So in my database of bmps I look for something that will work, and it turns out to be the lifeguard female bmp. (This was downloaded from Dr. Frankensim's site where the Doc has gotten all the Non Playable Characters like gardeners, Servo, maids and such and made them into a file for you to download and mess with in your game. He's done that from the first pack and the expansion pack, so if you want them, then by all means hurry your self over! There is a link on our home page.) It also happens to be the default bathing suit, too for the game.

*note* It's a good idea to stockpile default meshes and bmp's, that way you don't run the risk of plagarizing anyone else's work, and really making a big mess out of things. What I mean by default is anything Maxis themselves has made, like the career skins, the skins they gave you for your game, and skin packs they gave you for download of their site.

Well, to find out what you will want to work from, load up Simshow. Find the body model that you want to make clothes for, like a skirted body or a man in shorts. In my case, I need a woman with a muscular body in heels. Looks like that will be b505fafit_chyna in the bodies category. (yes, I know it's not a Maxis made creation, but that's the body I needed, so I made it.) In the body textures category I'm looking for something I can modify for the clothes that I want. Looks like that will be b675fafitlgt_lifeguard. From the swimsuit, I can easily make Chyna's outfit as the lines are already predrawn on the body for me. I just have to follow them and add a bit more.

Now onto the head. She has long straight hair, so I will need something like that. In the head category I select c513fa_longsleek. And if you play around with the head textures, you will notice not every head will work with every head model. Some of them look downright strange.

So I'm looking for something I can work with, and that will be c003falgt_asian01. The hair is almost as I need it. From there I will turn the startup model into the end model.