I joined SL in Spring of 2012, just as mesh clothes were starting to hit the grid. I knew right away that most of my time in SL would be spent dressing up, but those early days were tricky. A lot of mesh clothes still fit oddly, and availability was scarce. I was cautious about spending lindens and mostly collected as many freebies/cheapies as possible at first. My first shape was a free one off marketplace that I modified, and my first skin was a 100L 'cheap skin' that seemed kinda pricey to me at the time, ha. Going through my inventory, I thought it would be fun to look at how my 'look' evolved over the years (including the two year hiatus I recently came back from), so I put together a photo montage.
From left to right:
#1: My first shape was really slim and petite, with kind of a pointy face. The cheap 100L skin was by JeSyLilo (is the creator still around, I wonder?) and it's kinda interesting that I went for something so tan considering that I only got more pale from there on out. The eyes were mesh eyes by Umeboshi that I picked up during a hunt.
#2: Same shape as #1, but with a skin by Fashionably Dead. It was the first expensive skin I bought and I wore it a LOT.
#3: Here I changed my shape so that it was taller and curvier, with a slightly fuller face and wide-set eyes. The new skin set was also by JeSyLilo, called "Kitty," I believe, and I fell in love with the lips on it. The eyes were from IKON.
#4: Here's the same shape but with a skin by My Ugly Dorothy. I collected a whole bunch of her skins over the years, as the creator used to put cheapies out on the weekend.
#5: When I discovered The Sugar Garden skins that's pretty much all I wore until I moved on to a mesh head and body. This skin is "Baby" in the X-tone, worn with the luminate mesh eyes, also by TSG.
#6: And now I'm fully aboard the mesh train. I wear the Catwa "Jessica" head (I'm sorely tempted by "Bibi," too, but haven't taken the plunge yet) with the Lara Maitreya body. The only skins I've used so far are by Enfer Sombre, who has the 'look' that I prefer -- pale and kind of doll-like. I'm loving them a bunch, but even so I hope that some of my favorite skin creators from the past (the ones who are still active, anyway) will consider making appliers for the Catwa heads. Time will tell!