While I know this has been discussed before, and perhaps I'm far too late to be talking about this to make a difference, I feel like armor mods need to follow a "standard" when assigning body slots. There are too many mods with conflicting armor slots, where - for example - I want to put on a new "underwear" item yet I'm forced to remove my shirt or pants and then be somehow wearing two "under" items at the same time. It's simply non-sensical.

 

BEFORE YOU COMMENT SAYING THAT A STANDARD ALREADY EXISTS - I'M TALKING ABOUT A "STRICTER" STANDARD - THE CURRENT 'STANDARD' IS TOO LOOSE

 

We have a total of 32 "body" slots defined in the game, but 4 are reserved by default for important non-armor objects and should not be messed with, and 1 is almost universally agreed by the modding community to be reserved for certain compatibilities. This leaves us with 27 slots for us to use, but that's still quite a bit of stuff we can place on our bodies, not to mention the decals, body paint, and tattoos that don't use these slots (or at least are not supposed to).

 

Also, we obviously have pre-defined and labelled Slot names in the Creation Kit as is, and it's reasonably easy for authors to follow those slot assignments consistently, but some still seem to have trouble following even THAT standard properly.

 

Now, while I will admit that I DO NOT fully understand the intricacies of creating armors, I am aware that it is possible for authors to change what slot their armors use, even adding variations of armors in the same mod that use different body slots. Therefore, I can't imagine it being too terribly difficult for a reasonably skilled armor/outfit maker to adhere to a slot-assignment standard.

 

Based on mods that I have seen and used, and those that work well harmoniously with each other, I would personally propose the following "Slot Standard":

 

30 - Head [RESERVED] - Literally your character's head, not a Head Armor slot

31 - Hair/Helmet Slot A (Two-Part Helmet Top)

32 - Body (Full Torso/Upper Torso & Armored Bras, Leotards, etc - aka Non-Underwear Torso)

33 - Hands

34 - Forearms/Wrists

35 - Amulet/Neck Primary

36 - Ring

37 - Feet (Short OR Long Boots, Heels, etc)

38 - Calves/Ankle

39 - Shield

40 - Tail (Cape & Cloak Slot) [Pseudo-Reserved due to Tails]

41 - Long Hair (Head/Helmet Misc.)

42 - Circlet/Helmet Slot B (Two-Part Helmet Bottom)

43 - Ears (Ear Rings, other Ear Alterations)

44 - Face (Facial Piercings, Masks, Gags)

45 - Collar/Neck Secondary (Gorgets, Neck Armor --Specifically Not Jewelry--)

46 - Torso Misc. (Harnesses, Fasteners, Reinforcements, etc)

47 - Back/Spine (Backpacks, Spine Armor, other "Back" specific components that are not capes/cloaks)

48 - Legwear Underneath (Leggings, Stockings, Pantyhose, etc. --NOT Underwear--)

49 - Legwear (Pants, Skirts, and Second half of a normally 'Slot 32' armor piece from vanilla --NOT Underwear--)

50 - Decapitated Head [RESERVED]

51 - Decapitate [RESERVED]

52 - Pelvis/Underwear (Schlong, Strap-On, Thongs, Panties, Boxers, Vaginal Plugs, Crotch Pasties, etc. --NOT Pants--)

53 - Thighs/Pelvic Extras (Cuisses, Genital Piercings)

54 - Undershirts/Bra Underwear (typical Torso Underwear, or Nipple Piercings & Pasties)

55 - Face Extra (Blindfolds, Facial Piercing alternate, Mask alternate, Gag alternate)

56 - Stomach/Lower Torso (Abdominal Armor, Belly Piercings, etc)

57 - Left Upper Arm/Left Shoulder (Pauldrons, Separated Sleeve Pieces, Upper Arm Jewelry)

58 - Right Upper Arm/Right Shoulder (Pauldrons, Separated Sleeve Pieces, Upper Arm Jewelry)

59 - Miscellaneous All (Anything else not covered, such as Anal Plugs)

60 - Physics Object Compatibility Slot [Pseudo-Reserved by Community]

61 - Visual Effects, Magic Auras, etc. [RESERVED]

 

 

I believe this slot assignment standard makes the most sense. Though certain slot assignments are somewhat arbitrary, I did my best to assign slots based on what I see most prominently in the community. For example, I have not seen any outfits that have individual right/left leg components, therefore separating them like described on creationkit.com seems pointless. I also believe this standard adequately accommodates for Devious Devices, at least to the extent of having appropriate slots for most, if not all, devices.

 

Unfortunately, due to how scattered the plethora of outfits and armors have been assigned body slots over the many years of Skyrim Modding, any suggestion I make - assuming it would be accepted - would mean SOMEONE would have to re-do/convert their armors to the new slot standard. I don't think that would necessarily be difficult, but it would certainly be some level of tedious and I completely understand the aversion to such tasks, though I would posit there are tedious tasks every day that need done for the betterment of society (not that I think my suggestion would be some great boon for society at large, I'm merely giving an example).