So you think you’re up with the latest fashion trends…you know all the biggest designers, their collections and the stores that stock them. But if you haven’t ventured into the world of Second Life, then you don’t know nothing. It’s time to swap cloth for pixels, and enter the world of virtual fashion.

Until recently, Second Life was considered a forum for nerds and people with time to burn. But now, with 8 million people (Avatars) online, second best is looking a whole lot busier – and better. The real-world fashion pack agrees. American Apparel, Reebok, Lacoste, and Dior, have all set up shop in the virtual world, allowing Avatars to buy select clothing using Linden dollars (US$1 = L$250). And they are not alone. A swarm of online fashion ‘creators’ have launched their own labels. Second Style, Second Life’s premier fashion magazine lists over 100 individual designers on its blog, http://blog.secondstyle.com/. The beauty industry’s in on it too. Loreal, recently held a beauty contest ‘in world’, while cosmetic options are growing by the day. But online beauty is more than skin deep - it’s skin itself. Naughty Designs offer a range of stylish branded ‘skins’, hair and accessories. You can even customise your eyeballs.

What do you think of the Second Life fashion? Pipe dream, or a powerful industry? Let Tragic know and you could win a (real) double movie pass.

Image credits: Alien Bear, Battered Boudoir, Kitina Celt – Skin from Naughty Designs, Maitriya wedges.