hat that is way too big for your head. These look right. I found a cute one that I like made by Ivanka Akina.
Some of the designers have shown considerable creativity in their shops. There are only 3 or 4 building types. But, what they have done with the interiors is very neat.
Free Stuff
Most shops have some free stuff. I usually skip freebies now. My inventory is well stocked with free stuff. Since free stuff tends to be… less desirable… I tend to skip it. If you have a similar approach to free stuff I suggest you change your attitude at the Hair Fair. All the free stuff I collected, not much, was really ice stuff. I’m glad I picked it up.
Lag
It’s bad. Strip off all the scripts that you can. This is the only event I’ve been to where I didn’t feel a need for hair. Odd as that may sound. I was busy trying on demos. My bald that I usually wear now makes me look like I have a military crew cut when I leave off the hair. That worked well enough.
You can fly instead of walking to reduce the physics calculations. Fly to an area and cam around. Rezzing is sometimes slow and then speeds up. There is lots of rubber-banding.
The PING to the SIM varies wildly. That makes the controls sluggish.
Be sure to turn off, or down, the avatar physics. That helps a bit.
In all, the lag is not so bad. It is frustrating, but I think it is worth it.