I already have a job, mortgage, family, and community, so I don’t see any need for a Second Life. The first one keeps me plenty busy, thank you. But I can use what I found at LandsEnd.com: An avatar that tries on swimsuits for me.

If you’re a woman, you know what I’m talking about. It’s no fun to sequester yourself in a stuffy dressing room and try on disappointment after disappointment; all those swimsuits that mock you until you find one that works. I’ve got a little vacation coming up, so I decided to shop online for swimsuits last night, all the while realizing that I had to mentally adjust the subzero-sized, Photoshop-enhanced swimsuit models gracing retailer’s Web sites to picture what I might look like in those styles.

Then I stumbled across Lands' End’s site, where I found I could personalize my own virtual model. Cool. I put in my height, weight, body shape, chest, waist, hip, and thigh measurements until the model created something pretty close to my figure. There’s an up or down button to make small weight adjustments in case the rendering doesn’t come out quite right. Then I started trying on various swimsuits. I called my husband into the room. “Does this look like my figure?” Pause. “No, you’re a little thinner than that,” he said. Good answer, Hon. I clicked down the model just a notch, and her thighs went through a transformation worthy of four weeks of low-carb diet.

I scrolled down on my virtual model options and noticed I hadn’t taken advantage of all there was to offer. I narrowed her nose, made her lips a little fuller, changed her skin tone, adjusted the eye shape, and chose a hairstyle and color more like mine. Added a few years on to her. Click. I called my husband back into the office and he takes a few steps back. “Wow, that does kind of look like you.”

Finally, an avatar I can use in my First Life.